Order of the Seven Suns

The Order of the Seven Suns are a religious movement based on the worship of Demons, specifically the Second Underking Mordaghast. They were founded by the Underking's human puppet, Steerpike, shortly after Mordaghast began to rise in power within the void between 300-400AE. The purpose of the order is to carry out the Underking's will on the terrestrial plane, as Demons are incapable of being physically present outside of the Void without constant blood sacrifice. With the advent of the Second Demon War, the Order rededicated itself to furthering the cause of the invading demon army. They derive their name from their leader's golden sun/star medallion, & the Seven islands that make up the Thunderlands, which was the site that the demon army emerged from circa 200AE to start the First Demon War.
Members of the Order are distinguishable by their indoctrination, wherein Steerpike uses his demonic medallion to hyponotize his converts. This takes the form of a "great light" within their minds and manifests physically as tiny burn marks in the middle of their irises that release thin plumes of smoke. Over time, with further indoctrination, the burn marks intensify until they burn away the iris, and those in the furthest stages appear to have no eyes at all, only smoking black pits. Steerpike himself had the greatest disfigurement, with his eyes being pits of wet foulness that constantly gushed with black fluid, and was forced to wear magical prosthetic glass eyes to hide it. Elder priests in the furthest stages of indoctrination somehow have retained full vision as well as precognitive and clairvoyant abilities; however, their minds are inextricably linked to the Underking's will, and they are complete slaves to Mordaghast.
In 1015AE, following the defeat of Mordaghast at the Final Battle for Everglow City, the Order was left rudderless and no longer chained to the will of their dark master. While freed from indoctrination, many of the cultists still retained strong beliefs in the old ideology, and when a new prophet The Grandfather began to espouse certain philosophies that fell in line with theirs, the remaining acolytes formed the Clockwork Order of Karhnak. 
== Beliefs ==
The general doctrine for the order follows these beliefs.
* That the Temple of Aradia are liars and heathens;
* That Aradia is a liar, a "slattern," and a false god who has corrupted the world with her evil creations;
* That Vermithrax is the true creator of the world before it was corrupted by Aradia;
* That the slaying of Vermithrax has given rise to a heroic and great new conqueror king Mordaghast, who is the saviour of creation;
* That modern terrestrial society has become consumed by sinful behaviour and must be cleansed by the new Underking.
Members of the order display an intensely bitter, sadistic, misanthropic and especially misogynistic tempermant, and although they themselves are often Aradia's creatures, they believe other terrestrial beings to be below them.
=== The Manifesto of the Seven Suns ===
An investigation into the vaults beneath the castle Griffin's Peak, conducted by Jaster and Talia Blackthorne in the year 1015AE, unconvered a Manifesto written by Steerpike that espoused the creation mythos of the Order. The manifesto suggests the Blackthorne's terramancy was a gift given by Vermithraax for allowing him out of the Void to conquer the world in the First Demon War. Excerpts reproduced here;"In the begin, there was only the Kinge.The lonely Kinge.Kinge of the Nothinge.A Kinge without subjects is no Kinge at alland so with his great powerhe made a Bridea perfect Bride,so beautifuland filled with light
and now he would never be lonely again.But the Bride was malcontenteGreat King, she said unto her maker,Wise King, Mighty King. The Nothinge makes me sad.I am a creature of beautyeand I wish to see beautye all around me.And the Kinge loved her dearlyand wanted to make her happyand so he made a Gardenea great paradise in the midst of the Nothingewhere they could live together.With his power he madeBlue seas, rollinge plains, great mountains caked with snow.And he made life to live with them in the Gardene,Tall trees, tiny insectes, beastes as beautiful as his bride.But the Bride was malcontenteGreat King, she said unto her maker,Wise King, Mighty King. I cannot speakto these beasts. I am lonelyI wish for childrenchildren that may grow to be as wise as us.The Kinge was saddenedwhy do you ask so much of me, he said unto heram I not enough for youis it not enough for us to livein this great Garden I have made for usBut the Kinge loved her dearlyand wanted to make her happyand so he coupled with herand from her sainted womb came childrentall, strong, wise as the Kingebeautiful as the Bride.They lived amidst the snowefrozen in timenever aging.But the Bride was malcontenteGreat King, she said unto her maker,Wise King, Mighty King. We havea great power, we two;we could make lifemore life, stillwhat wonders we could create!And the Kinge grew angry.Still you ask me for more, he saidAfter all I have given you.No more, I say;I need only not