The Order of Albi
Structure
The Order is a powerful organization serving as an arm of the Southern Church. Answering directly to the Archperfect, the Inquisitors avoid the lower hierarchies of local or regional ecclesiastic authorities and operate with almost complete autonomy. The Council Solarium in Avinhon, has some influence over the Inquisitors, but more often the two groups are at odds as they strive for more power and influence over the Church at large.
The Order is directly overseen by the Iron-blooded Arnaud Amalric, the High-Inquisitor of the Order of Albi, a position he has held since its founding. Amalric takes a direct interest in the operations of his Inquisition, and will physically travel to hotspots aboard his Windship, the Lightbringer.
Beneatht he High Inquisitor, the Order is split between the Trueseers, who investigate claims of heresy, dissimulation and witchcraft and the Trueblades, Alchemically enhanced creatures tasked with the removal and eradication of "corrupting entities". The Trueseers are by far the larger group, made up of Perfects, Monks and Nuns dedicated to exposing hidden manipulation by Faerie. Trueseers operate in small groups, usually of at least three, a Perfect backed up by two underlings, whose roles can range from assassins and interrogators to soldiers and accountants, depending on what it needed. The Trueseers carry documentation that authorizes them to seize direct control of ecclesiastical, noble or community property, either in furtherance of their inquisition or as punishment for discovered guilt. Typically, this is used primarily to commandeer lodging, soldiers or records to assist in their duties. Abuse for personal gain, if found out, merits a trip to the fortress at Kastellin to educate them on the error of their ways, a process with a 100% success rate.
The Trueblades are Iron-Blooded killers, singularly driven to wipe out the creatures of Faerie with brutal, unrelenting efficiency. They rarely operate on their own, but instead under the control of the Trueseers or to other groups granted authority over them, such as ecclesiastic authorities, sister organizations like the Silent Sisters of Llydaw or noble parties acting on behalf of the Order.
While Inquisitors may travel freely searching for the corrupting influence of the Fae, in most cases they are dispatched in response to rumors, events or requests by local or ecclesiastic authorities. Below Amalric, there are several levels of Bureaucracy dedicated to the running of the organization, with regional authority mirroring that of the Church itself. However, unlike the wider church, the regional powers of the Inquisition are provisional, established in response to a formal inquisition rather than ever-present authorities. However, several key locations, such as Roazhon, Avinhon and Per-Ys host essentially permanent headquarters.
Culture
Even among the fervent followers of the Faith, the upper echelons of the Order of Albi are known for their extreme zealotry and hatred of Faerie, a sentiment which pervades all levels of the organization. The group is known for their unyielding stance against the Fae, Arkanists and Kontamannet, believing that even a sliver of Faerie grows into large-scale corruption.
Albigensians treat magikally-inclined Boermerzh with disdain and Fae of all kinds with open and aggressive hostility, with particular ire directed at Milliget, which they view as revolting embodiments of Fae corruption. From a strong enough position, they will attack Fae with little provocation and typically treat local communities on the outskirts of bleed with aloof contempt and suspicions, often charging those in communities with Fae presence with associated heresies and crimes. Large-scale burnings and forced Iron-drinking are common during times of Inquisition.
Public Agenda
The Order charges itself with stamping out the corrupting influence of Faerie and returning Bedouar to a presumed state of religious purity, free of magik and the reality-warping powers of the Faewylde, teaching a Utopian ideal of the Remusan Empire as an ideal expression of purity, peace and perfection. They seek out creatures of Faerie, hunting down those deemed to present dangers to the fabric of reality. While the Inquisition deems all Fae as such, they often focus on active "reality-benders", such as Sluagh, Garwaf, and Marie-Morgane, but also overtly hostile creatures like Finfolk, Lou Carcohl or the Tarrasque. This prioritization and efficiency has led to the Order gaining popularity in areas threatened by these, even as their ruthlessness and the unnerving presence of their alchemical monsters leads to apprehension in other regions. They are especially harsh when interacting with Milliget, and will round up these where they can for trial, resulting in either execution by Iron-drinking or imprisonment and unclear fate at the Island fortress of Kastellevin.
Assets
The wealth of the Order is great, with a full 10% of all Church Tithes funding them directly. Additionally, the Order seizes the property of those it finds guilty of heresy, adding to its already considerable coffers. While operating openly in a region, the Inquisition practices aggressive Freebooting forcing local and ecclesiastical authorities to aid their missions or be accused of heresies themselves. Only powerful ecclesiastic or noble authorities can expect any success in plying the Church for recompense.
