Military Brotherhoods (CSH)

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Many warriors, and some rogues and wizards as well, owe their fealty to a military brotherhood, an organization of similarly minded and aligned individuals dedicated to a particular cause. Some military brotherhoods aspire toward paladinhood and number paladins among their ranks, while others are little more than mercenary units for hire by the highest bidder.
==The Elven Imperial Fleet==
The elven Imperial Fleet is the arm of elven might in space. Since the first (inhuman War, the Imperial Fleet has been the dominant military group in the Known Spheres, promoting elven interests and occasionally defending the "lesser" demihuman and human races.
Symbol: An elven man-o-war on a gold field.
Headquarters: Lionheart, a secret base comprising a ring of elven armada ships linked together and permitted to grow into a thick protective battlement. Lionheart is moved occasionally to confuse the Fleet's enemies.
Purpose: The primary mission of the elven Imperial Fleet today is communication. Fleet ships visit major enclaves of groundling elves within the Known Spheres at least annually, conveying the wishes of the Council of Admirals to the local kings and queens (and vice versa). This communication is important, as the elves do not have plane-crossing magics that would allow them to communicate through other means.
While in theory the Fleet is subject to the commands of the elven royalty, in fact the Fleet becomes involved only when and where it chooses. The Fleet does occasionally intervene in groundling affairs, but generally only in defense of the major enclaves. The Fleet's overriding priority is to minimize groundling contact (particularly with nonelves), so they are strangely unable to implement requests to participate in expeditionary activities.
Allies: The elven Imperial Fleet is a tremendously potent force for stability within the Known Spheres. The Fleet is admired by most of the trading groups and religious organizations (although the Chainmen consider Fleet members to be nosy busybodies). The Sindiath Line has particularly close ties to the Fleet. The Company of the Chalice also has considerable respect (and not a little awe) for the Fleet, and the Seekers get along with the elven Fleet so long as they are not in competition for information.
Enemies: While the Company of the Chalice supports the Fleet, the other military brotherhoods believe that the elves think too highly of themselves and are too quick to interfere in private affairs. (Perhaps the fact that all of these groups have at one time or another been on the opposite side of a conflict with the powerful Fleet could have something to do with their resentment.)
The Xenos point to the power of the Fleet as proof of their contentions that the elves are unfairly dominating human spacefaring civilization. Of all the organizations in this chapter, the Xenos hate the Fleet worst of all.
Joining: To join the Fleet as an officer, you must be an elf. Hadozee and other races may serve on Fleet vessels, but true members of the Fleet must be elves.
Spaceborn elves are the most common members of the Fleet. Groundling characters are rarely adopted into the Fleet, although groundling elves who have made their way into space on their own seem to be more easily accepted.
Even with the huge size of the Fleet, there is still fierce competition for positions in the officer's heirarchy. Application must be made to a specific commander, who either accepts or rejects the applicant.
To determine whether a character is accepted into the Fleet, roll a reaction roll (see the Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 11). In addition to the usual modifiers for character attitude and Charisma, the following special modifiers apply:
* -5 for a groundling character who has never traveled in space or who is currently without a ship.
* -2 for a groundling character who is applying from space.
* -2 for a character who is middle-aged.
* -3 for a character who is old-aged.
* -5 for a character who is venerable.
* + the character's level
Remember that the actual operation of a modifier to the reaction roll is reversed, so that a groundling character who has never traveled in space adds 5 to his encounter die roll.
The character must receive a result of "Friendly" on Table 59 in the Dungeon Master's Guide in order to be accepted into the Fleet. Should the reaction roll produce a lower result, the character must wait before applying to that commander again. The amount of time the character must wait is listed in the following table:
 Table 17: Imperial Fleet Enlistment
Reaction 	Wait
Indifferent	1 year
Cautious 	2 years
Threatening	5 years
Hostile 	20 years
Benefits: Once he becomes a member of the elven Imperial Fleet, the character has a home. The Fleet is a lifelong calling; the new officer may pursue his own goals secure in the knowledge that he is improving the lot of elvenkind.
Senior officers are usually given their own ships— generally men-o-war—which make open patrols through the Known Spheres. During peacetime, commanders of elven vessels are free to travel wherever they will, subject only to occasional check-ins with Fleet commanders or groundling stations. Some commanders forbid nonelves to serve on their ships, while others have heterogenous crews of a half-dozen different races.
