Dark Ages: Inquisitor Companion

White Wolf

WWW.WHITE-WOLF.COM
ISBN 1-58846-291-9
WW20011

WW20011 $22.99 US

A Sourcebook for Dark Ages: Inquisitor™

 Dark Ages: Inquisitor Companion
White Wolf

WWW.WHITE-WOLF.COM
ISBN 1-58846-291-9
WW20011

WW20011 $22.99 US

A Sourcebook for Dark Ages: Inquisitor™

 TM

By Kraig Blackwelder, Myranda Kalis, Jonathan L. Shepherd,

Adam Tinworth and Janet Trautvetter
Vampire created by Mark Rein•Hagen

• PROLOGUE • 1
 Credits
Authors: Kraig Blackwelder (The Ways of the
Faithful (The Lamp of Faith, Endowments, Curses,
Merits and Flaws)), Myranda Kalis (Playing the
Inquisition (Life in the Church, The Inquisition in
the Church), Soldiers of God, Servants of Hell),
Jonathan L. Shepherd (Playing the Inquisition
(Sample of Play), The Ways of the Faithful (Orisons
and Holy Art)), Adam Tinworth (My Order, My
Brothers) and Janet Trautvetter (Prelude, Playing
the Inquisition (Serving the Inquisition)).
Storyteller game system designed by Mark
Rein•Hagen
Development and Additional Material: Mat-
thew McFarland
Editor: Michelle Lyons
Art Direction, Layout & Typesetting: Becky
Jollensten
Interior Art: Mike Chaney, James Stowe,
Tim Truman, and John Wigley
Front Cover Art: Adrian Smith
Front & Back Cover Design: Becky Jollensten

© 2004White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights re-

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PRINTED IN CANADA

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

2 • COMPANION •
 TM

Contents

Prelude: Woman’s Intuition 5

Introduction 15
Chapter One: My Order, My Brothers 19
Chapter Two: Playing the Inquisitor 51
Chapter Three: The Ways of the Faithful 91
Chapter Four: Servants of God, Soldiers of Hell 129

