Order of the Red Haze

Twelve rivers of blood at year's end, Wrought by our hand, Across the land Together we stand, evil we fend.

When the trees turn red and the time of harvest comes to another year, twelve knights reconvene at the Mapleheart Grove to perform the Bleeding. This ritual calls and sates the spirits of the land, ensuring another year of their good will. The fog across the land on the day of this Bleeding turns red, and all followers of the bloody dozen prick their fingers on a rose bush to mark the occasion. This day of red haze is said to have occurred every year on the same day for countless generations to mark the anniversary of when the spirits of the land took their revenge on the people who cut down Mother Maple, and only when the Order was formed did the red haze stop being fatal to all those who breathe it.

Structure

The Order maintains twelve knights each with their own squires who would replace them when they pass. They are led by their most senior member. Separately, each community with crimson children has one or more Clerics of the Rose, who oversee the groves of the meeting sites and organize the monthly meetings.

Tenets of Faith

• Maple trees and roses are sacred and must not be cut down.
• All who bleed of major injury should seek a Cleric of the Rose for tithing and blessing.
• Whenever twelve are assembled, the eldest must lead.
• Red can only be worn by Clerics and Knights.

Worship

At the heart of it, the Red Faith is a worship of autumn, with the Bleeding occurs at the close of the last month of the year. The common folk who pray to the Knights of the Red Haze commune on the first day of the first month, the second day of the second month and so on until the eleventh month. They skip the twelfth month, for that is the day of the Bleeding. The followers converge around a circle of stones built in a grove of maples. Twelve of the assembled peoples take their places within the circle and make an offering of blood and tales of their plights. Children join the community on their twelfth birthday, and must take part in the next assembly.

Type

Religious, Cult

Alternative Names

Cult of Autumn, Followers of the Bloody Dozen, Red Faith

Demonym

Crimson Child