Templar Order

*For the Class, see Templar.*

The **Templar Order** is the military arm of the Maudesian Ministry. Since it's founding in **1A20**, the order has been tasked with hunting abominations, apostates, and maleficists, as well as watching over the mages of the Institute of Magic.

Templars are officially deemed a force of defenders by the Ministry. Their advocates claim they are saviors, holy warriors, protectors of the innocent, and champions of all that is good. Others, however, see them as symbols of the Ministry's control over magic with a religious passion that inspires absolute devotion to their mandate rather than moral principles.

Above the Templar Order, but separate, is the Inquisition, which serves a “watchers of the watchmen” role by providing accountability for the templars.

## History

Most people don't remember the Templar Order as it once was. In the days when the Ministry was still young, templars were known as the Vigilants of Sibylla, and combed the land in search of all dangers to humanity; whether they came in the form of blood mages, abominations, cultists or heretics. It was a dark and terrifying time in the history of Morgaea, and one that only ended when the Ministry convinced the Vigilants to unite under the banner of their common faith. This agreement, the Anderan Accord, was struck in **1A20**. The Vigilants of Sibylla were then divided into two groups: the Templar Order, and the Inquisition, with the purpose of the Order becoming that of guardian and warden rather than hunter.

Templars are considered by the common folk to be the saviors and holy warriors of Morgaea, protecting the world from the dangers of magic unchecked. As the Ministry's military arm, they are recruited primarily for their martial skill and religious dedication to the Watcher. Given the difficult choices templars must make in the course of their duty, they must be unwavering in their loyalty to the Order, and maintain an emotional distance from the plight of their charges. It is said that a templar’s obedience is more important to the Ministry than their moral center.

## Templar Recruitment

Templars are often recruited as children or teenagers. The recruitment and training is rigorous, sometimes in monastic refuges segregated from everyday society. While the majority of their members are male, some female templars do exist, having chosen to serve the Watcher as a defender of the faith rather than a spiritual guide for the community. Templars take vows upon knighthood, but these do not include vows of chastity (although some elect to take those as well). Templars are nevertheless discouraged from marrying or raising children since it is impractical to live apart from one's dependents. Such unions are occasionally permitted, provided that the templar's spouse has his or her own means of support, for example, owning land or a title. A templar marrying another templar or a mage within the same Institution would be considered fraternization within the ranks and seldom receives permission.

Prior to taking their vows templar recruits undergo a vigil. After the vigil, the knight's life is changed. The templar is given a philter; their first draught of lucenium, and its power. The Templar Order dictates that templars are not to seek wealth or acknowledgement. Their lives belong to the Watcher and the path they have chosen.

## Duties of a Templar

Templars are sworn to protect the world from the dangers of magic, but they also protect mages from the outside world, a world that fears magic users for very good reasons. Outside the Institutions, templars are responsible for hunting maleficists, apostates, abominations, and demons. In addition, templars are responsible for seeking out mages who have recently come into their power, bringing them into the Institute. Inevitably, the Order must also pursue mages who escape the Institute, but typically can track the fugitives using a phylactery of blood from their quarry.

Within the Institutions, it is the templars' place to watch their charges for signs of weakness or corruption and, should they find it, to act without hesitation for the good of all. One of the Order's most important duties occurs during a mage's Ascension. During this ritual, a templar watches over the body of the mage, ready to kill them if demonic possession occurs.

In the extreme event that an entire Institution of mages becomes corrupted, templars can request the Right of Nullification from a Grand Cleric, which authorizes them to purge all mages in that Institution. This is meant to be used in the event that a Institution has been judged irredeemable. The considerable power the Order holds over mages occasionally leads to charges of tyranny and abuse, since the balance between protection and oppression of the mages is precarious. Nevertheless, according to the Ministry, this is the price that must be paid for the security the templars offer.

## Abilities

Templars are the ideal foils for mages, having been trained specifically to counter and deny magic. This is done by a unique method of reinforcing the reality and immutability of the world. When a mage, or a demon, seeks to work magic, they tap into the Dreaming in order to reshape reality. A templar's ability "declares the world real" and closes off a mage's access to the Dreaming. Magical effects dissipate and the mage is unable to reshape a suddenly stubborn world. From a mage's perspective, templars reinforce reality, making it so that spells cannot be cast in the first place.

Templar abilities to dispel magic and inhibit spellcasting, as well as develop a considerable immunity to magic, come primarily through ingesting lucenium, which is prepared by philters; boxes containing tools that are used by templars to prepare the daily draught of lucenium which, consequently, allows the denial of magic.