• CONTENTS • 3
 Prelude:
Woman’s
Intuition
The questioning had been long, punctuated by the
creak of the rack and the cries of agony from the woman
strapped to it. The rack’s bone-wrenching strength and
the tireless interrogation of Sir Augustin were relentless
forces, allowing the woman neither rest nor pity as they
struggled with Satan for her immortal soul. In the end,
the effort had been fruitful; Sister Mathilde’s fingers all
but cramped trying to get down the woman’s faltering
confession.
Mathilde did not pay much attention to the mean-
ing of what she was writing. It took all her concentration
just to keep up, letting the words flow from her ears to
her fingers without filtering them with her mind. Thank-
fully, Sir Augustin was an old hand at such interrogations;
he waited until the scratching of her pen stopped before
asking the next question, skillfully monitoring both the
pace and clarity of the confession so it could be properly
recorded.
 At last, Sir Augustin was satisfied. Even Sir
Baudioun, whose limited German prevented him
from handling task of interrogation himself, could
find nothing more to ask. One-Eyed Huart turned
the wheel back, relaxing the rack’s tension, and
the two Red Sisters released the weeping Agnise
from its bonds. Huart made sure the prisoner’s
manacles were secured before allowing Sister
Mathilde and Sister Katherin to escort the
wretched woman to her cell, a makeshift affair on
the women’s side of the chapter-house.
“She’s in your care, Sisters,” Sir Baudioun
said, with Sir Augustin translating. “Take special
note of anything else she says, and harden your
hearts to her pleas. Her confession today only
proves what Brother Leopold first suspected. There
is a foul nest of Satan in this city, and she is but the
first we shall uncover; Master Nicolaus shall be
the next.”
“With all due respect, Sir Baudioun, Sir
Augustin….” Katherin shot Mathilde a warning
glance, but Mathilde ignored it. “Her confession is
hardly sufficient evidence to convict anyone but
herself. Her accusation alone won’t be enough to
try Master Nicolaus before the Council of Faith,
much less bring charges against him before the
Salt Merchant’s Guild.”
“We will be investigating her accusations thor-
oughly, Sister, so you may put your mind at ease.”
Sir Augustin’s voice brooked no argument, and a
disapproving crease appeared between his bushy
white brows to signal his displeasure. “Your task is
to see to this poor creature until the Council
determines her proper fate.”
Sir Augustin turned away, but Sir Baudioun
stopped him. Mathilde’s command of French was
sufficient to dispense with Sir Augustin’s transla-
tion, so Baudioun spoke openly. “Wait, Augustin.
In Brother Leopold’s absence, Sister Mathilde
may be able to assist us — she is his kinswoman,
after all.”
“Sister Mathilde, my brother knight makes a
good point. You are related to Brother Leopold,
and a member of the house of Murnau….” Augustin
paused, awkwardly.
“He is my uncle, yes,” replied Mathilde in her
best French, “though I should confess, Brothers,
that to me this poor woman smells of sweat and
fear and unwashed clothing. Nothing more.”
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
6 • COMPANION •
“After that confession, are you doubting
Brother Leopold’s gift?” Sir Baudioun asked, as-
tonished.
“No, Brother. I’m telling you I don’t share it.” For
which I thank God. She could see the disappointment in
their faces; so be it. Her own gift was less practical in
application and rather harder to explain. “I’m told I
have a good instinct about people, however. Since
none of the Oculi Dei yet dwell in this city, perhaps it
might be useful if Sister Katherin and I spent some time
listening to the talk in the market —”
“They would hardly gossip in the presence of
two holy sisters,” Sir Baudioun returned, frowning
slightly.
“Then clearly we must put aside our habits for
something less conspicuous, so they will talk more
freely in our presence. As the Rule permits — and
with your permission, of course, Brother,” Mathilde
added, seeing the frown lines reappear on Sir
Augustin’s forehead.
Sir Baudioun thought about it a moment, then
nodded. “As you see fit, Sister,” he agreed, “but with
discretion. We do not yet know the extent of the Devil’s
conspiracy here. In addition, if you would have the
transcription of her confession prepared as soon as
possible, I would greatly appreciate that as well.”
†††
It had been years since Mathilde had visited a
market. She’d forgotten the press of crowds; the
clamor of venders shouting, arguing, haggling; the
lowing of cattle and squawking of chickens; the
squeals of children running about underfoot. All
was noise, chaos and disorder. It was a far cry from
the order and quiet of the convent: the stillness of
the cloister, the rustle of crisp parchment pages,
the rise and fall of plainsong chant at services. It
felt odd to wear a blue and brown matron’s plain
kirtle instead of her red habit and surplice, a
simple kerchief covering her cropped hair, her
throat bare of any wimple. Strange, indeed, to
blend in with dozens of other women in the square,
instead of being set apart by birth, profession, and
the curse in her blood.
“Master Nicolaus, he’s a good man, as fair in
his dealings as they come.” Ilse tucked away the
candles she had just purchased neatly in her bas-
ket. Mathilde’s years in the convent had not
prepared her for this task. Inside its walls, she was
one of the sisters. Her origin or birth was consid-
ered unimportant, even irrelevant. Out here, how-
ever, the sense of displacement was made more
acute by realizing that she was considered un-
doubtedly foreign by those around her, truly a
pilgrim in a strange land.
Surprisingly, Mathilde’s strong Bavarian ac-
cent had made Ilse less suspicious of her questions;
perhaps she assumed none of her employer’s busi-
ness rivals would hire a foreigner as a spy. Even so,
Mathilde had to listen carefully, for Ilse’s broad
local dialect was sometimes hard for her to follow.
“Ten years I’ve been with him, and he and Mis-
tress Anna’s been good to me. I’ll not spread
gossip; it’s careless words as raises an ill wind.”
“Oh, of course,” Mathilde assured her. “My
mother, God rest her soul, used to say the same
thing. You’re fortunate to work for a good Chris-
tian man. My cousin once worked for a merchant
in Hamburg that was like the very devil in his
moods. Never satisfied, he was: the soup was ei-
ther too hot or not hot enough, and if you served
him fish, it was chicken he wanted.”
“Oh, he’s particular enough on some things,”
Ilse said, “but past those, whatever’s on the table
is good enough so long as I didn’t spend too much
for it. He’s not one to tolerate the waste of either
a minute or a penny, is Master Nicolaus. There,
now all I need is some onions and the cheese.”
Mathilde followed the cook as she wove her
way in-between the close-packed stalls and clumps
of other market-goers. Ilse stopped in front of a
stall displaying a variety of vegetables and herbs as
she chattered. Mathilde pretended to examine the
hanging herbs while she listened, her thoughts
wandering as she nodded occasionally to keep Ilse
talking. Ilse clearly had a high opinion of her
master; it was hard to think of a diplomatic way of
asking about anything Agnise had claimed. Would
she even admit to knowing Agnise at all? How did
one ask for gossip from a woman she’d just met? St.
Scholastica, Holy Mary, please guide my tongue and
hers. Let her tell me what I need to know.
“There, that’s all but the cheese,” Ilse said,
packing the onions away in her basket as well.
“What have we here?” She gestured toward the
bunch of herbs Mathilde was idly examining.
Mathilde touched the hanging bunch of green.
“Rosemary. I’ve always liked the smell of it.”
• PRELUDE •
• WOMAN’S INTUITION •
“Ah, yes. Rosemary is sweet. But I’ve little
need of it, more’s the pity.” Ilse began to walk
again, and Mathilde had to step quickly to keep
up.
“Why not?” Mathilde asked.
Ilse shrugged. “Well, it is for lamb. The master
cannot abide even the smell of it cooking — that’s
one of the few things he’s particular about. Ah,
here’s the brothers and their cheese….”
They stopped at a stall run by black-robed
Benedictine monks and hung with cheeses of
several sorts. As Ilse haggled with one garrulous
red-cheeked brother over the price of a brick of
hard cheese, Mathilde noticed a man lurking just
one stall over. He seemed familiar somehow.
At first Mathilde could not place him, then
she realized she’d seen him several times before
that morning, always just a stall or two away. Was
he following them? There were no Oculi Dei in
Lübeck. Who did that leave that might be inter-
ested in her doings, or Ilse’s?
As Ilse paid for her cheese and added it to her
basket, their observer seemed to come to some
kind of internal resolve and approached them. “I
beg your pardon, Mistress,” he began. “You are in
the household of Master Nicolaus von Mainz?”
Ilse gave him a suspicious look and gripped her
basket tighter. “Yes.”
He offered a smile, though to Mathilde’s eyes
it looked a bit false. “Then you would know my
sister, Agnise.”
Agnise. Mathilde stiffened reflexively. Fortu-
nately, neither of them were looking at her.
“I would, yes,” Ilse said. “I don’t recall her
mentioning a brother, though.”
He smiled again, a bit too smoothly. “Half-
brother, I should say. Perhaps that is why she
didn’t think to mention me. I am her only kin,
nonetheless, and as such feel some fraternal con-
cern for her well-being. I stopped by the house
where I might expect to find her, but she was
unaccountably not available. No one seemed to
know where she might be.”
Ilse frowned. “Nor do I. I’ve not seen her since
Sunday a week ago.”
“Neither has anyone else. Surely you can un-
derstand how this concerns me. After all, what
7
 reason could she have for leaving Master Nicolaus’s
service so abruptly?”
So, Agnise had been missed. Mathilde won-
dered if this man was truly Agnise’s brother, or
another minion of the girl’s master who was sent
out to find out her fate. She made as good a note
of his face and clothing as she could without
appearing too obvious about it.
“I’m sure I wouldn’t know. If I see her, though,
I’ll be sure to tell her you’re looking for her.” Ilse
gave him a stiff nod of the head, and started to
walk by him. “Good afternoon.”
“As you are a Christian, Mistress, have pity on
a brother’s concerns! Can you give me nothing of
my sister’s whereabouts?” He moved to follow
them. “I would hate to think she had reason to run
away, whether for shame or fear for her virtue —
that would not bode well for Master Nicolaus’s
reputation in the Guild.”
Ilse turned on him so quickly that he was forced to
take a step back to avoid running into her. “As you are
a Christian, sir, you’d best be thinking of your own
sister’s reputation before you dare cast any stones! Now
be off with you, and leave good folk alone.”
This time when Ilse strode off, he did not
follow. Mathilde was torn for the space of a breath
— this brother might be a lead to Agnise’s de-
monic master, if she could but follow him back
from whence he came. Yet she would lose her
fragile rapport with Ilse if she deserted her now. In
the end, she followed Ilse, and prayed she might
make good use of what she had heard at a more
convenient time.
†††
Mathilde returned to the chapter-house in
time to don her proper red habit again and join the
others for mid-day Mass. The Poor Knights de-
parted immediately after Father Hermann’s
benediction. Sir Baudioun promised to read her
report when he returned, and once again asked her
about the transcript of Agnise’s confession.
That afternoon and most of the following
morning therefore found Mathilde sitting at her
copydesk, working from her inscribed notes and
rendering one full transcription in vernacular
German for poor Agnise to sign later (in keeping
with canon law), and another in Latin for the
Inquisition archives. She did the German first,
then rendered the Latin from it, line by line.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
8 • COMPANION •
She was in the middle of a line when she
stopped, struck by inspiration. She stopped, re-
read what she had just transcribed, then checked
her own notes to ensure what she saw was correct.
Now, that’s interesting…. She bent to her task
again.
†††
When the Poor Knights returned, Mathilde
was there to meet them. “Sir Baudioun. A mo-
ment, if you please….” Mathilde hurried, taking
three steps to the knight’s two until he realized she
was trying to get his attention.
“Yes, Sister? Have you got the transcripts completed?”
he added, noticing the leather folder in her arms.
“Yes, Brother. I wanted to draw your attention
to something. Look here,” she said, and laid the
folder down on a sideboard, opening it up to
display the parchment sheets contained within.
“Here, on page three, when she begins her true
confession... she says that Master Nicolaus urged
her to eat meat on a fast day, and so they had
roasted lamb during Lent.”
“Lamb is flesh, sister. Especially during Lent.”
“Yes, of course, but that’s not the point. I was
talking to Master Nicolaus’ cook yesterday, and
she said that lamb was the one flesh he could not
abide. Couldn’t even stand the smell of it cooking,
she said. And look here.” She flipped a few more
pages. “Here she confesses that Master Nicolaus
gave her to this demonic creature Ambrosius,
whom he did summon in the garden, and she lay
with both of them. But look at the date she claims
— the ides of November! According to the testi-
mony that Brother Jander was able to get from the
Salt Merchants Guild, Master Nicolaus was in
Lüneburg during that time.”
“Perhaps they thought he was, and he was
instead serving the Devil instead of the Guild.
Surely you do not doubt the sincerity of this
confession? She could not have invented so much
while under such severe question!”
“No, that’s not it either. Look here, Brother...”
Mathilde flipped back to the very beginning of the
confession. “Here, where she first begins her con-
fession. The question is ‘Did Master Nicolaus
entice you to sin,’ not ‘Who enticed you to sin?’
She only answered what she was asked, Brother. I
think what she confessed was real, except for the
name — she accused Master Nicolaus because she
thought that was what we wanted to hear, and he
may not in fact be the guilty one at all!”
The Knight frowned at the transcript. “I com-
mend you on your thoroughness, Sister Mathilde,
but you are new to this city. We have known
Master Nicolaus for a long time. A year ago, he sat
as magistrate for the city and let a known witch go
free — despite the testimony put before him from
our Order. I think it far more likely that Agnise
mistook the date, or that Master Nicolaus only
pretends to dislike the taste of lamb — for there is
no doubt he is in the Devil’s service, and I will find
the means to bring him down for it.”
“Still,” Mathilde persisted. “Perhaps she should
be questioned again—”
“God’s —” Baudioun cut himself off before the
expletive was finished, and took a breath to re-
member propriety. “Your pardon, Sister — but do
not concern yourself with chasing theories with-
out substance. This…” he tapped the pages of the
transcript, “…is not enough to convict him, but
we have only begun our investigation. The evi-
dence is there, and it will be found, I assure you.”
“Of course, Brother,” Mathilde bowed her
head. And I intend to find it.
†††
Timing was important. Mathilde wore the
matron’s blue gown again and kept a sharp eye out
— she did not want Ilse to notice her. Fortunately,
she spotted her quarry on the western edge of the
market, scanning the crowd. Ilse was nowhere in
sight, but there was little doubt he was looking for
her. Hopefully he would remember Mathilde as
well.
The man eyed her warily as she approached,
but seemed intrigued by her whispered news and
invitation. “So that’s what he’s done with her,
eh?” The fellow shook his head. “Afraid his fel-
lows in the Guild would hear of it, no doubt.
Where is she now?”
“I can show you,” Mathilde said. “But we must
be quick. He keeps a close watch on her.”
“Lead the way. Don’t worry, Fraulein, I’ll make
it worth your while….”
†††
The window overlooked an alleyway. It was
small and high enough that he could not see into
it — and see Agnise’s face only when she leaned
out. Sister Katherin had cleaned the prisoner’s
