Post by Sardinal on Apr 21, 2016 20:37:10 GMT -5
The Knights Oppressor
The Solitary Order of Oppression Knights, more simply called The Knights Oppressor, are a small order of Warriors of Faith devoted to Cyian Doth'Dakar, the Lord of Tyranny. The men and women who are knighted into this order become tyrants themselves, dedicating their power to conquering the lands around them and ruling them with an unforgiving fist all in the name of their god.
The Order originated in the middle of the 4th age. Kaz'ryn Doth'Dakar, the Emperor of Lark and brother to Cyian created a powerful sentient magical item called Zal'alam, the Seed of Tyranny. This incredible Ioun Stone was designed to find and train suitable individuals across the three worlds in the Faith of Cyian and set them loose to take over. Ever since, it has done its job to the best of its considerable abilities.
The Knights Oppressor are called Solitary for two major reasons. First, the only method of joining the Order is to be chosen and trained by Zal'alam himself in the orders unique abilities. Second, true tyrants seldom brook the presence of other tyrants who they must constantly compete with and defend their lands against. There has never been an occasion for the Knights Oppressor to gather en mass, and as they are each trained to believe they have the right and might to rule, it is unlikely such an event would end well.
Joining the order begins mostly the same for all the Knights. A strong, charismatic individual with a powerful ego and a desire to rule hears a deep voice in his mind. Zal'alam, the Seed of Tyranny offers himself as a mentor and guide, seducing the young candidate with descriptions of the power he can teach them and the glory found in conquering in the name of Cyian. When the candidate agrees, Zal'alam reveals himself and the student becomes his bearer. From there the two become inseparable. Zal'alam always begins with teaching his new student of the commandments, rites, and history of the Faith. After that is drilled into his students mind, lessons on diplomacy, deception, and warfare commence, mixed with training in personal combat and the arts of the Knighthood.
When the training is complete, Zal'alam aids his bearer in the beginning of his path to domination. They start small, taking hamlets and villages and recruiting followers and minions from those they conquer. As the student grows in power Zal'alam begins preparing him for the day that he must leave to find a new student, imparting his last lessons on warfare, espionage, and intimidation. Once the bearer has gained a strong and loyal following, the sentient Ioun Stone departs, leaving his student to turn himself into the master.
The first Knight Oppressor was a young man named Arti'nochu. Arti'nochu grew to manhood on a small island on Thelus. Shunned by his tribe for trying to take a wife above his station, Arti'nochu grew wroth and desired to strip his betters of their land and power. When Zal'alam approached him, he jumped at the chance to gain such power and dedicated his life to Cyian. After learning all he could, Arti'nochu took his revenge on his tribe, enslaving his elders. He went on to become Arti'nochu the Bloodtide, conquering and ruling the entire archipelago his island belonged too.
Code of Conduct
The First Commandment is Conquer: This lesson is drilled into the heads of Zal'alams students at every opportunity. The first and most important duty of the knighthood is to conquer in the name of their god. This, of course, does not require them to be brash, foolish, or stupid, but even when in a position of servitude or diplomacy, the Knight must be plotting and planning ways to gain more power, remove enemies and obstacles, and take step after step towards ruling over those around them. Failure to be dedicated and proactive in this regard inevitably brings a disastrous fall from Cyians Grace.
The Second Commandment is Discipline: Rage, impatience, and slack are the enemies of order and the destroyers of strategy. The proper Knight must learn to control his anger so that he may unleash it only when it is useful. He must exercise patience in all things so as to never disrupt his own strategy. He must guard eternally against laziness and comfort in himself and those he commands so they are ready to respond to any situation. Losing control or becoming lax or lazy are sure ways to anger Cyian Slavemaster.
The Third Commandment is Respect: It is foolish to provoke those with more power, unless such provocation is part of your strategy to remove them from your path to power. Treat those who have gained such power with respect; respectful enmity, respectful friendship, respectful admiration, respectful destruction. Respect them even as you plan their downfall as it is their downfall that creates your ascension.
The Fourth Commandment is Convert: The power you gain from the Lord of Domination does not come without price. In every hamlet and village conquered a shrine must be erected. In every town and city, a temple. Conversion of the populous to the faith of Cyian is the work of years and must begin immediately. Cyian does not expect a sudden and magical transition of all the people to his faith, but it is a Knights solemn duty to help build, spread, and defend the church. Repeated failure in this commandment reaps the worst of punishments brought about by Cyian's infernal allies.
The Fifth Commandment is Cleanse: Most enemies deserve to be conquered, but for some only destruction will do. The Knight must dedicate himself to purging his lands of all who worship Thelin Winterstrom and Sierra Linenbright. Followers of other deities can be conquered, converted, or slain as necessity and the Knights desires indicate, but the true enemies of the Faith must be destroyed.
