The Paladry of the Skeleton Key (Pal-AY-dree)

A tattered black banner hangs from the ramparts of a decrepit fort, a silver key emblazoned on its face. It is the only sign of life remaining in the area, and it alone will survive the blaze of golden flame beginning to crest over the fortress walls. Such banners never burn, nor those who bear them.

Few orders of paladins are as feared as the Paladry of the Skeleton Key. Though many respect their mission, there are few who aren't frightened by their unwavering zeal or the destruction they are known to leave in their wake. Perhaps if their mission had stopped at freeing slaves they would have been among the most respected orders in Veturoth, but their mission to right wrongs and end oppression tends to extend far beyond what most people would consider wrongs. To the Keys, almost all authority, where not freely given by all those who must kneel to it, is tyranny, and the Jarls of Veturoth have gone to great lengths in their attempts to reign in and even destroy the Paladry before it threatens their position--something which has only incensed the Keys.

Devotees of the god of justice, Odovakr, the organizations paladins are known to be as unforgiving as their god. Crimes must ever be paid for with blood, and they alone know the secrets behind the all-consuming fires seen raging through innumerable slaver camps across Veturoth. Such fires burn everything (wood, stone and steel alike) and are quenched only well nothing remains as evidence of the cruelties that once dominated those lands--nothing, save for the banner of the Paladry of the Skeleton Key, ragged and weathered, but untouched.

History

The paladry was founded in 502 D.S., following the overthrow of Varentr the Bloodied, a storied warlord who had conquered much of the Krantaryan continent, and made slaves of the people of Veturoth. Many of the leaders of the rebellion agreed that such tyranny could never be allowed to thrive ever again, and must be stamped out and burned to the roots before it ever had the chance to grow. They offered prayers and ritual offerings to Odovakr for three days and three nights, and on the dawn of the fourth day, a glistening silver executioner's sword, inscribed in gold with what would become the paladry's motto, appeared on the steps of the keep where Varentr made his final stand. Reikar of Blackbluff, who had organized the prayers, took up the blade, and, guided by a series of visions from the Unwavering Hand himself, spent the next month organizing and recruiting for the organization that would become the Paladry of the Skeleton Key.

No chain unbroken, no lock unopened.

Type

Religious, Holy Order

Demonym

Keys

Leader Title

The Locksmith

Deities

• Odovakr

Location

Varenfall Keep

Related Ranks & Titles

• The Locksmith