Hell Knights: Order of Tenacious Lament
Jul 19, 2019 13:16:33 GMT 7
Post by FirstMate on Jul 19, 2019 13:16:33 GMT 7
Overview of Order of Tenacious Lament
"We are here to uphold the law and enforce order. If we let crime went unpunished, then we can expect other criminals would become more and more cruel and disrespecting the society. There is no mercy for the merciless, there is no need to show compassion to the ruthless. Remember our vow to deliver justice, and deliver them swiftly to prevent troubles bleeding out. Collateral damage sometimes is unavoidable, but always attempt our best to alleviate them; lest we will fall from our stature and become mere ruthless and merciless criminals; lest we become the ones we vowed to destroy.
Right now we heard that there are rebels who seized Kintargo from Cheliax Empire. We could expect some repercussions will reach this very Colony we swore to protect. Therefore hear me o brothers and sisters of arms. We shall focus to uphold the law and order of this Colony, to prevent chaos from destroying and ruining this flourishing society, either chaos from within or without. We shall protect the place, the people, the innocent, and the law. Let us swear upon the very pride of our Order, that we will uphold the law as best as we can, and deliver swift justice to the merciless and ruthless proven criminals all over the Colony. If somehow we are unable, then at least to the very streets and roads. If that is still proven troublesome, then at least at our swords and halberds reach."
- Last Oration from Lictor of Order of Tenacious Lament, before went missing
Right now we heard that there are rebels who seized Kintargo from Cheliax Empire. We could expect some repercussions will reach this very Colony we swore to protect. Therefore hear me o brothers and sisters of arms. We shall focus to uphold the law and order of this Colony, to prevent chaos from destroying and ruining this flourishing society, either chaos from within or without. We shall protect the place, the people, the innocent, and the law. Let us swear upon the very pride of our Order, that we will uphold the law as best as we can, and deliver swift justice to the merciless and ruthless proven criminals all over the Colony. If somehow we are unable, then at least to the very streets and roads. If that is still proven troublesome, then at least at our swords and halberds reach."
- Last Oration from Lictor of Order of Tenacious Lament, before went missing
"The Hell Knight order here? Oh, they're scary indeed, and merciless to criminals. But so far, they are very cautious in sentencing a criminal, as if they have afterthoughts on not putting the blame on someone innocent. Very-- unlike their position of 'Hell'; if Hell is filled with people like them, I think it'd be nice to be in Hell. Some of them are real beauties too, behind that scary mask. What? That is Hell's trick? Now-- that might be true, but I'd gladly fall for it then. Heh heh."
- Local Drunkards and Regular of Taverns, once caught and sentenced guilty by the Hell Knights for public nuisance during a drunken rage
- Local Drunkards and Regular of Taverns, once caught and sentenced guilty by the Hell Knights for public nuisance during a drunken rage
"I always feel that the Order of Tenacious Lament actually has a goodwill in maintaining the Colony. I mean, at first I was afraid of their existence; and those intimidating cold glares behind their helms. But after awhile, I feel those glares kept me safe from thieves, scoundrels, bandits, pirates, you name it. So my business is safe, and for free too! I ended up send some donations to the order-- no no no, I am not donating to Asmodeus, I am donating to the Order."
- Local Shop Owner of Anchor's End
- Local Shop Owner of Anchor's End
"Strangely, as a follower of Iomedae, I have some respect to the Order of Tenacious Lament. It feels that they are your long lost brother or sister who was actually pure and kind but lived at a wrong place for the whole time, yet still retain some of their purity. I checked a bit to some people I know, and it is said that the Order itself is marked as heretical by the Church of Asmodeus, due to their strict adherence to the law, but discarding the evil and ruthless teachings and preferred to act-- this one is quite surprising-- with some compassion and benevolence. They hide it from public of course, they need to maintain their intimidation to threaten criminals. But if that is true, it is no wonder why The Test was often painful for them; I've heard from an acquaintance who witnessed the Test of this order and compared to another order: the Devils summoned for The Test were beyond cruel in breaking down the aspirants, as if fueled by deep hatred and disgust-- I'd rather not talking about what the Devils did to the defeated aspirants. Deep inside, I always pray for Iomedae to protect the purity of this order, and to keep them safe from the very Devils they summoned. And maybe one day, to redeem them to an enlightened path of righteousness."
