Knights Templar
Quote
The Returning Christ is no loving, humble carpenter. He will come this time with righteous wrath – and when He does, we’ll stand beside Him.
Introduction
The power and glory of God and His Church have blessed the world with love, forgiveness, (relative) peace, and civilized order for over two millennia. But in spite of the salvation that was purchased by Christ’s holy blood, an ever-encroaching darkness requires constant vigilance and demands the attention of holy warriors who’ll wage war against Satan’s corruption and deceit. Those holy warriors were once great and many: the Swords of Grace, the Knights Hospitaller, the Order of the Hammer, the Falcons of Gabriel, and many more. Now, though, only the Knights Templar remain to carry Christ’s standard and keep the vigil against a second Long Night.
Once, under the aegis of the Cabal of Pure Thought, the Knights Templar commanded respect throughout the Christian world, even among the other people of the Book whose understanding lacked the grace of Christ. Pledged to protect, secure, and someday restore the Holy Temple of Solomon – the physical and metaphysical seat of their power and a galvanizing symbol of God’s reign on Earth – they held that duty sure. Despite their martial valor, however, the Knights were also renowned for their honor, kindness, and good works. In the name of their Lord, these Enlightened Knights educated the ignorant, clothed the naked, cured the sick, and fed the hungry. Theirs was a duty unto God.
Graced with Divine sight and Earthly wisdom, the Templars were the first to recognize the tendrils of darkness, sin, and pride within the Church, the ranks of the Gabrielites, and their fellow Conventions in the Order of Reason. They were among the first to speak out against such corruption, and they were also the first to fall victim to conspiracies within their Order. The notorious disgrace and slaughter of France’s Templars, and the reputed blasphemies of which they were accused, remains a matter of record; far less famous is the history of the organization after their supposed fall. Despite conspiracies and legends, occult rumors and magely nonsense, the Templars keep their holy vigil. Their myths are many, but the truth is this: the Knights Templar still exist today – stronger in conviction and greater in numbers than anyone, Sleeper or Awakened, can conceive.
Then and now, the Templars serve as Militia Christi: soldiers of Christ, themselves anointed by His holy blood and their own. The sect’s members refer to themselves as “loaves and fishes”: the miracle waiting to happen, the small force that shall, by God’s grace, become a powerful multitude. God will send the prayed-for Messiah, the Holy Warrior who will redeem the Earth. And when He arrives, as He soon will, He will find them ready and close at hand.
Despite their reputed merger with their old rivals in the Celestial Chorus, the Knights Templar retain an independent, if secretive, existence. And in a weird twist of fortune, they’ve forged a tentative alliance with sacred heretics, in hopes of redeeming those flawed souls (or at least using them as convenient shock troops) when the Messiah finally comes. Such mirror-games are nothing new to Christ’s Militia; like any wise soldiers, they work with whatever circumstances give them. And so, out of necessity, they have changed; guns replace swords, laptops replace steeds, Kevlar replaces steel, and the old “men-only” rules have bowed to practicality. Women – though still discouraged in front-line combat – make up a growing number of support troops within the Knights. And in this age, even these Dove Knights are warriors of a sort. Satan’s front lines are everywhere these days, after all, and an attack could come as easily from a computer virus or an IED as from a battlefield blade.
Organization
Today’s Templars exist as a network of small lodges, each presided over by an Honored Master who’s elected by the initiated members of the lodge. These Honored Masters report directly to a smaller body of regional Resplendent Masters, also elected from amongst their ranks. The Resplendent Masters receive directives from a small council of Generals who guide the larger, global work of these hidden Knights. The network operates largely through Internet connections, their communications coded in secret scriptures and references only the Knights Templar understand.
Each lodge contains Brothers and Sisters, Aspirants, and Knights of various degrees and ranks. Brothers and Sisters have demonstrated faith and courage but have not yet received the Holy Fire of Awakening. Aspirants have been blessed with Holy Vision, but they must still receive training and trial before initiation. Many lodges have been dedicated either to Peace (healing, charity, and education) or War (armed conflict); the former are all-female, and the latter are all-male.
Other lodges welcome both genders and Knights of either path; these rare lodges focus on training, recruitment, and preparation for the final war.
Initiation
Like military recruiters, the Templar Knights are always looking for a few good men. A prospective candidate might be invited to participate in a lodge’s projects and initiatives. Compatible candidates could be asked to join the lodge as Brothers or Sisters; those who display the Holy Fire soon find themselves assigned to a Knight who guides the potential initiate in the rituals of prayer, purification, and dedication necessary to become an Aspirant.
Affinity Spheres
Forces, Life, Mind, or Prime.
Focus
A Templar Knight is just a vessel for God’s Will, not his own. Despite A World of Gods and Monsters, there is Divine Order and Earthly Chaos, so Might is Right when God guides your soul. Faith and martial arts provide the core of every Templar’s training, and though dominion, craftwork, and hypertech appear in the group’s modern practices, every instrument is an extension of God’s hand.
