Order of the Dragon
"I call upon you to march forth and to defend the truth of the dragons, we can't allow these apocryphal teachings to continue, the twisting of the divine revelations profane their presence. The masses have been led astray, they have been blinded, they have been filled with false truths. This is why we act, this is more then a matter of life and death, this is a matter of eternity, souls are in jeopardy. We must save the masses, for them we show mercy, but the snakes that sought to spread their poison will be crushed."
-Calre'el Adleth, Arch-inquisitor of the first Drago inquisition.
-Calre'el Adleth, Arch-inquisitor of the first Drago inquisition.
History
Not much survived The Great Fire so the bulk of the history starts around 0 AGF, but that doesn't leave a shortage of notable events. In the aftermath of the great fire the ordered fractured into several factions, the majority of which were of the doomsday cult variety. A common theme among these factions were that the gods had abandoned them and would either twist the teachings to favor one god and villainize another, some would even go as far as claim there were more dragons beyond the nine. Sostex was the least affected by the great fire and their society was mostly intact, so the order located in that region took it upon themselves to maintain the integrity of the divine teachings. This was a great undertaking and how best to preserve the order was hotly debated, but in the end it was decided force was necessary and thus began the Drago Inquisition (This is the official name of this event, those outside the order have referred to it in more crass ways, using such words as "purge", "hypocrisy", and "sanctioned violence"). There were technically four Inquisitions, but they all happened in a forty year period roughly spanning from 23 AGF to 63 AGF. The inquisition slowly spread to different parts of Menorith and either brought splinter factions back into the traditional order or spread to areas that didn't have a presence (it wasn't uncommon that such areas might of been recently purged of heretical influence). Another mission of the Inquisition was to recover artifacts, texts, and relics from before the great fire, these would be taken to some of the bigger temples and preserved in the vaults, access to these vaults are restricted to only those high up in the order.
Unfortunately with the order spending so much time focusing on issues outside of the Sostex they didn't see an issue slowly brewing around them. The Drago Inquisition required a lot of recruits, either as order trained agents or rank and file "acolytes" (Soldiers), this caused a resentment against the traditional faction of the order. This resentment grew into subtle resistance, and eventually openly heated debate, this finally culminated in the period known as "The shattered night." During the Festival of Creation a group of elves attempted to break the veil and attempt to speak to the dragons directly, they believed what the order was doing was wrong and wanted to prove a point. They ended up contacting something and caused a dark swirling tempest to appear over Sostex, causing a majority of the populace to go mad. A small group of order members were able to fight through the madness and made it to the apex of the tempest, through great sacrifice they banished the tempest. This quick action minimized the loss of life, but it did leave behind a scar, the entire elvish race would have eyes shaped like a dragon's. The official explanation was that they had opened a portal into Darress' domain and had provoked his wrath.
The ordered made reforms after this event, backing away from worldly politics and focusing on the matters of the divine. These early years had a profound effect on how the order conducted itself into the present day, it didn't want a repeat of it's violent past. Though there are occasional debates on the merits of early order decisions.
Unfortunately with the order spending so much time focusing on issues outside of the Sostex they didn't see an issue slowly brewing around them. The Drago Inquisition required a lot of recruits, either as order trained agents or rank and file "acolytes" (Soldiers), this caused a resentment against the traditional faction of the order. This resentment grew into subtle resistance, and eventually openly heated debate, this finally culminated in the period known as "The shattered night." During the Festival of Creation a group of elves attempted to break the veil and attempt to speak to the dragons directly, they believed what the order was doing was wrong and wanted to prove a point. They ended up contacting something and caused a dark swirling tempest to appear over Sostex, causing a majority of the populace to go mad. A small group of order members were able to fight through the madness and made it to the apex of the tempest, through great sacrifice they banished the tempest. This quick action minimized the loss of life, but it did leave behind a scar, the entire elvish race would have eyes shaped like a dragon's. The official explanation was that they had opened a portal into Darress' domain and had provoked his wrath.
The ordered made reforms after this event, backing away from worldly politics and focusing on the matters of the divine. These early years had a profound effect on how the order conducted itself into the present day, it didn't want a repeat of it's violent past. Though there are occasional debates on the merits of early order decisions.
Mythology & Lore
The order believes that the nine dragons took the basic matter of the universe and transformed that matter into the world we know today. The dragons titles were given to them based on what they made their particular specialty during this creation period.
Worship
The order recognizes there only being nine dragons.
Priesthood
The Chancellor is located in Sostex and is considered the bridge between the mortal world and the dragons, the head of the entire order.
There is one High Priest or High Priestess in each country, they report to the Chancellor.
The Priest or Priestess would be in charge of the local temple, they report to the High Priest or High Priestess.
While each individual would be in the one ultimately in charge, they are supported by a order council (the size varies at each level and what country).
There is one High Priest or High Priestess in each country, they report to the Chancellor.
The Priest or Priestess would be in charge of the local temple, they report to the High Priest or High Priestess.
While each individual would be in the one ultimately in charge, they are supported by a order council (the size varies at each level and what country).
Founding Date
Exact date is unknown but it predates The Great Fire
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
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