- Traveling Paladin of Iomedae
- Traveling Paladin of Iomedae
Brief Description
Order of Tenacious Lament is the Hell Knights order established at Anchor's End colony. At first glance, they are similar with other Hell Knights and some might look like follower of Asmodeus. However, upon a careful inspection, it becomes obvious that there is more than meets the eye. The Order seems to adhere to the Law and Order while discarding the evil ways of Asmodeus, and for those with certain connections would immediately understand that the Order itself is considered quite heretical by the Church of Asmodeus.
Despite their good mannerism, they still enforce the law mercilessly upon convicted and proven criminals. They show no mercy towards those who are merciless and ruthless, especially those who threaten public order and the safety of society.
Due to certain loyalty towards Cheliax Empire, or due to spoken oath to uphold a certain part of the controversial law of slavery, they are bound to respect the Slave Trade. This does not mean that they will encourage slavery of free people especially innocent citizen, but they will not disrupt the practice of slavery and slave trade.
The intimidating Hell Knight Plate Armor is still the pride of Hellknights who passed The Test; their black or dark color gives an aura of intimidation towards those who break the law, especially intentional law breakers. However, it is quite common for those who have known some of them quite well, there usually is a certain warmth kindness hidden behind their thick layers of cold, merciless steel, covered by gruesome helms and masks of death and devils, and sincere hope of upholding the law for the benefits of civilized society.
Brief History
This lesser order was sponsored by the Order of the Nail in order to protect the civilization in Arcadia's colonies. As it grows, it became more focused towards law-enforcement aspects and acting as the 'guards' of the colonies, not only from the external threats and indigenous barbarians, but also from pirates and local corruptions.
Around the rout of Anchor's End sister Colony, the Order lost more than half of their ranks to protect the border and in evacuating the citizens, thanks to the ignorance of Segada Patrol who have not been seen for quite long time. Then after the recent events of Ravounel rebellions, their number was mysteriously dwindling too. Not only they have lost their Lictor (leader of the Order), they also lost many high-ranked Hell Knights that what's left is just a couple of Maralictors or Signifers, a few Hellknights, and some Armirgers; scattered all over the Colonies of Anchor's End, each is understaffed and overworked within their own colony of duty.
Tenets
1. I will uphold the Law even at this frontier.
2. No mercy for proven convicted criminals; allow one escape, ten will appear.
3. Collateral damage is sometimes unavoidable, but I will do my best to alleviate it.
4. Enemies come from within and without. Chaos lurks everywhere, and must be rooted out whenever possible.
5. I will be the armor and shield of the commoners and those weaker than me.
Details
Armor Features
Dark Plate Mail and Dark clothing, but with bright linings.
Favored Weapon
Any slashing.
Reckoning
Strict Abstinence and Routine Fasting, with occasional meditations with no protective inside hot water or hot steam room.
Using the Order
As the law enforcement figure, the Order can be used by any DMs but with a lot of precautions. The current situation of the Order is they are desperately struggling to maintain law and order, especially since the high ranking knights are gone. There are only mid ranking hell knights at most, and without a certain leader, it is difficult for them to coordinate. Therefore, usually each of them just focusing on their respective station of duty.
With the Hell Knights are bound to certain place, each Dedicated DM can have a Maralictor or Signifer who oversee the whole Colony. These mid ranking Hell Knights can have several Hell Knights under their command, and a group of Armirgers. Their privileges are limited to the Colony, therefore the 'laws' of a Colony can differ from another, and the 'Law-Enforcement' on each Colony can differ as well; however deep inside, all Hell Knights of the Order share a mutual feeling and intention: to uphold the law even at this frontier, to prevent chaos from spreading or even born, and to punish mercilessly upon those who have been proven guilty of a crime. However, interpretations may vary.
A Colony-wide part of Order is called a Division, therefore each Dedicated DM can post a reply at this thread to describe about their Division, including notable known personas if any. If the Division is masculine (the male members heavily outnumbers the female), the name should be a predator (militant) or tree. If the Division is feminine, the name should be birds (militant) or flower. If the Division is unisex or does not bother for gender, the name is taken from weapons (militant) or armor.
Common DM however is limited to Armigers who have not passed The Test; low ranking squires of the Order. Even so, they must join one of the existing Division, and the Common DM must have received approval from the Dedicated DM to do so. Otherwise, they cannot use any official and legal 'law-enforcement officer' of the campaign.
Table of Contents
Orchid Division
Alligator Division
