The Order of Brother Rudiger

Brother Rudiger was an early priest who venerated the goddess of agriculture, Corrise.  He was chiefly concerned, however, with the early communities of farmers that were beginning to spread out from the Baronial castles and their immediate protection, as Westroners spread throughout the northern part of the Valley in the 4th century after they migrated in from the West.  Eventually, in year 487, Rudiger died, and a group of his followers constructed a small chapel in a nondescript sheep hamlet (with no name) west of the Barony of Botts (but east of the Shadow Woods).

As farming communities grew, and villagers needed advice on building stronger stone buildings (to withstand years of the elements, and also attacks of the more dangerous denizens of the Valley) they would frequently consult members of the order, who would share the knowledge that Brother Rudiger developed in that regard (building and community design).  Soon the demand caused the small order to begin spreading, and building its hallmark small stone chapels across the land, in many small hamlets and thorpes.  A sub-order of itinerant monastics began as the Traveling Brothers, and then these spun a group of  nuns as the Traveling Sisters.  The small chapels are run by Community Vicars, and they will sometimes take up a vow of traveling over several years both to spread information about their own community, and to learn about other communities.  There is a somewhat military arm of the Order known as the Hearthguard which consists of fighters who have taken vows of service (always only for a few years) as well as the priests of the order the Guardians of the Hearth (most player character members of the order would be of this group).

One of the main things outstanding about the Order of Brother Rudiger is the fact that it sponsors an order of knighthood, consisting of both commanders of the Hearthguard and also Paladins known as the Knights of the Hearth.  These are covered elsewhere in the writeup on Paladins, but some words are worth covering here.  The Knights of the Hearth do not wear a specific livery of the order (with the exception of sometimes the symbol of a knotted golden rope on their shield or breast), but instead adopt simple two colored dress, and adorn their weapons, mount, and armor with favors.  These favors are collected at villages they visit in their pursuit of justice and chivalry.

Community Vicars, Traveling Brothers and Traveling Sisters (as well as Guardians of the Hearth) will appear in public only when dressed in their priestly raiment.  That consists of simple brown robes (sometimes hooded, or not, according to the clime) tied with a golden knotted rope.  Guardians of the Hearth may wear any armor, but it must be worn either under their robes, or with their robes still evident underneath the armor (so no full plate mail).  If they employ shields while questing or defending a village, it should be a plain design, of a single color, with a golden knot as the only charge.

Spells available to priests of the order can come from the spheres of All, Creation and Healing.  There is also minor access to the spheres of Combat and Protection.

Guardians of the Hearth are also taught techniques to incite fighters into a berserker rage (A willing warrior may be incited at most 1 time per day. It takes 1 round for the priest to incite the warrior. Then the warrior has +2 to hit and damage, and cannot leave the field of battle while foes still face him. Once he leaves, he chooses whether or not to emerge from the rage).

All priests can share a Soothing Word three times per day.  This can function either to remove the effects of a Fear spell or effect, or it can calm the reaction of animals or monsters, of hit dice up to twice the level of the Priest.

All priests also have the ability to turn undead creatures.

Priests of the order must have the NWP "Local History" of the community where they serve.

All sorts of armor and shields are available to Guardians of the Hearth.  Weapons include dagers, dirks, flails, and the morningstar. The last two are preferred.

The Westron Church

The main sites of human civilization in the Valley are populated by people who migrated into the valley from the west, over a thousand years ago.  Their culture is, collectively, known as the Westroners.  Details of their history or origin before they migrated into the Valley are hazy, at best.

One of the defining things about the Westroners, is the fact that most of the aspects of their religion come from a single church structure.  That is not to say that it is simple, or monotheistic, but it is all one church.

The main objects of worship of the Westron Church (as it is known) are three goddesses.  These are Nadene, Magenta, and Corrise.  In addition, there are a few other demigods and demigoddesses, and a large body of saints and scions.

