the Black Blade of Ezra

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Another little idea I had.

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The door finally shattered under the anchorites' efforts and they stormed into the secret chamber, hidden beneath the house of Alving the Brandy-Merchant. They were shielded by protective spells, they held their blessed longswords and they had spells readied; they felt they were ready for anything. But they were not.
"This is a vampire's lair?" anchorite Timothy asked, stunned. "It looks more like --"
"Do not say it!" anchorite Andrew snapped at him, but he, too, was disturbed. The small room, by all accounts the lair of a vampire which had attacked and killed three men in Mayving, was neatly appointed and well-kept. Green and white were prominent colours, both in the upholstery of the more normal furniture and in the great cloths that covered the abandoned coffin -- and a small altar. Atop the altar stood an icon, depicting ...
"Our Guardian in the Mists?" Timothy said, disbelieving. "But that is impossible!"
The icon resembled Ezra closely. But no other statue of the Guardian ever showed Ezra with a sly smile, standing in the ready position of a swordfighter, with her great shield at her feet, her hands holding her classic silver longsword and a black shortsword. Ezra looked ... wild.
Brother Andrew crossed over to the small altar and muttered an orison. And he shuddered.
"You didn't see this," he told anchorite Timothy hoarsely. "Look among the fiend's papers. I am certain we will find all kinds of slanderous accusations of those poor men the monster killed. As soon as you find those, you never saw them, either. I'll deliver them to the church."
"But where is the vampire?" anchorite Timothy wailed. "Shouldn't we be looking for him instead of searching his lair?"
"He will already have fled," anchorite Andrew replied grimly. "Forewarned, though not long enough to pack his icon -- unless he meant for us to find it."

There are always traitors, in any community. Those who, for one reason or another, turn on their own people and break away from the ways of the family, the clan, the society. In the Realm of Dread, not all communities are benevolent, but they may still have their breakaways.
One of these breakaways was a Richemulot cleric of Ezra now known best as "Rat-in-the-Walls". Rat posed the very dangerous theory that even members of the Legions of the Night might find favour with Ezra, if they were willing to turn on their old allies and become protectors of the oppressed people. His theories, which he sent to the Home Faith by courier, were rejected as vilest heresy, but he still continued to spread them to shrines of Ezra, wherever they had arisen.
Eventually, rumours started to circulate in the secret places of the world and some very dangerous, very lonely creatures started to gravitate towards Rat-in-the-Walls and his teachings. Today, the sect founded by Rat-in-the-Walls is known as the Black Blade of Ezra. Its members are a disparate lot, united mostly by their wholesale loathing of the monstrous brood they parted ways with. A more sublimated connection is a vague hope for redemption; when the Black Blade holds ceremonies to worship Ezra for members, most of the sermons revolve around doing good to make up for old wrongs.
Some members of the sect have received the favour of Ezra and can cast spells in her name and turn undead (no member of the Black Blade can rebuke). Members of the sect keep in touch through Rat-in-the-Walls and some other key souls; they exchange information on monstrous uprisings, vile mortals and opportunities to put paid to such people. The sect is mostly LE in outlook, but exceptional members are slowly drifting to a more Neutral outlook on life.
Although the sect's existence is considered anathema by the four main groups of Ezran faith, and is even denied, the Black Blade has its contacts and can usually avoid conflicts with its 'parent' faith. The main difference between the Black Blade of Ezra and the Nevuchar Sprins sect is that most of its members are themselves creatures supposed to belong to the Legions of the Night. Also, the Black Blade will strike at any evil, regardless of its form, and takes pride in as clean a kill as can be achieved.

[Dimitri Mazieres]

A really nicely written article, Rock.

The sect looks to me like a merging of the LE and LG interpretations of Ezra, where the LG believes that even creatures of the night can be redeemed, and the LE branch strives to their utter destruction.

Really interesting concept. Good work!

[Archedius]

I like this- a future article perhaps?

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Thank you both. ^^ I'd love to offer the concept of the Black Blade as a future article -- where do I send it to, once I've expanded on it a bit?

[Archedius]

http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... .php?t=511 that should answer some questions perhaps

*edit* And Rock, if you want a sounding board for ideas or any feedback I'd be glad to listen.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Add another "me too" to those who really like this idea. Nice!

[LordGodefroi]

Loved the flavor text ! If I were a player in that scene, I would have loved it to pieces! A vampire priest of one's own faith ! My PC, at that point, would have been dedicated to the "who, what, when, where, and how" of that dichotomy.

Great stuff !

[ewancummins]

I like it. Do I have your permission to use 'em if I ever get around to running Ravenloft?

[DocBeard]

I really like this. One of the neater things, to me at least, about Ravenloft's...unique divine magic mechanics, is that there's a great chance of a relitivly benevolent diety, like Ezra, Hala, Morninglord or Belenus, having corrupt priests...