• PRELUDE •
• WOMAN’S INTUITION •
face and combed her hair, put a proper kerchief on
her, and now sat next to her just out of sight — a
reminder to Agnise of what fate awaited her should
she say the wrong things to her worried visitor.
Mathilde pointed Agnise’s ‘brother’ to the right
window and made her escape, pleading fear that
she might be seen — in truth, it was as much to get
away from his familiar leer as to preserve her
disguise. By the time they reached the house, she
was feeling quite inclined to slap him. She did
nothing to give herself away, though, taking the
coin he gave her “for her trouble” and leaving him,
slipping in the back of the house.
Agnise looked very ill at ease as she leaned
towards the open window. Not only was Sister
Katherine sitting close by her, but One-Eyed Huart
also sat on a stool across the room, grinning and
playing with a length of rope he’d tied into a
noose. Mathilde picked up a wax tablet and started
making notes on the conversation.
“Well, if you’re not pregnant,” came the sharp
hiss from the street, “then why in God’s name does
he have you locked up?”
Agnise cast a desperate look at them, no doubt
wishing she’d admitted to pregnancy to still his
further questions. “I… I don’t know, Martin. Go
away now, you might have been seen!”
“You know His Lordship is going to ask. What
should I tell him? Does Nicolaus know or not? He
must be suspicious at least — why else would he
lock you up? If you’ve told him anything….” He
let the words trail off threateningly.
“No, no!” Agnise shook her head frantically.
“No, I haven’t told him anything. Please tell him
that. I swear it, on my soul!”
“He’ll be asking about you tonight. You know
he will,” Martin began slyly, and then his voice
sharpened, its volume suddenly rising in fury even
as it turned away from the window. “You traitor-
ous bitch!”
There were sounds of a scuffle in the alley and
a grunt of pain from Brother Jander, who had
apparently not been as stealthy in his approach as
he had hoped. Huart leapt to his feet, pushed his
way to the window and sprang out, still holding his
rope.
Mathilde ran to the window as well, partly to
put a firm hand on Agnise, lest she entertain
similar ideas, and partly to see what was happen-
9
 ing below. Huart’s arrival had tipped the balance
— he’d knocked most of the fight out of Martin by
landing directly on him. He was now sitting on the
man’s legs, wrapping the rope around his prisoner’s
wrists.
Brother Jander looked up at Mathilde. “I’m
sorry, Sister, he heard me coming.” He had the
sense to look a bit abashed. “Now we don’t know
where this fellow’s master will be tonight, or who
he is!”
Mathilde looked down at Agnise. “We don’t
know yet,” she said sternly, drawing on memories
of Aunt Franziska. That woman’s glare could cause
errant squires to bend a knee and confess all. Even
Count Frederick’s most frothing pique was no
match for Aunt Franziska’s artfully raised eye-
brow. She hoped she looked half as imposing. “But
I’m sure we will very soon.”
Agnise whimpered softly.
†††
Supper came and went. The brief service for
Compline was held, and still the knights had not
returned. Mathilde found herself pacing in the
hall and fretting, while outside darkness descended
on Lübeck’s streets.
“Brother, how long must we wait?” she de-
manded of Brother Jander, as he came out of the
little room that served as their library and
scriptorium. “Tonight is the night, you heard
Martin say it. Master Baldewin will be entertain-
ing his dark patron tonight, and it will be our best
chance to prove his guilt — and catch his demon
master as well.”
The monk frowned and tucked his hands in
his sleeves. “We can’t go without Sir Baudioun
and the others. If this Ambrosius is a Cainite or
some other sort of devil, we will need their steel.”
“But we don’t know what time their meeting
is. If we wait and Sir Baudioun decides to watch
Master Nicolaus’ house all night, we shall lose our
chance. God has given us this opportunity, Brother
— we cannot waste it.” She moved closer and
lowered her voice. “You said you invoked the Holy
Art when Agnise was crying, and God showed you
a warehouse near the river. You’d know it again if
you saw it, wouldn’t you?”
“I think so….”
“Good. Let us at least search for that ware-
house, then, and see if Master Baldewin or anyone
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
10 • COMPANION •
else visits there tonight. We can leave word with
Father Hermann and he can tell the Knights
where we’ve gone. We don’t have to do anything,
Brother, if you don’t think that’s wise, but let us at
least watch as the Oculi Dei do.”
He hesitated. Just as Mathilde was about to
start yet another round of persuasion, however, he
nodded reluctantly. “Very well. But we’re just
going to watch, Sister,” he added firmly.
Mathilde bowed her head respectfully. “Of
course, Brother.”
†††
The city was quiet and dark; only a few faint,
flickering lights shone from upper windows as its
residents prepared for bed. Huart carried their
lantern half-shuttered, so as to provide only enough
light to avoid the worst of the street’s muck.
Father Hermann insisted they bring Huart — not
only to satisfy the Rule that did not permit a monk
and nun to be together unescorted, but also to
provide the added protection offered by the stout
club that hung from his belt.
They walked west to the bridge over the Trave,
but did not cross it. Instead they turned north,
keeping the river to their left as Brother Jander
had seen it in his vision. They kept the lantern low
to avoid attention, having no desire to be delayed
in their purpose by the questions of suspicious
guardsmen. To the right, the street was lined with
tall, narrow brick houses, the lower floors of which
often served as shop and warehouse for the mer-
chant or craftsman who dwelt there. The left side
of the street ended in a stone quay, where the
occasional barge or other small river boat was tied.
Huart had quick ears — he pulled them into
one of the intersecting streets at one point and
quickly shuttered the lantern. They ducked inside
a door alcove and drew their cloaks around them.
The clip-clopping of hooves and the tread of boots
on cobblestones became clearer. A rider on a fine
horse went by escorted by four guardsmen on foot,
one of whom carried a lantern on a pole.
They waited for the procession to go by and let
the length of several Pater Nosters pass. “A man of
some rank,” Brother Jander whispered to them. “A
master of the guild, at least, and he seems to be
going where we are going. Most interesting.”
They followed cautiously, leaving their lan-
tern shuttered. Mathilde blinked several times
until her eyes adjusted to the gloom. Finally, she
could make out the looming heights of the build-
ings and the shadowy forms of the boats on the
moonlit river.
The man they were following stopped after a
short distance. Light flared onto the street from an
opening door, and he was welcomed within the
house. His men and horse went down a side street,
presumably to the garden back behind.
They waited to make sure that no one was
watching, then drew closer. Brother Jander stepped
out into the street. When he came back, he was
excited. “This is it!” he said, a bit louder than he
intended. Upon seeing the looks of panic on
Mathilde’s and Huart’s faces, his face flushed with
embarrassment. “This is the house that Agnise
saw,” he added, speaking in a much softer tone.
“This must be where they’re meeting; praise be to
God..”
“Thank God for revealing it to us,” Mathilde
agreed. “A pity that Sir Baudioun is not here —
he’s watching the wrong house tonight.”
“I could go fetch him,” Huart offered. “I know
where they are.”
“But the Rule —” Brother Jander sputtered,
beginning his protest.
“— can be set aside if need requires,” Mathilde
reminded him. “And if you and I watch from
different locations, that should be sufficient,
shouldn’t it?”
“I suppose so,” he said, although he didn’t look
happy. “Very well, Huart will go and fetch the
Knights, and you and I will hide and watch the
house. I suppose one of us should watch the front
and one the back — if there is a place to watch in
the front.”
“I’ll take the front,” Mathilde said. “I think I
know a safe place.”
†††
The barge seemed deserted when Mathilde
lowered herself from the quay to its deck, holding
on to one of its mooring-ropes for balance. She
had already noticed that neither Brother Jander
nor Huart had cast nearly as many wary looks at
the boats they had passed as they had at the
darkened windows of the houses themselves —
she could only hope that held true of other passers-
by as well.
• PRELUDE •
• WOMAN’S INTUITION •
This was a larger and cleaner boat than most. It had
an enclosed cabin to the rear and several large casks
lashed in place near the front. Looking around, she
found a place to hide behind one of the casks where she
could see the street but was mostly hidden from it. She
pulled the hood of her cloak up over the white of her
veil, the better to hide from an errant glance.
She’d only been there a few minutes when the
first wave of nausea struck. She could smell noth-
ing unusual — she never did smell anything — but
something was happening, some unnatural power
at work close by. Such dark magics always made
her ill by their very proximity.
Close, she realized, too close. She started to rise
and seek a different hiding spot, but the door to
the barge’s cabin opened and someone came out.
Mathilde sank back into her hiding place and
pulled the cloak around her, gritting her teeth
against the growing queasy feeling in the back of
her throat. Perhaps he wouldn’t see her....
A cold, clammy hand with a grip of iron closed
over her mouth, and a damp, hard-muscled arm
locked itself around her throat.
Mathilde’s hands flew upwards, digging into
her captor’s chilled flesh. She struggled to free
herself, but it was too strong. “Stay still,” it hissed
in her ear, as it tightened its grip on her throat.
She stopped struggling only when black spots
began to appear in her vision.
“Have you caught something, Grim?” The
voice was soft, commanding, coming from the
boat’s apparent master. “Bring it here. At once.”
Mathilde felt herself being hauled to her feet
and pushed forward. “I found her,” her captor
whined. “She’s mine.”
“Come now, Grim. Don’t be greedy.” He came
forward to meet her, a young man with dark curls
and a handsome face, pale and bloodless as a
corpse. His eyes were ice-blue and glittered in the
moonlight; his expression sent a chill down
Mathilde’s spine. “And what have we here? Are
you lost, mistress? Seeking passage, perhaps? Re-
lease her, Grim. I’m sure she knows better than to
scream — don’t you, my dear?”
The clammy hands released her with a rasping
chuckle. “Seeking passage, indeed!”
Fear gripped her belly and triggered another
wave of nausea, making it hard to speak. Unholy
11
 powers. Somehow she managed to turn her gaze
away, which gave her a moment’s respite. “Pray
excuse me,” she said. The weakness in her voice
irritated and frightened her, which in turn gave
her strength. No Murnau runs from the Devil. “I
was expecting to meet my brother, but clearly I am
on the wrong boat. Your man is extremely rude.”
By the time she’d gotten to the end of her
sentence, the nausea had faded and her temper
had roused itself, overpowering her fear. She turned
around to give her attacker a blistering repri-
mand, but the words died in her throat.
It was shorter than she, hunched and wiry,
dressed in dripping rags. Its face was a hairless,
ravaged skull, with barely a pit for the nose,
and a lipless jaw sporting a handful of crooked,
jagged teeth. It grinned — or at least that
might have been the effect had it sufficient
flesh on its cheeks. The actual result was far too
gruesome to be genial.
“Demon,” she gasped, startled. She took an
involuntary step backward, clutching at her
stomach.
“Yes, I’m afraid he is quite the little mon-
ster, isn’t he?” the soft voice continued in her
ear. Strong hands gripped her shoulders, turn-
ing her away from the thing and toward the
broad expanse of the river. “But don’t worry,
my dear. I won’t let him hurt you. I do think
you owe me an explanation, however, as to why
you’re on my boat.”
“I told you,” she said, raising her chin
proudly and turning away from him. Keep him
distracted. Keep him looking at you, not towards
the shore. “I was looking for my brother. Mar-
tin.” She improvised, hoping her luck would
hold. “Do you know him?”
“Ah....” His voice changed from suspicious
to satisfied. “Yes, I do. I’m surprised he’s not
here to introduce us properly, but I suppose
we’ll have to make the best of it.” His hands
slid down her arms caressingly, and he bent
closer as if to kiss her cheek.
Mathilde stepped away quickly, suppress-
ing the involuntary shudder that came over her
at the mere thought of those cold, dead lips on
her skin. “We’ve still not been introduced,”
she said primly, stepping away from him and
toward the barge’s cabin.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
12 • COMPANION •
There was a rasping chuckle from the demon
at her words. The man turned on his lackey with
a hiss of barely suppressed fury. “Another word
from you, Grim, and you will go hungry tonight.”
He then turned back to her, crossed the distance
between them in two long strides. With a vicious
snarl, he spun her around and pushed her against
the cabin wall. “Enough playing harlot games,
woman!” he said. Before she could resist, he ripped
the veil from her head, and then the wimple from
her throat as well.
He stopped then, staring dumbfounded at her
cropped hair and finally recognizing her red habit
for what it was. “What the — you’re a nun? What
was Martin thinking? What good is a nun to me?”
His voice rose dangerously with every word; his
fury beat at her, his fingers digging into her shoul-
ders like an animal’s claws. Bile burned in the
back of her throat and her stomach churned dan-
gerously, but she could not risk becoming ill now.
Weakness would mean her death.
A wave of relief swept over her (accompanied by
overwhelming nausea) when she glanced over the
Cainite’s shoulder, desperate for a sign from God.
Miraculously, she spotted a white tunic with a broken
red cross appearing out of the darkness above them on
the quay. Oh, thank God. She let it come then, vomiting
forth a bitter flood of bile and ill humors churned up by
ungodly arts and the curse in her blood. Her captor cried
out in disgust and let her go, quickly stepping back to
avoid soiling his clothes. He found himself facing a far
greater danger, however, as Sir Baudioun jumped down
on him from the quay.
Mathilde dropped to her knees, still retching,
spitting out the last foul dregs from her mouth as
she tried to stay low and out of the way. By the
time she was able to look up again, the battle was
over. The Cainite was prone on the deck with a
stake protruding up from its chest, the once-hand-
some face frozen in a terrible grimace. Its severed
arm lay nearby, a long knife falling from its with-
ering fingers. Augustin stood over the charred,
broken remains of the hideous Grim, stamping
them into ash.
“Sister — are you alright?” Baudioun stepped
closer and extended a hand down to her. Grate-
fully, she allowed him to help her to her feet. “Are
you ill?” he asked, bending a bit to peer into her
face. “You’ll pardon me, but you look terrible.”
 Mathilde managed a brave smile, and ac-
cepted the cloth Brother Jander offered her to
wipe her mouth. “By God’s grace, I am quite
recovered. Thank you, Brother.” For such a
graceful recovery of her dignity, Aunt Franziska
would have been proud. She could not help but
add, however, “I think you’ll find the rest of
this creature’s accomplices in the house there,
if they have not already fled. This includes
Master Baldewin of the Salt Merchant’s Guild,
with whom it appears Agnise is most intimately
acquainted.”
“God’s blood, woman!” Baudioun grinned
and shook his head. “Don’t worry, we’ve got
men at all the doors. We’ll have to go have a
little talk with Master Baldewin very shortly.
You Murnau, you never give up, do you?”
“No,” Mathilde said, a wry smile on her lips.
“We don’t.”
“Good,” Baudioun replied. “Because if you’re
right — which I am almost willing to concede —
you’re going to have a lot of transcripts to do.”
“Of course, Brother,” Mathilde said, and
smiled.
†††