Becoming a Knight Oppressor
Class: Warrior of Faith
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Deity: Cyian Doth'Dakar
Special: Must have been approached by the sentient magical Ioun Stone called Zal'alam, The Seed of Tyranny, and accept its training.
Alternate Class Abilities: These unique alternate class abilities are available only to the Knights Oppressor, not to all Warriors of Faith of Cyian.
Oath of the Conqueror: At first level the Warrior of Faith loses his Smite Opposed Alignment ability and gains Oath of the Conqueror. At each level the Knight would gain another use of smite, this ability gets stronger instead, per the following chart. The Knight swears an unholy Oath to Cyian to seize control of a specific place. The minimum size of this place increases with the Knights Warrior of Faith level. As long as the Knight is actively pursuing the goal of conquering that place, he gains bonuses both in and out of combat. He does not gain these bonuses while performing any task or action that does not directly impact his oath to conquer. If the Knight successfully conquers the local as he has sworn to, he keeps the bonus at whatever level it was when he conquered it. It will only increase if he swears a new Oath to conquer a new location. To keep his bonuses growing he must continue conquering.
The Knights bonuses apply to the following things: Attack rolls, Melee and Ranged weapon damage rolls, Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Profession: Soldier. These are PROFANE bonuses.
Warrior of Faith Level Minimum Size of Local to Conquer Bonus
1-4 Hamlet +2
5-9 Small Town +3
10-14 Large City +4
15-19 Metropolis or Kingdom +5
20 Kingdom or Larger +6
Oath of the Despot: At third level, the Knight loses the Aura of Faith WoF class ability and replaces it with Oath of the Despot. Within the lands he has conquered, the Knight is the supreme mortal authority. This manifests itself as a complete immunity to all spells, spell-like abilities, powers, psi-like abilities, and supernatural abilities with the [Mind-Affecting] descriptor. The Knight can choose to lower this immunity as a free action, raising it again is a swift action. All allies and followers within 10 feet of the Knight gain a +4 bonus to saves against such effects. This ability does not work outside the borders of lands the Knight has conquered.
Oath of the Tyrant: At sixth level, the knight swears the Oath of the Tyrant, forever losing the Warrior of Faith Dispel Opposed Alignment ability and gaining Leadership as a bonus feat. Whenever the Knight would gain another use of Dispel Opposed Alignment he instead gains a +1 bonus to his Leadership Score.
See the Magic Item section for more on Zal'alam, The Seed of Tyranny
The Solitary Order of Oppression Knights, more simply called The Knights Oppressor, are a small order of Warriors of Faith devoted to Cyian Doth'Dakar, the Lord of Tyranny. The men and women who are knighted into this order become tyrants themselves, dedicating their power to conquering the lands around them and ruling them with an unforgiving fist all in the name of their god.
The Order originated in the middle of the 4th age. Kaz'ryn Doth'Dakar, the Emperor of Lark and brother to Cyian created a powerful sentient magical item called Zal'alam, the Seed of Tyranny. This incredible Ioun Stone was designed to find and train suitable individuals across the three worlds in the Faith of Cyian and set them loose to take over. Ever since, it has done its job to the best of its considerable abilities.
The Knights Oppressor are called Solitary for two major reasons. First, the only method of joining the Order is to be chosen and trained by Zal'alam himself in the orders unique abilities. Second, true tyrants seldom brook the presence of other tyrants who they must constantly compete with and defend their lands against. There has never been an occasion for the Knights Oppressor to gather en mass, and as they are each trained to believe they have the right and might to rule, it is unlikely such an event would end well.
Joining the order begins mostly the same for all the Knights. A strong, charismatic individual with a powerful ego and a desire to rule hears a deep voice in his mind. Zal'alam, the Seed of Tyranny offers himself as a mentor and guide, seducing the young candidate with descriptions of the power he can teach them and the glory found in conquering in the name of Cyian. When the candidate agrees, Zal'alam reveals himself and the student becomes his bearer. From there the two become inseparable. Zal'alam always begins with teaching his new student of the commandments, rites, and history of the Faith. After that is drilled into his students mind, lessons on diplomacy, deception, and warfare commence, mixed with training in personal combat and the arts of the Knighthood.
When the training is complete, Zal'alam aids his bearer in the beginning of his path to domination. They start small, taking hamlets and villages and recruiting followers and minions from those they conquer. As the student grows in power Zal'alam begins preparing him for the day that he must leave to find a new student, imparting his last lessons on warfare, espionage, and intimidation. Once the bearer has gained a strong and loyal following, the sentient Ioun Stone departs, leaving his student to turn himself into the master.
