The Holy Order of the Divine

Summary

The Holy Order of the Divine—often simply called The Order—is a clandestine and all-encompassing organization within the Kingdom of the Divine, operating at the highest levels of secrecy. Comprised of inquisitors and their retinues, the Holy Order serves as the Kingdom's shadow arm, tasked with investigating threats that could undermine the Kingdom's divinity, stability, and the faith of its people. While the Kingdom's armed forces defend it in the open, the Holy Order operates from the shadows, safeguarding against corruption, heresy, sedition, and any other malign influence that seeks to tear apart the Kingdom from within.

Role and Purpose

Protecting the Divine's Will: The Holy Order exists to ensure the purity of the Kingdom of the Divine. Its primary mission is to root out heresy, deceit, corruption, and insurrection, all of which are seen as threats to both the Kingdom’s temporal sovereignty and the divine power it embodies.
Investigating Internal Threats: Their tasks range from uncovering subversive political movements to interrogating suspected traitors and managing spies and informants. They are the eyes and ears of the Kingdom's rulers, tasked with detecting treasonous plots long before they can manifest as rebellion.
Enforcement of Divine Purity: The Holy Order is a moral and religious enforcer, holding itself to an ideal of spiritual purity. Those found guilty of impiety or even doubt may find themselves subjected to intense interrogation, followed by punitive measures, ranging from exile to execution.
Judgment and Punishment: Unlike other forces, The Order enacts swift and often decisive justice without concern for popular opinion. Its members are trained in both combat and jurisprudence, often rendering judgment on those who cross the line into apostasy or chaos.

Structure and Organization

The Holy Order is highly structured, operating as a pyramid of influence, though the vast majority of the Order's workings are kept secret from the populace, and even from much of the Kingdom's higher leadership.

Supreme Inquisitor: The head of the Order, with authority granted by the ruling monarchs or the highest council of the Kingdom, and often seen as a representative of divine will on matters of purging impurity. The Supreme Inquisitor oversees the strategic direction of the entire Order and is said to operate with the unassailable authority to make decisions for the Kingdom, regardless of the ruling body.
Inquisitors: Highly trained, each inquisitor is essentially an independent agent, working within the parameters laid out by the Order’s doctrine. These agents may oversee regions, follow up on emerging threats, or operate within the cities to gather intelligence on suspected threats. They are frequently accompanied by hand-picked retinues that assist in their investigations.
Confessors: Spiritual guides and interrogators within the Order, these agents wield authority not just to investigate matters of state or public life but also to delve into the souls and minds of individuals, uncovering doubts or rebellious thoughts that may threaten the Kingdom's sanctity.
Retinue: Inquisitors are often accompanied by specialized agents—ranging from elite soldiers, diplomats, spies, and sometimes rogue psykers—who aid in their investigations. These units are often hidden from public view, and their existence remains classified even within most sections of the Kingdom’s military.
Secretive Sub-Orders: Different factions exist within The Holy Order for specific tasks, such as tracking down heretics, policing faith, or even gathering forbidden knowledge to counteract threats from rival empires. Sub-divisions work almost entirely in isolation from each other, ensuring that any one inquisitor does not have the full picture of the Order's reach.

Appearance and Symbolism

Members of the Holy Order are often seen wearing robes of the deepest black, adorned with religious insignias and purity seals blessed by high-ranking priests of the Kingdom. When outside of normal operations or ceremonial functions, these individuals mask their identities in veils, helmets, or face-obscuring hoods.

The Holy Seal, a complex sigil crafted from intricate geometric designs and divine markings, is the most visible symbol of their authority. It is often worn as an emblem on their uniform or subtly incorporated into their equipment—sometimes in ways that only other members of the Order would recognize.

Inquisitors and their agents are also known for their ceremonial weapons, often taking the form of ceremonial swords, chains, or ranged weaponry that is adorned with holy scriptures or relics, symbolizing both their martial prowess and their position as spiritual agents of divine law.

Weaponry and Tools

The agents of the Holy Order are equipped with a wide array of specialized tools, both sacred and practical, which enable them to execute their missions with unwavering efficiency.

Divine Weapons: Specially forged swords and plasma-based weapons blessed by holy rites that are used to both combat external enemies and punish traitors. Some inquisitors wield "Judgment Pistols", emitting bolts of purified energy designed to immediately end the life of the heretic or criminal.
The Eye of Purity: A tool of the Order that allows for the interrogation and divination of subjects through mental intrusion or examination of sins. It is said to read minds and detect lying or impure thoughts, and many who come into contact with this device are so profoundly affected that they break.
Holy Codices: Books or tablets containing powerful teachings or divine scriptures, used by confessors and inquisitors to reveal heresies or contradictions to doctrine. Some Codices contain rituals of exorcism or processes of spiritual retribution to ensure full obedience to the divine law.

Methods and Tactics

Infiltration and Subversion: Inquisitors use highly secretive methods to uncover plots and perform covert investigations. They are known to infiltrate marketplaces, courts, and even royal factions to gather information without revealing themselves. In some cases, agents might manipulate local politics or religious organizations from the shadows.
Interrogation: Under the cover of sanctity and divine authority, the Holy Order often employs extreme methods to uncover heresy and sedition. Those suspected of treachery undergo intense “interrogation,” which may involve both spiritual and physical methods.
Excommunication and Execution: For those found guilty of betraying the divine will of the Kingdom, the Holy Order wields the power of ultimate judgment—executions that are swift, precise, and publicly recognized as divine retribution. Often, these executions are performed in public to set an example and demonstrate that no sinner may escape the will of the Divine.
Psychological Warfare: The Holy Order also uses terror and psychological tactics to destabilize their enemies. This can include disseminating false information, planting agents within the ranks of rebel factions, and even feigning betrayal to exploit weaknesses within rival political structures.

-5 Perception and Influence

The Holy Order maintains an air of awe and fear across the Kingdom and is deeply respected—even feared—by the populace and the ruling elite alike. Rumors of their reach and their methods—known to none but those in the highest echelons of power—maintain their position as an inviolable institution.

Their reputation for uncovering heresy and sedition has kept rebellious factions in check, while their indiscriminate purge of dissent ensures that the Kingdom remains unyielding to internal threats. The Kingdom's spiritual leaders, nobles, and military commanders all know that the influence of the Order is limitless—operating without checks or balances, their actions fully justified as the will of the Divine.

Known Inquisitors

Lucianus Coulston