Knights of the Silver Order

“These evil crystals are the stuff of dark magic; anathema to order and life itself. No goodness can come from their corrupt power, and those foolish enough to believe delerium can be turned to useful purposes are truly lost.“

— Knight-Captain Theodore Marshal

The Silver Order is an elite church-sanctioned regiment of paladins and ordained knights oath-sworn to combat supernatural evils, otherworldly incursions, and dark magic. As faithful devotees of the Sacred Flame, they believe delerium is a dangerous and contaminating blight. Led by the valiant Knight-Captain Theodore Marshal, the knights have been dispatched to eradicate the corruption at its very source.

Background

The Silver Order was founded several centuries ago as a militant arm of the Faith of the Sacred Flame. These knights and paladins act by the decree of the Divine Matriarch to defend the faithful from demons and monsters, and are called up as witchhunters when wayward mages dabble in forbidden arcana. Their holy missions transcend sovereign borders, but the order is headquartered in the Holy City of Lumen in Elyria.

Paladins are revered figures in the Faith of the Sacred Flame, as the founder of the faith was herself a paladin. Though not every warrior in the Silver Order is a paladin, each strives to emulate Saint Tarna’s valiant example. Though they usually operate as individual questing knights or in small warrior-companies, occasionally they are deployed as a regiment. Members of the Silver Order have been traditionally drawn from all peoples and all levels of society. Nobles and commoners are found within the Order, and one’s station in life does not reflect one’s position in the Order.

In their role as witch-hunters and mage-slayers, the Silver Order was complicit in the persecution and oppression of arcane spellcasters. To this day, the issue remains a deep stain on the order’s honour, as many observed that the injustices and persecution visited upon spellcasters stand in stark contrast against the tenets of the faith of the Sacred Flame, a faith that calls out for justice for the oppressed. Nevertheless, staunch supporters of the Silver Order argue that their deeds were indeed justified. Decisive action is necessary to defend the innocent and the faithful from wicked sorcerers who sought to dominate others with magical might, or cut down foul warlocks who spread wickedness through demonology and necromancy. The chronicle of the Silver Order records countless heroic missions that have prevented a dire threat from growing into a far greater crisis.

The Silver Order answers to the Faith of the Sacred Flame, not to the command of any sovereign nation. However, the Order remains strongly connected to its roots, and most of its members hail from Elyria. Ever since the realm of Elyria came under the de facto rule of the religious ministry, the order has become increasingly entangled in state affairs. Their knights have been deployed on inquisitional crusades against heretics, heathens, and other political enemies of the Sacred Flame. The distinction between an “enemy of the Sacred Flame” and an “enemy of Elyria” is not entirely clear anymore. As such, some worry the Order’s presence in Drakkenheim is an invasive ploy by Elyria to wrest control of Westemär, rather than a righteous expedition to purify the city of eldritch contamination.

Attire

As befits their name, the knights are clad in silver plate with gold filigree. They wear flowing tabards of white, prominently decorated with symbols of the Sacred Flame, rather than any individual heraldry. The Flamekeepers who accompany the knights wear religious vestments of white and gold.

Strongholds

The Knights of the Silver Order have built a military encampment known as Camp Dawn about two miles outside Drakkenheim, just on the outside edge of the Haze. Outside Drakkenheim, the Silver Order can often find shelter in any chapel or cathedral of the Sacred Flame, though not every Flamekeeper in Westemär now supports their mission. Their headquarters is the impregnable Vigilant Keep in the far city of Lumen in Elyria, where the Grandmaster oversees the entire order at the behest of the Divine Matriarch.

Objectives

• Destroy delerium at its source
• Stamp out the heresy of the Falling Fire
• Preserve the holy relics in Drakkenheim

Key Figures

Knight-Captain Theodore Marshal is faction leader of the Silver Order in Drakkenheim. He keeps close counsel with High Flamekeeper Ophelia Reed, the faction lieutenant.

Knight-Captain Theodore Marshal

Theodore Marshal is a man in his prime. He is athletic and tall with boldly sculpted features, bronzed skin, and unkempt sandy brown hair. Unshaven stubble has grown into a beard over the criss-cross of scars on his face. A leather patch covers his right eye. He wears gleaming silver plate armour etched with golden trim, and carries a shimmering sword and a broad shield engraved with the symbol of the Sacred Flame.

Ophelia Reed

High Flamekeeper Ophelia Reed is a human chaplain. She is a stout black woman in her late forties with a warm smile, rounded features, and braided hair. She wears the flowing yellow and white robes of a cleric of the Sacred Flame. She carries a silvered staff and a censer with a continual flame spell cast upon it.

Knight-Lieutenant Cassandra Wyatt

Knight-Lieutenant Cassandra Wyatt a veteran cavalier who leads the aerial units.

Silver Order Crusaders

The Knights of the Silver Order have marched the long road from distant Elyria. They have mustered a great strength of the Order, consisting of a hundred knights and their retinues, menat- arms, and retainers. Dozens of clerics of the Sacred Flame have joined their forces as well. Below are several concepts for quick NPCs to fill out the ranks of the Silver Order knights, paladins, and clerics.

• Ser Virgil Underwood - a human knight.
• Austin Edwards - A young knight, eager to leap into battle for his cause.
• Adam - A stoic and thoughtful paladin with a cautious attitude towards Drakkenheim.
• Claudia - A determined knight with the qualities of great leadership.
• Delilah - An aspiring Flamekeeper with a fiery attitude and strong will.
• Quinn - A new recruit, optimistic and eager to impress her team.
• Elijah - A paladin who takes great pleasure in defeating monsters in combat.
• Buddy Knox - A guitar strumming bard who sings the deeds of the Knights of the Silver Order.
• Noah - An aging man with a big white beard who takes things in stride.
• Ruth - a Flamekeeper who takes her job as a healer very seriously.
• Zacharias - An arrogant knight who fears no monster or abomination in Drakkenheim.