In tone, it is the equivalent of the Roman Catholic church at the height of its medieval power (say, 13th century, prior to the period of the Avignon Papacy).  It is reigned over by a body of five very high level clerics.  There are three Theurges (which are the high priest or priestess in the service of each of the three goddesses), as well as the Patriarch and the Matriarch.  This body of five, known as the High Office, rule over a complicated bureaucracy that is split into two halves.  There is a Patriarchy, which has a hierarchy of male clerics overseeing the external affairs of the church (military orders, missions, proselytizing orders, etc), and there is a Matriarchy which is composed of female clerics that oversee largely internal affairs (education, ministration orders, charity, finance, etc).  The lead members of each of these two halves of the bureaucracy are the two that sit in the High Office with the three Theurges.

For Player Characters, the key aspect of the church are the many different orders that they can have Priests or Paladins from.  These are listed here, but will be detailed more later. The organization is related to which of the three goddesses each order is most closely related.  The Paladin orders were detailed in an earlier post, but are recalled again here where appropriate.

Nadene - goddess of Fertility

• Kyclos - demigod of the cycle of life, consort of Nadene; Brown Order of Druids
• St. Horace - patron saint of animals
• Mother Kimber - patron saint of birth and children
• St. Leiathar - patron saint of weather
• St. Jasper - patron saint of strength and rocks
• Brother Ian - patron saint of knowledge and fire
• St. Ellain - patron saint of art and water
• Sister Silpha - patron saint of travel and air

Magenta - goddess of Magic

• Kostamus - demigod of the sun, lover of Magenta
• St. Brigid - patron saint of healing and the sick
• St. Kelvin - patron saint of light
• St. Gianna - patron saint of oracles
• Poritia Nove - demigoddess of the White Moon; Paladins of the White Lady
• Veltin Crimsea - demigoddess of the Red Moon
• Argina Lustar - demigoddess of the Golden Moon
• Noxecatt - demigoddess of the underworld and darkness - NOT officially part of the church
• Dralizar - demigod of thieves and the night - NOT officially part of the church

Corrise - goddess of Agriculture

• Green Man - demigod of vegetation and plants, husband of Corrise; Green Order of Druids
• St. Ermo - patron saint of the earth and building
• Brother Rudiger - patron saint of home and community; Paladins of the Hearth
• St. Lilliane - patron saint of orphans and the dispossessed; affiliated with the Brotherhood of the Sword paladins
• St. Varina - patron saint of vineyards and wine
• St. Norena - patron saint of fire and comfort
• Olimo Vis - demigoddess of Autumn and the harvest
• Elongar Suu - demigod of Summer and growth
• Neuvirra Oss - demigoddess of Spring and the planting
• Frigia Nor - demigod of Winter and feasting

Although the two twin demigods of Noxecatt and Dralizar are listed under Magenta, their worship is distinctly not part of the Church structure. They are listed here, simply because of their relationship to Magenta (who, according to myth, mothered the two twins after her adulterous affair with the prince of devils, Baxilar).

The two Druidical orders (the Brown and the Green) are listed here with their affiliation with the church. That affiliation is at times extremely tenuous, however there is a third order of Druids that has absolutely no ties with the church - the Silver Order.

Paladins!

Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine,
    Y cladd in mightie armes and siluer shielde,
    Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine,
    The cruell markes of many' a bloudy fielde;
    Yet armes till that time did he neuer wield:
    His angry steede did chide his foming bitt,
    As much disdayning to the curbe to yield:
    Full iolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt,
As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt.

But on his brest a bloudie Crosse he bore,
    The deare remembrance of his dying Lord,
    For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore,
    And dead as liuing euer him ador'd:
    Vpon his shield the like was also scor'd,
    For soueraine hope, which in his helpe he had:
    Right faithfull true he was in deede and word,
    But of his cheere did seeme too solemne sad;

Yet nothing did he dread, but euer was ydrad.

Vpon a great aduenture he was bond,
    That greatest Gloriana to him gaue,
    That greatest Glorious Queene of Faerie lond,
    To winne him worship, and her grace to haue,
    Which of all earthly things he most did craue;
    And euer as he rode, his hart did earne
    To proue his puissance in battell braue
    Vpon his foe, and his new force to learne;
Vpon his foe, a Dragon horrible and stearne.

- Edmund Spenser, 1596 A.D.


