User:StarSword/Order of the Lanceboard

The Order of the Lanceboard is a religious order devoted to the Red Knight. Though its membership is fairly large, the members are scattered throughout Faerûn. It has gained a great deal of political power in the years following the Spellplague due to the fact that many of its members serve as high-ranking military officers in armies and navies of various nation-states. Headquartered in the town of Nehr'bak, located northeast of Waterdeep, it closely follows the traditions of the Red Fellowship, but with some differences.

History
Before the Time of Troubles the Red Knight was merely a little-known aspect of Tempus, but she was worshiped by Falcar Greycastle, a captain in the Waterdhavian army. Following his retirement, many of his former subordinates came to him for lessons in battlefield tactics. He instilled in them that they had a responsibility for righting wrongs. Eventually he came to realize that Faerûn was full of un-righted wrongs, and though there were many evildoers, there were fewer do-gooders. He gathered several of his lieutenants and, on 1 Tarsakh, 1346 DR, formed a mercenary party called the Order of the Lanceboard. (Coincidentally, this date later became the Red Knightist religious holiday called Queen's Gambit.)

The Order quickly ballooned into a full-fledged monastic and knightly order. Greycastle bought a crumbling stone abbey in the small town of Nehr'bak and had it refurbished into a training ground and battle-ready fortress. Nehr'bak's economy received a major boost from this, and its population grew to that of a small city.

Following the Time of Troubles and the elevation of the Red Knight to a full-fledged goddess, the Order expanded its operations from the Sword Coast to major nations all across Faerûn. It now maintains garrisons in Port Llast, Thay, Cormyr, Calimshan, Chessenta, and Damara, all connected by a portal network.

Membership
The Order has approximately 200 full members and over 600 auxiliaries. The membership requirements are simple. Full members must be worshipers of the Red Knight, and cannot be of evil alignment. Auxiliary members can have any god as their patron, but must follow the Order's code, respect the Red Knight, be of any non-evil alignment, and cannot reach the highest leadership positions. Members of the Order are most often paladins or clerics, but there are also a large number of fighters, monks, divine champions, and gray guards. There's even a smattering of warmages.

Important Full Members
Members are listed by their most recent rank attained.

Grandmaster Falcar Greycastle (deceased)
The founder of the Order, Falcar Greycastle perished leading an Order strike team against a high priest of Garagos on the Dragon Coast in 1353 DR. Jordan Frost replaced him as Grandmaster.

Grandmaster Jordan Frost (deceased)
One of then-Captain Greycastle's lieutenants in the Waterdhavian army, Jordan Frost succeeded his old captain as Grandmaster. He was assassinated by the Zhentarim in 1358 DR, and was replaced by Esmerelle Patten.

Grandmaster Esmerelle Patten (deceased)
Esmerelle Patten was the mother of Kalir Patten, and a hero of Waterdeep. She was Grandmaster of the Order from 1358 until 1360 DR, when her husband was killed in battle; she left the Order a broken woman.

Knight-Commander Belmara Crownshield
Belmara Crownshield is a gold dwarf, and a divine disciple of the Red Knight. She was Grandmaster from 1360 to 1370 DR, when she stepped down. She is now Knight-Commander of Fort Calim, outside Calimport.

Grandmaster Saladin Dyferras
The current Grandmaster of the Order, Saladin Dyferras is a Chessentan, and a hero of the Tethyrian civil war. He became Grandmaster in 1370, replacing Belmara Crownshield.

Knight-Commander Kalir Patten the Wolf
Kalir Patten, Knight-Commander of Fort Lightreach in Thay, is a deva of Illuskan stock, and Esmerelle Patten's only daughter. She received the moniker "Wolf" from Kaelyn the Dove, a half-celestial cleric of Ilmater.

Sergeant Narra Patten
The eldest of Kalir Patten's three daughters, Narra Patten was born in Mulhorand, raised in Thay, and is now based in Nehr'bak.

Lieutenant-Auxiliary Gannayev-of-Dreams
Kalir Patten's husband and father of her two younger daughters, Gann is a hagspawn spirit shaman.

Sergeant-Auxiliary Dankil Ironfist
Dankil Ironfist is a shield dwarf cleric of Berronar Truesilver, and one of Narra Patten's companions.

Sergeant-Auxiliary Cora Thorngage
Cora Thorngage is a halfling thief, and a friend of Narra.

Sergeant-Auxiliary Jekkar Vlderik
Jekkar Vlderik is an elan psion, and a friend of Narra.

Goals, Methods, and Views
"Lancers," as the members of the Order are colloquially known, use their tactical knowledge and combat skills solely for good. This has two main interpretations: members who are good-aligned do good for its own sake, and members who are neutral on the good-evil axis do good partly in the hopes of future benefit for themselves. Neutral clerics turn rather than rebuke undead; non-free-willed undead are viewed as unfortunate abominations, but free-willed undead are judged by their actions. (In most cases, this amounts to the same thing, of course.)

A member of the Order of the Lanceboard is expected to honor the Red Knight, keep the peace, and fight for the greater good of Faerûn. This means that the Order, while still largely of lawful good alignment, is more chaotic than, say, the church of Torm: in one noteworthy instance, Kalir Patten made a minor deal with an archdevil to gather intelligence for a mission, something that would be anathema to most paladins.

Allies
Though not part of it, the Order of the Lanceboard maintains cordial relations with the Order of the Red Falcon, and Lancers must complete a course of study at the Citadel of Strategic Militancy before they can reach the highest ranks of the Order. The Order works closely with the Lords' Alliance in the defense of the Sword Coast, and also maintains garrisons (the Order term for its guild houses) in Calimshan, Cormyr, Aglarond, Chessenta, Thay, and Mulhorand. It also keeps watch on Candlekeep, because its vast libraries are a treasure trove of intelligence, and nothing is more valuable to a military planner than intelligence.

Though their respective deities are not really allies, the Order is very closely aligned with the Church of Sune. One of the Order's traditions is that when its members marry, the ceremony is performed by Sunite clergy.

Enemies
The Order has only been around for a short time in historical terms, but has made many enemies. Chief among them are the churches of Bane, Lolth, and Shar.

The Black Lord sees the Red Knight as an upstart weakling hiding beneath Tempus’ skirts, and members of his church, particularly the Black Network, act accordingly. The Order of the Lanceboard has foiled numerous plots by his worshipers, including coup attempts in Chessenta and Tethyr. Banites can be the worst of their enemies because of their political power and wealth.

The Queen of the Demonweb Pits hates just about everything, but harbors a special malice for the Order of the Lanceboard thanks to the defeat of the Valsharess by Esmerelle Patten. Esmerelle killed numerous clerics of Lolth and commanded the defense force that slaughtered the Valsharess’ armies. The Order has since sheltered worshipers of Eilistraee and refugees from the Underdark, and battled incursions by the drow against surfacers. It even masterminded the assassinations of two particularly offensive drow matron mothers.

Shar dislikes the Lancers because, in their capacity as peacekeepers, they have destroyed numerous Sharran cells and generally made a nuisance of themselves to the Dark Goddess. In return, Sharrans have attempted assassinations of high-ranking Order members with little success. One cell even tried to summon an erinyes to ambush and kill Kalir Patten, but she detected its approach and chopped it to bits with the Sword of Gith.

Last but not least, Mephistophelean cultists hate the Lancers with a passion because the Lord of the Eighth was humiliated by Esmerelle Patten in Waterdeep in 1358 DR.