The Order of Nestor's Champions

**Notable members*** Decius Dominei
* Julianus
* Tiberius Dorne
* Baltazar Aurelius

## Overview

The Order of Nestor's Champions is a branch of the church of Nestor believing that goblinoid races like Orcs, Hobgoblins, Goblins and Bugbears worshipping Nestor should be eradicated.

## Structure of the Order

### The Three Sects

The three sects of the Order are the Battlebrothers, a group of trained paladins and fighters sworn to smite the heretics within the religion, the Librarians, which is the sages and clerics responsible to write the history of the Order and research the Scripts of the Order, and lastly the Monk Order, whose members are used to silence threats before they are even known to the rest of the Order.

### Hierarchy

The rankings are mainly used for the Battlebrother sect of the Order, but members of the other sects are assigned military ranks on rare occasions.

#### **High Champion**

The highest rank in the Order and is the only one that can initiate a Crusade. Only one of the High Priest Battlebrothers can be assigned this title. The current High Champion is Decius Dominei (location unknown).

#### **High Priest**

Second highest rank of the Order, only 5 members can be a High Priest at one time. In order to get this rank a Champion Battlebrother needs to undergo training in the Librarian sect to gain a better understanding of the purpose and goal of the religion.

#### **Champion**

The veterans of war within the Order. The Battlebrothers of this rank have been a Proven Battlebrother for at least ten years and need to have been a part of several successful missions.

#### **Battlebrother**

The Rank gained after performing the last test in the training of a Battlebrother, the Pilgrimage. An Apprentice tend to get this rank at around age 20, five years after gaining the Apprentice rank.

#### **Apprentice**

Lowest rank of the Battlebrothers, a member of the Order is usually assigned this at around age 15.

#### **Initiate**

Orphan or slave children are brought to the Monastery for training at around age 5. These members of the Order are called Initiates. When they are worthy, at around age 15, they get to choose which Sect to join.

#### **Pilgrim**

The Pilgrims are an unofficial part of the Order. They are Apprentices that have decided not to finish their Pilgrimage in order to roam the world. These members of the Order are necessary for it's survival as it's mainly Pilgrims that recruit new Initiates. The most common reason to stay a Pilgrim is to have the freedom to travel the lands, as Proven Battlebrothers are not allowed to leave the Monastery area unless on a mission.

## Monastery

 Type
 Region
 Population

In the mountains north of the Nellenial Kingdom lies the base of the Order of Nestor's Champions, here the members of the Order have somewhere to live, train and research their enemies. There are four distinct parts of the Monastery:

### **The Village**

A small village in the south end of the monastery area where most of the people who are not part of the Order lives. Most of the population is human but there's a few halflings, dwarfs and elves living here as well. The main road through the village is cobbled, as it's the main road to the actual monastery. Further south, the road goes through a fairly small forest mainly consisting of pine trees. The inn The Iron Gauntlet is located in the village.

### **The Statue**

A large stone statue of Nestor wearing the standard armor of a Champion (full plate, tower shield and sword) overlooking the monastery area. It's directly facing the church so that anyone leaving will have to look in the face of their God.

### **The Main Building**

A tall square building in light grey stone with a large courtyard in the middle. It's built to withstand a seige, with round towers in each corner of the square and turrets on the roof. The main entrance is facing south, towards the village, and has a gate made of the large pinetrees growing in the area.
The northmost part of the main building is simply called the North Wing, where the priests and Librarians of the Order resides. Here you can also find the office of the High Champion, currently Decius Dominesi as well as the library containing books and scriptures important to the Order. Some notable ones are the Books of Fallen Heroes (where information about killed Battlebrothers of rank Champion or higher are kept), The Enemies of Our Faith (a book containing information about the Order's current enemies and why they are considered heretics) and The Scripts of the Order (Several long documents depicting exactly how a Battlebrother should be trained as well as information about the different tests and challenges required to earn a new rank.
The southern part of the building is where everyone of rank Proven Battlebrother or higher live. It's sparsely decorated, but has access to training facilites, armories, rooms for praying and meditation and mess halls. This is mostly to keep the Battlebrothers inside the monastary for as much time as possible. The only times they actually leave the confinement of the building, is when they are sent on a mission, they are training an apprentice or once every week when they are allowed to pray in the main church.

### **The Church**

A large rectangular church in the same light grey stone that the main building is made of with one single tall tower . It has huge glass windows as well as murals on the inside depicting Nestor defeating his enemies on the battlefield. There's an altar where someone from the Librarian branch of the Order does a sermon everyday in the very front of the church. People of the village tend to go here regularly, not only because they are devout followers of Nestor but also as it's one of the few times they actually get to see the Battlebrothers without their armor.

## Notable Members

* High Champion Decius Dominei - Current location unknown.
* High Priest Julianus - Current leader of the Order while Dominei is gone, has started to change the Order from within by having a large amount of members banished.
* Champion Tiberius Dorne - Trainer of Pilgrim Baltazar Aurelius, killed in action by heretic orcs.
* Pilgrim Baltazar Aurelius - Wielding a sword given to him by Nestor himself.
* Librarian Antaro Tritonas - Cleric of the Order, left the Monastery with Aurelius.