The Spear of Phinehas

A Jewish Order of Witch Hunters for your Witch Hunter: The Invisible World game.

By Daniel M. Perez

Other Names:

Zealots, Spears.

Area of Origin:

Palestine (especially the cities of Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Safed/Tzefat), though theOrder has also been recruiting from Jewishcommunities across the Ottoman Empire, Europe, The Netherlands and New Amsterdam.Having given the task to hunt down the witches of the Coven of the Dark Canticle to Antiochus the Younger, King Solomon decided to gather a groupof pious and zealous warrior-scholars which he would instruct himself in the true essence of theInvisible World, as brought down in the esotericlore going back to Abraham, enabling them to fighthead-on the

shedim

(demons) and those in league with them. He named the Order The Spear of Phinehas (Pinchas in Hebrew), after the weaponused by the warrior-priest when he demonstrated zealous alacrity in rooting out evil from beforethe Lord. Arguably one of the oldest Orders in existence, the Spear remains small and elusive,moving in secret through lands usually hostile to Jews, carrying on their mission to fight thedenizens of the Invisible World.

History and Homelands

After the death of King Solomon, The Spear of Phinehas survived the split of the kingdom intotwo, though with the first exile and the dispersal of the Ten Tribes, about one fifth of the Ordergot “lost” as well. After the Babylonian exile ended, the Spear reformed under the leadership of Ezra the Scribe, who along with returning the scrolls of the Law, brought the Secrets Scrolls of King Shelomo, wherein the monarch wrote extensively about the Invisible World and how tocombat it. The destruction of the Second Temple and Jerusalem by Roman forces under the control of future-emperor Titus resulted in extreme loses to the Spear; the Order officially disbanded as aresult, the remaining members going underground in order to preserve as much of their lore aspossible. Throughout the remaining years of the Roman Empire, and into the Dark Ages, TheSpear of Phinehas operated as lone wolves, opposing the minions of the Invisible World, rarely staying in one place for long. The Order reformed in the 12th century, shortly after (and as a direct result of) theestablishment of the Seekers of Emet (Truth): the Seekers pledged to hunt down relics from theSecond Temple, with the Spear taking the role of scouts and bodyguards, passing along whatever

stories they picked up of possible relics, and offering extra muscle to any Seeker that needed it,always ready to engage the shedim of the Invisible World.

Traits and Tactics

Members of The Spear of Phinehas are accomplished scholars and warriors, pious in theirobservance of the Law. Most members of the Order are taciturn with the world at large,maintaining their distance and secrecy as much as possible; though certain parts of the worldseem to be learning to accept Jews in their midst (to varying levels of tolerance), the generalfeeling is still one of mistrust and blind dislike.Members of the Order tend to be well-rounded individuals capable of subsisting on theirown for extended periods of time. That said, like all Jews, they seek the stability of a community and the access to all the essentials of a Jewish lifestyle that brings, like access to a minyan, kosherfood, and maybe even the member’s immediate or extended family.

Recruitment

The Spear seek, whenever possible, to recruit members well-versed in the study of Jewishmysticism. Masters Kabbalists well acquainted with the Invisible World in the Holy Land, theOttoman Empire, Eastern and Western Europe, and New Amsterdam and Newport in the New World, keep an eye out for students that show prowess in their studies as well as those thatoutright exhibit the mark of the Witch Hunter and funnel them to the Order for evaluation. If the student indeed has the aptitude and can handle the rigorous training of body, mind and soul,he is then accepted into the Order.Most members of the Order are male, though there are women operatives as well in smallernumbers. The Spear welcomes them both equally, although they particularly heedful of the lawsof

tzniut

, modesty, the set of rules that govern situations where men and women interact withone another.

Religion

Members of The Spear of Phinehas are all Jews, whether by birth or conversion according to theLaw. Individual members may be more observant than others, but all are far more devout thanthe average Jewish layman living anywhere in the world. Each Guardian undergoes religioustraining almost identical to that of a rabbi, and while not all pursue or gain their ordination, eachmember of the Order is fully conversant in even minute details of the Law, Rabbinicalelucidations, and Mysticism.

The Current Day

The Spear has two distinct chapters, one on each side of the Atlantic. The group in the Old World is still based out of the Holy Land, primarily in Safed, where the Order maintains a houseof study for its trainees. Self-sufficient cells operate across the Ottoman Empire and Europe,rarely ever more than five strong, and always secretive to the utmost, given the general feelingstowards Jews in these areas. The Order does count Amsterdam as something of a safe haven; theSpanish Portuguese Synagogue holds a room reserved specifically for members of the Order andit is not uncommon to find itinerant Spears resting here, assuming the mantle of a “normal” lifeif only for a few days.

The Spear has also established a relatively strong presence in the New World, thanks in partto the tolerant attitude displayed by New Amsterdam and Newport, both of which have allowed Jewish communities to settle and flourish with reasonable freedom. New Amsterdam is the mainbase of operations, and here the Order maintains a house of study for training new membersrecruited from the local Jewish families. A group of fifteen Spears has made their way south tothe lands of New Spain after having found a new recruit descended from a family of New Christians, or

conversos

(or more derogatively,

marranos

), Jewish families that converted toChristianity to avoid expulsion from Spain but continued to practice the Jewish faith in secret. These

anusim

, forced ones, are of great interest to the Order, both as a matter of Jewishimportance (helping lost Jewish souls return to the fold) as well as on a more practical level,considering what could happen if the Inquisition found them out.

Friends and Foes

Aside from the Seekers of Emet, whom they regard as members of their own family, the Spearof Phinehas has neither friend nor foe among theirfellow Witch Hunters, mainly because most arenot even aware of their existence yet. On a granderscale, the Spear’s main issue is the fact they are Jews, which immediately puts them at odds with most of Christendom, if not in outright danger with the more radical groups, such as the Inquisition or the Jesuits (especially in Spanish lands,be it on the Old or New World), or the Crusaders Inviolate among the Orders.Because of their modus operandi, Spears of Phinehas and Stalkers of the Unseen Hunt meetoften in the wilderness; in fact, most Witch Hunters who have met a Spear in the past probably think they have encountered just another Stalker, a confusion that suits the Jewish Order justfine. Save for a few cases here and there, individual Spears and Stalkers tend to have at leastcordial relations when they meet while on a hunt, especially given the many ideas they shareabout how to carry on the battle against the Invisible World.In the New World, the Spear has found unlikely allies in Witch Hunters of the GhostPeople, and though a number of members argue that they should not readily associate withpagans, the native peoples’ lack of prejudice against Jews makes for a refreshing change of pace. The scientifically-minded members of the Lightbringers, likewise, present a relatively safe ally tothe Spears, evidenced by the handful of members of this Order that the Order count as reliablecontacts in both old and New Netherland.

Benefits

Spears of Phinehas are all well trained in matters of Jewish Law. Beginning Spears gain doubletheir Education to spend on Trained Knowledge (Philosophy & Theology) and Speak Language(Hebrew), both of which are always considered background skills. The Spear of Phinehas learned how to fight the Invisible World from the writings of KingSolomon himself, who knew how to see into that hidden realm and how to combat it with piouszeal. A Spear of Phinehas gains one of the following benefits per session (as with the Seekers of Emet, these boons are only available if the Spear is ritually pure).

Designer’s Notes: While not necessary, it isrecommended you also have The Blessed and The Damned (PCI 2408) sourcebook. The Jewish Order inthat book, The Seekers of Emet, is interesting and complements the Spear quite well, and the introductoryinformation about Judaism in the Grave New World is also very helpful.