Obligations: The Fleet requires its commanders to serve faithfully, undertaking missions across the Known Spheres. The Fleet demands great flexibility from its commanders; one mission may be a military strike and the next a diplomatic conference. Disobedience of orders is not tolerated—unless the commander succeeds at the mission.
==The Company of the Chalice==
The Company of the Chalice is a traditional order of good and lawful warriors (although nonwarriors are accepted) dedicated to the conquest of evil.
The Company is primarily lawful and good in organization. Each branch of the Order (there is at most one per sphere) is ruled by a Grand Knight, a paladin elected by the membership and charged with organizing and leading attacks against evil.
Symbol: A golden chalice.
Headquarters: Gondorin, the world of the lawful good in Herospace (see Crystal Spheres, Chapter 2). Purpose: The Company of the Chalice seeks to exterminate evil wherever it may be found. As this is a massive undertaking, and in its final form beyond the abilities of the entire organization, individual groups identify "evil infidels" who suffer the brunt of the Company's power.
It is up to the Grand Knight to decide who the evil infidel is within his sphere. (Grand Knights who pursue selfish or prideful goals often find themselves the "evil infidel" of another branch of the organization.) The current vogue in evil infidels are the neogi, who hate the Company.
Allies: Many groups admire the Company of the Chalice, although most feel that their zeal for good is a bit extreme. Most trading companies, who depend upon the law and stability that the Company creates, see the Company of the Chalice as a valued part of spacefaring society.
The Pragmatic Order of Thought has a rough but amiable relationship with the Company of the Chalice. Both believe in the goals of good, but the Pots see Company members as too rigorous and controlled, while the Company sees the Pots as ineffectual. They do work together now and then, particularly against slavers or pirates, but such alliances tend to be short-lived.
Enemies: As stated above, the Company hates the neogi—and vice versa. Company warriors will attack a neogi ship on sight, while the neogi will torture and slay Company members if they capture them, and offer hefty rewards for the local Grand Knight if he troubles them.
The Chainmen view the Company of the Chalice as interfering meddlers who should mind their own business. The Tenth Pit sees the Company as competition of the worst sort—competent. Pit members try to discredit the Company whenever possible, although direct clashes are rare.
The Xenos believe that the paladins of the Company are proof of their thesis of human superiority, but these overtures have not been well received by the Company.
Joining: Joining the Company of the Chalice is difficult, as only the most talented and trustworthy are accepted. A candidate must be at least 3rd level and must be lawful good in alignment. He must be sponsored by a paladin of the Company; this sponsorship is often at the recommendation of another member who knows the candidate well.
The Company of the Chalice comprises humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, and giff, with a scattering of grommam and other races. While there is no racial bias as such, there is a bias toward physical prowess that keep gnomes and halflings (who are physically weaker than the larger races) underrepresented in the Company.
Asking to join the Company is seen as a sign of being too eager and proud. According to a Company proverb, "The Company picks the candidate; the candidate does not pick the Company."
When a candidate has been selected, someone from the Company arranges a meeting at which the candidate is asked if he wishes to join. If so, he is brought before the entire local branch of the Company to be inducted. The ceremony is filled with many involved and dramatic rituals, including an oath of fealty to the Grand Knight and the Company. If the candidate declines, he will never be asked again.
Benefits: Being a member of the Company of the Chalice has several benefits. First of all, the members of this order are among the most powerful and important lawful good individuals within the spelljamming community of a sphere. The order takes a fraternal view toward its members, and such contacts can be valuable to those who seek political influence.
More mundanely, the Company acts as a training ground for its members. Instruction is given by high-level warriors and paladins, and can be had for half the normal price (if training rules are being used; see the Dungeon Master's Guide, Chapter 8, for more details).
Finally, members of the Company may choose to travel with other characters on adventures. Such members come only if invited, and only if both they and the Company will be given a fair share of the treasure, but in few other organizations can you find such a ready supply of skilled warriors.
Obligations: As part of joining the Company of the Chalice, the character takes an oath of fealty to the Grand Knight and the Company. This oath requires the character to join in battle against the infidel when called by the Grand Knight. Moreover, this oath is transferrable. If the character leaves the sphere where he was inducted, he must visit the Grand Knight in his new sphere so that he may renew his vows.
