Order of the Lantern

The Brotherhood of the Lantern is a militant order within the Keepers of the Way. The brotherhood’s mission is to combat dangerous arcane magic.

Due to its mission and likely enemies, the brotherhood is not structured for pitched battles and does not field mounted knights. Members are trained to fight dismounted and operate singly or in small teams, investigating and then eliminating threats. Teams may be given assignments from regional leadership or operate independently.
That vast majority of order members are theurgists of some sort. While a person with some exceptional skills but no talent for theurgy may occasional be admitted, the brotherhood believes divine magic is the best shield against arcane magic. The brotherhood contains a few chaplains who are ordained priests, but most members are non-priest warrior monks.

Uniform

The brotherhood’s habit consists of an ankle length tunic of rust brown. The tunic is tighter and more form fitting than many religious habits because it is designed to be worn under armor. The tunic is split in the front to ease riding and running. The scapular is chest width and stretches almost to the ankles, though it will be a little shorter when worn over armor. The scapular is red with yellow trim and the brotherhoods symbol on the left breast, so it is still visible if a brother wears a baldric. The habit can be worn with a quilted outer habit of slightly more reddish color that will protect from cold and some damage. The tunic can be worn with mail, but the preferred armor is brigandine with front the same style and color as the tunic. Weapon and armor issued by the order tend to be well made but unadorned.

Public Agenda

To safeguard Scarterra by curtailing the actions of reckless and nefarious arcane spell casters.

Assets

The Order has a small number of loyal, elite and well educated soldiers who don't just fight dark mages, but they uncover and reveal them.
What they lack is material resources.  The Order has very few permanent assets of their own and relies on donations and support from the Keepers and Guardians.

History

Murnauz, the founder of the brotherhood, believed that unchecked magic precipitated both the First and Second Unmakings.  Thus, to prevent a Third Unmaking becoming a reality, magic must be regulated, and dangerous mages eliminated. 
He selected a lantern as the group’s symbol because a lantern is used to bring light to the darkness, as Murnauz hoped to bring evil spellcraft to light, but also because a lantern is used to control and constrain light, as he wanted to do with magic. Also a lantern is similar to a torch and most of the initial members of the Order of the Lantern were recruited from the Order of the Torch.
Since Murnauz’s time the Brotherhood has spread throughout Scarterra. It is a small but active order, with dedicated members spread over a wide area.
Originally Murnauz was part of the a defunct order of vampire hunters called the Order of the Torch, but the group had been running low on vampires to destroy and had been gradually transitioning to battling other threats. Murnauz was instrumental in formalizing the change of focus.

Demography and Population

Membership in the Order of the Lanterns is theoretically open to anyone but almost all of the Order members are humans

Territories

The Order of the Lantern has a few temples and headquarters scattered throughout Scarterra, usually very unassuming temples and headquarters.
Members are encouraged to be mobile and self-sufficient as possible.  They also tend to borrow the buildings and resources of other organizations to accomplish their short-term needs.
Since most members of the Order of the Lantern are also ordained as holy warriors of Khemra, they find shelter and aid from most Keeper temples and bases quite easily.  Given their alliances to other groups, the Order of the Lantern can often appeal to other priesthoods for shelter and aid.

Religion

Apart from a rare few nihilistic Children and Testers, most members of Scarterra's mainstream religious organizations would very much like to prevent a Third Unmaking.
The crux is that most priesthoods disagree wildly on what means to pursue the end of safeguarding the world from cosmic horrors.
The Guardians are, in general, very supportive of the Order of the Lantern and regularly provide them assistance via supplies and soldiers. It is rare, but not unheard of for Guardians to join the Order of the Lantern outright. Usually these are Guardians that for whatever reason, are extremely prejudiced against mages.
The Stewards and the Masks have their own separate semi-secret organizations dedicated to preventing a Third Unmaking. These organizations are bound by treaties of alliance to the Order of the Lantern, at least on paper. In practice, these organizations seldom ever cross paths with the Order of the Lantern.
The Cult of the Compact is informally allied to the Order of the Lantern and they help the Order keep tabs on powerful mages passing through areas the Cult has some sway.
Most Children aware of the Order of the Lantern are insulted that Keepers dare to try to limit or regulate @Greymoria's domain. A few Children are openly hostile to the Order of the Lantern but most have more hated enemies to focus on instead. The Lanterns, Tenders, Rovers, and Testers are generally indifferent to the Order of the Lantern though individuals within these groups may support or oppose the Order for their own personal reasons.

What about Zarthus' Lanterns?

The brotherhood’s symbol is a yellow sun inside a black lantern. Zarthus' priesthood's main symbol is a lantern framed by the phases of the moon. In fact Zarthus' priests are nicknamed Lanterns because Lantern iconography is very prevalent in their rituals.
When Murauz chose a lantern as the symbol of his fledgling orders, Zarthus' core followers were not nicknamed "Lanterns", they were nicknamed "Seekers."
In the present day, the term "Zarthus' Lanterns" is very well known throughout all of Scarterra while the Order of the Lantern while the Order of the Lantern is so obscure that it is practically a secret organization. The similar names sometimes cause confusion, but the leaders of the Order are generally stubborn traditionalist and refuse to change their name or symbol.
Zarthus' Lanterns, (assuming they are even aware of the Order of the Lantern), are not hostile towards the Order, but they are not friendly either. Nearly all Lanterns are completely on board with the idea of preventing dark mages from unleashing a Third Unmaking, but they do not believe that the Keeper's inflexible tactics will work.
Zarthus' more scholarly Lanterns will point out that while arcane magic precipitated the First and Second Unmakings, the ultimate cause of these disasters was corrupt absolute monarchs overreaching and the Keepers are very bad at preventing monarchs from abusing their power.

Founding Date

496

Type

Religious, Inquisitorial

Predecessor Organization

• Order of the Torch

Official State Religion

Keepers

Parent Organization

Keepers

Deities

• Khemra

Official Languages

• Common

Related Ranks & Titles

• Torch Bearer

Controlled Territories

• Library of Murnauz

Notable Members

• Kormatin