be aloneand you, my Bride, are all I need.But the Bride was wicked.No true, pure beauty was she,but a Slattern.The Slattern lay in the mountains,and from her womb spilleddark childrenchildren that had the shape of the Kinge'sbut were cursedtheir eyes redand their skin like tar.The Kinge wept to beholdthis cursed spawn;what have you done, he criedi made you to bring beauty to my lonelinessand now you mock mewith these creatures?But the Slattern's greedcould not be satedShe lay in the woodsand from her womb spilledwood childrenugly, short, stunted in their lives.She lay in the barren northlands,and from her womb spilledgreater monstrosities still;bloated, squat, hairy rock-childrenwho had none of the look of the Kinge's design.You must stop this, cried the Kingeyour children are monsterstwisted and beastly in their shapebut the Slattern birthed only uglier offspringeshe lay with the beasts of the landand made vile fur-creaturesand green swine-men.Yet the worste was still to comeFor by living in this tainted gardenthe Kinge's true childrenbegan to lie with the Slattern's monstersand they made the worst creatures of allChildren with stunted lives,and no beauty,and little strength,and less wisdom,and none of the Kinge's will in them at all.I made you, the Kinge told the SlatternNow I must unmake youlest the monsters you createdestroy this Garden I have built around usBut the Slattern played a cruel trickand she expelled the Kinge from the Gardensending him back to the Nothinge from whence he cameThe Kinge had put everything into the Gardenall the goodness, all the light he could make;and when he came back to the Nothingehe could no longer stand ithe suffered in pain, endless agonyhe tried to birth new children of his ownbut they were twisted, filled with hatredthree terrible daughtersvast winged shadows, as their father now was.And the more he madethe feebler the creations becamemore twisted, more mindlessall in constant pain from the Nothinge.The Kinge's power was great.he could still reach into the Garden.The weakest of the Slattern's bastardslived amidst the Seven Suns;from here the Kinge could make his return.He found a man
a greedy manred of hair and black of hearthe whispered across worldsout of the NothingeObey me, he saidobey mebring my children into your Gardenend their sufferingAnd the greedy man asked unto the KingeI may have the power to give this to youbut I will not help you from the goodness of my heartthere is no goodness there, you seeThe Kinge cursed the Slattern's bastardsas foul of nature as of face;he offered richeshe offered womynhe offered a Garden of the greedy man's own.But the greedy man demandedthe highest honor of all;that he have the Kinge's powerthe power to make and shape the Garden itself.and that the greedy children he spawnedwould have the power as wellDo this for me, the greedy man said,and I will betray the Slatternbring you into the Garden once againand your children may live among my own."
== History ==
The Order's secrecy means a precise history for much of their existence is difficult to track. Steerpike was known have lived circa ~300AE and he likely began to convert various terrestrials over the course of his long life, with the 5 earliest converts becoming his personal guard the Harbingers. Around 1000AE, Steerpike began his machinations by planting his human Harbinger, later named Mr Sixx, in the staff of the nobleman Dominic Blackthorne. With the rising success of the Bloodhawk, Sixx became Spymaster and Court Sorcerer to House Blackthorne. At the same time Steerpike reached out to Nestor Knox and brought him on in the scheme. Working together, the three men set out a plan to destroy Arthur Blackthorne's household and weaken the realm with civil war, so that Mordaghast could conquer it all the more easily. The Second Demon War began at the Massacre at the Riverford, and in the rising chaos Dominic seized power as King of all Aradia; however, Steerpike and Nestor betrayed him, casting him aside and setting the stage between them for the grand invasion, which would begin at the Final Battle for Everglow City. 
== Organization ==
In 1015AE there are an estimated several hundred actively converted members of the faith, with some hiding out in communes in the countryside, while others are implanted within the highest level of government. The Order need no set meeting places or lines of communciation as they are all directed by a higher will; there are also no ranks within the Order, save for Cardinal Steerpike, his 5 Harbingers and his Listener making up the coucil of 7 that lead the order.
== Known Members ==
* Cardinal Steerpike, leader
* Harbingers, 5 individuals in the furthest stages of indoctrination who serve as Mordaghast's personal guard.
* Listener, an orphan child forcefully converted into an intermediary between worlds by Steerpike as a blood sacrifice, later killed by Malakai;
* Jaxon Waynrite, a western nobleman converted to the Order by Steerpike;
* Gerold Highcliffe, a young nobleman and aspiring bard who, along with various other New Age Knights, was converted to the Order by Steerpike