==The Pragmatic Order of Thought==
The Pragmatic Order of Thought, known derogatorily as the "Pots," is a loose organization of neutral good and chaotic good individuals founded on the ideas that all people deserve liberty of thought and freedom, that slavery is an abomination, and that travel and trade should be unrestricted.
Symbol: A torch held aloft.
Headquarters: The Pots are very disorganized, so no true headquarters exists. However, the Free City of Greyhawk on Oerth in Greyspace is a known center of their activities.
Purpose: The Pragmatic Order of Thought seeks to destroy slavery and interference with travel within the Known Spheres. Their approach to this is to stamp the offending actions out anywhere they find them, but they have neither the strength nor the organization to do more than annoy the established trade.
In areas where slavery is legal, the Pots run safe houses and hostels in major cities and spaceports to help slaves escape. In areas where slavery is illegal, they watch for its signs and either report it to the authorities or, if they feel it is within their power, attack it themselves.
The attitude of the Pots is focused on benefiting the slaves that they see. It is more important to a typical member of the Order to free a coffle of 10 slaves than to stop a network that ships thousands, because the plight of the 10 slaves is immediate. Of course, if the member can do both, he will.
Allies: Many good-aligned organizations see the Order as well meaning but poorly organized. The Company of the Chalice works with them on occasion, as do the Seekers, although the latter will become involved only if their higher goals are at stake. While the Celestians see the Pots as idealistic dreamers, they agree with them and will help whenever possible. There are some individuals who are members of both groups, but most Celestians are not interested enough in human society to pursue the goals of the Order.
Enemies: Slavers hate the Pots. The Chainmen have a standing offer of 1,000 gp for the head of any member of the Order who has interfered with them. The Xenos, who end up on almost everyone's enemy list, view the Pots as soft-hearted, soft-headed traitors (if human) or as animals (if not).
While the Shapers are not supporters of slavery, they see the vigilante attitudes of the Pots as disruptive to an ordered society. One of the reasons the Pots are not as influential as they would like to be is their lack of magical support; mages who are willing to work with the Pots are few and far between.
Joining: Joining the Pragmatic Order of Thought is fairly informal. If Order members spot injustice and are moved to battle it, they do. If you're with them, it doesn't matter your race, class, or planetary origin: you're one of them.
Benefits: The primary benefit to belonging to the Pragmatic Order of Thought is camaraderie. The members of the organization socialize together and tend to see the universe with a common, rather simple point of view. They will help one another and may even adventure together, but there is no underlying "organization" that can intercede.
Obligations: The obligations of a member of the Order are pretty much what he believes them to be. If a certain battle looks too tough, or if circumstances prevent him from pursuing an obvious Order goal, he has only his conscience to live with. Of course, if the member repeatedly refuses the goals of the Order, particularly in the presence of other members, he may be shunned but nothing more will happen to him.
==The Tenth Pit==
The Tenth Pit is a small but very well organized and dangerous group. Its members present themselves as an organization to establish the peace in space, but their control is often more dangerous than the supposed lawlessness they intend to suppress.
Symbol: An X (a groundling symbol for 10).
Headquarters: Unknown. Rumors exist that they are operated from the lawful-evil world of Darkseed in Herospace, or from a hidden evil base deep within the Color Spray Nebula of Realmspace.
Purpose: The stated goal of the Tenth Pit is to extend order into the spheres and provide guaranteed safety between them. Unfortunately, the unstated follow-up is that the Tenth Pit will be set in charge of this new order. There are stories of Tenth Pit agents working with evil groundling organizations such as the Draconians of Krynn and the Zhentarim of Toril. Other rumors warn of their contacts with powerful extraplanar beings of lawful and evil alignment. Whatever their extent, many groups fear the Tenth Pit's growing power.
Allies: The Tenth Pit is sufficiently secretive that its allies are generally unknown. There are rumors that they are allied with the neogi, the Chainmen, the Xenos, and even the Arcane. There is no way to determine the real truth.
Enemies: The Tenth Pit sees the individual domains of the Grand Knights of the Company of the Chalice as self-proclaimed fiefs, and have politically (and occasionally physically) fought this group on several occasions. They are not fond of the Pragmatic Order of Thought, nor do they have much use for the Seekers.
The elven Imperial Fleet sees the Tenth Pit as an upstart human organization that is trying to take authority away from the elves. Fleet losses in the second Unhuman War have allowed the Pit to gain dominance in nearby spheres, and the Fleet is considering a brief action to bring the Pit into line. Knowing elven decision-making, this will not occur for a few centuries, if ever.