...and darker faiths, like the Lawgiver, Eternal Order and even Zhakhata have just as much of a chance of having more benevolent sects. There's enough flexability that the religions feel like real, well, religions, instead of powersets for divine casters.

Anyway, more specificly; if you do work on an article, perhaps you could exland the horizons a little? Show how Ravenloft's good faiths might be twisted to the needs of the creatures of the night, or even address religion among the undead in general. Do lycanthropes worship different aspects of the Wolf God? Do venerated priests of the Lawgiver rise from their grave to defend their sacred noble lines when threatened by the forces of chaos and rebellion? Can the undead try and embrace one of Ravenloft's many sun-gods in the vague hope of being redeemed?

As cool as Ezra is, the girl gets a lot of screen time when compared to some of the other just as interesting religions in Ravenloft. Not that you have to, obviously, just food for thought.

[Archedius]

That would be interesting although probably to much for 1 article (unless it was really short : ( Any way to show the duality and moral ambiguity in the setting is a good thing.

[LouisVendredi]

I wonder how it would play out if a living priest of Ezra tried to turn this vampire priest. If it worked, I imagine it would be quite a blow to the vampire (above and beyond a normal vampire turning) being repelled by the power of your own god.

Can the undead try and embrace one of Ravenloft's many sun-gods in the vague hope of being redeemed?

This reminds me that the inspiration for the Cult of the Morninglord was a vampire.

[DocBeard]

This reminds me that the inspiration for the Cult of the Morninglord was a vampire.

At least superficially.

But don't you think it's interesting that the origional diety of Barovia was Andral, a sun god? And we have no less than four distinct religions; Morninglord, Belenus, Ra, and the Overseer, who are either seen as the sun, or represented by the sun. The (arguably) most successful religion in the core, Ezra, was started by an ethnic Balok, and Barovia has been the cradel of the Morninglord and Zhakhita...

For a supposedly numb, faithless people, the Baloks sure do have a strong tradition of phrophecy and founding religions, is all I'm saying, y'know?

[NeoTiamat]

I like this. It has a certain taste I find appealing. Not to mention that any set-up that allows me to use a very grab-bag assortment of monstrosities is fine by me.

On the related matter of monstrous interpretations of mortal religions, I might suggest taking a good look at the Van Richten Society Files: Doppelgangers. The prime doppelganger NPC there, an old fellow by the name of Adramelech, actually founded a Doppelganger-based version on the Divinity of Mankind, with its own specific dogma and everything.

The basic gist, as I recall, was that if the Divinity of Mankind believes that humans can achieve perfection, then isn't a doppelganger, a Master as they call themselves, the perfect human? Its in the NPC section, called the Divinity of Masters.

[Ornum]

I wonder how it would play out if a living priest of Ezra tried to turn this vampire priest. If it worked, I imagine it would be quite a blow to the vampire (above and beyond a normal vampire turning) being repelled by the power of your own god.

That's a good question. Not just for Ravenloft, but for the game, in general. I guess the question is "Does a cleric's turning ability actually channel positive energy, or is it a manifestation of their god's power?"

Officially, they channel positive energy when turning, so I guess the answers is yes, the turning would work. Personally, I go with option number two, so I'd say that if a god accepts an undead cleric, then opposing priests of the same faith will find that their turning attempts will fail. Of course, I'd go as far as to say that, say, a vampire cleric of a deity (specifically, a good or non-evil deity) will find that his particular deity's holy symbol will not adversely affect him.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Personally, I think I'd go the other way. Part of the theme of religions in Ravenloft is that the deities' will -- indeed, their very existence -- is more a matter of personal faith than of demonstrated fact. Having a vampire cleric of Ezra automatically ignore the effects of Ezrans' turning, or able to handle Her holy symbol without gloves on, is tantamount to a direct statement on Ezra's part that She accepts such creatures, and that the Mordentish sect is correct about Her intentions toward the Legions of Night.

Myself, I think I'd have positive energy continue to have its usual effect on the vampire cleric, regardless of whether it comes from an Ezran or some other faith's priesthood. That leaves the true intentions of Ezra in doubt -- does the vampire suffer Turning because She wills it, or merely because of the nature of the energy a mortal cleric chooses to direct against it? if the Turning fails, is that a mark that the vampire is too strong, or did Ezra actually choose to spare it? -- and makes it even more of a challenge to the vampire cleric's faith.

Can the vampire continue to believe that Ezra forgives it, even if the very symbol of Ezra, itself, seems to condemn it, by burning its skin on contact? If so, doesn't that make its faith stronger than that of most mortals, to endure even in the face of such contrary evidence? Or, if its faith should slip, won't that make its fury against Ezra and Her faithful all the more bitter? Now, that's the kind of melodrama that Ravenloft is made of!