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| Lothar Order | |
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| Order | |
| Pronunciation | Lo-thar |
| Origins | Tirgunn |
| Grandmaster | Philippe III Tyrmont zu Tirgunn |
| Colors | Black, Dark-Blue, White, Burgundy |
Though its modern form is young, the Lothar Order has a colorful, troubled, and storied history. Beginning as the Darkwald Order, its Knights signed an unbreakable bond in blood against the steady encroachment of the Occult across the Regalian Empire, exposing Mages, defeating their supporters, and slaying the Afflicted. Though the Darkwalds were long in demand for their skill at cleansing Vampires, caped squads with tricorne hats thundering across the countryside, their brutal methods eventually fell out of favor. In recent times, the Darkwald Order has joined forces with the Krsnik Union of Kriv Mage-hunters, the Grauwald Brothers of the Waldmark, the exiled-south heretic-hunters of the Herebrand Order and the group of Velheim purists known as the Helbane Group, to found the Lothar Order. Each interest group brings its own method to their work, but their shared resolve, their belief in what must be done, is stronger than steel. The repository of all played Knights can be found here. When you make a new Knight character, please file a ticket in the Discord Ticket Bot to have them recorded. You only need to provide their name and Order.
Disclaimer
The Lothar Order is the only Knight Order with a disclaimer. At a base-line, players who play Lothar Knights should do so seriously, whether they want to play a quintessential purist, whether they want to play a quintessentially evil person, or play some kind of antagonist or dark-aesthetic knight. This should be done in the good-faith intention to play such a Character long term, and not crash out for a variety of reasons:
- While "forbidden love" between a Lothar and an Occult might sound like an interesting concept from the start, it often causes friction, and when it is found out, results in a Character being expelled and labeled for death.
- While "secret betrayal" might sound like a fun long term plan, it is really exhausting for long-term players to invest in new Characters, only to know they will get betrayed later.
- While "suddenly changing one's mind" after befriending a few Mages sound like a fun trajectory, it is equally exhausting for the people who are sticking with the Order to interact and see that trajectory happen over and over.
The bottom line is, Knight Orders are collaborative experiences where you rely as much on each other as on yourself. People who have invested a lot of emotional time and energy into the Lothar Order put some of that energy also in you, and if you just mean to use the Lothar Order as a story telling stepstone or vehicle to eventually have a crash-out on, we prefer you didn't. It's really disheartening for the players. We believe you should be respectful for the effort that both the system (we as Lore Staff) and other players put in to include you, by being honest and good-intentioned to sticking around. That doesn't mean you can't have drama, or moments of doubt, but we really prefer if you didn't start with the intention to bounce.
Design
The Lothar Order brings the aesthetic of the cloaked Vampire-hunter with some variance per chapter, normal men and women who throw themselves into combat against superhuman threats every day. They represent the reactionary forces of the Empire who refuse to change their beliefs or moderate with the times, for what they feel is the ultimate good of the nation. The Lothar are staunch Mage-haters: no matter the dimension, no matter the degree, they believe it an evil, corrupting force that can do no good for the Empire. Interpretations of this vary between the Chapters, with some even being accused of being centrists or moderates internally, even if these moderates are considered Occult-haters by outsiders. Only the Hunter Archon of the Dragon Caius are an accepted Occult ally.
- The Lothar Order generally accepts any people or culture into their ranks, but refuses any kind of people who have innate Magic in their Innate Abilities (such as mostly Elves).
- Lothar should generally gravitate towards the van Helsing aesthetic, though some of the Chapters do use more conventional Knight themes and equipment (see Chapters).
- Lothar cannot be Afflicted, have Affinities, be Mystech, or have any Proficiency invested in Magic or other Magic-like Point Buys, except for God Magic from Unionism or Fornoss (Helbane).
- God Magic should however not be their main method of fighting the Occult, and those who have a lot of divine mutations and aesthetics are just as Occult as Vampires.
Chapters
All Lothar Knights are members of one single Chapter, which grants them a free non-Combat related Mechanic. Changing Chapters is permitted but only infrequently and only through a Staff Ticket where the request is reviewed. For more Expanded background Lore of the Lothar Order, refer to the Lothar Principals Page(s).