• PRELUDE •
• WOMAN’S INTUITION • 13
Introduction
The bows of the warriors are broken, but those
who stumbled are armed with strength.
— 1 Samuel 2:4

The Inquisition has a daunting task ahead it. Its ultimate goal
is nothing less than the cleansing of Satan’s get from the world —
ambitious, to say the least. The inquisitors have seen their orders
derided by high-ranking Church officials; they have seen what
happens when servants of the Lord overstep their boundaries; and
they have seen the horrors that the Adversary is capable of
wreaking in Earth through his minions.
The Inquisition has barely scratched the surface.

The Catechism
A catechism is a book giving the basic principles of Christianity
in question-and-answer form (it can also simply refer to any body
of basic knowledge on a given topic). This book, the Dark Ages:
Inquisitor Companion, is a catechism of sorts. While you probably
already know the history and current state of the shadow Inquisi-
tion — likewise with what inquisitors are capable of doing with a
little Conviction and good dollop of faith — there’s definitely
more to the story.
 Logistics
For instance, few of us are scholars of Catholic
history or of medieval monasticism. As Storyteller or
player, you probably want to represent the Church and
life within it at least somewhat fairly. Doing so without
engaging in lengthy, rather arcane research, however,
is difficult at best. This book therefore contains quite a
bit of information on the medieval Church and, more
importantly, how the Inquisition functions within it.
How, for instance, do Holy Sisters leave cloister to
undertake missions for the Inquisition? How does the
Inquisition handle having inquisitors of different gen-
ders working together (something the Church was
rather touchy about, to say the least)? We’ve given
these and other matters some scrutiny, and you can
read the results herein.
The Orders
Rather than publishing a book for each order of the
Inquisition (which, frankly, would have been over-
kill), we’ve presented a bit of information here on all of
them. In this book, you’ll find each order’s recruitment
policies, tactics for dealing with the minions of Satan,
role within the Church, and attitudes toward each
other and the flock as a whole explained in greater
detail. You’ll also find a chapter-house for each one,
with enough detail to spark ideas of characters and
stories.
New Toys
The Blessings published in Dark Ages: Inquisitor
are by no means the only ones that the Inquisition has
seen. Herein, you’ll find new Endowments, Orisons,
ritae and Merits and Flaws. Of course, nothing comes
easily — we’ve also provided new Curses to inflict upon
your characters.
Chapter by Chapter
Prelude: Woman’s Intuition introduces Sister
Mathilde von Murnau, a Red Sister and a daughter of
that infamous Bavarian family. She shows us what the
Inquisition must go through in order to build a case
against a possible sinner.
Introduction: The part you’re reading now.
Chapter One: My Order, My Brothers has infor-
mation on each of the five orders, their tactics, their
recruitment procedures, their chains of command, and
their strongholds.
Chapter Two: Playing the Inquisition devotes
attention to the Inquisition’s role within the Church
and the special privileges that stem from it, how each
of the orders fits into monastic life (including the two
orders that don’t fit in — the Oculi Dei and the House
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
16 • COMPANION •
of Murnau) and what temptations await such inquisi-
tors. It also presents sample of play, including both
preparing a case and direct confrontation with the
Enemy. In addition, the Cardinal’s secret weapons, the
Daggers of God, are revealed.
Chapter Three: The Ways of Faith includes not
only new Blessings, Curses, Merits and Flaws, but a
discussion on what it means to have Conviction. How
does the flock perceive an inquisitor who is so full of
faith that she can literally work miracles? How does the
Enemy perceive such mortals? How does the Inquisi-
tion itself regard Blessings and Curses? All of these
topics and more are covered in this chapter.
Chapter Four: Soldiers of God, Servants of Hell
discusses the development of an inquisitorial cell and
what happens as the inquisitors therein become pro-
moted. We include rules for playing inquisitors with no
special Blessings, as well as inquisitors who belong to
more than one order. This chapter also presents six
possible antagonists for the Holy Inquisition, some of
whom know little of God’s Soldiers… and some of
whom know far too much.
Vocabularium
The following monastic and Church-related terms
appear in various places throughout this book, and the
reader might find having them listed here useful.
• Abbot/Abbess: The spiritual and administrative
head of an abbey of monks or nuns, generally elected by
the community.
• Advocate: The designated protector of a monas-
tery, abbey, or convent.
• Anchorite/Anchoress: A monk or nun living in
strict cloister as a religious hermit.
• Armarium: The monastery library.
• Beguinage: Unenclosed communities of reli-
gious women who support their charitable activities by
begging for alms. Popular among women as an alterna-
tive to the cloister.
• Clerg: A commandery or monastery of the
Military Orders, particularly of establishments belong-
ing to the Hospitalers and the Poor Knights of the
Cross of the Passion of Acre.
• Cloistering: In passive form, the barring of non-
monastics from entering a monastery. In active form,
preventing monastics from leaving a monastery.
• Dowry: The gift given by a monk or nun when
entering an order, usually in the form of cash.
• Hospice: A hospital generally established to
provide aid and comfort for pilgrims.
• Leprosaria: A hospital established for the care
of lepers.
 • Novice: A man or woman who has entered a
monastery but who has not yet taken final vows.
• Oblation: The act of offering oneself or a child
to serve God as a monk or a nun.
• Opus Dei: The Divine Offices of the Hours; the
eight cycles of prayers celebrated each day by monks
and nuns.
• Preceptory: A monastery of the Military Orders,
referring particularly to establishments of the Templars.
• Rector: The designated leader of a cell of
inquisitors.
• INTRODUCTION •
• Regular Clergy: Ecclesiastics who have taken
Holy Orders and who follow a Rule (monks, nuns, and
the like). These individuals have professed solemn
vows to their order and have chosen to live in religious
poverty in an enclosed Christian community, in es-
sence abandoning the world.
• Secular Clergy: Ecclesiastics who have taken Holy
Orders but who do not follow a specific Rule (clerks in
minor orders, ordained priests, many high Church offi-
cials). These individuals make no profession and follow
no religious rule, own their own property, owe canonical
obedience to a bishop, and practice celibacy.
17
Chapter One:
My Order,
My Brothers
They charge like warriors; they scale walls like
soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving
from their course.
— Joel 2:7

The five orders that make up the shadow Inquisition are the thin line of faith
that stands between the Christian people of Europe and the subtle fiends of Hell. In
their few years of association, they have destroyed demons, banished spirits, and —
most challenging of all — begun to learn how to work together. The Inquisition is
in its infancy. When it matures, all those who use supernatural power in mockery of
God will have much to fear.
For now, though, the orders are imperfect gatherings of faithful men and
women, all with one goal but with varying opinions of how to get there. Each order
has a different way of viewing the enemy and different ways of recruiting new
members. Each pursues the great work in its own way. Because of this, the differences
(and similarities) between the orders are worthy of deeper exploration.
 The Poor Knights of the
Passion of the Cross of
Acre
You ask, sir, why we carry the relics of the saints with
us and risk them in battle. My answer is this: without them,
our struggle would be for naught. A sword? It is a good
weapon, true, and well able to cleave through both flesh and
bone in the service of the Lord Our God. The creatures we
face are more than flesh and blood, though. Should we strike
down their mortal casements, we do nothing but free the
spirit within. Such a spirit is then free to possess another
Christian, turning them from God’s true path.
The relics of the saints are our swords against these evil
spirits. We use them with faith and courage, so that no
remnant of evil lingers in this world. Each thrust of the
sword must be matched with a prayer; each blow that lands
on the cursed flesh of the sinner must be backed by the power
of faith and the relics of the saints, that the spirit of the
damned may be banished from this earth.
— Sir Baudioun le Breton
Recruitment
“Still in your cups, good knight?”
Sir Ollier snorted in disgust. “What concern is that of
yours?”
“Ah, we are always concerned when a goodly man
strays from the narrow path,” said another voice.
Ollier stared blearily up at the two knights who had sat
down opposite him. He didn’t recognize either of them.
Probably more youngsters from the order come to have a
little fun at an old Hospitaler’s expense.
“Have you come to mock me then, like the others? Has
the tale of my madness, of the creature I dreamed in the heat
of the sun spread so far?”
“Why no, good fellow, quite the reverse. We are here
to hear that tale with our own ears. If it is as we have heard,
then we think that God has chosen a new path for you.”
“One without quite so much ale,” said the other,
pulling the tankard from Ollier’s unresisting hands.
The Poor Knights of the Passion of the Cross of Acre
have a reputation for being demanding. Many young men
of good birth and sound of body, mind and purse find
themselves turned from the door of the order without
explanation. Those few who do gain admission to this
most selective of knightly orders rarely speak of their
ordeals, or consent to train others for admission.
While this selective policy might seem likely to
attract further would-be knights, two things prevent this
from happening. The first is the relatively low profile of
the order. It lacks the renown among the common people
of the Knights Templar and Hospitaler, and those few
stories that do surround the order are disturbing.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
20 • COMPANION •
The second reason is the order’s openness to for-
sworn knights from those other, better-known orders.
Any group of knights so accepting of those who defy
one of the basic tenets of chivalry are indubitably
suspect in the eyes of serf and noble alike. While the
order does gain a few direct recruits, most of its mem-
bers come directly from the other military orders or
from the inquisitors’ own families.
To The Order Born
The knightly calling is a family affair. A knight’s
sons, usually born to him in the years before he took the
order’s vow, are welcome to follow in his footsteps.
Perhaps this is driven by the family values that the
House of Murnau brings to the Inquisition; perhaps it’s
a young man’s natural drive to emulate his father. No
matter: the sons of inquisitors make good additions to
the ranks of the order. Any son of an inquisitor, even
those from other orders, may join the Knights of Acre
with his father’s blessing. If the boy’s father has fallen,
the order still accepts the child. The testing of such
orphans is far more rigorous in the early months of
training, however, than it is for those who have their
fathers still living.
Each of the order’s eight tongues maintains a
chapter-house devoted solely to the training of the
sons of knights. The tutors in these houses are often
elder knights whose wounds or advanced age have
made the pursuit of the enemy too dangerous. They
instead impart their experience to the next generation
of inquisitors. Other instructors and caretakers are
those knights whose hearts have hardened in pursuit of
the enemy. They often spend a few months teaching in
one of these academies, reacquainting themselves with
normal life among innocents and regaining their spiri-
tual balance until they are ready to resume their duties
in the field.
The youngsters in training face regular tests of
both their faith and their fidelity to the order and its
ideals. Some are already aware of the true nature of the
order through their fathers, while others are ignorant
when they begin training. It is only after the first year
that the instructors tell them of the order’s true busi-
ness and begin their training in the very specific
martial skills needed to face the spawn of the Devil.
Those who know are sworn to secrecy for the first year
of their true training.
After several more years in the company of their peers
and many more tests of faith and loyalty, the young men
are given as squires to knights in the field, taking the first
step toward becoming a fully-fledged inquisitor.
The Forsworn
The military orders are rich and powerful organi-
zations, with land and holdings across Europe and the
Holy Land. Despite their vows of poverty, their knights