The first Knight Oppressor was a young man named Arti'nochu. Arti'nochu grew to manhood on a small island on Thelus. Shunned by his tribe for trying to take a wife above his station, Arti'nochu grew wroth and desired to strip his betters of their land and power. When Zal'alam approached him, he jumped at the chance to gain such power and dedicated his life to Cyian. After learning all he could, Arti'nochu took his revenge on his tribe, enslaving his elders. He went on to become Arti'nochu the Bloodtide, conquering and ruling the entire archipelago his island belonged too.
Code of Conduct
The First Commandment is Conquer: This lesson is drilled into the heads of Zal'alams students at every opportunity. The first and most important duty of the knighthood is to conquer in the name of their god. This, of course, does not require them to be brash, foolish, or stupid, but even when in a position of servitude or diplomacy, the Knight must be plotting and planning ways to gain more power, remove enemies and obstacles, and take step after step towards ruling over those around them. Failure to be dedicated and proactive in this regard inevitably brings a disastrous fall from Cyians Grace.
The Second Commandment is Discipline: Rage, impatience, and slack are the enemies of order and the destroyers of strategy. The proper Knight must learn to control his anger so that he may unleash it only when it is useful. He must exercise patience in all things so as to never disrupt his own strategy. He must guard eternally against laziness and comfort in himself and those he commands so they are ready to respond to any situation. Losing control or becoming lax or lazy are sure ways to anger Cyian Slavemaster.
The Third Commandment is Respect: It is foolish to provoke those with more power, unless such provocation is part of your strategy to remove them from your path to power. Treat those who have gained such power with respect; respectful enmity, respectful friendship, respectful admiration, respectful destruction. Respect them even as you plan their downfall as it is their downfall that creates your ascension.
The Fourth Commandment is Convert: The power you gain from the Lord of Domination does not come without price. In every hamlet and village conquered a shrine must be erected. In every town and city, a temple. Conversion of the populous to the faith of Cyian is the work of years and must begin immediately. Cyian does not expect a sudden and magical transition of all the people to his faith, but it is a Knights solemn duty to help build, spread, and defend the church. Repeated failure in this commandment reaps the worst of punishments brought about by Cyian's infernal allies.
The Fifth Commandment is Cleanse: Most enemies deserve to be conquered, but for some only destruction will do. The Knight must dedicate himself to purging his lands of all who worship Thelin Winterstrom and Sierra Linenbright. Followers of other deities can be conquered, converted, or slain as necessity and the Knights desires indicate, but the true enemies of the Faith must be destroyed.
Becoming a Knight Oppressor
Class: Warrior of Faith
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Deity: Cyian Doth'Dakar
Special: Must have been approached by the sentient magical Ioun Stone called Zal'alam, The Seed of Tyranny, and accept its training.
Alternate Class Abilities: These unique alternate class abilities are available only to the Knights Oppressor, not to all Warriors of Faith of Cyian.
Oath of the Conqueror: At first level the Warrior of Faith loses his Smite Opposed Alignment ability and gains Oath of the Conqueror. At each level the Knight would gain another use of smite, this ability gets stronger instead, per the following chart. The Knight swears an unholy Oath to Cyian to seize control of a specific place. The minimum size of this place increases with the Knights Warrior of Faith level. As long as the Knight is actively pursuing the goal of conquering that place, he gains bonuses both in and out of combat. He does not gain these bonuses while performing any task or action that does not directly impact his oath to conquer. If the Knight successfully conquers the local as he has sworn to, he keeps the bonus at whatever level it was when he conquered it. It will only increase if he swears a new Oath to conquer a new location. To keep his bonuses growing he must continue conquering.
The Knights bonuses apply to the following things: Attack rolls, Melee and Ranged weapon damage rolls, Bluff, Diplomacy, Sense Motive, and Profession: Soldier. These are PROFANE bonuses.
Warrior of Faith Level Minimum Size of Local to Conquer Bonus
1-4 Hamlet +2
5-9 Small Town +3
10-14 Large City +4
15-19 Metropolis or Kingdom +5
20 Kingdom or Larger +6
Oath of the Despot: At third level, the Knight loses the Aura of Faith WoF class ability and replaces it with Oath of the Despot. Within the lands he has conquered, the Knight is the supreme mortal authority. This manifests itself as a complete immunity to all spells, spell-like abilities, powers, psi-like abilities, and supernatural abilities with the [Mind-Affecting] descriptor. The Knight can choose to lower this immunity as a free action, raising it again is a swift action. All allies and followers within 10 feet of the Knight gain a +4 bonus to saves against such effects. This ability does not work outside the borders of lands the Knight has conquered.
Oath of the Tyrant: At sixth level, the knight swears the Oath of the Tyrant, forever losing the Warrior of Faith Dispel Opposed Alignment ability and gaining Leadership as a bonus feat. Whenever the Knight would gain another use of Dispel Opposed Alignment he instead gains a +1 bonus to his Leadership Score.
See the Magic Item section for more on Zal'alam, The Seed of Tyranny