Their hatred of magik has not stopped the Order from gaining a large collection of powerful arkane artefacts, including several windships of pure white hulls and sails, which are under the Order's direct control. The artefacts that are not destroyed are taken to vaults in Avinhon or Kastellevin. The Inquisition is known throughout Alvez for their powerful alchemical creations, which includes both "creatures" such as the Iron-Blooded, Stone-Harpies or Steelvipers and powerful concoctions for a variety of effects.
The Order operates an island fortress, Kastellivin, built on a isolated rock in the Mor Kreizdouar. Little is known about their fortress, guarded by an alchemically created Kraken and a fleet of ships. Unauthorized ships or windhships that approach the island are sunk after a single warning.
History
The Order of Albi began as an collection of smaller religious orders that formed to perform inquisitions following increased Fae activity and a series of notable incidents during the Third Bleed. The increased presence of Changelings, Milliget and Boermerzh Arkanists, as well as glamoured Fae led to an atmosphere of paranoia among the Bediz. The Courts of Summer and Winter, long content to remain in Faerie, began to take an increased interest in their influence in Bedouar. Political shifts led to rebellious nobles, such as Konstanza de Leon in Breizh or Count Ramon of Tolosa, breaking with the Southern Church and openly supporting the Fae.
In the early years of the 10th century, a religious sect, the Cathars, emerged from the Sea of Wine, gaining extreme popularity in Tolosa and southern Arle, an anti-materialist belief system based on a belief that the material world was a corrupt, and evil illusion and that perfection could be obtained y spiritualism and rejection of the physical. Many took this belief to foster improved relations with the Otherworld and its peoples, both Fae and Kontammanet, seeing their detachment from "corrupt" Bedouar as aspirational. This allowed the Cathars to spread, especially popular among Boermerzh and Milliget. In Tolosa, the Cathars gained popular support, including from Ramon, the powerful Count ruling the largely autonomous region.
These beliefs were in direct opposition of Church Canon, which had long preached against the sin of dissimulation (the concealment of one's true nature, usually by Arkane means, such as glamour), and the "false gods" of the Fae. Faerie was a corrupting creation of the arch-demon Azhi Dahāka, its denizens his servants and Kontammanet those who had been corrupted by sin and lack of faith.
Unwilling to face another catastrophic loss like the The War of the Broceliande in the more powerful and centralized Tolosa, the Faith began to actively preach against the Cathars, followed by a violent crusade against Cathar and Fae populations in the region, including the massacres of the Nathair at Arles and the city of Beziers, in which the entire population, Faithful and Cathar, were slaughtered without distinction by Arnaud Amalric. Impressed by the ruthlessness of Arnaud and his followers, the Faith appointed him as the supreme overseers of the Inquisition, extending church power directly over the smaller, local organizations. Based in a fortified cathedral in the former Cathar stronghold of Albi, the Inquisition continued its purge of Tolosa and Arle of Cathar and Fae influence, aided by Alchemical creations like the Iron-Blooded and Stone Harpies.
Successful in the War, the Inquisition, now known as the Order of Albi continued to extend its influence, spreading from Tolosa to Outremer in the Wars of the Sands , operating in force in Crusader Kingdoms against Iram of the Pillars and the Djinn. Their unrelenting zealotry placed them in conflict with their ostensible allies, the more moderate Urzh Kroashent and the Black Order. Following the Battle of Iram, this relationship continued to sour and the Inquisition used its influence to sour the Church against the Crossroads Knights, leading the ecclesiastical arm of the Tribunals in the The Black Crown Affair.
With the Crossroads Knights shattered, the Black Order was in no position to confront the Order of Albi, which continued to grow within the Faith, unchallenged, gaining vast powers in Tolosa, the Golden Sea and the Shattered Peninsula. Their success in the north has been tempered by the strong entrenchment of the Fae in Breizh, as well as the strong royalist sentiment in Kingdom of Gallia and Normaundie that has diminished the direct influence of the Southern Church in those regions. However, even while widespread power is not as far-reaching, few individuals or communities would dare cross with an Inquisitor or an Iron-Blooded, and they operate with impunity.
Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius. (Kill them. For the Lord knows those that are His own)
Founding Date
910
Type
Religious, Other
Alternative Names
The Inquisition, the Faehunters, the Iron Council
Demonym
Inquisitors
Leader
Parent Organization
Location
Comments