Order of the Godclaw

"Righteousness by obedience."

Symbol: Five-pointed iron star

Headquarters: Citadel Dinyar, in the Aspodell Mountains

Leader: Lictor Resarc Ountor (LN Male Human Hellknight)

Members: Crusaders, religious zealots, pantheist priests

Armor Features: Breastplate with clawlike vambraces, clawlike helm

Favored Weapon: Morningstar

Reckoning: Flagellate yourself with a five-failed lash.

The Order of the Godclaw (sometimes written "Order of the God Claw"; sometimes referred to as the Hellknights of the Godclaw) is a Hellknight order that extols the virtues of five deities, distilling select tenets into a dogma far from any one god's faith. Not content with seeking divine approval for their knighthood's righteous path, the Order of the Godclaw's members have sculpted their beliefs from the harshest, most exacting philosophies of five lawful deities: Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag. Remade as five stern, armoured paragons, the deities of this pantheon are known collectively as the Godclaw. The Hellknights follow revised doctrines to stamp out disorder, particularly its divine embodiments and beings of absolute chaos, with religious zeal. Rather than targeting the faiths of prominent religions, the order sets its eyes on supporting lawful crusades (such as the wars fought by Molthune and Mendev) and being at the vanguard of battles against the forces of chaos. No land is beyond the lawfulness provided by Hellknights - a fact the Order of the Godclaw endlessly seeks to prove.

Philosophy

The Order of the Godclaw began with Seldinin Choaz, a ranking member of the Order of the Pyre, who led four of his fellow Hellknights to aid the First Mendevian Crusade in 4623 AR. Their successes abroad won them the unofficial title, Order of the Godclaw. The group continued its crusade against the Worldwound demons until 4665 AR, when they abandoned the Leaden Cathedral in Mendev at the start of the Third Mendevian Crusade to return to Cheliax. Impressed by their efforts, the Order of the Pyre sponsored the small but wealthy group, formalizing the Order of the Godclaw as a recognised Hellknight order. Construction of Citadel Dinyar began soon afterwards.

In 4715 AR, Iomedaean knights of the Glorious Reclamation raided Citadel Dinyar and reclaimed an artifact of their goddess. The assault inspired rebels inside Cheliax, leading to the empire declaring martial law in several of its cities.

History

Leadership

The cunning Lictor Resarc Ountor leads his order from Citadel Dinyar in Isger, at the headwaters of the River Iseld.

The values of the Order of the Godclaw come from shared and similar teachings among the faiths of the fve deities they revere. While few can deny the gulfs of diﬀerence between these deities, the order embraces and idealizes the paths of virtuous cooperation and obedience that all fve deities extol to one degree or another. When not dealing with matters of good and evil, the order focuses on exemplifying its members as paragons of discipline while striving to eradicate chaos. Order members know their faith is not the faith of these deities’ orthodox religions. Rather, they consider theirs as a critical allegiance, one that focuses on the truths agreed upon by multiple deities. While many members of these individual deities’ faiths perceive the Order of the Godclaw as a radical—even heretical—sect, few can deny their zeal or the justice meted out in their deities’ names.

Most members of the order who favor a single deity are questing Hellknights or came to their extreme views during their travels. Whether their extremism can weather life at Citadel Dinyar or drives them to leave the order behind depends on the individual.

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