The Order of the Lantern

Hunters and inquisitors of magic practitioners

The Order of the Lantern is one of the ten ancient holy orders found across the Dominion lands. As with each of the ten orders, to become a Lantern-Bearer, the applicant must take an Oath to become a member. For this order, it is the Oath of the Lantern, which grants the user the ability to perceive the lingering traces of magic, to see those who use magic, and like a bloodhound it allows the Lantern-Bearer to find anyone or anything that has used magic.
With this power, the Lantern-Bearers have vowed to keep the free men and women of the Dominion safe from the evils of magic, by hunting down those mages who abuse magic and bring them to justice. The Lantern-Bearers are also on the forefront of the fight against blood magic and necromancy, those evils sprung forth from the Eternal Empire, as their holy light allows them to see past the flesh-masks of the blood mages and shows the necrotic traces of nearby necromancers.
The life of a Lantern-Bearer is one of curiosity and paranoia. Everyone and anyone can be a suspect, and the Lantern-Bearer must be willing to whatever it is needed to keep the evils of magic at bay.

The Darkened Threats

With the Eternal Empire encroaching ever further into Dominion territory, blood magic and necromancy are the main targets of the Lantern-Bearers. The Crimson Wight and his Dread Lords send blood mages and necromancers by the dozen into the Dominion each year to wreak havoc and start insurrections. If that weren't enough of a threat to the free people, there are people within the Dominion who seek out the secrets of blood magic necromancy without needing the Empire's prompting.
While a necromancer is easy to spot, being undead, the blood mages present a unique threat. They can switch their consciousness from host to host whenever they want, meaning that anyone in the Dominion could be a blood mage. The Empire has the ability to take over any military leader, any noble, even kings and queens. Should that happen, the Dominion could fall overnight, and only the Lantern-Bearers have the power to prevent it.
That is not to say the necromancer threat should be discounted. While their evil is obvious, they are one walking one-man-armies. A lich can raise an entire graveyard and turn its unfortunate souls against their still living descendents. It only takes one necromancer to throw the lands into chaos, a fact the Crimson Wight knows well.
Blood magic and necromancy are the obvious threats to the free world, threats that mothers use to scare their children into behaving. There is, however, a much more insidious threat the people of the Dominion, and that is the lure of power. The Words of Power that forms the mystical language of creation and destruction is more powerful than any blood mage or necromancer. They can shape the very fabric of reality, and anyone with enough diligence can learn them. This means that every man who can read is a walking weapon of mass destruction, ready to unleash chaos on the world.
It is this hidden danger that takes up most of the Lantern-Bearers' time. Every hint and rumour of magical abuse must be invested, just in case some arrogant fool has let the power of the Words gone to his head. Many believe that since they can shape and reshape reality, they are allowed to do with this world as they please. Power corrupts, and it is a slippery slope from a sigle uttered spell, to casting off the chains of authority and running wild in magical anarchy.

Structure

The Order of the Lantern has no central leadership, and is instead divided into several chapters spread across the Dominion. Each chapter is autonomous and, nominally, bears no responsibility for its brother chapters. While most chapters are on friendly terms with one another, the Albian and Moskievan chapters have an adversarial relationship that has resulted in bloodshed more than once.
The internal organisation of each chapter can also differ significantly. The Albian chapter, for example, is run by the Lord Inquisitor who is elected each year by the council of High Inquisitors who are themselves elected on a five year basis by the members of the chapter holding the rank of Inquisitor. In contrast, the Moskievan chapter is governed by the Grand Inquisitor, who is appointed directly by the Imperial Palace. The chapter of the Western Isles has no central leadership at all, and is instead run by a synod comprosed of the leaders of each of the chapter's smaller guilds.

Public Agenda

The Order of the Lantern's sole mission is to hunt down those that abuse the powers of magic, and bring them to justice. What this exactly means, and far the Lantern-Bearers can go in their quest for justice depends entirely on the nation their respective chapters operate in. In the Kingdom of Alba, the Lantern-Bearers have been given carte blanche to investigate anyone in the Kingdom, but have been forbidden to kill anyone that is not a blood mage or necromancer. The Empire of Moskiev's chapter has even more restrictions placed on them. Anyone in the Empire is fair game for them to do with as they please, but as with everything else in Moskiev the Chapter is under the control of the Imperial Principates and are forbidden from investigating the upper members of the Principates or the Imperial family.

Chapters of the Order

Albian Chapter

The Lantern-Bearers of Alba are simultaneously one of the most powerful, feared, respected and revered organisations in the kingdom. They are hunters and inquisitors and everyone is subject to their scrutiny. Unlike their bothers, the Order of the Guardians, the Lantern-Bearers are not looked on fondly by the common people. The Guardians are the watchful village guardsmen, keeping towns and roads safe; working to serve and protect. The Lantern-Bearers, on the other hand, only come to the towns and villages when they come hunting, and when they pull away children from their parents, wifes from their husbands, and brothers from their sisters.
The Lantern-Bearers of Alba are the most zealous of all in the Dominion, and they fight more than anyone else to keep the kingdom pure. Anyone, absolutely anyone, is fair game to them. All are their prey, and they can hunt who they wish. King Gerard, in his many reforms, condoned this view of the Lantern-Bearers, knowing that they will keep his nobles frightened and in line.
With both the peasantry and the nobility dispising them, life isn't easy for an Albian Lantern-Bearer, but that is the price that they pay for their holy work. They take comfort in their rituals and in their faith.