When a templar taps into their power, their sword visibly courses with a white power that can distupt mana. This power can also be channeled through their skin and used, for example, to activate plates housed in special dwarf-created doors within the Institute of Magic; such as the entrance to the phylactery storeroom, which require the presence of both a templar and a mage working together to open them.

Templars are also specifically trained to fight against demons.

Even without their abilities, templars are among the best warriors in Morgaea. And aside from combat training, they are also taught the Holy Tome, history, and how to improve their mental focus.

## Lucenium addiction

All templars take lucenium, which is used to enable their quasi-magic abilities and is unofficially used as a control mechanism by the Ministry. Lucenium is a highly addictive substance, and a lack of lucenium can cause a templar to start to feel withdrawal symptoms within days as well as to lose touch with reality and suffer from delusions within 1-2 weeks. The effects of lucenium addiction include paranoia, obsession, and dementia. Symptoms of lucenium hunger pangs include fatigue, forgetfulness, an unquenchable thirst, possibly the occasional headaches, and cold hands. Over time, templars grow disoriented, incapable of distinguishing memory from present, or dream from waking. They frequently become paranoid as their worst memories and nightmares haunt their waking hours.

Templars also lose their memories to prolonged imbibing of lucenium. It starts small at first, a misplaced item or words to a song, but more fades away over time. Those cut off from lucenium and who could not endure the suffering either go mad or die. Templars start receiving lucenium once they've taken their vows.

It is confirmed that lucenium does have effective benefits for templars, as it builds a resistance to magic in them over time, and is needed for their abilities, such as being able to shut off a mage's abilities entirely. It also puts templars in a state of boldness and empowerment while under the influence. Some people think that templars are conditioned to be dependent on this mineral for its attributes, and that the Ministry knows of its addictiveness. A common dissonant whisper is "the Ministry controls the supply of lucenium, and thus they control the templars."

When Templars retire honorably, they are provided a small stipend of lucenium to stave off the hunger for the substance, but the craving hits some templars much harder than others. Furthermore, those kicked out of the order have no such provision made for them.

### Knight-Vigilant

The title granted to the leader of the Templar Order; they sit in power along with the Matron and Grand Arcanist in the Silver Spire situated in Ducailles.

### Knight-Paladin

The title granted to the heads of the Templar Order who serve the Matron directly, manage the day-to-day operations of the Templar Order, as well as establish rules that the rest of the Order follows. While the Knight-Vigilant is said to rule the Templar Order, other sources suggest that the Order is actually led by a series of Knight-Paladins, who serve directly underneath the Matron herself, and act as her enforcers and bodyguards (for example in the role of Right Hand of the Matron). Usually these men and women prefer to fade into the background, their positions granted as rewards for service.

### Knight-Commander

The title granted to the second highest-ranking officer of the Templar Order. Every Sibyllan Institution in Morgaea has a Knight-Commander to lead the templars residing within. They also oversee apprentice mages taking their Ascension, and can suggest the Right of Nullification to the Ministry when they feel it is necessary. Knight-Commanders are also posted outside of the Institutions, ostensibly to oversee the templars hunting apostates and manning the Temples in a given area.

If they decide that a threat takes priority over watching the mages, Knight-Commanders have the power to send templars serving under them away from their Institution to defend a nation or city against invaders.

### Knight-Captain

The title granted to the second-in-command to Knight-Commanders of the Templar Order. Knight-Captains are responsible for maintaining the logistics of a templar division, conducting the training exercises issued by the Knight-Commander, and enforcing the protocols of the Templar Order. The Knight-Captain may also be called on by a Knight-Commander to act as a covert agent in order to root out conspiracy, or act as the Knight-Commander's deputy should they be unavailable to personally command the rank-and-file templars. As the Knight-Commander's deputy, a Knight-Captain may be called upon to personally oversee special operations such as arrests, raids, investigations, or just the carrying out of the Knight-Commander's mandate to a Templar Order detachment.

Though of lower-ranking, a Knight-Captain has the authority to relieve a Knight-Commander of duty if they overstep their bounds.

### Knight-Lieutenant

The title granted to high-ranking members of the Templar Order. They can lead squads of templars during operations and are meant to be obeyed without question by templar recruits.

### Knight-Templar

More commonly referred to as simply Templars, this base title is given to those who have taken their vows.

### Templar-Recruit

More commonly referred to as recruits, this is used to designate new initiates of the order.

The Order is composed of numerous branches, each of them centered around a specific community or region they are assigned to defend and monitor. Templars may be assigned to an Institute of Magic, but also to individual temples. Each main branch of the organization is led by a Knight-Commander. In Morgaea, there are at least fifteen Knight-Commanders, who in turn answer to the local head of the Ministry, generally a Grand Cleric. The size and strength of each branch also differs, depending on the community they serve or their specific mandate.