Initially, the Shapers were allied with the Tenth Pit, as the Pit was a civilizing influence on wildspace. However, as the true nature of the Tenth Pit has become apparent, the Shapers have turned away from them. There are not yet open hostilities, but the Shapers no longer provide magical support to Tenth Pit "pacification" actions.
Joining: The Tenth Pit is extremely selective in its membership criteria. Applicants must be of 5th level or higher and must be of lawful evil or neutral evil alignment. Any class may join, but the leadership is heavy with warriors and rogues. (There is rumored to be a secret "inner council" of powerful spell-casters, but like most rumors about the Tenth Pit, this information is unconfirmed.)
The Tenth Pit is led by humans but employs lizard men, hurwaet, hadozee, xixchil, and goblinoids of all types, particularly in the lower ranks. There are a few renegade half-elves in the organization, but most of the demihumans give the Tenth Pit a wide berth.
Benefits: In areas where the Tenth Pit has succeeded in becoming the dominant force, membership has all the advantages of belonging to any powerful police organization. Once in place as "the law" of a sphere, the Tenth Pit runs protection rackets, smuggling, and other activities; these are tolerated by the leadership so long as the appropriate kickbacks are paid.
Obligations: The Tenth Pit demands obedience. Their leadership is ruthless and powerful, and members must obey the edicts of those leaders without question. Dissenters do not survive to leave the organization.
==The Trading Company==
Despite its name, the Trading Company is in fact not a mercantile establishment but a mercenary force, selling warriors and weapons to those who can pay-
Symbol: An infinity sign within a crystal sphere.
Headquarters: The Trading Company maintains a major outpost on the Rock of Bral near the docks. The Company also maintain training grounds in remote areas on several worlds.
Purpose: The Trading Company seeks profit. Staunchly neutral, except for refusing to supply mercenaries to both sides of a conflict, the Trading Company is an equal opportunity group, willing to sell to the highest bidder. The Company's only saving grace is that once its mercenaries are purchased, they stay bought.
The Trading Company commonly organizes expeditions to wars and other hot spots to open negotiations. Trading Company mercenaries are common in space, and some are found in groundling wars, where they are legendary as "soldiers from strange far-off lands with odd accents and powerful weapons."
Allies: The Trading Company has many customers but few allies. The priests of Ptah and the Seekers have been known to employ the Trading Company, but the only true allies of the Company are its own mercenary units.
Enemies: The Tenth Pit views the Trading Company as incompetents who get far more than their share of the mercenary business. The Sindiath Line has earned the Trading Company's emnity for refusing to transport mercenaries, but thus far the Line's responses have been conservative and limited to defending themselves. Should the Trading Company attack the Line directly, however, the mercenaries will have to contend with the full might of the elven Imperial Fleet.
The Shapers see the Trading Company as destabilizing because the Company make military might available to any side in a conflict. They try to discourage the spread of mercenary groups, believing that if combatants are forced to use their own people for war, they are less likely to participate in it.
Joining: The Trading Company takes all who are interested. The formal requirement is that you can write your name on the proper document. If this is a problem, however, the recruiting officer will do it for you.
Advancement in the Trading Company is almost entirely by seniority. Each rank has an associated service time and number of battles in which the warrior must participate to advance to the next rank.
The Trading Company trusts that the daily deaths of war will weed out the undesirable and the unworthy.
Notably skilled warriors may be breveted to a higher rank than private if they can demonstrate their skill. Once they have been given a rank, however, they fall into the standard system for advancement.
Benefits: The Trading Company offers regular pay, rations, and a place to sleep. For those committed to a career in the military, and who feel skilled enough or lucky enough to survive, this support can become quite comfortable at the higher ranks. The Company also offers the chance to travel throughout the Known Spheres, and all the battles you want (and then some).
Obligations: The Trading Company is a true military organization. The Company requires obedience and respect to superiors at all times. Disciplinary problems are handled by a military tribunal appointed by the commanding officer. This tribunal's findings cannot be appealed or countermanded, and a common punishment is death.
Leaving the Trading Company is possible, however. A mercenary can leave only after finishing the current assignment, receiving any back pay owed and transport to the nearest Trading Company base. From there, the former mercenary is on his own. Given the death rate, however, there aren't many ex-Trading Company members among the spheres.