Crimson Order

Faith is Blood. Blood is Power

The Crimson Order is the prevailing religion of the Kingdom of Nephistrad, where devotion to the Scarlet Walker, a demigod tied to the divine essence of blood, shapes every facet of society. Revered above all others, the Scarlet Walker is seen as the sacred engine of the wheel of life, ensuring that the circulation of blood maintains both physical survival and spiritual purpose. To the faithful, blood is not just life, it is a covenant, a resource, a measure of worth, and an ascension pathway.
Though some Nephistrad citizens are born Sanguis, the vampiric lineage directly tied to the Scarlet Walker, others strive to attain this exalted form through ritual, wealth, or devotion. The Crimson Order is a zealous priesthood that serves as both spiritual guide and political enforcer. Acting in the name of the Mother of Hematurgy, the Order oversees religious rites, enforces blood laws, and collects the infamous Vida Culling, a weekly blood tax that sustains the Sanguis people and maintains their dominion.

Vein of Unity

The Crimson Order is a rigid, hierarchical organization whose members are trained in both Hematurgy blood magic and civic administration. At its head is the Grand Leech, a title passed through ritual inheritance rather than bloodline. Beneath them, various ranks of leech priests, blood binders, and vitae scribes oversee everything from the sanctification of temples to the cataloging of bloodlines and civic compliance.
Every major city within the Kingdom of Nephistrad hosts a prominent Crimson Order Church, known formally as a Sanctum of Offering. These sanctums are the administrative and spiritual heart of their respective regions, responsible for overseeing the Vida Culling, conducting blood rites, and maintaining regional order. While each sanctum wields significant local power, they are ultimately subordinate to the Grand Leech, located in Razmiran, the nation’s capital and most populous city.
The Grand Leech acts as the central seat of the Crimson Order, where doctrine is enforced across the kingdom. Orders, revisions to the Sanguinal Codex, and ritual mandates flow outward from Razmiran, maintaining a tightly coordinated religious structure that reinforces Sanguis dominance while offering a framework of stability for the mortal majority.
Though Sanguis make up only about 5% of each city’s population, their needs dictate much of the kingdom’s political and religious life. The majority, predominantly human, serve both as worshipers and as a living resource, their blood ensuring the Sanguis continue their rule. Each city maintains a fully operational Crimson Church and local blood registry.

City Name	Population	Key Clergy Figure
Avacyn	22,684	Bloodmother Symari Vonn
Breylet	10,384	Bloodmother Yvrena of the Third Vein
Falkovnia	9,412	Bloodbrother Vale Ashgrip
Lammas	18,861	Bloodbrother Dremel Ostun
Mor'zi	6,918	Bloodbrother Lysander Thorne
Razmiran	78,762	Grand Leech Velistra Varn

Together, these churches form the Vein of Unity, a spiritual infrastructure that keeps Nephistrad flowing, not just with power, but with order, sacrifice, and control.

The Sanguinal Codex

The Sanguinal Codex is the central holy scripture of the Crimson Order, a living tome that chronicles the divine teachings of the Scarlet Walker and the accumulated decrees of the Grand Leeches who have ruled the Order since its inception. It is bound in sanctified flesh and inked with coagulant vitae that resists age and fire. The Sanguinal Codex is divided into five major chapter:

I. The Book of Flowing Birth

Origins of the Scarlet Walker, the first Crimson Cup ritual, and the rise of the Sanguis.

II. The Testament of Binding

Nephistrad blood laws, sacred rituals, and the foundations of the Vida Culling.

III. The Red Vein

Parables and lessons taught by the Mother of Hematurgy; focuses on spiritual sacrifice and balance.

IV. The Thrumming Pulse

Edicts issued by Grand Leeches over the centuries, including punishments, exceptions, and recorded miracles.

V. The Final Vessel

A prophetic, unfinished section said to reveal the Scarlet Walker’s final design for Nephistrad and beyond.

To deny the Codex is to deny the Order’s truth and thus, the foundational law of Nephistrad. Heretics who alter its verses or possess an unsanctioned version are exsanguinated. Some believe hidden verses exist within the Codex, only revealed to those who’ve been deemed worthy by the Scarlet Walker. Whispers speak of unread pages that detail how mortals can transcend the Sanguis entirely, becoming immortal vessels without the pains of thirst.

“By vein and vow, I pour my gift. Let her path be red and clear. My blood is not lost, it is given. May it flow, may it bind, may it rise. I am less so we may become more.”

— Prayer of the Second Vein

Leader

Evenneth, the Scarlet Walker

Ruling Organization

Nephistrad

Location

Nevermore Expanse

Notable Members

• Evenneth, the Scarlet Walker

Related Species

• Sanguis

by Dean Spencer

The Vida Culling

Informally known as the Blood Tax, the Vida Culling is a mandatory ritual for all mortal citizens under Sanguis protection. Every week, each individual is required to donate 500 milliliters of blood, administered by trained leech priests in consecrated temples. This process is intended to be painless, utilizing sacred leeches to maintain the purity and vitality of the donation.
While most citizens consider this requirement a civic and religious obligation, some perceive it as merely the price for survival in the kingdom. Those who donate extra blood can receive coin, loyalty, or favors in return, leading to a secondary economy where blood functions as both currency and leverage. Unsanctioned extractions, counterfeit blood capsules, and illegal trading are prevalent, particularly in urban areas lacking oversight from Order enforcers.

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by Dean Spencer

Rituals of the Crimson Order

Bloodbound Wake

The Bloodbound Wake is held upon the death of a notable clergy figure in the Crimson Order and honors the return of their blood to the cycle. The body is placed in a sanguine reliquary where clergy and select mourners offer drops of their own blood in remembrance. The mixture is then burned, the ash kept in a bloodglass urn, often becoming a minor relic.

