Hammersong's Legacy: The Sunblade Order...

Good Morning, All:

As a tidbit from the upcoming Hammersong's Legacy Campaign Setting, here's one of the Organizations you will find in the book. I offer this organization for the adventure potential it represents. The Sunblade Order can serve as a background element for characters involved with either demons or ghosts. The Order can serve as a patron for adventures against either demons or undead. Its members can be rivals or contacts for the party. They can be the antagonists of an adventure where the common man are trapped between a source of infernal corruption and the Slayers that seek to destroy it. You can play up the Order as uncaring inquisitors that often pursue "witch hunts" in their quest to seek out infernal taint, or you can portray them as righteous heroes involved in the Ultimate Battle of Good versus Evil. The mention of Lord Tirapheral provides a sense of history for other adventure elements, as it hints as a demonic force that marched on the Plane Prime after the War of All Gods had transpired, before it was destroyed by the Order's founder. The somewhat stringent entry requirements might serve as a goal for characters interested in pursuing such a life themselves. Hopefully, such an entry can be a springboard for the imaginations of both Referee and players alike.

Sunblade Order
The Sunblade Order, or more eloquently the Divine Order of Slayers in the Name of the Sunblade, is a fanatical brotherhood of demon-slayers and exorcists. Driven by the desire to protect the Plane Prime from those that dwell in the Shadowlands, these Slayers have earned quite a reputation for their vigilance against the taint of demonic corruption.

Headquarters: Based out of the Duar city of Thorjak, the Shrine of the Sunblade holds the divine artifact used by the Order's founder in the slaying of Lord Tirapheral, a Demonic Servitor of the Black Court of Sandamos, in the days following the end of the War of All Gods. Other cities in the region house small temples and monasteries devoted to the Order.

Members: The pursuit and annihilation of infernal corruption is a deadly proposition, and the numbers of the Sunblade Order have never been very high. Currently, the Order boasts of four hundred members, chosen from those warriors and priests that have petitioned for admission after demonstrating their effectiveness against both demons and the accursed undead.

Organization: The inner workings of the Order represent a mystical tradition that is not shared with outsiders. Most members of the Sunblade Order as called Lesser Slayers. Small bands of Slayers are led by accomplished Slayer-Knights, who swear their service and personal allegiance to the Lord Slayer of the entire order. Local leaders of shrines and monasteries are chosen from among the Slayer-Knights of the area, and maintain regular contact with the Shrine of the Sunblade.

Goals: Divine Order of Slayers in the Name of the Sunblade is devoted to seeking out infernal incursions into the Plane Prime, as well as those undead bound to this world by infernal curse or tainted works, and exterminating them. While the Order itself has no official stance on cultists of Sandamos, King of Demons, Slayers are known for continually interrupting their rituals in order to slay anything summoned by such cabals. This has led to a lot of friction between the various Cults of the Black Court and the Sunblade Order.

Symbol: The emblem of the Sunblade Order is a golden sunburst on a black background. Slayer-Knights are marked by a blazing sword in the background behind the sunburst, the tip of the burning blade pointed upward. The Slayer-Lord uses the symbol of two crossed flaming swords emblazoned by the Order's golden sunburst as his personal symbol.

So, what do you think?

As you can tell from this example, I tried to include a lot of adventure potential in each organization's write-up. Part of my design philosophy in writing Hammersong's Legacy was to provide as much inspiration as I could with each element I included. My basic concept was to take each element in turn, and try to write it up so that it suggested at least three opportunities for use in the game. I looked at each for its impact on character concepts, antagonists, protagonists, background flavor, and adventure potential, and tried to write accordingly. I admit that I succeeded better with some than with others, but I have always thought that gaming material should be written to promote gaming, and made this part of my core design philosophy for my publishing efforts.

Hope You Enjoy,
Flynn