St. Woolos

The Knights of Gwynllyw started as the faithful followers of Saint Woolos who guarded his shrine at the site that the Newport Cathedral now rests. They were not originally a hunter group but emerged into one around the 11th century for obscured reasons. The supernatural communities that are aware of them call them the Witch-Hunters of St.Wooley's. They are a small sect and currently most active against the sorcerers of the Scarlet Cicle. In the 1970s, there were problems with several of the Witch-Hunters causing breaches of the Veil/Masquerade by publically attacking vampires and werewolves. These events indirectly led to the Newport City Council giving the HoH its current directive.
The Witch-Hunters are a quasi-religious order at this time. Some of its members are highly religious and follow a lifestyle based on their interpretation of texts about the Knights Templar and the Arthurian mythos. Others consider this an anachronistic and unhelpful mindset. Many members are police officers, security guards, firemen, paramedics, priests, doctors, journalists and nurses. Most had personal encounters with the supernatural that led to them seeking either protection or vengeance. Former ghouls, disenfranchised kinfolk, ravaged Dreamers and people simply in the wrong place at the wrong time are among its ranks. Some are married with families but many are single and avoid any kind of romantic relations or have cut ties with their family.
Despite thier moniker as "witch-hunters" the Knights of Gwynllyw do not actively go after neo-pagan groups like the Ashtree Coven but focus specifically on supernatural targets that kidnap, enslave, violate and/or murder humans. The Cult of Mithras, Ashtree Coven, HoH and Scarlet Circle are all known to them including the names of the leadership; they do not know who the Prince of the vampires is by name or know anything about Garou or Kinain culture.
==Leadership==
The current Grand Master (title for leader) is Rosemary Smith, daughter of the late Sir Malcolm Smith, the previous leader who was killed in 2004 by one of the Midnight Court. The name of the actual founder is unknown but folklore suggests it was Gwynllyw's "brother" St Petroc or one of their sons. Malcom Smith had been a member for 35 years and the Grandmaster for ten before his death. Rosemary Smith is young; she was in college in 2004 when her father was killed. She is not romantically involved with anyone and personally leads teams of the knights on hunts whenever possible.
==Places of Power==
St. Woolos Cathedral does not have the kind of metaphysical resources to be converted into a caern but it is true "holy ground" and effects creatures that have geas from crossing it. There are also wards laid across its boundraries that give a +2 difficulty to all perception-based rolls by outsiders.
==Popular Paths==
Alchemy, Conjuration, Conveyance, Enchantment, Fortune, Healing, Holy Fire (Hellfire), Summoning/Binding/Warding
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