The Resolute Knights of St. George, also referred to as Caballeros de Posadas, Varghese or the Church of the Union, are a Guardian Order of the Celestial Chorus sworn to fight the supernatural.
Overview[]
Founded in Syria in the 11th century, the Knights have spread across the world, by the 1400’s, there were chapterhouses from Ireland to India.
The Knights of St. George have always been a forward-looking order, inducting women in the 19th century, and opening their doors to non-Christians in the early 20th. There are alchemists, sorcerous numinist, and mortal researchers. A splinter group, the Society of St. George, is even believed to be able to wield powerful magic. Recent political developments, however, have brought them into conflict with the Ikhwan al-Safa.
History[]
Once the largest guardian order in the Chorus, the Knights saw themselves as the greatest protector humanity had from the monsters who prowled the night to prey upon innocent victims. Their chief enemies were vampires, although they had come into contact at times with demons and even werewolves. At night, they were fierce warriors, but they were known as artists, statesmen and poets in the day. Although the order was founded in Syria in the 11th century, the Knights spread throughout the world. By the 1400s, there were branches of the order as far apart as the Roman Catholics of Ireland and the Syrian Orthodox Christians in India. In the 19th century, they became the first of the old guardian orders to admit men and women equally. At the turn of the 20th century, the order became the first of the old Christian factions to begin admitting non-Christian members.
The days of the Reckoning should have been the Knights’ time to shine, but their members remaining on Earth were unprepared for the fury of the vampire-demon that arose from underneath Bangladesh in July 1999. Although the Varghese (the St. George Knights of India) foresaw its coming, they did not know what to prepare for. Disparate members of the Knights gathered to meet the ancient evil from all over the globe, but they were cut down. Within two days, the great knighthood, the largest of the guardian orders, was reduced to a mere shadow of itself.
Today, fewer than 30 known and fully knighted members remain, and several of them are not even users of Sphere magic. The survivors are torn between continuing their work or withdrawing to train their newest members. Those members with some gift for prophecy, though, hint that either decision may be moot. The surviving Knights often concentrate on the study of Forces. Those few psychics and sorcerers allowed to join the order use Paths such as Conjuration, Fortune and Hellfire as well as phenomena such as Psychokinesis and Pyrokinesis. More often, the Order relies on sorcerous consors who study Alchemy and Enchantment to provide them with the weapons and armor that they need.
Recent Developments[]
In the Middle East their fighting with the Ikhwan al-Safa has driven many wedges between the various hunter groups in that area, and those grudges have influenced more than the local chapters of the Knights of St. George. During the upheavals, two of their chapterhouses were invaded and ransacked by members of the Ikhwan al-Safa. The other organization immediately issued a rebuke of those members, but the materials and research were never returned. The situation has put the knights at a high state of concern, regardless of the treaty signed in 2008, because the materials taken included information on a number of their most important libraries and undercover agents.
If the materials aren’t returned, or worse, if they are used against the Knights of St. George, the consequences could be disastrous. A fight between two hunter groups could rapidly escalate into a war between the Ikhwan al-Safa and their djinn against the entirety of the knighthood and their allies.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- As of The Hunters Hunted II; the Society of Saint George, an Anglican splinter-group who primarily operate in England, have now been retconed into being a part of the Knights of St. George instead of the Society of Leopold.
- "The Knights of St. George have always been a forward-looking order, inducting women in the 19th century, and opening their doors to non-Christians in the early 20th. There are alchemists, sorcerous numinist, and mortal researchers. A splinter group, the Society of St. George, is even believed to be able to wield powerful magic. All of them have sworn to hunt evil upon the world, and primarily focus their attention on vampires."
References[]
- MTAs: Celestial Chorus Tradition Book, p. 34
- MTA: Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus, p. 42-43
- V20: The Hunters Hunted II, p. 154
