The Knights of Elohim

The Knights of Elohim, officially Knight International, are a Private Military Company that recruits its manpower from an Elohimic cult run by the company. Most of their recruiting is targeted towards the poor and disadvantaged; especially homeless veterans from militaries the world over. They preach an extremist, violent variety of the wider Ehloist religion that appeals to the desperate, resentful, and world weary.

Overview

The Knights of Elohim are religious fanatics for hire. If you need them to attack something, you can be sure that they'll assault it with all possible fury, as one should with every foul agent and construct of Iscarot. None will be spared. If you need them to protect something, rest assured that they shall defend to the last man, last breath, and last bullet. For every agent and relic of Elohim is not only sacred, but irreplaceable.

Of course, who the agents of Iscarot and who the agents of Elohim are is decided entirely by what the client is paying for them to be. Do you need a PMC that will be loyal to your cause beyond death? Do you have an objective that absolutely must be completed, regardless of the blood toll? Are subtlety and a quiet operation complete non-issues for you? Then Knight International would like to discuss a business proposition.

Beliefs

Where normal Elohists follow a doctrine of disciplined self defense and being prepared for confrontations, the Knights of Elohim distort these teachings into a rationale to destroy anything that goes against their teachings on sight.

Recruitment

The Knights of Elohim recruit much in the way any other cult would. They seek out the vulnerable, and those who may find an appeal in their particular way of life. For the Knights, this is most often homeless, disaffected veterans, angry teenagers with heads full of heroic fantasies, Elohists who have been cast out of their own churches for whatever reason, and those with nothing left to lose. These individuals are usually approached by a field agent who finds a potential recruit and starts talking to them. Oftentimes, the recruiter will offer a potential mark a meal at a restaurant. Especially if the mark is in dire economic straits. In any case, the recruiter will begin talking to the mark about their life situation. They'll lend an ear to the mark's every woe. They'll empathize with every struggle the mark has until the mark is won over by the kindness of this stranger.

That's when they begin talking about the Knights of Elohim. Depending on the mark's specific circumstances, the recruiter will emphasize certain aspects of the organization. The homeless veteran will be told of the tight camaraderie that members share. The angry adolescents will hear all about the great work that the Knights do in destroying the evils of this world. The impoverished and desperate will hear all about how the Knights will feed and house them without any expectation of payment. If the mark is still uncertain about joining, the recruiter will reassure them that there's no immediate commitment. All the recruiter asks is that they come visit a house for other potential inductees into the Knights of Elohim.

In this house, the potential inductee will be given the warmest of welcomes. Multiple other inductees will make a point of showing interest in the newcomer. All in an effort to give the inductee an overwhelmingly positive first impression. With any luck, they'll return, and eventually move in. And this is when the love they'd originally been shown begins to become more conditional.

When one has been deemed sufficiently acclimated in a halfway house, they'll be pressed into signing onto a proper enlistment contract. From there, they'll be sent to a training facility, one part military boot camp, one part religious indoctrination center. When their training is complete, they are then sent to whichever parish is in most need of fresh blood. And a Knight of Elohim is born.

History

Honestly? I... haven't really thought about this yet. But I do have a few ideas for origins:
-Used to be something much saner and then went horribly wrong. Say, a much more normal group of Ehloist mercenaries
-A deliberate machination of exploitation and profit right from the beginning.
-A cult started for other purposes that made an investor do the pogchamp face

Notable Figures

Pastor Samson - Leading figure of the Vindicta Parish. Notable not only for his fury in battle, but for being the only Pastor-level member of the Knights of Elohim to buy into the cult narrative just as fully as his congregation. This makes him every bit as dangerous to the organization's higher ups as it does the enemies he's sent to fight.

"Elos Vult!"

Type

Military, Mercenary Group

Alternative Names

Knight International

Training Level

Professional

Knights of Elohim advance through a highway tunnel during the Cross-Ekonic War