Darkwald
The Darkwald Chapter is one of the founding Chapters of the Lothar Order and arguably its fundamental beginnings. The Darkwalds are the quintessential van Helsing Knights, preferring leather armor and light materials and ranged weapons over shield and sword on horseback. The Darkwalds in particular popularized the use of crossbows to hunt Vampires, and have built most of their fame on the eradication of Vampires across the Regalian Empire. The Darkwald are sometimes considered more debonair and lone-wolf-like by the other Lothar, because of eithers their broody, or hyper-critical perfectionist nature. When a plan goes south or someone screws up, it is the unfiltered criticism of the Darkwalds that the other chapters fear the most. Darkwalds because of this often also act as the internal peace keepers to prevent the other chapters from infighting, even if this is not done with careful tact and diplomacy, but the threat of a shot in the back.
| Vampiric Lore |
You have spent time studying or fighting Vampires for so long, that you were able to adopt some of their skills and tactics for your own purposes. Choose one of the following Mechanics from the following Mechanics from the Special Vampire Mechanics: Greater Strength, Greater Hunter, Vice Master, or Free Walker. |
Sudzhennya
The Sudzhennya Chapter is one of the three founding Chapters of the Lothar Order. The Sudzhennya once were mostly Krainivaya Unionists but since expanded to Qadir and Maraya purists who believe in the cause. The Sudzhennya are primarily the technicians and craftsmen of the Lothar Order, prioritizing the production of the varied trinkets and gadgets that the Lothar use against the Occult, but also to repair their armor and equipment, and making some of the best crossbows in the Empire. The Sudzhennya are also formidable fighters, having a long history spanning back to the flight of the Krai people from their homeland where they were oppressed by tyrannical Mage cabals, having learned how to detect Magic early from birth, and shuffling Mage children into orphanages where they can be better controlled, or raised to become Mage Armaments. The Sudzhennya are always hailed in battle by the whirring of cogs and the puffs of gunpowder.
| Techno Mimic |
Choose one of the Magic Schools. You can now choose either the first, or second Mechanic of that School (never the third), and take that Mechanic for yourself. Instead of this Mechanic being magical, it takes on technological aesthetics, and is counted as Technologically produced instead. This also does not make you Magical. |
Grauwald
The Grauwald Chapter of the Lothar Order is one of the three founding member Chapters, which specializes in information brokerage, infiltration, and espionage. They are competent fighters in their own right, but they truly shine in their ability weaponize information for the benefit of the order, to act in good graces towards the Occult, but plot their downfall behind their backs. They seed discontent and malice in Occult populations indirectly through manipulation of the facts and false-flag operations, leading to the Occult essentially solving the problem for the Lothar Order itself. The Grauwald seek a dignified approach that maximizes the efficiency of the Order's actions, while minimizing the casualty rate of the Knights. In this sense, the Grauwald are sometimes thought of as playing with numbers and vocabulary, which leads some of the radicals to consider them weak-willed or timid, but a Grauwald knife or shot is best heard not at all, and shrouded in complete darkness.
| Universal Speech |
You can understand and speak all mortal and currently practiced languages from all the corners of the world. This includes magical languages spoken by mortals, or even Elderlaw languages like Dragonspeech. |
Herebrand
The Herebrand Chapter is the most recent acquisition of the Lothar Order, as the Herebrand Templars were left orphaned when Emperor Alexander revoked their charter following the complete eradication of the Diviner Heretics in Girobalda. The Herebrand Order was once an Order of Inquisitors whose sole purpose was to purge heretics who had fallen to dark worship under the influence of the Void Gods who corrupted their faith, but with their mission done, the Inquisition was disbanded. Many of the Herebrand Order felt that their mission was not yet done, and petitioned the Lothar Order to join. The Herebrand Order brings the heavily armored and melee-weapon wielding Knights to the Lothar who are otherwise somewhat lightly armored, with their large winged helmets and black and white colors that strike an imposing figure wherever they go. Herebrand Knights tend to be more quiet and reserved than the other Lothar, waiting to be aimed at a new target to unleash on.
| Greater Strength |
You are stronger than the average normal person when it comes to out-of-combat tests of strength. Whether it is in arm wrestling or other power competitions, you can always re-roll once, choosing the highest number. You can also carry much heavier loads than other normal people. |
Helbane
The Helbane Chapter joined the Lothar order with quite some considerable opposition from the Grauwald, but an inevitable necessity to contract better skills and means to fight the Arken and their Demonspawn: The Arkenborn. Helbane once started as mostly Fornoss faithful, but eventually expanded to all who have been the victim of outbursts of violence or chaos caused by the Arkenborn, Godborn, or all those who are gifted, magically inclined or otherwise born as the result of immortal pairings with Alorians. The Helbane are perhaps the most capricious and gregarious of the Lothar, spending most of their time drinking and partying and only occasionally going out to punch the accursed in the face, only to come back and brag about how much they worked. Despite the objections of others to this perceived apathy, Helbane Lothar are still some of the heaviest hitters who shrug off overwhelming odds for the adrenaline of the fight.