FAMILY VALUES
0 knight who is already a family man when
he joins the order has to make a difficult
sacrifice: he has to leave his family behind him.
His order demands his full loyalty. For most mem-
bers of the order, however, this is no greater
sacrifice than that which they have already made.
The knights gave up their families when they
joined their original order.
The stigma attached to being a family mem-
ber of a Poor Knight doesn’t make life for the
knight’s relatives any easier. Friends who once
supported them now shun them, while the agents
of the enemy who are aware of their affiliation
often place them under scrutiny. These additional
concerns are a difficult burden for even the most
steadfast of the knights to carry. The addition of
the Oculi Dei to the ranks of the Inquisition,
however, has given the Poor Knights a solution.
Increasingly, close family members of the
Poor Knights are now members of the Oculi Dei.
They function as links between the anonymous
Eyes and the Poor Knights. This brings two ben-
efits to a knight. First, he can be sure that fellow
inquisitors are watching his family for signs of the
Devil’s influence. Secondly, should his family, or
any member of the Eyes in the area, find evidence
of the enemy’s work, a knight returning home
with his comrades-in-arms makes excellent cover
for establishing a new chapter-house in an area —
the first step towards greater investigation of
Satan’s activities in the region.
are often men of power and status, too. All too often,
this brings them into contact with the pawns of the
enemy. Even the orders’ day-to-day struggles seem to
bring knights into conflict with demons and other
supernatural creatures. These encounters between
knights and the spawn of the Devil are the major source
of the Poor Knights’ current membership. God opens
their eyes to the nature of their enemies and grants
them the power to defeat them.
Such knights usually cannot resist telling tales of
their exploits to their fellows, and these tales often find
their way to the agents of the Inquisition secreted in
most of the existing military orders. Soon, the talkative
knight finds himself meeting with members of the Poor
Knights, who seem far more willing to believe the
details of his story than many of his peers. In the end,
few of those who have told their stories turn down the
offer to join the Inquisition.
Once the decision has been made, the order inter-
cedes on the knight’s behalf with the Church. The knight
then receives direct leave from the Church to renounce
his vows to his original order, alleviating a little the claims
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
of apostasy that dog him. A new set of vows is sworn to the
Knights of Acre, and after a short period of training (no
more than a few months) in the ways of the Inquisition,
he is assigned to a chapter-house to begin the work in the
Lord’s service. Usually he is assigned as far away from their
former brethren as the order can manage. Even the
blessing of the Church is not enough to spare him from the
disapproval of his former comrades-in-arms.
The Recruited
Some do come to the order’s door and gain accep-
tance. All such postulants are asked to pass tests of skill
in arms, endurance and strength. If they fail any of
these, they are sent away immediately. After that, they
must pass a far more difficult test, that of their piety and
faith. The order’s priests quiz them for days and nights
on matters of Biblical theology and Church doctrine.
They also quiz the would-be recruits on how they might
react in certain situations, to test both their piety and
their resolve. If they have any suspicion of deviation
from the orthodox, the candidate is dismissed without
explanation. Those few who excel during this cross-
examination travel to one of the order’s training
chapter-houses to begin their tutelage alongside the
sons of current knights. They find themselves subject
to close scrutiny throughout their training, however,
especially by tutors descended from a certain German
line who have an uncanny talent for spotting those
whose hearts are less than pure….
The Vows
“Every brother who is professed in
the Holy service should, through fear
of the flames of Hell, give total obedi-
ence to the Church; for nothing is
dearer to Jesus Christ than obedience,
and if anything be commanded by the
Master of the Order, or by the holy
Inquisition, or by one to whom he has
given his power, it should be done
without demur as if it were a com-
mand from God. Each brother who
petitions for service before the Cross
of Acre must despise wealth and
embrace poverty, must despise licen-
tiousness and embrace chastity, must
despise willfulness and love obedience.
“No brother shall shirk from the
duty of facing the Adversary and
driving him from this Earth with the
name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Nor
must he fail to give succor to the poor,
and to the orphaned, and to the inno-
cent victims of the road. All this he
must swear on the True, Holy and
Beloved Cross of Acre on which Our
Lord, crucified, suffered and died for
the salvation of the sinful soul.”
21
 The Enemy
Of all the orders, the Knights are the least likely to
try to identify exactly what it is that they’re dealing
with. Bitter experience has taught them that doing so
is a fool’s game. Knowing exactly what kind of demon
is tearing you limb from limb is little consolation to a
dying inquisitor. No, the order needs something far
more important if it is to be successful: the ability to
gain a rapid understanding of exactly what the enemy’s
capabilities are and how to circumvent them. Thus,
the order has evolved its own way of describing the
enemy, based solely on its fighting ability. It’s a prag-
matic approach and one well suited to the mentality of
most Knights.
In the last few years, the order has gathered enough
information to formulate basic strategies against the
major types of devils it faces. Most cells of Knights
spend long hours practicing different tactics to use
against these different groups of the enemy. Com-
manders within each tongue meet at least once every
few months to exchange tactics and information, and
the heads of all the tongues gather most years to share
experience across Christendom.
The Knights have two main pillars that support these
strategies. The first is observation. Despite the order’s
reputation for throwing itself into battle, most of the
Knights are experienced military men,
all of whom know the value of
intelligence in formulating a
battle plan. The lay of the land,
the strength of the enemy and the
weapons they wield are all critical pieces
of information to a Commander or
Knight Brother in planning the battle
to come.
The second pil-
lar is surprise. Most
Knights are keenly
aware that the en-
emy is usually
stronger and faster
than they are, even
with the blessing
God bestows upon
His Knights. An am-
bush affords them the
chance to negate these
advantages long
enough to wound or
destroy the creatures.
To aid in this, the
Knights try to avoid
displaying their God-
given powers until the
battle is joined. Most
creatures find these gifts
surprising and occasionally distracting, something
the Knights can use to their advantage.
The order has grouped its strategies into four rough
classifications, based largely on the appearance of the
foes it faces. In the Knights’ experience to date, the
form of a demon largely dictates its abilities. The four
classifications are demon animals, demon-tainted men,
warlocks and true demons. Once the order’s observa-
tions or reports from other inquisitors reveal the nature
of the foe, a Knight puts one of the following strategies
to work.
Demon Animals
Few knights relish the opportunity to face off against
the Devil’s animalistic minions. These creatures are fear-
some warriors who often travel in groups. Few cells of
Knights will engage a group of animalistic demons unless
the cell outnumbers the demons by a considerable mar-
gin, or if the lives of good Christian folks are directly at
risk. That said, while these monsters are fast and fear-
somely strong, they are less prone to the strange
supernatural tricks of their more human-seeming cousins.
That simplicity of combat is something the knights un-
derstand and appreciate. Surprise, numbers and skill are
the three pillars of the order’s strategy against these foes:
surprise to weaken the foe, the numbers to defeat them
and the skill to win the battle quickly.
Demon-tainted Men
Those servants of the en-
emy who take on human form
present a greater
challenge to the
order. These
devil spawn dis-
play a far
greater
range of
abilities
and often
have hu-
m a n
servants

