Justicar's Blades

The Justicar's Blades are the armed forces of the Justicar who enact his direct will on Gaulren. They are an order of divine warriors who fight to destroy the enemies of the Justicar and make sure the Republic stays true to his will. The Justicar's blades are an extremely influential order within the Republic and often have the ability to override many portions of the Republic to keep them true.
Many smallfolk tremble at the presence of the Justicar's blades as most of their interactions with them are when a fierent is sent to quell a a mob rioting.

Structure

The Blades are ordered into three distinct categories

Initium

The initium is when a person or persons are placed under the ward of a lanista to be trained to follow the Justicar's path. These lanista move to locations across Gaulren to ensure the recruits are properly trained among a variety of threats they may face. It is at this time that recruits must decide to become a Venandi, lictor, or Fierent. There are three tiers within the Initium

Initiate

An initiate is a paladin, cleric, warpriest or lawbringer (hellknight)  that has decided to dedicate himself to enact the will of the justicar. Only the most martial of the Justicar's followers are selected to join the Justicar's Blades and only a fraction of those initiates are then selected to continue within the Justicar's Blades. Towards the end of their training a Blade must decide to become a venandi, lictor, or fierent

Lanista

A Lanista is the one who trains initiates and finds out if they are worthy of serving the Justicar in his ranks. The Lanista will put their initiates through all manners of trials in order to bring out the best in the initiates. It is expected that some initiates will die during training so the lanista rarely gets attached to their initiates. Lanista are usually grizzled veterans past their primes that wish to continue serving the Justicar and pass the culture of the Justicar's Blades to the newcomers.

Errant

An initiate that has been deemed worthy by their Lanista of joining an order of the Blades. The errant spends their time trying to prove themselves to an order and be given an invite from an order to join.

Order

Once the Lanista deems an initiate is worthy the now errant goes around the Republic displaying his abilities to different orders. These orders will, once they've seen the errant display attributes they want, extend an invitation to join their order. An errant can elect to decline an invitation, but should they decline three orders the blades deem that he does not belong in any order and it is unlikely any other order will accept them. If after one year an errant has not joined an order they are kicked out of the blades and can never join again. Once an errant has joined an order as either a venandi, lictor, or fierent they serve under the Ordo Dominus either by themselves or in teams should the Dominus deem the threat great enough. There are three positions within an order all serving under the Ordo Dominus

Venandi

Venandi are given tasks when the threat is deemed too difficult to be dealt with by a chapterhouse. Venandi either go deal with the situation themselves or are attached to a Chapterhouse group. Venandi deal with threats that are classified as evil or chaotic and are usually compromised of paladins, but there are some cavaliers and clerics.

Lictor

Lictors are the bodyguards for Sovern officials and legates. They stand to protect these officials from unruly crowds or assasination attempts. It has never been recorded of an official dying before the lictor breathes their last breath usually buying enough time for the official or legate to escape and get help.

Fierent

Fierents are the keepers of law. When a settlement begins to grow unruly sometimes its as easy as informing them that a fierent will be arriving to diffuse the situation. Fierents are capable of suppressing full town wide riots within an hour of arriving to the scene. Vernica in particular has stationed almost an entire century's (80 soldiers) worth of fierents in Albion alone in order to keep order in the province. These individuals are also sent into a recently captured town to ensure their loyalty to the Republic.

Ordo Dominus

The Ordo Dominus are the masters of a given order. They hand out commands and assignments to their order members and expects them to be successfully fulfilled. Should a member fail to fulfill their task they can be executed by the Ordo Dominus for treason against the Republic and the Justicar if deemed necessary. The Ordo Dominus has some degree of authority in deciding who does what task, but must fulfill orders given to them by their Praeceptor. If an Ordo Dominus sees a threat to the Republic they must first ask permission from their Praeceptor to deal with the threat unless immediate action is needed to prevent imminent disaster.