| Social Beast |
You have an impossibly high tolerance for Alcohol, drinking anyone under the table, and able to make cups or glasses magically refill themselves with the God's ale. You are immune to being arrested for Low Law violations, so long as what you have done isn't annoying or cringe-inducing for the Knights to deal with. Benign crime receives just a slap on the wrist and an "oh you" from Knights. |
Émérites
The Émérites Chapter joined the Order quickly after its inception, mostly on the invitation of the Grauwald preachers. The Émérites Chapter is comprised of "battle-nuns" who wear the robe and habit, armor, and an iron mask into battle. The Chapter is made up of mostly women (but also men) and dominated by Ithanian Baronesses and Countesses, as well as Silent Sisters (Unionist equivalent of Nuns) who were appalled at the normalization of Magic appearances and the showcasing of Magic Mutations at the Imperial Palace and Courts. The Chapter is not nearly as violent as the others, resorting to diplomacy, charming, social etiquette, and respectable behavior to appeal to the mantle of appearing sane and coherent to outsiders. While the majority of their work lies in charisma, the purger-sisters as some of their most battle-hardened are called, are still more than a match for a Vampire, they might even convince to yield.
| Honeyed Words |
You gain a +1 Bonus for every Persuasion /Dice roll, which is added to the final result. This Mechanic does nothing, if the Character already receives a +1, from for example Slizzar Heritage Mechanics. |
Internal Lothar Code
The Internal Lothar Code contains additional Honor and Behavior Codes for Lothar Knights that are supplemental to the Common Code described on the Knights Page.
- All Lothar Knights must never socialize with the Occult in a friendly and collegial manner, or be thought of as on romantic or friendship terms with them.
- All Lothar Knights must pay special attention to rid the world of the Sanguine Plague, and to slay any person who has fallen to this most wretched of sins.
- All Lothar Knights must consider Regalian Law to be transient, and for every crime to be temporary until the righteous purpose is revealed and they are proven right.
- All Lothar Knights must never directly contradict or act against the wishes of the Emperor, even if he argues for Mage liberation, but slowly change his mind.
- All Lothar Knights must never extoll the virtues of, or give credit to the actions of any Occult, and be cognizant of the fact that Magic is not a skill but a stain.
Lothar Jobs
The Lothar Order, just like other Knight Orders, has so called "Jobs" which are cornerstone occupations of the Knights. Any Knight can engage in these, but they are largely optional.
- Occult Hunters: Lothar should work towards combatting the Occult and protecting the Mundane in large and small ways. This may involve killing the Occult outright, but can also mean smaller things like sabotaging Aelrrigan Order efforts to teach Magic, burning Magic-teaching books and tomes, campaigning for harsher mage-repression laws, and generally making society more anti-Occult. Being violent to the Occult all the time is not required, but what is required is to make their lives harder, and to roll back many of the liberties and freedoms they have gained.
- Arcane Revelations: Lothar should engage in the tracking down of, and public revealing of the Occult who hide their status and their affiliations, and to inform the people of their duplicity and to warn them about their powers and their evil deeds. Lothar should generally act as the warning systems of society that have long since failed to caution the general public towards the Occult and bring back a healthy dose of fear and paranoia towards the underhanded sabotage and infiltration of Mages who have reached far and high in state office with their power.
- Temple Desecration: Lothar should engage in the raiding, occupation, and desecration of Temples to faiths which their conclave has deemed to be in favor of Magic-liberation and Magic-proliferation. This includes faiths such as Estelley, Evolism, Draconism, and even shrines dedicated to the Evintarian Cult of Unionism. The Lothar should show the superiority of the righteous faiths that do not abide by the corruption of Magic, and reinforce to the Occult just how weak they really are even on their own home turf with no mercy for those who would seek to expel the Lothar.
- Artifact Appropriation: Lothar should when possible, entrap and steal Unionist (all Chapters) and Fornoss (if Helbane specifically) Artifacts from their owners if they believe these owners are Unworthy in the light of Purism. Lothar engaging in this Job are expected to, like Aelrrigans, profile holders of appropriate categories of Artifacts and vote as a Council whether it is possible and-or prudent to divest them of the Artifact and give it to either a worthy bearer or a Lothar instead. Being cleared by Aelrrigans or a legal state of existence under the Law has absolutely no bearing on this Lothar judgment.
