How is "eligible" defined in terms of kneeling, having/gaining/losing icons, stealth, and other challenge participation restrictions? Specifically, how would the following situations play out?

- The character had a military icon at the time Rhoynar Emissary was used, but lost it before a Military challenge was initiated.

- The character has a Military icon, a military challenge is initiated against that character's controller, and the Emissary's target is stealthed.

- The character has a Military icon, was standing at the time the Emissary's effect was triggered, but was then knelt before a Military challenge was initiated (ex: Lost Oasis).

- The character has the appropriate icon, but is prevented from participating by another effect, such as Herding the Masses, Joust when two characters are under the Emissary's effect, Shore Leave, Black Hatchling's "cannot defend" text, etc.

- The character was knelt at the time that Rhoynar Emissary's effect is used.

- The character did not have the icon at the time the effect was triggered, but gained it later, before the matching challenge (i.e. is "eligible" checked at the time the effect is triggered, or as part of the passive abilities step of the challenge initiation or declare defenders step).

How is "eligible" defined in terms of kneeling, having/gaining/losing icons, stealth, and other challenge participation restrictions? Specifically, how would the following situations play out?

- The character had a military icon at the time Rhoynar Emissary was used, but lost it before a Military challenge was initiated.

- The character has a Military icon, a military challenge is initiated against that character's controller, and the Emissary's target is stealthed.

- The character has a Military icon, was standing at the time the Emissary's effect was triggered, but was then knelt before a Military challenge was initiated (ex: Lost Oasis).

- The character has the appropriate icon, but is prevented from participating by another effect, such as Herding the Masses, Joust when two characters are under the Emissary's effect, Shore Leave, Black Hatchling's "cannot defend" text, etc.

- The character was knelt at the time that Rhoynar Emissary's effect is used.

- The character did not have the icon at the time the effect was triggered, but gained it later, before the matching challenge (i.e. is "eligible" checked at the time the effect is triggered, or as part of the passive abilities step of the challenge initiation or declare defenders step).

The essentially all work the same way - the card sounds more complicated than it is (Although it is complicated and had to be clarified by the faq). When you trigger the Emissary, it creates a lasting effect with a discard condition. That condition is checked at the end of the declare attackers (or declare defenders depending on who is the active player) step and what it checks is two things;

1) Was the character eligible to be declared in the declare (attackers/defenders) framework

2) Is it currently participating in the challenge.

If the answer is yes and no (and only that combination), then the character is discarded from play.

In practice, that means that if he loses an icon, is knelt or stealthed, he was not eligeable to be declared, but also that the controller player isn't required to jump through hoops (like granting the character an icon, if he can) to let the character be declared.

I'll quote an FFG comment directly, it may help you:

If there is anything preventing a character from being declared as a defender (for instance: knelt, lack of icon, stealth, or a card effect), that character is not considered an eligible defender

And from the FAQ document

The one special case that you asked about above is when two targets are hit by Emissaries and you attack with a Joust character. Here is a link to the same question in another thread, where it's explained that, because both are eligible to defend, the one you don't choose will be discarded: http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/69686-rhoynar-emissary/#entry718845