The Order of the Virtuous Blood

The Order of the Virtuous Blood is an order of knights affiliated with the Church of the Silver Flame, the state religion of Thrane. They are sworn to hunt down all practioners of necromancy and demon worshippers, which they view as the ultimate evil to be put down. Paladins lead squads of knights all across Thrane, and respond to rumors and allegations of necromancy and demon worship. Paladins are empowered by their oaths to dispense immediate justice, and the vast majority of people accused by a paladin of the Order are summarily executed regardless of evidence. Although they are seen by most as zealots and extremists, the Thrane government gives the Order of the Virtuous Blood free reign to carry out their mission in any way they see fit, as necromancy and demon worship are capital offenses in Thrane.

Core beliefs and history
The Order of the Virtuous Blood was founded in 904, after the Last War had been raging for a decade. The kingdom of Karrnath drafted a lot of necromancers into its army, and ordered them to raise all those who fell on the battlefield as the undead so they could keep fighting for Karrnath. Several Thrane towns bordering Karrnath were utterly destroyed by the Karrnathi undead, and their populations were turned into yet more soldiers for Karrnath's army. King Thalin ir'Wynarn of Thrane decided to fight fire with fire and ordered his armies to hire necromancers as well, but Keeper of the Flame Kaith Serrain found the idea repulsive, as he saw raising the dead as a form of pure evil, which the Church of the Silver Flame wishes to eradicate. He founded the Order of the Virtuous Blood, and sent troops into Karrnath to kill as many undead and necromancers as possible. None of the original Order ever came back to Thrane.

In 914, King Thalin died without a clear heir. In the following political turmoil, the Church of the Silver Flame managed to secure most of the political power in Thrane, and Kaith Serrain was installed as the de facto ruler of Thrane. His first act as head of state was to outlaw necromancy and to order every known necromancer in Thrane hanged. He reinstituted the Order of the Virtuous Blood to act both inside and outside of Thrane's borders with the mission to eradicate necromancy from Khorvaire. With the Thrane citizenry having suffered immensely because of Karrnath's use of necromancy, this decision was celebrated by the majority of Thranes and secured the Church's rule of Thrane. Scores of citizens volunteered to join the Order, and the public frenzy against necromancy led to a very high number of false accusations, lynchings and pogroms, which were largely left unpunished by the authorities.

Kaith Serrain personally led the Order of the Virtuous Blood until his death in 937. His successor, Lavira Tagor, was more interested in expanding the influence of the Church and left leading the Order to one of her cardinals, Ander Voight. Voight's tenure saw the Order shrink considerably, as the lack of attention by the Keeper of the Flame kept volunteer numbers stagnating, and the war cut most knights' lives short. Voight died in 953 and was replaced with Cardinal David Krozen. With Keeper Tagor's approval, Krozen reorganized the Order of the Virtuous Blood to act as an internal police force to hunt necromancers and demon worshippers inside Thrane. With the added incentive of not having to go fight the war abroad, the number of volunteers to join the Order went through the roof, so much that Krozen was able to afford purging the Order of all non-humans, falsely claiming that their minds were weaker and more prone to demon possession. Krozen also instituted most of the more extreme rules and regulations that the Order still follows to this day. Upon his death in 980, Krozen made sure that his position would go to his son Leon. Leon Krozen led the Order until 992, when Keeper Tagor died in mysterious circumstances. He easily manipulated the new Keeper of the Flame, six year-old Jaela Daran, into giving him most of her power, and he left the Order in the hands of Cardinal Heinrich Schröder.

After Cyre's destruction on the Day of Mourning and the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold, public opinion of the Order of the Virtuous Blood dropped quickly. With the war over, most people felt there was no urgency to purge all necromancers and, while most Thranes still believe necromancy to be repulsive and well worthy of capital punishment, the Order's methods of kangaroo court and summary execution of the vast majority of suspects without proper evidence of guilt is seen as corrupt. The perception of corruption is exacerbated by the actions of many paladins who make a habit of accusing anyone criticizing their methods of worshipping demons and murdering them under the guise of a legal execution. With the government and church's complete inaction against these corrupt paladins, most Thranes stay quiet even as their loved ones are dragged away to be hanged.

Structure
The Order of the Virtuous Blood's headquarters are in Flamekeep, the capital of Thrane. However, most knight squads outside of Flamekeep work independently and may not have any contact with headquarters in several months, sometimes even over a year. Each squad is composed of one Lord Paladin leading between four and seven knights. The Lord Paladin has complete authority over his knights, and any insubordination can lead to severe punishments, which may include food denial, flogging, branding or even summary execution. However, such punishments are rarely needed, as the vast majority of knights are extremely devout to the point of zealotry, and vigorously believe that any order given by a paladin is in service of ultimate justice.

Volunteers wishing to join the ranks of the Order of the Virtuous Blood must be human males between the ages of 15 and 21 at the time of recruitment, and must undergo two years of rigorous combat training and pass multiple religious and moral purity tests. Upon completion of training, initiates serve under a Lord Paladin in one of the Flamekeep squads for six months to a year. When the Lord Paladin deems the initiate worthy, he is knighted by Cardinal Schröder and sent to integrate a squad outside of the capital.

While volunteers may choose to leave the Order at any time during their initial training, as soon as they become initiates, they are part of the Order for life. If an initiate is deemed incapable by their commanding Lord Paladin and cannot be knighted, he will either be sent alone on extremely difficult missions to be killed, or a pretext will be found to accuse him of demon worship so he can be hanged. Older knights and paladins who become less capable in combat with age often commit ritual suicide by plunging their own swords in their hearts or requesting a brother-in-arms to behead them, as retirement is not a possibility for members of the Order.

Becoming a Lord Paladin can be an equally risky venture; in order to be nominated for the rank, a knight must go "above and beyond" the orders given to him in accomplishing his mission. However, many paladins will treat personal initiative as a form of insubordination and instead punish the knight regardless of the positive results of his actions. As repeated offenses increase the punishments meted out, many knights with ambitions of becoming paladins have ended up being executed for trying to impress their superiors. Knights that succeed in being nominated for paladinship are sent back to Flamekeep to take their oaths. High Cardinal Leon Krozen, Keeper of the Flame Jaela Daran and Queen Diani ir'Wynarn often attend the oathtaking ceremonies for new paladins.

Equipment
Recruits training at the Order's headquarters in Flamekeep must keep their head clean shaven, including any facial hair and eyebrows. They typically wear red gambesons and leather boots, and are issued plain-looking longswords and unadorned shields for training.

Initiates serving in Flamekeep are issued the regulation heavy armor with bronze decorations, and their sword and shield are replaced with those aodrned with Order symbols. They are also issued a red hood to cover their bald heads.

Knights wear the same armor and use the same equipment as initiates, but are also issued a red cloak. They are allowed to grow head hair and eyebrows again.

As part their oathtaking ceremony, paladins are given their signature winged helmet and ornate greatsword by the Cardinal. Paladins also carry a whip, used in the interrogation of suspects and the punishment of misbehaving knights, as well as the rope to be used for executions.