Exsanguination of the Scorned

Exsanguination is a public execution and purification of heretics. The scorned is drained of all blood in a slow, ceremonial fashion with their final breath offered to the Scarlet Walker as a warning to all. Bloodbrother Dremel Ostun often performs an exsanguination using the Leechsteel Flail.

The Weeping Vein

The Weeping Vein is conducted before executions or significant declarations to appeal to the Scarlet Walker for strength. A volunteer (often a devout or prisoner) is ritually bled in front of an audience. Their spilled blood is read by a vitae scribe who interprets omens and grants blessings. This ritual often bolsters morale if the reading is positive.

Key Clergy Figures of the Crimson Order

Sanctum of Avacyn

Bloodmother Symari Vonn

Symari dresses in flowing red-and-white vestments trimmed with soft silver thread, her auburn hair kept in a loose braid that falls over one shoulder. Her expression is often gentle, though her golden eyes carry the weight of practiced defiance.

Bloodbound Relic: The Veinlight Lantern. A relic that illuminates lies spoken in its presence. The lantern glows softly during sermons and burns white hot when exposed to betrayal.

Sanctum of Breylet

Bloodmother Yvrena of the Third Vein

Yvrena is adorned in luxurious crimson robes decorated with beads and dangling blood vials taken from noteworthy rivals. Her smile is ever-present, and her eyes flicker with cunning.

Bloodbound Relic: The Bloodsworn Coin. A bloodstained platinum coin marked with the insignia of the Third Vein. When flipped during contract negotiations, it ensures any oath taken is magically binding for both parties.

Sanctum of Falkovnia

Bloodbrother Vale Ashgrip

Clad in a long coat of ritual-hide layered with belt-pouches and stained apron, Vale resembles an alchemist more than a priest. His thinning gray hair is tied in tight braids, and his spectacles are thick with crimson-tinted lenses.

Bloodbound Relic: The Crimson Crucible. A mobile extractor device fused into a bracer. It allows Vale to siphon and analyze blood midritual to “measure devotion at the molecular level.”

Sanctum of Lammas

Bloodbrother Dremel Ostun

With a broad frame and a gaunt face etched by self-scarring, Dremel’s presence is imposing. He wears an armor vestment fashioned from cured leather that expose pale, veined arms marked with tally scars for every performed exsanguination.

Bloodbound Relic: The Leechsteel Flail. A weapon and sacrament tool that rips deep with each strike. Used in ritual punishment and theological correction.

Sanctum of Mor'zi

Bloodbrother Lysander Thorne

Lysander stands tall in hardened ceremonial armor etched with the sigils of the Scarlet Walker. His black hair is kept short, and his gaunt face is always shadowed beneath a deep red hood. His presence is like a drawn blade. Silent, swift, and inevitable.

Bloodbound Relic: The Chalice of Ash. A scorched chalice used to enhance ones vigor when blood is poured into it.

Sanctum of Razmiran

Grand Leech Velistra Varn

Velistra Varn is tall and statuesque, her pallid skin flawless and almost translucent under candlelight. Her robes are layered silks dyed deep crimson, stitched with vein-like embroidery that pulses faintly when she speaks.

Bloodbound Relic: The Sanguine Seal. A rune-etched ring filled with centuries-old blood from the first Crimson Cup Ritual.

Crimson Summits: When Blood and Power Converge

Though the Grand Leech in Razmiran holds ultimate authority over religious law, the clergy of the Crimson Order maintain regional autonomy until the Crimson Summits. Held quarterly or during moments of national crisis, these high-level gatherings convene in The Artery, an underground sanctified cathedral beneath Razmiran. There, the six leading clergy of Nephistrad convene with select members of the Blood Court to determine matters of doctrine, taxation, public control, and succession.
Each clergy member arrives with political leverage based on the purity, volume, and compliance rate of blood collection in their city. The Summits are not democratic, they are a battlefield of quiet rhetoric, veiled threats, and divine posturing. Summits are not merely religious meetings, they are the pulse of Nephistrad’s governance before the Forever King, where law, worship, economy, and survival converge in a single, blood-stained room. Outside observers rarely witness what transpires within the Artery, but those who do leave pale, shaken, and grateful to have survived.

Rumored Interactions

Highly Probable

Grand Leech Velistra Varn sits at the head of the dais, not as a negotiator, but as a final arbiter before speaking with the Forever King. She rarely speaks more than once during a summit, yet her pronouncements become immediate doctrine. Her presence alone silences lesser disputes.

Low Probability

Bloodmother Symari Vonn often plays the role of diplomatic mediator, attempting to soften doctrine or propose reforms to improve the mortal’s quality of life. She gains favor among the lower classes but is routinely overpowered by the more conservative voices unless she can rally others to her side.

Highly Probable

Bloodbrother Dremel Ostun treats the summit like a theological inquisition, aggressively questioning any deviation from tradition. He clashes frequently with Symari, often threatening expulsion or ritual correction for proposals he deems heretical.

Low Probability

Bloodmother Yvrena thrives in these meetings, turning favor-trading and veiled bribery into spiritual currency. She often proposes "flexible interpretations" of blood law for economic benefit and frequently sides with Lysander Thorne to maintain order through fear while profiting through legal loopholes.

Highly Probable

Bloodbrother Vale Ashgrip is largely ignored during broader debates unless blood innovation or scientific policy is under discussion. When he does speak, it is with eerie precision, often presenting experimental solutions to problems others approach through faith or politics. His ideas unsettle the others but are rarely dismissed outright.

Low Probability

Bloodbrother Lysander Thorne serves as the Order’s enforcer and executioner, his voice carrying weight only when protocol is breached or dissent borders on treason. When summoned to speak, his words are brief but are often followed by arrests or purges in the following weeks.