The Paladin is a crucial element in the battle between good and evil in the Valley of the Old Ones.  As servants of a higher authority, they are subject to review of their adherence to the laws of chivalry.  A brief word or two seems in order, so that a player who chooses this class would know what sort of Holy order they are buying into, in the game world.


There are, in the main, three orders of Paladins among the Westroners in the Valley of the Old Ones.  All three are lawful good, and have Paladins who are played exactly as the rules prescribe (no variation in class, alignment, abilities, etc).  There are anti-paladins (and worse) in the game setting, but these will be discussed another time.


First, is the Order of Knights of the White Lady.  The White Lady is one of many names given to the eldest daughter of the goddess Magenta.  She is the incarnate as the largest of the three moons that travel across the sky above the Valley of the Old Ones.  Her role in the world is to battle evil and monsters wherever they may be found.  In this she stands in opposition to many of those who are not good, but who still look to Magenta (the goddess of Magic) for guidance and power.  One of the curious worldly aspects of the White Lady is that fact that in her appearance as the large white moon, known by her proper name Poritia Nove, she casts no reflection on the Two Moon river.  For that reason, many evil creatures and men have decided that they are more safe in that region than elsewhere in the valley, and it is a magnet for vile creatures and beings of all stripes.


There are, of course, priests and monks and nuns of the White Lady, but those will be detailed elsewhere.  The Paladins of this order are a typical chivalric order, as was common on Earth around the 13th or 14th century.  A long period of training and serving as a squire would precede the actually conference of Knighthood on the player.  The act of passing from level 0 to level 1 coincides with being Knighted into the order (something that occurs before the start of the campaign for most characters).  A patent of nobility is expected from the family (even if impoverished) for those who would join this order.

Paladins of the White Lady will dress all in white robes - silk if possible.  Their symbol is a black heater shield, with a white disc in the upper right corner. This symbol - the shield with the white disc - appears on the breast of their tunics, on military pennons and banners, and also as the device on their shield.  Individual knights in the order do not wear personalized heraldry.

In addition to the normal chivalric duties of protecting the honor of women, defending innocents, and meting out justice the knights of the Order are primarily interested in vanquishing evil wherever it may be found.  This is a very aggressive order.

Second are the Knights of the Hearth.  This is an order that started out as a group of Priests from the Order of Brother Rudiger.  They had taken up vows to protect those villagers and towns folk who lived far away from the castles of their baronial lords.  Such people are always in danger of being set upon by one sort of danger or another.


After a while, it turned out that bands of the Priests from the order were doing more fighting than anything else, and that gave order to the Paladin's order.


These knights are sometimes known as the Peasant Paladins for they will accept anyone, regardless of a noble patent or not.  They have just as stringent requirements as the other orders, but welcome those of ability, rather than just those of a high birth.

The knights of the order are not interested in military adventures against strongholds of evil, nor do they seek questing.  These are simple, quite utilitarian knights who seek to protect the people that they serve from evil and injustice.  Never ones to back down from a fight, they also do not seek it out.  One of the things that many knights of this order secretly desire is to be able to fight, and perhaps sacrifice themselves, in  a desperate battle defending innocents against overwhelming odds of evildoers.


The livery of the Knights of the Hearth is quite interesting.  They do not have any heraldic symbol, choosing instead individually a set of simple clean livery, consisting often of just one or two colors.  In their pursuit of justice and the defense of the helpless, it is quite common for Knights of the Hearth to collect favors and to adorn their armor and weapons with the same.


Finally, there are is the Brotherhood of the Sword.  These knights came out of the Order of St. Lilliane, that formed when the Cathedral of St. Lilliane was defiled and destroyed by trolls.  The surviving priests took up arms, implored the local secular Knight, Sir Vallimor of Botts to train them in the use of arms, and thus the fighting order was born.  These knights took an oath on an inverted sword, and that remains their symbol to this day.


Of all the three orders, the Brotherhood of the Sword is the most prone to solo wandering and adventuring.  Given strongly to the idea of a quest or mission errant, the brothers will often go on long quests lasting years - following the code of chivalry the entire time they are out questing, always upholding the Paladin code, as well as the reputation and honor of their order.


The livery of the order is simple.  It is a white tunic, and a white shield, with a red upended sword portrayed on the center of each.  This, in simplest form, appears as a red cross.