Lothar Armaments
Lothar Armaments are people with limited rights to operate as part of the Lothar Order, but only under the direct supervision of the Lothar Knights. This means they do not have actual ranks of privileges and rights, but can fight alongside the Lothar Knights. Lothar Armaments must follow the Code of the Order, or the spirit of the Code of the Order insofar they are able to, and assist other Lothar in doing so as well. Lothar Armaments are either:
- Marken who have voluntarily subjugated themselves to the Lothar Order.
- Mages who have voluntarily subjugated themselves to the Lothar Order.
- Automata who were built or re-programmed by the Lothar Order.
- Homunculi who were designed and vat-grown by the Lothar Order.
There is a Registration duty for each of these Character types. If you play a Lothar Armament, you must first secure a Lothar to be subject to. When you have both that, and a Character Sheet, you can make a Ticket on the MassiveCraft Discord, and register your Lothar Armament, which requires your in-game name, a link to your Character Sheet, and the name of the Lothar your Character is subject to. Any Lothar of any Chapter can retain any Armament, and there are no restrictions on the amount of Armaments, though each of these Armaments has some rules that apply across the board:
Marken Armaments
Marken who cannot control themselves, or believe in the Lothar mission, can join the Order because it is a viable alternative to being locked up forever in Krakenburg Prison. As Marken, they receive a special collar and equipment that helps the Lothar control them. Marken Armaments tend to be treated better than Mages, Automata, and Homunculi, because unlike the latter two they are real people, and unlike the former, they are not Magical.
- Marken Armanents are no longer able to transform on their own. They can only transform into a Full Marken on command of the Knight they are attached to. They do not need to follow orders of other Lothar, but if their Knight is not present, they can still help out with other duties.
- Marken Armaments receive special injections and teeth-plating equipment that makes them completely non-infectious. So long as they in the Lothar Order, they no longer have infectious bites, and are able to control their temper when they are transformed.
- Marken Armaments are unable to break free, refuse commands from their Knight, or disobey or sabotage the Lothar Order in any other way. Marken Armaments can only be released by the Lothar Knight who holds them, or by Government NPC's, so it is impossible to release them.
Mage Armaments
Mages who are self-loathing on account of having Magic, or have purist sympathies with the Lothar Order, can join the Order because it is a viable pathway to not get attacked by Lothar in the streets, and also satisfy their self-loathing and purist delusions that they are one of the "good guys". Mage Armaments are thought of generally speaking as weak-willed and self-hating outside of the Order.
- Mage Armaments still function like normal Mages, though the Lothar Knight that commands them can shut off their Magic casting remotely though their accessories. This can also prevent a Mage Armament from Magic Overloading, but having this happen repeatedly results in an investigation.
- Mage Armaments are not hunted down by Lothar, but are principally not allowed to cast without the explicit command of their Lothar Knight. They can, but if they do, they are considered in violation of their Armament status, and will be considered rogue and hunted down.
Artificial Armaments
Artificial Armaments groups both Automata and Homunculi together because they follow the same policies. The Lothar Order designs their own Automata and Homunculi for a range of activities, usually service like cleaning or preparing weapons, but sometimes also acting as envoys, or combat aides.
- Artificial Armaments are always re-programmed or made by the Order (Homunculi are only ever made by the Order, never accepted into it from the outside). This means it is not possible to play an Artificial Armament with a secret dislike of the Lothar Order.
- Artificial Armaments due to being programmed or designed by the Order, cannot in any way act against the Order or even operate on their own accord. They cannot initiate Combat without specific command of their Lothar Knight, and cannot go rogue or misinterpret commands.
- Artificial Armaments, even when captured, cannot be re-programmed to become double agents or traitors. Reasonably the Lothar Order would put anti-tampering equipment into these machines, and they would just blow up or become marked if they were tampered with.
History
The history of the Lothar Order is mostly shrouded in mystery because the Order has traditionally been very secretive to assist in their clandestine tasks and work. The Darkwald Order was founded by Renault Prendegeist, a noble scion of the family Prendegeist in Osteiermark and Tirgunn. This region at the time was suffering from Vampire infestations, as the dark swampy lands could hide many Vampires, motivating the Duke and his followers to start a region-wide Vampire hunting organization. With the death of House Prendegeist, leadership fell to House Tyrmont, and for a time, the Darkwalds were both supported and loved by the people, but failed to attain reach beyond Osteiermark and the surrounding regions because they had a habit of infiltrating leadership, as they had already done in Tirgunn. An alliance with the Krsnik followed as soon as the Krainivaya arrived in the Regalian Archipelago. The Krsnik were already an arm of the Krainivaya’s secret service, and had experience with hunting Vampires in their homeland, so compatibility was assured.