Arbiterium

The Arbiterium is the fortress that houses the highest ranking members of the blades as well as the name for the group itself. Situated on the crater created by the Justicar's comet in the blasted sea the members of the Arbiterium ensure that the Justicar's will is enacted across the Republic as well as penetrating as far as possible into other lands. There are three distinct roles within the Arbiterium.

Praeceptor

The organizers of up to five orders, usually only two or three. These Praceptors hand out commands to the orders under their control. The praceptors receive information from the nearest praedictum or in more serious cases the Praedictum Locum and determine which of their orders should deal with the situation. Praeceptors also receive commands from one of the three arbitrators in order to further the glory and prestige of the Justicar. Praeceptors also provide any support to heralds they require in enacting the Justicar's will.

Herald

Heralds are direct agents to the Justicar himself. They take orders from no one within the blades not even the Arbitrators. Heralds receive vague feelings or messages from the Justicar and it is up to them to determine his will and enact it. Heralds have supreme authority regardless of where they go in the Republic and may arrest whomever so long as its within the Justicar's will, but excludes consuls and Arbitrators. Heralds will occasionally also receive direct messages from the Justicar whenever this happens a herald will drop everything they are doing to accomplish the task he sets before them. Heralds also act as the bodyguards to Arbitrators when they have no pressing task.

Arbitrator

Arbitrators are the masters of the blades and organize the orders when a great threat appears. The last time all orders were mobilized together was during the third Lich wars when one of the liches gained control over the well of suffering. Since then no more than three orders have been mobilized together. Arbitrators otherwise ensure the loyalty of the blades to the Justicar and attempt to spread the influence of the Justicar. They also organize the various events and festivities in honor of the Justicar as they also act as the leaders of the church of the Justicar. The Arbeterium is lead by the three arbitrators who are promoted directly by the Justicar and take over at the whim of the Justicar and have no set term of office.

Orders of the Justicar

There are eighteen orders spread throughout the Republic. Most are stationed in Redwater and Albion with a few in Luclana. The Justicar's Blades leave the Evocati to deal with Plania and the Den of Thieves. This is a list of the larger orders.

Ordo Dominus

The Ordo Dominus is the largest and most active of the orders within the Justicar's Blades outside of the Ordo Lex. They are the main order within the Citadel of Order and are one of the orders responsible for keeping order within the provinces of Albion and Luclana. They are the order responsible for overseeing the Lunsine College. The Ordo dominus consists exclusively of Fierents.

Ordo Belua

Responsible for killing beasts and monsters that come from the inner Garot forest or the sanctuary. They are the largest order in Redwater and The Justicar's Bastion. The order is mostly staffed by Venandi, but has a force of fierents to calm towns that are being attacked by these creatures.

Ordo Scutum

The largest order of Lictors outside of the capitals, they are dispatched when officials need to visit the western provinces. They are stationed in The Justicar's Bastion and when not on missions to protect officials they are the guard and keepers of the citadel.

Ordo Decretum

The second order of fierents in the Citadel of Order. They are responsible for keeping order in the province of Albion and Luclana. They work to ensure laws are being followed and tribute is paid to the Justicar's church. When extra fierents are needed in Solden's provinces they are usually the ones who are called.

Ordo Sacrorum

Dedicated to the worship and hosting ceremonies for the Justicar. They hold festivals and religious ceremonies for the Justicar as well as disband and destroy ceremonies seen as blasphemous by the Justicar. They are stationed in the The Justicar's Bastion and are responsible for ending blasphemous rituals enacted by Those of Gaulren. They are also frequently dispatched to the Vostok Forest.

Ordo Mortem

Responsible for dealing with any uprising of undead coming from the Vostok Forest. All order members were killed during the Third Lich Wars and their sacrifice blunted the attacks allowing the remaining orders enough time to group and the legions the ability to regroup with their reinforcements. The Ordo Mortem was revived by several Errants who showed their prowess in the remaining fighting and were given the authority to recreate it. The Ordo Mortem is staffed by Venandi and Lictors specialized in the destruction of undead and protection against them.

