Knights Templar of the Black Cross

Divine Origins

The origins of the Black Cross begin in Neundorf, with the burned city of Leipwerder. This city was but many sacked by the forces of the undead of the Deadlands, as Neundorf was always subject to raids from the undead. One boy would be left in the ruins of Leipwerder, a boy named Leovigild. He would in the blood and ashes of his friends and community, swear vengeance on the cursed undead fiends. As he would grow, he would receive visions from The Flame, telling him of what truly plagued this world: Sin. Sin itself is what drives men to embrace the curse of undeath and through light is what will vanquish sin. Leovigild would form the Knights Templar of the Black Cross, and bring the faithful to his banner. After amassing a small force, he would launch a retributive attack against the vampire lord who burned down his village, and to this day the vampires skull remains impaled on a spike outside their main fortress. To this day they remain one of the fiercest crusader orders housed in Neundorf, but also the one where the fires of faith and zealotry burn brightest

Tenets of Faith

Tenets of faith are the same as the Church of the Flame's

Ethics

The life of a crusader in the Knights Templar of the Black Cross is one full of rules and regulations. For starters, celibacy is sworn upon beginning initiation into the order, as well as many rules regarding alcohol, clothing being rather drab, and even long hair not being permitted. Most rules also cover how to effectively operate in the field, and how to handle accusations of sin and what to do to sinners, the most popular answer being to burn them on pyres, especially witches (unregistered magic users). Other rules cover how to consecrate ground and other such general rules. These dogmatic ethics have put them in conflict with not just other crusader orders but also the general populace who are honestly scared most of the time of seeing a knight with a black cross coming for their village. However due to how elite and efficient the Knights Templar of the Black Cross are at fighting the scourge of the undead, Neundorf sees fit to let them exist, for now at least.

Worship

Worship is extremly rigid even by the Church of the Flames standards. Extensive prayer grouos are held everyday, ranging from an hour to 2 hours each. Missing these prayers can make one liable for disciplinary action. Other then the rather draconian prayer ethics, worship of the Flame is similar to the standard churches practices.

Priesthood

Those who seek to join the Knights Templar of the Black Cross are either those looking to raise themselves up into prestige and absolving ones self of sins, and those that are more fanatically zealous then others. They join seeking to join the brothers and sisters of the black cross to rid the world of heresy and all forms of sin no matter where they manifest. To this end while many will stay training in their fortress of Black Cross Keep, sometimes squires or more senior warriors are sent out into the world to quest for sins to purge and rectify.
The Hochmeister is the Grandmaster of the order, and the overall commander of the forces of the Templar order. The Großgebietiger are the grandmasters high officers, and serve as his close confidents. There are five Großgebietiger at any time. The Komtur serve as local leadership whenever the warriors of the Black Cross go on extended campaign. Then there are the Orders Brethern who represent the main fighting force. The RitterBrudern , Brother Knight, are those knights who have been fully inducted into the order and have served for extended period of time, and taken monastic vows. Under them are the HalbBurdern, Half Brothers, are those knights who were members of the order, but not fully inducted and have not served for as much time as the RitterBurdern. Under them were the Knappe, squires who sought to be taught in the ways of the order.
The order recruits from the peasantry often, and so the DiendeBurden exist. They are not of noble birth and are made to serve as lesser men at arm rolls and help bulk up the orders forces as infantry.
Some specialized ranks exists, such as:

• The Kanzler, (chancler) of the Hochmeister: The chancellor took care of the keys and seals of the Order and was recording clerk of the kapitel
• The Generalprokurator: the representing officer of the order at the holy seat at the Church of the Flames meetings.

Granted Divine Powers

The Flame grants them many divine powers, such as the ability to smite their enemies and to se sin wherever it may lie.

"Free the World from Sin"

Type

Religious, Holy Order