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

22 • COMPANION •
to defend them. Many have insinuated themselves into
positions of power and respect within society, making
direct action against them problematic. A group of Knights
assaulting a well-known man in public is likely to attract
unwelcome attention towards the cell. That’s not to say
that it doesn’t happen, it’s just that the cell knows it will
probably have to move on after the devil is dispatched.
Observation, planning and ambush are the three
pillars of the order’s strategy here. Observation allows
planning that allows ambush. There, by the will of God,
the foe will fall beneath the blades of the righteous.
Warlocks
The order has developed a simple strategy for
defeating warlocks and witches: never let them know
you are coming. The Devil gives his servants great
powers, but God prevents them from conjuring evil
swiftly. Take a wizard by surprise and he will fall to a
well-placed blade. Warn him, and he steals another
soul for his master.
The idea of assassination does not sit well with
most Knights. To kill a man and deny him the chance
to defend himself seems to deny the chivalric ideal, as
well as robbing him of the chance to confess his sins.
Those men who have sold their souls for the Devil’s
power, however, are not worthy of the same regard as
other men, or so goes the official line. Once a Knight
has seen a warlock at work, he soon accepts the wisdom
of this view.
Many Knights still balk at the idea of slaughtering
witches like this. For all her sin, a witch is still a woman.
Many young Knights who still struggle with lust and
other temptations find it easy to persuade themselves
that the women would be better captured alive for
questioning and possibly even repentance, especially if
the witch in question is fair of face. Older hands
dissuade their brethren from thinking this way with
tales of succubae who tempt pious men with their
devil-spawned beauty and then destroy them body and
soul. Some are just frightening the new recruits into
obedience, while others are sharing genuine horrors
from their younger days.
Observation, stealth and speed are the three pillars
of the Knights’ strategy against the wielders of magic.
Through observation, the warlock reveals his ways;
through stealth, the Knight can reach his foe undetec-
ted; through speed, the evil one is dispatched before he
can call upon the Devil’s aid.
True Demons
The greatest challenge for the Knights of Acre as they
see it is the true demon, an escapee from Hell here to do
the Devil’s bidding. Such creatures can be recognized by
their appearance, which is ugly and abhorrent to the eyes
of Christian men, and by their manner, which is in
opposition to all the virtues of the pious soul.
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
Such creatures are not just corrupted humans but the
very children of the Pit itself. They have powers beyond
those possessed by their fellow horrors — the powers of
Hell. These charismatic creatures often attract groups of
followers who are eager to give them worship. The Knights,
as a rule, would rather turn over the followers of a demon
to the Holy Office or the local church to deal with, but the
realities of the struggle do not always make this possible.
If the Knights cannot gather sufficient evidence to per-
suade other authorities to act, they are faced with the
difficult task of dispatching members of the local populace
without attracting undue attention to their activities.
This is no easy task.
The three pillars of the order’s strategy against
demons are ruthlessness, caution and faith. Ruthless-
ness allows the Knight to dispose of those who would
support the demon, as their souls are already forfeit.
Caution allows them to strike when the moment is
right, watching and waiting for the right opportunity.
Faith, both that of the Knights and that invested in the
relics they carry, allows them the advantage of God’s
own power in battle with these creatures.
Ghosts, Fair Folk and Other Spirits
Ghosts and other spirits are a problem for the
Knights. The order’s favored approach to the enemy’s
minions simply doesn’t work, as most spirits are as
intangible to the blade as they are to the touch. Some
of the order’s relics seem adept at driving away ghosts,
but few seem to be able to do them direct harm. More
often than not, the Knights involved call upon one of
the other orders to help deal with restless spirits. No
pillars of strategy exist as yet for ghosts. For now, the
order is content to let others address the situation.
Brothers (and Sisters) in Arms
It has not been easy for the Knights of Acre to
adapt to life as part of a larger Inquisition. The order
RANK AND FILE
The Knights of Acre are not all fighting men,
despite the name. The order is home to priests,
healers, scribes and messengers as well as the
Knights themselves. Any semi-monastic order
needs men of God to minister to the souls of the
Knights and hear confession. The Knights also
take the running of their hospices very seriously
indeed, and skilled healers are a useful part of that
work. Scribes and messengers help fulfill the
mundane administrative requirements of the or-
der. Still, the Poor Knights are a military order,
and all who are part of it are required to be skilled
with a sword or other weapon. More than one of
Satan’s children has underestimated a seemingly
meek priest and found his soul dispatched back to
Hell as a result.
23
 was used to acting as an independent body, answerable
only to Rome, but now finds itself working side by side
with fellow Christians with a very different outlook on
life. Initially, the Knights tended to see the other orders
as little more than a source of information and aid
when fighting the good fight. In the last few years,
however, individual Knights have begun to realize the
virtues of working with other orders, especially given
the reduced number of casualties in the order’s ranks
since such cooperation began. Truly, this must be
God’s plan.
The Red Order
The Knights of Acre are, on the whole, a pragmatic
group of men. Fighting the enemy face-to-face does not
leave much room for theoretical discussions and philoso-
phy. Despite this enforced pragmatism, they can see the
need for greater research into the ways of the enemy.
Every weakness that the Red Order identifies and com-
municates to the Knights is ruthlessly tested on the field
of battle. If that were all there is to the Red Order, the
Knights would be happy indeed.
The Red Order’s skill with the Holy Art is what
worries many Knights. It is, as has often been remarked by
people of all orders, remarkably like the arts of the enemy.
Each individual Knight’s opinion of the Red Order is
likely to be based on his degree of experience with the
members thereof. If he has never worked with a Red
Brother or Sister, he is likely to be suspicious of the order
as a whole, considering them a step away from Satan’s own
forces. A Knight who has fought alongside a Red Brother,
however, is likely to respect the formidable power his
fellow inquisitor can wield. Any veteran Knight knows
the feeling of seizing one of the enemy’s own weapons and
using it against him in battle, after all.
The Red Sisters are the exception to this rule.
Something deeply ingrained in the mindset of the
order screams “witch” when a Knight encounters a
woman wielding such power. The determinedly all-
male Poor Knights tends to find the very concept of the
mixed-sex yet monastic Red Order suspect. The sight
of women calling upon such powerful forces does noth-
ing to allay those suspicions. Some Knights have been
known to refuse assignments to mixed-order cells if a
Red Sister is a member.
One thing endears the Red Order to the Knights:
the pain of the stigmata Red Brothers endure. It creates
a bond of sympathy between them and the Knight, who
well know the pain of wounds themselves.
The Sisters of St. John
The Sisters of St. John, on the other hand, are
much more to the liking of the Knights, who have
specific ideas about Christian behavior in women. An
order of warriors cannot help but like and respect an
order whose members practice the healing arts. Indeed,
cells of Knights often request that a cell of Sisters be
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
24 • COMPANION •
assigned to their general area, so the two can work
together. The survival rate for Knights with such
arrangements is significantly higher than without.
Of course, healing is not the Sisters’ primary call-
ing, much as the Poor Knights might wish it were. Most
Knights are not altogether comfortable with the vi-
sions that God grants to the Sisters. For a start, the
visions are usually more cryptic than straightforward
warriors would like. Still, reverence of blessed women
is ingrained in the Knights’ faith and theology. The
Sisters are beneficiaries of that.
The House of Murnau
Overall, the Knights of Acre maintain good rela-
tions with the Murnau family. Nobility knows nobility,
and the majority of the Knights are from noble families.
The Knights are much more comfortable taking orders
from a fellow nobleman (or woman) than they are from
the commoners who make up much of the Oculi Dei,
for example. Indeed, “light and sword” cells made up of
a member of the House, his retinue and a handful of
knights are extremely effective at exposing and de-
stroying the enemy.
The two orders do have some areas of conflict,
however. For one, the Murnau have much freer lifestyles
than the semi-monastic lives of the Knights allow.
Some Knights resent this, while others look down on
the House for such licentious behavior. Either attitude
is likely to cause needless friction.
The Oculi Dei
At first glance, these two orders seem like they
should work well together. The Eyes find the enemy
and the Knights destroy it: a powerful combination. In
practice, this is rarely the case. For one, the Knights are
usually of noble birth and resent taking directions from
commoners. They carry with them an unconscious
assumption that the Eyes will do as they direct and
release whatever information the Knights demand.
The Eyes, though, value discretion above social
order. They will easily withdraw their help if they
suspect that their fellows are becoming too demanding.
After several bad experiences, The Inquisition has
found it more politic to channel relations between the
two orders through members of the Eyes of noble birth,
or from the increasing numbers who are related to the
Knights by blood or marriage.
The Flock
Like so many of the other military orders, the
Knights live lives somewhat apart from the mass of
humanity. Sequestered in their commanderies, train-
ing for the battles to come and planning strategies
against the Devil’s minions, they have precious little
time for socializing. The fact that the order has a
second mission that prevents the Knights from growing
too estranged from those they protect is a testament to
the wisdom of the order’s founders.
The hospices attached to many of the order’s
chapter-houses are a major point of contact between
the laity and the Knights. These hospices specialize in
caring for the orphans of Christendom, whose numbers
seem to be never-ending. Certainly the work the order
does in taking these urchins off the street endears them
to the local populace, who are absolved of the guilt of
not caring for the children as well as being freed from
petty thefts at the same time. Few realize just how many
of those children were made orphans by the Knights in
the pursuance of their calling.
Some unpleasant tales surround the order. Many
of these are unfair, spread by other military orders that
are disgruntled by the loss of members to the Knights of
Acre, but many are quite justified. Of all the orders, the
Knights are the least forgiving to those who have been
turned by the enemy.
Given the dangers of their calling, it is not surpris-
ing that the Poor Knights take a very straightforward
approach to those who serve — or worse — worship the
enemy. If the tool of Satan can be turned over to the
Holy Office or other members of the Church, fine,
that’s just what the Knights do. If this is impossible, the
inquisitors dispatch the unfortunate souls to God with
all due haste. Clearly, this approach has not won the
order friends in several parts of Christendom.
The Hospice of St. James the Elder
The city of Compostela in the Kingdom of Leon
rose to prominence over a millennia ago. It has grown
ever since, fed by the trade that runs along two Roman
roads that cross in the city. It also sits at the confluence
of two rivers — the Sar and Sarela — which further
adds to the flow of people through the city.
Not far off one of those Roman roads sits a wel-
come sign to any traveler who has suffered the travails
of pilgrimage: the Hospice of St. James the Elder. The
hospice is a boon to travelers and the principal Iberian
chapter-house of the Knights of Acre. The city is also
host to the relics of the apostle St. James and his
disciples, Athanasius and Theodorus, which are housed
in Church of St. James, just a few minutes’ walk from
the hospice.
The Hospice
The hospice consists of two sizeable buildings on
either side of a walled courtyard. The larger of the two
buildings, on the right through the main gate, houses
the traveler’s hospice and orphanage that form the
main charitable business of the organization. It is busy
both day and night, with travelers coming in tired and
injured or leaving in much better heart thanks to the
ministrations of the staff. In the morning, the steady
drone of a classroom drifts across the courtyard, while
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
in the afternoon the orphans play and exercise outside,
trying (not always with success) to keep out from
underfoot of the travelers and the Knights.
The building to the left houses the Knights’
commandary, with stables and shared quarters for the
Knights in residence along with extra accommodation
for visitors passing through the town on business. On
occasion, a mendicant friar or group of pilgrims — or
any other using a favored cover story for traveling
inquisitors — are granted quarters in the chapter-
house.
The extensive cellars of the building spread some
distance beneath both the courtyard and the adjoining
buildings, all of which are owned by the order and
leased to local merchants. These spaces house cells for
the imprisonment and torture of the Devil’s servants,
some storage space for the more specialized tools of the
trade and an area for practicing fighting techniques
developed to deal with the enemy. These exercises are
the sort that the Knight would not want seen in public,
for fear of a knowledgeable passer-by drawing some
accurate conclusions.
A steady stream of pilgrims to the shrine of
Athanasius, a disciple of St. James, has given the
hospice an Ambient Faith rating of 2.
The Knights
The chapter-house is run by the seneschal Laurgain,
a grizzled veteran of both the crusades and the Inquisi-
tion. An encounter with a skin-changer two years ago
left him with a distinct limp, a useless arm and a wolf
pelt to keep him warm at night. To his disgust, the
order deemed him no longer fit for active service and
assigned him to run this chapter-house, training a new
generation of Knights from the orphans.
The priest, Berin of Lombardy, aids him in his
work. Berin is in his early 40s and is as happy wielding
a weapon as he is preaching God’s word. His calling to
the priesthood came later in life, after a successful
career as a solider. Somewhat naturally, the orphans
pick up his enthusiasm for swordplay a little easier than
his enthusiasm for the Bible.
Commander of the Knights Hunerct leads the
sorties against the servants of Satan. This young knight
hails from Saxony, and sometimes finds his northern
European formality at odds with the more relaxed
Iberian culture. He keeps the knights well-drilled and
exercised, though, and has only lost a single inquisitor
in the last two years.
The Enemy
The order originally founded the hospice as much
as a training house for its recruits as a traveler’s hospice.
Within a year, however, the small cell of Knights
originally based there realized that it would have to
become a full chapter-house. The trade and travelers
25
 that pass through the city attract servants of the Evil
One like flies to manure. Twice now, the Knights have
been called upon to slay a demon stalking the beds of
the orphans at night, seeking sustenance from their
souls or their blood. Laurgain was able to call in some
favors, and the relics of Athanasius are now housed in
the hospice and not the church. That put an end to the
nocturnal visitations.
Subsequent investigations have proved that many
travelers seem to go missing immediately before or after
arriving at the city. Hunerct has led a series of system-
atic searches of the land around the city. While the
area is now remarkably lacking in bandits, he found few
traces of the Devil’s work. Reluctantly, he has taken
Laurgain’s advice and started scouring the city for
traces of demons. Investigation is far from the young
knight’s greatest skill, unfortunately. He is considering
swallowing his pride by asking Laurgain for further
help, or by calling in a cell of inquisitors from another
order.
Unbeknownst to Hunerct, Laurgain is receiving
messages from the local cell of the Oculi Dei. The
region’s Eyes are under the control of Rodrigue de
Navarre, and have thus been extremely reluctant to
come forward until now. The Eyes cell has gathered
extensive evidence of a whole cabal of demons working
to seize control of the trade route thought the city. In
addition, it has also uncovered hints of a plan to
surreptitiously take control of the hospice. The local
cell leader, Aiala Lorda, could hold her tongue no
longer and approached Laurgain. The elder Knight
knows that the cell has to move against the demons
soon, but he can’t resist the opportunity to teach
Hunerct a lesson first.
The Red Order of St
Theodosius
The tower that stands before me fills me with both fear
and hope. Let Albert d’Aquitaine play his games of politics
and piety. I know what we really face. I am afraid, just as
Albert should be. Yet God calls me to defeat His enemies
and I must obey. I have no choice.
They say I have failed, but they are wrong. I have
survived the wrath of a demon and come away learning
more of him than he learnt of me. When Byleth and I meet
once more, God willing, my knowledge will be greater still.
I have walked the dank tunnels that snake through these
lands; I have both talked with these things, fearing every
second for my mortal life and immortal soul, and killed them
when I had no other choice.
In the dull-colored lands that surround our abbey here
in Damburrow, hidden amongst the hills and heather, there
lies more knowledge of the Enemy and his ways than any of
us ever suspected. Each huddle of hovels that cling together
in the lee of the hills that make up this God-forsaken land
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
26 • COMPANION •
hides further clues to the nature and powers of the demons
who stalk these lands and the monsters that serve them. I
have spent months talking to the people of this cold, wet
simulacrum of a country, all in God’s name.
I have succeeded. I have found out where they dwell.
I know of this tower and I know the name of the creature that
slumbers within: Chelniel. Let us see what knowledge he
has left for me.
— From the journal of Red Brother Giordano
Nicola d’Arzenta
Recruitment
The novices had lit candles some hours ago, yet the
brothers and a solitary sister continued in their delibera-
tions. Piles of parchment littered the table in front of them,
discarded and forgotten about. Just two papers remained,
and the brothers pored over them intently as the sounds of
the Compline service faded away.
“I like not Geronim’s answers on the life of our Lord.
His thoughts on the Christ’s incarnate nature stray a little
to close to heresy for me,” said one brother, finally.
“Any yet, which of us has not thought such things at
some time?” said another.
The first brother tutted. “It’s is a child’s theology, one
he should have long since abandoned. He was given every
chance to redeem this thinking but he did not do so. One who
is so deaf to the urging of the Lord has no place among us.”
A murmur of assent rippled around the table.
“So, it is decided. Elizabeth of York shall join our order.
Let us now thank God for his guidance,” said the sister,
satisfaction evident in her voice.
The greatest frustration a scholar can face is a lack
of things to learn. Books are rare and well protected,
and only a few individuals can have access to them at
any time. For those individuals who seek knowledge of
the supernatural, one name seems to recur again and
again in their quest for knowledge: St. Theodosius.
Thus, those whose thirst for knowledge is insatiable
often beat a path to the door of a Theodosian house to
petition for membership.
The first test is simple. A Theodosian quizzes the
postulant on matters of theology and faith in Latin,
Greek and the native tongue of the region. If the
would-be member fails on any point of the discussion
or displays a less-than-fluent grasp of the languages in
use, he is rejected and sent away. If he succeeds, he is
asked to dwell within the order’s house for one calendar
month. That month is the hardest month of his life.
The Red Order demands of all its members both
intellectual sophistication and theological understand-
ing, combined with mental flexibility and deep piety.
The order’s self-assigned task of studying and under-
standing the enemy, as well as developing knowledge
of all things supernatural — not the least of which is
the Inquisition’s own theurgy — requires nothing less.
The order is well aware of the whispers of heresy and
diabolism that follow wherever its members go, and is
even more concerned about them than the populace in
general. The very nature of the materials the Red
Brothers and Sisters study means that they are designed
to corrupt. The knowledge the order gains carries the
taint of Hell. Satan has already touched many of the
people they question, and he is not known as “the
Tempter” for nothing. The order’s work is inherently
risky, and the Red Order’s solution is to try to weed out
the weaker souls before they join the Inquisition.
In that month, therefore, the postulant is engaged in
discussion by a number of senior Theodosians with the
aim of testing both his mental flexibility and his theologi-
cal limits. The examiners act as tempters themselves,
seeking to draw the postulant into a statement of outright
heresy by tricking them into arguing against the teachings
of Christianity. The books of the order, usually the least
important and revealing yet still tempting to the frus-
trated scholar, are useful weapons in the examiner’s
armory. The examiner allows the postulant to read certain
passages and then quizzes him on his reaction and his
thoughts on how research might continue.
Even if one of the postulants proves himself un-
worthy of the order early in his stay, he is allowed to
stay for the whole month. These scholars are liable to
fall to the temptations of the enemy at some point, so
it is better that the order gathers information on them
now in case it is needed in the future. At the end of the
month, the postulant is dismissed with no indication of
whether he has passed or failed.
THE ERRANT POSTULANT
C he one postulant who turned the order
down, known as Fridebraht von Graft,
gave only one explanation: “God has granted me
greater wisdom than you offer.” Two days after
the rejection, in May of 1225, the Eye assigned to
watch him lost track of him entirely. She franti-
cally asked questions of known friends and
acquaintances and discovered that few of them
even remembered him. In the end, she aban-
doned the attempt and reported what had occurred
to her superior.
It was two years before the errant postulant
reappeared. He rescued Sister Vittoria Santini di
Parma from an assault by practitioners of the
Malefic Arts, through a display of what appeared
to be a variant on the Holy Arts. He has reap-
peared several times since, sometimes in company,
sometimes alone, each time aiding a Theodosian
(and once a Knight of Acre) in a moment of dire
need. What exactly he knows about the Inquisi-
tion and why he seems so keen on rescuing its
agents remains a mystery.
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
Once a season, the heads of all the Red Order
houses in a region meet to discuss their postulants. Of
all those who have approached the order in that time,
just three from each region are offered the chance to
join the Theodosians. Only once in the order’s history
has someone turned them down (see sidebar). Once
the postulant is accepted, he joins the order by swear-
ing a vow of secrecy. After two months’ training in the
Theodosian Rule, the postulant swears his final oaths,
becoming a fully-fledged Red Brother. From that point
onwards, he has access to a whole new world of research
— and an equal weight of responsibility — as he
discovers his new duties within the Holy Inquisition.
The Price
Traditionally, like many monastic orders, the
Theodosians have required that their postulants come
to the order free of debt and with a generous contribu-
tion to the order’s wealth from their own purses or that
of their families. While this is still a requirement for
many of the new members of the order, the Red Order’s
membership in the Inquisition has brought with it a
greater flow of funds from Rome itself. Thus, students
of great aptitude but light purse are now accepted into
the order, whereas previously they were not. On occa-
sions, extremely talented postulants with debts behind
them have found those debts purchased and discharged
by noblemen. It is only once the new Red Brother or
Sister learns of the full scope of the Inquisition that he
or she realizes that their mysterious benefactor was a
scion of the House of Murnau.
The Apprentice
A second, lesser known, route into the order also
exists. Young boys and girls of prodigious academic
talent are occasionally asked to join the order as
apprentices. They serve initially as kitchen boys and
servants to the monks, taking three or four hours of
lessons each day. As they approach adulthood, they are
freed from household duties and given over to full time
education and prayer to bring them up to the academic
standards expected of all postulants.
Some of these new novices hail from the hospices
of Knights of Acre. Visiting Theodosians on Inquisi-
tion business often take the time to quiz the orphans
and their teachers in the hope of finding another
prodigy for the order. Some younger children of the
extended Murnau family are serving as novices, too. In
the last few years, in three separate Theodosian houses
around Europe, children have turned up unannounced
on the doorsteps of the chapter-houses, each knowing
a few of the inquisition’s recognition codes. All have
proven to be capable scholars. The leaders of the order
suspect that they are the children of members of the
Oculi Dei, but the leaders of that secretive body have
never confirmed this.
27
 Theodosians researching the
nature and organization of the
s’ Rule
stic
of mona e foe are amazed by the degree to
osiu a n c e
St. Theod
e g o v e r n a n d t h which the minions of Satan seem
t h e
. T h e o d o sius for or His knowledg compelled to put down on
e of St search f
The Rul devoted to the parchment and paper records of
ities
commun the Enemy. their affairs and even their so-
defeat o
f
o f L if e t o p rotect cial structures. The Red Order
o s e a n d Basics y as Christian sou, the Satan. If l s
has learned more of the nature
The Purpall else, it is our dwuorks of His enedm
t y
n o t l o ve God. of the enemy through papers
e o
Before th e d iv e r s
en e m y , w e
t o f t h e and other documents than
is p e o p le from e works of the h ip is t he defea through actual encounters
H h ow s
t hate t our fell us.
we do no ain pur p o s e o f
od doe s g r a n t t im e a s is with the demons themselves.
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hose liv er and shield.
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ob y, fo God’s. Ho of
free from rks of the Enem rself, for all is things is a tool - and other senior members
of the w
o nto you r such knowl of the Inquisition to share
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III. a l t h , s o u l r o t h e r , the knowledge gleaned by
ge nor w
e Christian f your b
knowled y to corrupt the m to the soul o cells in other parts of Eu-
r
the Enemh might bring ha a devil. s a ke o f y o u r rope with the
w h ic u n t o r t h e s e r - Theodosians. Partially
edge
akes you
like high fo ed in his
do so m d y o u r head up L o r d ’s to be us to the glory this reluctance stems
n ot ho l b u t th e e n d s, but
IV . D o y o u r s , rt h l y from the order’s own less
l e d g e . It is not ut it vain or ea y than sterling reputation
kno w p a
. D o n ot seek
to
o d . T h e Enemy m e His for orthodoxy, and par-
vic e G o r
G o d a l one. is E a r t h are of such deeds, rest tially from an
of t h o
hings of n to und emy.
V. All t . It is our burde om from his En an alik e , c h a s te understandable con-
them wisd and wom left for us cern for the safety of
corrupt take back God’s r o o f , m a n
h a s
d o n e H e inquisitors in the field
plan an l l l iv e under knowledge which each act and
VI. Le t a at wit h should the enemy
e y e s , s eeking th to do his work compromise a
in God’s ll must strive Theodosian house.
. A
to find y
of the Daes appointed in St
Despite this setback,
thought. ic e s
d the O f f the order does the
the tim
Prayer ansiduous in prayer at of the h
ou s e . If best it can to ex-
I. Be as ule. t h e co m p a n y
n d ance a t t h e change knowledge
e ’s R a id in t a t t e yo u r about the enemy.
Augustin n e e
s
d not be f Our Lord prev he pursuance of
en
y e r
II. Pra name o l or in t
Doctors from all
u r l a b o rs in the hour in your cel the Theodosian
yo a r k the
, m houses in a kingdom
Oratory
h . or similar sized region meet once per
researc
season to exchange knowledge and ideas. On rare occa-
sions, they exchange documents, artifacts and even
prisoners to help one another’s research. Despite the
Know the Enemy common goals of the houses, however, these exchanges of
Of all the orders that make up the Holy Inquisi- information and resources are rarely as free as they could
tion, the Red Order is probably the closest to be. The most senior researchers of the order are rarely the
understanding the true nature of the creatures of the ones most active in the business of inquisition; they don’t
enemy. The order builds its knowledge from three appreciate the need to share information in the same way
sources: direct experiences with the spawn of Satan, as their more active brethren. The Red Sisters in particu-
folklore gathered from all over Christendom and docu- lar are reluctant to give up any resources they’ve acquired.
ments found in libraries or captured from the enemy in Their losses when the order moved to single-sex houses
the course of the mission. still rankles the sisters and sours their dealings with their
Theodosian brothers.

