Priest of Judas

*"We ask of thee: Whit art thou?"*
"We are Iscariot, the Zealot Judas!"

*"In that case, Iscariot, we ask of thee: Whit dost thou hold in thy right hand?"*

"Daggers and poisons!"

*"In that case, Iscariot, we ask of thee: Whit dost thou hold in thy left hand?"*

"Thirty silver pieces and a rope!"

- Opening to the Iscariot Vow, spoken as a call-and-response
## Tactical Analysis

* **Ordained and Unhinged:** The Order's assassins, the Priests of Judas are extremely aggressive infantry. They blend in with their surroundings until the time comes to strike, leaping into battle with guns blazing.

* **Heroic Bloodshed:** The twin pistols of these madmen can do massive damage at close range, and because of the careful training can be fired in any direction, even when the Priest is moving. And as they rise up the ranks, becoming potential Crimson Cardinals, their revolves would similarly be updated, until they are essentially wielding a pair of thermobaric handcannons.

* **Taking you with Me:** When surrounded by enemies and mortally wounded, a Priest of Judas thinks nothing of pulling the big red cord on his vest and dragging everything within fifty feet straight to hell, note that the Priest of Judas needs to prime their vest for maximum explosion, so it’ll be less effective if they activate it on death. And as they rank up, and proved to be more valuable, the Priest would similarly upgrade the explosives within their vest, culminating in them using a "nuclear bomb" reverse-engineered from the Atomic Kingdom, and would take insurances, so upon death their valuables will be given to the order to recoup their loss.

* **Death-Seeker:** Dying in battle isn't something that the Priest attempts to avoid, really, so they wear no armour and refuse to take cover. This has detrimental effects on their lifespan, unless somebody can protect them.

## Background

Though the Order of the Talon may be the Cult of the Black Hand’s greatest enemy, it is by no means the only enemy the Cult of the Black Hand has made throughout their centuries-old existence. Though most were vanquished by the Cult or otherwise disbanded, the Order of the Talon is not the only enemy of the Cult that has survived to this day.

One example would be the **Priests of Judas**, a controversial sect dating back to pre-Constantine Gnostic sects, a sect that reveres the infamous apostle as a zealot ordered by Christ to betray him, who then took his own life in an act of sacrifice. Upon their discovery of the Cult of the Black Hand, they made it their goal to hunt down and destroy them. This continued until around the 11th century when the Order of the Talon encountered the Priests of Judas. By this time weakened by the passage of time, the Priests of Judas soon ceased to exist... as an independent organisation.

Once folded into the Order, their members quickly proved their worth to the Order, serving as assassins and covert operatives for the Talon. These roles the Priests of Judas serve to this day, though their weapons have changed with the times. Where once they might have wielded a pair of blades, latter-day Priests of Judas prefer custom pistols as their weapon of choice, typically wielding one in each hand.

Recent times have also seen the Priests of Judas taking on roles as rapid strike infantry, with the Order increasingly resorting to destroying its enemy directly. These roles the Priests of Judas have taken on gladly, hunting down cultists with deadly efficiency and using their civilian clothing and training in assassination to slip away into the shadows when not fighting.

Priests of Judas practice suicidal devotion to their order and to the Talon; each member is eager to die in battle, so that they may fight against the forces of Satan in the next life. As a result, they wear little in the way of protection, and strap to their bodies vests full of C4 explosives, ready and willing to blow themselves--and everyone in the vicinity--into the afterlife as a last resort. Oddly enough, their zeal often puts them at odds with Fanatics, as Fanatics practice their fanaticism in hopes of atoning to God, while the Priests of Judas do not want to be at peace with the Lord.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Infantry

 **Kill Reward** | 3200

 **DPS** | 36

 **DPS** | N/A

 **DPS** | 36