Liber Maleficis, the Witch Hunters of the Flame
The Hammer of Witches
"The common rabble would never understand the burden i bear. I bear the weight of our beautiful burning god flame. The vast weight of my duty to ever man, woman, and child. The guilty do not judge thyselves, and they hide in the skin of honest folk. There are always more villages to cleanse, for our enemies our legion. I would kill thousands, entire villages, if it meant making sure one heretic wasn't allowed to harm millions more" - Erwin Blattner, Witch Hunter
Before the World Spear crashed into the world, Tertara was a magicless land. It was a land bereft of wizards and warlocks, but the Flame would pave the way for mortal kind, piercing the world from pole to pole. Magic burst fourth from this mega structure, and kept the world together and would help develop the many peoples we speak with today. However, Hell has always been jealous of the beautiful Flame, and so they corrupted magic into a maddening, warrping realm of arcane waves crashing at the edges of ones skull. Not all are born with the ability to wield magic, but soon enough people born with this recessive trait in all mortal races began to crop up. Waves of mutation and madness swept the early domains of mortal men, with the worst calamities wiping entire cities off the map. Something needed to be done for these vile mutants and renegades, thus the Church of the Flame wisely stepped in, and charged the first cleric templars with the investigation and persecution of magic users. These were the first Witch Hunters, zealots hell bent on killing anything found corrupted or unnatural. This brought about the harshest age in Ashenfeld history of oppresion against magic users, but the magical incidents began to decrese. It wasnt until the year 345EC that the first Magical Colleges were offically formed by one King Julius Windsor, and the first Master Wizard Zibeus that the witch hunters faced their first trial, how to temper these maddened zealots.
Oppoisiton to the colleges was fierce, and the church simply pretended they had no control over these holy, rigtheous men. That was until the then Pope Valentine Millington was excomunicated for found corruption of body and soul. Though some debate if this evidence was planeted, his successor Pope Eleanore Kendall would sign new legistlation to reign in the wild bands of witch hunters, on pain of death and excomunication of course. Reorganizing the hunters into the Order of the Flaming Hammer, the Witch Hunters were given both incredible power and yet still bound by law. No longer would every magic user be killed indescriminetly, and no longer could a Witch Hunter just burn someone upon a pyre. Now they had to arrest suspects of witchcraft and sedition and present them before a judge for sentencing. They may use torture and any methods deemed necessary to get a confession from the accused, and if found guilty, than they may strike a torch for the witches pyre. Though it should be noted there is no laws governing evidence, so a Witch Hunter can use any and all means to convince a jury of the suspects guilt. In nearly ever case, the Witch Hunter Wins.
Since their reorgnization, their role has expanded. No longer do they only concern themselves with the witch-born, now they are tasked with the eradication of all that is profane and corrupted. Undead, demonic, eldritch, mutant, and whatever vile cultists that praise dark gods know to fear the arrival of the Witch Hunter. Even the innocent know to fear the wide brimmed hats and dark clothing of these zealous judges, juries, and executioners, for even the innocent are not entirely free from their ruthless and bloodthirsty methods. All in the name of the merciful Flame, and the betterment of the Kingdom of Ashenfeld.Career
Qualifications
In truth, anyone can enter the order of the Witch Hunters, but they must first go through several rites of induction and training. The rites are shrouded in secrecy, but it is known that they are 7 great rituals testing both body and spirt. If they are found wanting, they typically end up dead. However if they survive, they will have undergone a profund transformation of body and spirit, and will be inducted into the mysteries of the order. They will go through brief of intensive training, barely sleeping at all, but will emerge trained and professional killers of the faith.
Career Progression
Amongs tthe ranks of the order, one starts as initiate, and can eventually work their way up to the rank of Witch Hunter General. Above them lies the 7 Master Theologians of the Witch Hunter Order, who answer directly to the pope.
Payment & Reimbursement
There exists two types of witch hunters, the mercenary and the sanctioned. While majority are offical and sanctioned witch hunters, they mainly only operate when sent out by the church to investigate areas. Mercenaries are some of the more common, as these hunters will sell their services as sellswords or even form their own bands of hunters to persecute the heretic and craven. Some are more "self proclaimed" witch hunters than offical ones, but many offical witch hunters operate as sellswords.
Perception
Purpose
To hunt down the mutant, the undead, the demonic, and eldritch monsters of the land. To uproot cults and secret socities worshipping these vile powers, to hunt down magic users not submitting to the mandatory training and/or pacification of the magical academies for public safety, and to execute these threats to the Church and local land.
Social Status
No group inspires as much fear in the innocent and the guilty alike as the Witch Hunter. The iconic black wide brimmed hat, tunic, and long black cloak are now a source of widespread suspicion and fear for many commoners. While Witch Hunters are seen as a necessity, it is truly a grim necessity indeed. The ideal of the Witch Hunters, that being "Trust no One" and "Innocence proves nothing" bring fear to many, and it isn't unheard of for more zealous witch hunters to burn down an entire town rather then let one cultist go unpunished.
Operations
Tools
A Witch Hunter will use whatever means they can get their hands on for the persecution of witches and heathens. Tall, wide brimmed hats and dark clothing is seen as effectively the standard uniform for them, as it helps strike an imposing figure upon the streets. Within the dark crypts of the orders temples, their lies relics of great and holy power, and even supposedly heretics and bound daemon possessed mutants for the use to kill the heretical and hellish. Aside from these, the Crossbow, hammer, blade, and torch are favored weapons of the Witch Hunter, as well as blackpowder pistols.
Dangers & Hazards
Hunting supernatural and rouge magic users brings a whole hell of its own, with undead, brigands, possession, and other unsavory ways to go being the risks a Witch Hunter goes through every day, which is why a large amount of solo Witch Hunters meet a terrible, violent end. This is the reason many Witch Hunters hire themselves on to mercenary or adventurers groups, for numbers bring safety. Corruption is also a very real danger, and a good witch hunter checks themselves everyday for any sign of corruption in either spirt or body.
Alternative Names
Templars of the Flaming Hammer
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