Lothar Order

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Lothar Order
Order
Pronunciation	Lo-thar
Origins	Tirgunn
Grandmaster	Lothar III Tyrmont zu Tirgunn
Symbols	Unionist eye, Crossbow, Black Eagle with White eyes
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 Randbane 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.

Design

The Lothar Order brings the aesthetic of the cloaked Vampire-hunter, normal men 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 Orders, with the Grauwald keeping repentant Mage retainers to fight fire with fire, the Krsnik keeping the Emperor's word on not hunting Occult for no reason, the Herebrand seeking to eliminate those groups deemed illegal or heretical by a broad array of means, the Randbane focused on confronting Arken-aligned Mages however possible, and the Darkwalds keeping the most hardline form of extremist violence, but the core idea is the same. Only the Red Hunter Archon of the Dragon Caius are an accepted Occult ally. The Lothar Order permits only Ailor, Dwarves, Eronidas, and Urlan into its ranks. They do not permit the non-Mundane to join, though they have a scant few Unionist God-Magic using members for curse-breaking purposes only. They mostly fight with ranged weapons, including crossbows and Firearms as well as longswords up close, and once only favored the light armor of cloaks and tricorne hats. However, since the inclusion of the Herebrands, members of that group have begun to spread the use of leather armor, or singular pieces of heavier equipment, while they themselves often don larger, heavier pieces.

Order Chapters

The Lothar Order is not one unified group but consists of Chapters. It is made up of Tirgunn based Darkwalds, Calemberg based Grauwalds, Krainivaya based Krsnik, Girobalda based Herebrand, and Nordskag based Randbane. Choosing one is mandatory and affects roleplay, as each group acts slightly differently, and groups like Grauwald have specific functions within the Lothar Order that are not shared by the other two Groups.

• The Darkwald Group: Darkwalds are extreme radicals who have unlimited hatred for the Afflicted, and whose entire life is dominated by the hunt and execution of them.
• The Krsnik Group: Krsniks are more religious and Emperor faithful, taking a more priestly approach but still excising the evil they think has gripped society.
• The Grauwald Group: Grauwalds are more pragmatic, bellieving that until all Magic can be removed, Magic is like fighting fire with fire and should be used as tools.
• The Herebrand Group: Herebrands believe in more frontline fighting, calling upon crusader knight aesthetics with heavy armor and sword and shield.
• The Randbane Group: Randbanes are Velheim purists who specifically specialize in the fighting of Arken plots and designs, but are more tolerant of Magic.

Why Play a Knight

Knighthood is a good way to get involved in pre-existing groups and activities. Since it guarantees roleplay, a group, and a reason to log on, it is appealing for everyone from new players to veterans. Knight groups organize their own internal social roleplay and are usually well-received by the player base as pleasant spaces. Knighthood also grants a unique ranking system for Characters to progress up the ladder of their Order and gain privileges for honesty and effectiveness in their Code. Knight roleplay requires reading, however, as Knight characters must follow their Codes or risk expulsion. Lothar Knighthood is recommended for players who are invested in being Afflicted hunters (Vampires, Geists, Marken) and opposing the Magical corruption of the Empire. Their aesthetics pair well with Van Helsing style crossbow using Vampire hunters.

Knights Code

Common Knights Code

All Knights of all Orders are beholden to this Knights Code. Note, Lothar Common Code alters from other Orders, in that they have exceptions.

1. Loyalty to the Emperor of Regalia, and the Regalian State is required, -unless the State is blind to Occult Corruption, though the Emperor never is.
2. Knights are disallowed from attacking unarmed or defenseless people, -unless these are the Occult. The Occult are never unarmed, their being is armed.
3. Knights are disallowed from degrading themselves or their Order, -unless doing so results in pacification and lulling safety on part of the enemy.
4. Knights are allowed to enforce Regalian Law, but must abide by it, -unless petty and silly rules need to be broken to fight Occult corruption.
5. Knights may not lie, or deceive, but needn't always say everything, -unless lying and deceit is needed to fight Occult corruption and malice.
6. Knights are expected to give alms to the poor and protect the weak, -except the Occult who are never weak and only pretend to be downtrodden.

Specific Order Code

The following Knights Code applies only to the Lothar Order.

1. Lothar Knights are expected to hunt down the Afflicted, Vampires, Geists, and Undead present in Regalia.
2. Lothar Knights are expected to publicly unveil hidden Mages and Magic users or hidden Occult who deceive.
3. Lothar Knights are expected to spy, sabotage, or otherwise inform themselves about Occult Plots in the Empire.
4. Lothar Knights are expected to hunt down illegal Monsters and Collar them to serve the Lothar Order.
5. Lothar Knights are expected to be obstructionist in nearly everything the Aelrrigan Order does in public.
6. Lothar Knights are expected to actively make places of worship for the Void and Ordial hostile to them.
7. Lothar Knights are expected to track down Arken plots and sabotage them short of throwing one's life away.
8. Lothar Knights are expected to extoll the virtues of mundaneness, and to speak out against Magical mutation.
9. Lothar Knights are expected to burn away the physical rot of Magic in the world, by fire or otherwise.
10. Lothar Knights are expected to assist their Grauwald to weaponize Cursed Retainers to fight against Magical rot.
11. Lothar Knights are expected to assist their Randbane to weaponize Magical Artifacts to fight against Magical rot.

Note: A lot of the Lothar interactions with the Occult would normally result in a Lothar person killing a non-Mundane. However, because kill-perms are not granted freely, this is obviously not a very practical ambition to inflict on all opposing characters. In most instances, players are expected to create compromise situations that both result in the Lothar not looking like a fool, but the Occult getting away somehow, with priority on good RP and longer running interactions besides a punish & forget situation.