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

28 • COMPANION •
The Hierarchy of Demons
Just as the Church teaches that there is a hierarchy
of angels, the Red Order has discovered a hierarchy of
demons. The order’s senior members are engaged with
drawing up the hierarchy, but it is far from complete.
They have reports of creatures that don’t match any of
their categories exactly, and they suspect that six
groupings are too few. Their understanding of this is
very much a work in progress; each month that passes
brings new insights.
The Diabolic
At the top of the order’s list of Satanic threats are
the true demons. The order has only encountered a
handful of them in person, but is tracing their activity
through human history and folklore. The picture that
is developing is worrying. If the demons’ own claims are
to believed, they are the pagan gods that the one true
God warns His followers about and can direct the
course of whole nations. Still, scripture teaches that
the followers of Jesus can drive out demons in His
name. The order’s few encounters with these terrifying
creatures seem to bear this out.
Brother Giordano Nicola d’Arzenta is acknowl-
edged as one of the order’s experts on the truly diabolic,
through his dealings with a creature called Byleth. He
defeated this creature through destroying its mortal
form, but neither he nor his superiors in the Inquisition
believe that it is truly gone. His reassignment to
Damburrow in Scotland was partially to protect him
from the demon’s inevitable vengeance. This plan may
have backfired, however, as Brother Giordano claims
to have found another such creature not far from the
Abbey. His claims have yet to be verified.
The Malefic
The most powerful of Satan’s mortal servants are
those men and women who are strong enough to wield
diabolic power without it corrupting their mortal shells.
These warlocks and witches are a common source of
both conflict and information for the Red Order. Like
the Theodosians, most practitioners of Malefic Arts
have an insatiable hunger for knowledge. Where the
inquisitors seek it for God’s glory, however, the war-
locks seek it for their own. The two groups often come
into conflict over volumes of lost lore and other an-
cient wisdom.
The current orthodoxy within the order teaches that
all magic is God-given in its form. It is merely the ability
to use magic that can be Satan-granted. God has granted
the Theodosians the ability to use magic, but Satan has
granted their foes the same power. It is the source of the
ability that is the issue, not the ability itself.
The order’s experts on the Malefic still debate the
true natures of witches and warlock. Are they just
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
people who have access to diabolic power, or are they
in fact possessed by demons? The majority opinion is
that they are ordinary people with access to demonic
power, just as many of the Theodosians have access to
holy power by means of the Holy Art. A vocal minor-
ity, however, believes that the warlocks are indeed
under possession of a kind, where the demon merely
guides the victim, rather than taking over his body.
The Vampiric
The next step down the Hierarchy of Satan are the
vampires, creatures who have let their own mortal
identities be subsumed by the demonic servitor who
possesses their body. The order recognizes such crea-
tures by their pale skins, their fear of daylight and their
need to feast on blood to sustain their unholy lives.
The order has also discerned three weaknesses.
The vampires cannot bear light in any of its three
forms: the light of the sun, the light of faith, and the
light of fire. All three can be used to test for possession
and to destroy the vampire’s mortal host. A vampire,
unlike a practitioner of the Malefic Art, cannot be
redeemed before it is dispatched. It has no mortal soul
left, just the possessing demon soul. Theodosian in-
quisitors feel no need to attempt to redeem such
creatures and freely torture them for information alone.
The Animalistic
The last of the incarnate demons are the skin-
changers and night beasts of the world. The Theodosians
believe them to be animals or weak-willed humans
possessed by the spirits of demons, who then give them
over entirely to their animalistic nature. Such crea-
tures are wild and primitive, of little value as specimens
for study or sources in information. As such, where
possible, the Red Order inquisitors pass news of such
creatures on to other orders, principally the Knights of
Acre, whose skills are more suited to dealing with such
creatures. On occasion, this information is accompa-
nied by a request that the bodies of the devil spawn find
their way to a Theodosian house, but this is far from
commonplace.
The order also places the few grotesque monsters
that it has encountered into this category, reasoning
that their possession has merely twisted their frames
into something unrecognizable from nature.
The Spiritual
The Bible speaks explicitly of spirits of both good
and evil in the world. Its teachings guide the order’s
understanding of such beings. Ghosts, for example, are
merely demons posing as the departed, for does not the
Bible warn against having truck with such creatures?
Other creatures, such as those called the Fair Folk,
should be judged whenever they are encountered. The
order’s experience so far is that, just as in the Bible, the
29
 influence of the spirits of evil is more visible in the
world than those of good. Angels appear to individuals
or small groups. Whole villages know of the presence of
evil spirits near their town.
That said, the order’s real knowledge of these
creature is lacking indeed. Most of its understanding is
still derived from scripture and folklore, but few
Theodosians are actively pursuing such knowledge.
Just as with the animalistic possessed, investigation of
other demons seems to be more fruitful.
The Corrupted
Lowest of all in the hierarchy of evil are those
foolish humans who have chosen to serve the minions
of Satan. A minion of a minion is a pitiful degree of
power for which to lose one’s soul, or so think many
Red Brothers. The order uses such people as sources of
information, pure and simple. The Holy Art can be
remarkably useful in terrorizing a cultist or devil-
worshiper into shifting his allegiance.
When the cultist’s master is dispatched or fled —
or his usefulness comes to an end in some other manner
— the order usually informs the Holy Office or another
order, such as the Sisters of St. John, of the craven fool’s
dealings, the better for their soul to be saved by good
Christian folk. Perhaps the information the dupe gave
to the inquisition will aid their cause on Judgment Day,
or perhaps not. It matters little to the Red Order. No
scholar has much time for fools.