Ordo Lex

Responsible for dispatching the Lictors and Fierents within the twin capitals. They are the largest order of lictors and second largest order of fierents behind Ordo Dominus. They are responsible for protecting the senators on a day to day basis and making sure no dark cults sprout up in the capitals. They also ensure the senate continues funding the Justicar's Blades.

Ordo Garot

One of the Orders stationed in the Garot Forest. They deal with issues too small for the Ordo Belua to deal with. They will frequently enter the inner Garot Forest and deal with issues before they become a problem. The Ordo Garot is mostly staffed by Venandi, but has fierents and lictors to manage towns and protect officials.

Public Agenda

The Justicar's Blades have three main functions all with the purpose of enacting the Justicar's will; Protect, hunt, maintain. The lictors are charged with protecting the high ranking officials of the Republic to ensure they are able to do their duties to the Republic. Venandi hunt threats afflicting the Republic that are too powerful to be taken on by the mercenaries hired by the Evocati⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣. Fierents are there to maintain order among the provinces to prevent the Republic from falling apart due to interior threats. On top of these duties they are to spread the Justicar's will across Gaulren and remove any who goes against his decrees.

Assets

The Justicar's blades have two major fortresses as well as several Order outposts scattered throughout the Republic as well as the center of their power known as the Arbiterium.
The Arbeterium is the central administration of the Justicar's Blades. They set the budget given to them by the Senate of Solden and Vernica⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ in order to do their duties to protect the Republic. It is the headquarters of the Blades and it is the dream of most Blades to go to the Arbiterium to worship the Justicar to feel his presence. The Arbiterium is not the largest fortress, but within it resides some of the most powerful and influential people within the Republic.
The largest center of Blade control is the Justicar's Bastion at the north eastern edge of Redwater⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ on the border with the Province of Solden. It is a sprawling fortress staffed by the three of the most powerful orders of the Justicar's Blades. Many Praeceptors whose orders are in the west spend a significant amount of time there as it is closer to their orders and easier to keep an eye on them.
The other large Justicar Castle sits in the province of Luclana and is near the border of Albion⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ and is known as the Citadel of Order. It is the home of two orders who exclusively are composed of fierents as well as one order staffed mostly by venandi and a few lictors to protect the praceptors and officials who visit. The Citadel of Order focuses most of its efforts in the attempt to keep Albion⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ in line.

History

The Justicar's Blades formed from the most religiously fervent who wanted to continue the Justicar's crusades after the Justicar fell back to the blasted sea. They received permission to build a temple to him on the island created by his impact in the blasted sea which eventually became the Arbiterium. Several of its most prominent members began influencing the senate to give them funding to set up orders to deal with the variety of threats still lingering from the events of the sundering. Once they showed their aptitude in dealing with these threats they became more and more powerful until they became the extralegal order able to spread their will across the Republic. They gained enough power they are able to override many decisions made by the Evocati and even the senate. The Justicar's blades keep their hands out of politics for the most part as heretics to the Justicar are still numerous and plenty to absorb most of their attention. So long as the funding they require is given they keep their hands out of the Senate's decisions. The senate is scared of the Justicar's Blades as they have taken over as the protectors of all senators and know if they don't comply there will be hell to pay.
The Justicar's Blades have been influential across the Republic saving it from a number of threats and suppressing any rebellion that rears its head. They also have put down a number of undead armies and beastman hordes and were critical in the success in the Third Lich War. The Justicar's Blades in the last few decades have begun to reduce their presence around the Republic and many are guessing they are preparing for some grand plan.

Protect, Hunt, Maintain.

Founding Date

35 F.S.

Type

Religious, Divine Host

Alternative Names

The Blades

Parent Organization

The Republic of Solden and Vernica

Controlled Territories

• The Justicar's Bastion