Monks of the Golden Blade

The Monks of the Golden Blade are a small cult located in Altathair, based out of the Shrine of the Golden Blade. The cult has approximately 50 members, most of whom hail from either Altathair, Castle Blaze, or the Hedgelands. The cult is messianic, paying homage to Tinto, the ancient warrior who, according to legends, freed the Humans of the north from Giant bondage.
The cult was born in the year 853, a year after the Merchant Wars ended in Altathair. Causing a great deal of problems for the Church of Altathair was the fact that Morninglord Gamúl Ebonaire, a high-ranking member, was implicated as having knowingly assisted former King Derren in instigating the conflict. Though he stepped down, and lost most of his political power, he was never tried, and lived the rest of his days in his manor on the outskirts of suburban Bustoke. This caused a general trend of scorn and disenfranchisement directed at the church during the era.
Many people turned to alternative belief systems, and Tadeg Zolours was no exception. As he was traveling to Eastridge from his hometown of Eschel, as the story says, he had a dream in which Tinto instructed him to build a shrine, and await for his return, where he would return to and forge in the ashes of Altathair a new, utopian kingdom in the North. Selling everything he had, the charismatic Zolours moved himself and his family, along with a small group of followers, to the site where he had his dream, and began building the Shrine of the Golden Blade.
The church of Lathander recovered most of its credibility in the kingdom, which resulted in the “revolution” that Zolours believed was going to happen never happening. As a result, he did not gain the large following he thought he was going to gain. Instead, his cult simply attracted a small number of people, composed primarily of disenfranchised from Eastridge and Eschel, and humanists from Parmecia. He went to his grave with his prophecy unfulfilled. His cult outlived him, as his son took on the role of leader of the Monks of the Golden Blade, as the group began calling itself.
Because of the nature of their beliefs, the ruling powers of Altathair never appreciated the cult. The laws of the kingdom guaranteeing all religious groups to operate free of any type of persecution allowed them to continue unmolested, however. That was until 1,147, when Prince Troy of Altathair secretly abducted nearly thirty of the fifty monks living at the shrine, imprisoning them in Soniere Prison. Einar, the leader of the Monks of the Golden Blade, contracted a group of adventurers to rescue them, and to provide protection to the monks and their shrine. She has yet to formally bring charges against Prince Troy, and those who aided him, as she is collecting evidence to prove that he was behind the attempt to silence the monks.