Moskievan Chapter

The Lantern-Bearers in Moskiev are a Holy Order only in name. They long ago stopped pretending to be anything resembling an assembly of holy men working together for the common good. Instead, the Moskievans have become secret-police for the Imperial Throne, hunting down anyone that poses a threat to the Empress and her continuing governance of the nation.
Each of the Moskievan Empire Principates that run the nation are autonomous and run thrugh the sole authority of its Prince. With each Principate governing a separate part of the empire, the holy orders have always been an issue as they cross these "indelible" boundaries between the Principates. The Lantern-Bearers especially have been a thorn in the side of the Princes since they have decided to choose their own Prince to follow, rather than falling in line with the rest of the nation.
The Lantern-Bearers follow the Eighth Prince, in charge of the Imperial Household, and through him they report directly to the Empress. The Grand-Inquisitor has become an intergral part of the Eighth Principate and each day he is given a list that the Empress needs sorting out. The excellence with which the Order have carried out these orders are a testament to their ruthlessness, and the reason why the Empress continues giving them orders. The Lantern-Bearers have become expert assassins who use their rituals to focus their minds, and their magical senses can track any spellcaster who has insulted the Imperial Throne.
While the Moskievan Lantern-Bearers still have a mandate to track down way-ward mages, this has become secondary occupation that has only been pursued by the more idealistic among the Lantern-Bearers. These idealists have, in secret, begun to move over to the Twelfth Principate in charged of all magic in the empire. With the Twelfth Prince, these idealist Lantern-Bearers track down the necromancers and blood mages that have broken the laws of the nation. It is a small good that the Lantern-Bearers have done, while being assassins for the Empress.

Sigil Rules

Oath of the Lantern

Vow

A Lantern-Bearer’s life is spent in search of evil. When you gaze for so long into the abyss, precautions must be taken to ensure the abyss does not gaze back. Therefore the Lantern-Bearer has vowed to blend the ritualism of his religion into his everyday life. Every part of his daily life will be filled with religious rituals in order to keep his mind focused on the task at hand and his soul free of evil. What the specific rituals are will depend on the Lantern-Bearer’s specific religion and will be determined by the GM, but it must be something
that the Lantern-Bearer goes out of his way to do, it must take up time and it must involve all his daily activities. A quick mental prayer now and then won’t suffice.


Areas that the rituals must cover:
• Greeting others and saying goodbye
• Buying/selling/trading
• The start and end of a journey
• The start and end of combat
• Before and after meals
• Before sleeping and after waking up
• Before using any magical powers
• Daily prayers
• Illness/death rites


And anything else that the GM wants to include.

Power

For his dedication and his diligence, the Lantern-Bearer has been granted the power to create Holy Light. This Holy Light takes the form of a brilliant silver-white sphere 30cm in diameter that gently
floats around the Lantern-Bearer, unless he mentally commands it to be in a specific position relative to him. The Lantern-Bearer can direct the Holy Light to move to specific locations although it can never be more than two metres away from him. The Holy Light illuminates the area around the Lantern-Bearer within Close range and provides enough light to see within Near range. While the Holy Light is as bright as evil is dark, it will never
blind anyone.


The Holy Light is not only a convenience at night time (and poorly lit areas), it also reveals any trace of past magical effects as well as those who can use magical powers (such as Darksiders and the undead). Traces of past magical effects will glow where they were used, with the strength of the glow based on how long ago the magical effect was cast. Holy magic will glow a soft silver; elemental type magic will glow a colour according to their element; incanted magic will glow a deep indigo; undead a sickly green; and Darksider magic will glow a coal black. Anyone who can use magical powers will also glow the same colours, and if a character can use more than one type of magical ability, then their “aura” will be a marbled blend of colours. Only Lantern-Bearers can see these illuminated auras (whether it be on an object or person), and they rarely let this secret leak outside their brotherhood.

Perk

The Oath of the Lantern is an oath of constant questing and searching. Thus, the Lantern-Bearer has been blessed in ways to aid his eternal investigation. By taking up this Vow, the Lantern-Bearer
permanently gains 20 Levels to his Perception, Investigation and Intuition Skills.

Penance

The Lantern-Bearer has failed to guard his mind and soul with his rituals, and now he will pay the price for his lack of diligence. His Penance (other than losing his Power and Perk) is to become blind. He will no longer be able to do any Skill Check that requires the use of his eyes. He can still do Perception, Investigation and Intuition Skill Checks, but he has to rely on his other senses, and so he will take severe penalties to these Checks.

The Oath of the Lantern comes from the Sigil Mod Brightest Night.

Type

Religious, Monastic Order

Demonym

Lantern-Bearers

Parent Organization

The Dominion of Man