The Order became very popular in 279 with the death of Justinian II’s three sons at the hands of the Undead. The sudden heavy swivel into Bulwark-style ideology in the Empire and extreme repression of all things magical saw the Darkwalds and Krsnik spread far and wide. Eventually however, their success in cleansing much of the unwanted Magic and corruption of the Archipelago, was also their downfall once more. When they were needed less and less, their more brutal application became difficult to swallow for the local peasants who more often than not requested mercy for their afflicted loved ones due to an upturn in sympathy for Vampires. Public opinion turned on the Order largely with the succession of Alexander I who was always more ambivalent or positively inclined to Magic users.
To combat this situation, Grandmaster Lothar Tyrmont managed to unify the Darkwalds, Krsnik, and Grauwald Order (which had until that point not associated with the Darkwalds) into one single Order, benefiting the Krsnik and Darkwalds from the political connections of the Grauwald Gruppe. Additionally, the Herebrand Order of Holy Knights who had recently lost their mandate were merged into the Lothar Order bringing their cannibal-heretic purging in Girobalda to an end, and extending their heavy-armor specialization into the otherwise lightly armored Lothar Order. Finally, the Helbane Group, denied official recognition in the Regalian Empire, was invited into the Lothar Order. With this Order formalized, it was now also much larger and more politically relevant than it had been in the past, which made it all the more difficult to declare it redundant and revoke the rights of the various members. In the modern day their work is made more difficult due to the public prominence of many Occult members of society, but they still perform their work with a great deal of skill in the provinces, hunting down infestation of Afflicted, taming Marken outbreaks, and generally being a nuisance to pro-Magic forces. Their presence is much stronger in the east and north, even in Drixagh, than it is in the south, as the Lothar Knights find no allies among the Daen and Ithanian peoples of the Empire.
The Schwaarzblutt Group
The Lothar Order has a complex internal political climate. Not only do the Lothar Chapters have varying attitudes towards different types of Occult. Darkwald for example hate anything that even smells the faintest of blood, but could care less about Arkenborn, who in turn drive the Helbane into a Rage, but see themselves as too good to chase after Vampires. Lothar Knights should always help each other, but in many cases this can be begrudged, or doing it for the sake of protecting one another. If all of this worked out, the Lothar Order would in fact be pretty mild and tolerable to the wider population, if it weren't for the Schwaarzblutt Group. The Schwaarzblutt Group is not a specific chapter or clearly defined group within the Lothar Order, it is a cross-Chapter affiliation of radicals and fanatics who want to purge any form of the Occult from the world without mercy.
The Schwaarzblutt Group is not clandestine, everyone knows they exist, everyone outside the Lothar Order know they exist, and everyone is terrified to do anything about it. The Lothar Order as a whole essentially has been taken hostage by the Schwaarzblutt Group for a variety of reasons. Notably, because the highest ranking members in the Order are group members, but also because some of its most competent members are. Without the Schwaarzblutt Group, the Lothar Order would lose their strongest political advocates who protect them at the Court. Without the Schwaarzblutt Group, the headquarters would get overrun by Vampires and the whole force of the Order could not stop them. The Lothar Order as a whole accepts the presence of the Schwaarzblutt Group because without them, the Order does not function, and thus makes the whole of the Order morally culpable for the sadism and cruelty that the Schwaarzblutt Group inflicts, even if they may have personal principle or moral objections.
The nuance here lies, that some Lothar Order members may find themselves sympathetic to certain groups of Occult, and not declare the whole of them unsavable, but that they hold these opinions to themselves, or only their closest allies who think likewise within the Lothar Order. Optically, they hold up the orders of the Schwaarzblutt Group leaders. Optically they support the rhetoric about the purges initiated by the Schwaarzblutt Group, and pragmatically, they continue to be part of the whole collective because the alternative is so much worse for them. All Lothar Knights perpetually make a calculated decision based on the pain, suffering, or trauma they have suffered from occult sources, that dealing with inhumane elements within their own order and bearing guilt by association, is a worthy collateral to feeling a sense of justice and rectification in the world.
You as a player, are allowed to be a Schwaarzblutt Group member. If you do so, you must be absolutely ideologically convicted and unshakeable in your character's belief in wanting to be a fascist and inflict sadistic cruelty on others. You must be prepared to receive extreme hostility from the wider player base, and accept only begrudging support or terse cooperation from the wider Lothar Order. If you play a Schwaarzblutt Group member, please communicate this with the other Lothar players.
Trivia
- There was once trivia here.
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