Monster Hunters

Regalia is full of monsters, most notably the Marken, but other corner cases of Solvaan using Transformations or other such magical appearances being classified as Monsters in the eyes of the Lothar. The Lothar are expected to tread carefully with Solvaan as they are legal, but any other Monster that has abandoned all humanity is fair game. Lothar have special collar equipment that can be applied to a Monster/Marken after it has been defeated in combat that will force them to serve the Lothar Order, and remove their ability to Transform, allowing it only to be commanded by a Lothar Knight. This Monster Collar can be removed by anyone, can only be applied with OOC consent from the subject, and is not the same as mind control, but acts more like a shock collar to paralyze the subject if they refuse to obey.

Cursed Retainers

Lothar Knights of the Grauwald Group exclusively, can retain so called Cursed Retainers, which are self-loathing Mages who have self-reported with the Lothar Order and agreed to work with the Lothar Order to destroy the rotting influence of Magic and its corruption on the world. They must additionally not have Spirits, not be Afflicted, nor have a lengthy Criminal Record, not worship Void, Exist or Ordial Gods, they must not be Ordial Aligned, they must not be Marken, they can be Arkenborn but must be Unionist, and generally speaking should appear presentable and un-mutated. The Lothar Order provides Cursed Retainers with food and lodgings with the Knights, but treats them as property in all other aspects bordering on indentured service, with them not having any official rank within the order, and being subject to discipline by Lothar Knights they are assigned to. Cursed Retainers are safe from further prosecution by the Lothar Order, as they do not harm the weapons of the Grauwald Group. It is not permitted to play a Cursed Retainer without a Played Knight Character to be a retainer for, and Cursed Retainers should barely be treated as people within the Order and never given responsibilities.

Structure

The Lothar Order has a hierarchical structure that defines ranks within the Order:

• The Grand Vigil (NPC) is the highest leader of the Lothar Order.
• The Tirgunn Council (NPC) are the elders and mentors and teachers of the Order.
• The Bulwark-Knights (Player) are the highest attainable rank of Knight of high prestige and esteem.
• The Vigil-Knights (Player) are well respected Knights with great sway in the Order.
• The Hunter-Knights (Player) are the esteemed warriors sent on difficult tasks for the Order.
• The Purger-Knights (Player) are the formal rank of Knights who get sent on missions.
• The Confidant-Knights (Player) are the lowest rank of just-graduated Knight in the Order.
• The Squires (Player) are pre-graduation. Recommended for trying out, with less obligations.

Privileges

Privileges are a set of unlockable rewards that can be attained each time a Knight ranks up. The rank up process is evaluated by Lore Staff based on a combination of: adherence to the lore, adherence to the knight's code, activity, consistent character portrayal, good engagement and in some of the higher ranks, leadership. When a rank up is granted, players may choose one of these privileges (each only once) to apply to that rank up, ensuring that the appropriate reward is granted for each milestone. Being expelled from the Order causes the loss of all Privileges, and in some cases, Privileges may also be revoked if a Character is punished by the order for misdeeds, or disciplined by staff for Server Rule breaking.

• Privilege 1 The Knight in question becomes immune to Affliction Infection, Markenism, Thralling, and Persuasion Rolls.
• Privilege 2 The Knight in question is granted a rent-free Knight's Estate in the Knight Quarter with Staff decoration.
• Privilege 3 The Knight when dying, becomes a God Magic Remnant Spirit (using Spirit Traits), which can be revived for 1 Divinium.
• Privilege 4 The Knight in question may consult the Sarnan Archive and Darkwald archive of Afflicted Knowledge.
• Privilege 5 The Knight in question receives an Artifact designed for their Character that cannot be taken from them.

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. The Order was initially somewhat effective, but the eventual discovery of the Artifact Coraveau and Renault’s wielding of it, spelled doom for the early order. Renault went insane from wielding the Artifact and many of the Order died or were hunted down by Void fanatics.

With the death of House Prendegeist, leadership fell to House Tyrmont, a cadet branch, which re-created the order with even more fervent fanaticism to their ideals, believing that they were being watched by the enemies of purity who were actively trying to corrupt their ranks. 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 were considered too fanatical. 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 fanatical and tyrannical ideology became difficult to swallow for the local peasants who more often than not requested mercy for their afflicted loved ones. Public opinion turned on the Darkwalds largely with the succession of Alexander I who was always more ambivalent to 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 Randbane Group, denied official recognition in the Regalian Empire, was invited into the Lothar Order, creating space for Fornoss Purists in the Lothar Order, and adding their specialization and knowledge of Arken to the extensive armory of Lothar skill. 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 west 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.

Trivia

• The Lothar Order takes the inverted crest of House du Briërust as its symbol, both as homage to their origins in Tirgunn but also to mock the last du Briërust Duchess who became a Vampire and was once a Darkwald herself.
• Lothar members are permitted to be nobles and carry title. Many of the Lothar Knights who are nobles in fact hide their Lothar identity and use their noble connections to discover magical corruption among the peerage. If they are publicly Lothar, however, they must use the Lord-Protector title.
• Marken who are collared by Lothar beastmasters are fully legal. There is no legal control or prosecution for Marken who are collared by Lothar Knights because the state is satisfied with the level of control applied. Marken who escape Lothar control however, are hunted down as wild animals. Many Marken see submission to the Lothar as a bad thing.

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Accreditation
Writers MonMarty Artists MonMarty Processors HydraLana	Last Editor OkaDoka on 10/12/2023.

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