STIGMATA
C he Red Order’s single biggest aid in gain
ing the trust of the Supreme Council was
the stigmata many Theodosians endure. The se-
nior members of the order involved in the
negotiations discreetly displayed their own stig-
mata and dismissed any questions, saying “we
happily endure the pain as part of our service,” or
words to that effect. This did, and still does, much
to boost the image of the order’s piety in the
minds of the other orders and the inquisition’s
leadership.
The plagues of boils and other less savory (and
less Biblical) curses, however, are secrets the order
cannot long hide. Many Theodosians fear that
widespread knowledge of these “other stigmata” will
undermine the trust they’ve built. As more mixed
cells of inquisitors form, it becomes harder for the
Red Order to hide the less holy forms of stigmata.
Internally, the order is investigating the pos-
sibility that these more unusual forms of stigmata
denote a growing deviation from the orthodox in
the bearer. If that proves to be the case, then the
order has both the means to reassure others and an
easy way of policing its own membership.

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

30 • COMPANION •
Other Seekers of Wisdom
While all the orders are still somewhat suspicious
of the Red Order, the Theodosians do not feel the same
way about their fellow inquisitors. As befits the mind of
the Inquisition, the brothers and sisters of the Red
Order are well aware of the roles their fellows play.
The Knights of Acre
The relationship between the two orders is simple.
The Theodosians are the theorists, and the Knights are
the ones who test the theories in the field. The Knights
certainly hold some grudges for the less than accurate
information they’ve been given in the past. The Red
Order is genuinely grateful for the work the Poor
Knights do, however, and the sword of the Inquisition
needs all the information it can get to aid it in battle.
The two orders have a difficult relationship, but a
profitable one.
The Sisters of St. John
In many ways, the Sisters of St. John are exactly
what the Red Brothers would like the Red Sisters to be:
caring, emotional and given to visions, rather than as
forthright and intellectual as the male Theodosians.
Perhaps it’s for this reason that the Red Brothers have
a better relationship with the Sisters of St. John than
the Red Sisters. Small cells of Red Brothers are at-
tached, but geographically removed, from most of the
Sisterhood’s chapter-houses, the better to record and
interpret the order’s visions. The Inquisition has at-
tempted to make this relationship closer by creating
mixed cells and houses of Red Sisters and the Sisters of
St. John, but this has not gone as well as Marzone would
have liked. The two seem to encounter unexpected
friction over their very different views of the role of
women in society.
The House of Murnau
The relationship between the Red Order and the
German noble house is unsettled and occasionally
fragile, not least because the Theodosians don’t really
understand exactly the House’s role in the Inquisition.
It can’t be finance, because compared to the Church,
the Murnau are paupers. Indeed, their sole talent seems
to be sniffing out the enemy — surely those talents
would be of more use within the other orders? The
Murnau’s determination to act rather than just dis-
cover annoys the more patient Theodosians no end. A
handful of Red Brothers are working to replicate the
Murnau’s abilities with the Holy Art, so that the
Inquisition can become less dependent on these strange,
cursed Bavarians.
The Oculi Dei
Every researcher needs someone to go out and
collect information for him. The Oculi Dei perform
this role admirably for the whole of the Red Order. The
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
two orders exchange more information between just
themselves than is communicated across the Inquisi-
tion as a whole. The working methods of the two orders
are so complimentary that conflict between individual
inquisitors is all but unheard of, despite the fact that
many Theodosians suspect that the Eyes hold back as
much as they reveal. A few Red Sisters have com-
mented that the power of this working relationship is
evidence that God truly decided the composition of
the Inquisition, and that Marzone merely discovered
God’s will.
The Flock
The Theodosians spend too much time with books
and papers and not enough among the common folk.
Too many Red Brothers and Sisters fall into the trap of
only thinking about the flock when they are attacked
or corrupted by the enemy. Yet, God has not called the
order into the Inquisition for the sake of pure knowl-
edge alone.
Under the direction of Cardinal Marzone, the
order now forces its members who have strayed to close
to heresy to spend some time as a wandering preachers
among the laity. This has had the required effect to
some degree. More Theodosians now actually give
thought to the flock in their mission. It has had an
unexpected side effect, however, as the Theodosians
have discovered that the life of a wandering friar is a
marvelous way of collecting folklore. The isolationist
snobbery of the order is slowly being replaced by a new
respect for the common folk as repositories of informa-
tion and knowledge of the forces of evil, stored in
myths, folklore and even in day-to-day gossip. The
arrival of a Theodosian friar at a Red Order house
causes much excitement among the Red Brothers or
Sisters, as they scramble to be the first to hear the tales
and information collected on his travels.
The Abbey of St. Denis, Paris
Half a day’s walk or a few hours’ ride north of Paris,
lies the Abbey of St. Denis. This impressive building
has been a holy site since St. Denis, the first bishop of
Paris, was martyred and buried here in AD 270. Such
is its reputation across Christendom that three popes
have stayed in it halls. For the last century, the abbey
has been the possession of the Theodosians, who run a
great academy for monks of the order from its cloisters,
as well as possibly the most aggressive cell of inquisitors
outside the Knights of Acre. The abbey has strong links
with the university in Paris, and members of the Red
Order can often be found studying among other schol-
ars in the library in the city.
The Chapter-House
The abbey is almost squat in appearance, with
arching gates and two levels of windows above. A
square tower with a pointed roof rises to the east of the
31
 main building, and a series of lower stone buildings
attached to the rear of the Abbey proper house the
majority of the monks.
A large altar and the shrine to St. Denis dominate
the main abbey. On most days, a steady stream of
pilgrims make their way up to the shrine. The cries of
supplication and prayers for healing occasionally dis-
turb the steady chants of the Red Brothers marking the
offices of the day. Still, their worship grants the abbey
an Ambient Faith of 4.
The main business of the abbey is conducted in the
lower buildings at the rear of the abbey. In the outer rooms
Red Brothers are educated in theology, philosophy, lin-
guistics and some degree of science. In the inner rooms,
the inquisitors of the order pursue their investigations
into matters diabolic and arcane. In particular, a set of
hidden doors allows access to a suite of three rooms that
houses the order’s collection of books on the diabolical
and malefic. The majority of the books have only been
partially translated, if at all; at least two Theodosians can
be found in these rooms at all times, working on the
translations. A staircase from these rooms leads down to
another set of rooms buried deep in the abbey’s founda-
tions. The order uses these abandoned crypts and other
relics of buildings long gone for its experiments in the
fields of alchemy and magical ritual.
The abbey has an affiliated house in Paris itself,
which serves as a center of operations for the cell when
on duty in the city. A small contingent of Poor Knights
is stationed in the Paris house at all times, and acts as
support to the Red Brothers in the city.
The Brothers
The Abbot, Gervèse le Fèvre, devotes more of his
time to the business of inquisition than running the
abbey and teaching novices. Gervèse is a man of deep
faith and a burning hatred for evil that puts even the
most enthusiastic Knight of Acre to shame. His passion
shows in the burning eyes in his rounded face. Still,
sometimes people underestimate him because of his
stout body and limp, the result of an encounter with the
enemy.
When the abbot is in Paris, the Most Reverend
Doctor Caschin d’Anjou oversees the administration
of the abbey and the teaching of the novices. Caschin
is an unassuming man with a broad frame, a roughly
made face and a real talent for the Holy Art. He also
spends as much time as possible in the inner rooms,
working with Master Mathieu of Gascony in directing
the researches. Mathieu is a slight excitable man, with
a ferocious intellect and a nervy manner. Commander
Renouart de Marseilles leads the small detachment of
Poor Knights in Paris.
The Enemy
The abbey’s cell has had a successful few months,
putting several blood-drinking monsters that formerly
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
32 • COMPANION •
haunted the sewers of the city to the question and the fire.
At least three more exist within the upper echelons of the
city’s social life, and the abbot is preparing to move against
them. A project that should aid the inquisitors, however,
is instead proving to be something of an obstacle. A new
cathedral is under construction in the heart of Paris,
known as Notre Dame. The abbot is obsessed with the
idea of making it a major chapter-house for the Red
Brothers in the city, yet every approach he has made to the
Church authorities in the city has been soundly rebuffed.
What’s more, some of the Red Brothers studying in the
university have noted a small group of men and women
using the library at odd hours and visiting Notre Dame as
well. One of the inquisitors has made the acquaintance of
the group and has learned that they have alchemical
leanings. He has carefully confessed his own interest in
the field in the hope of learning more about them.
For now, the abbot is content to hunt his vampires.
If he survives the experience, however, a clash over the
cathedral between the Red Order and the warlocks
who fool themselves that they are still Christians is
inevitable. If he is very unlucky, he’ll face the Hermetic
mages attempting to shape the construction of the
cathedral, too.
The Sisters of St. John
I am sorry, sister, when that man brushed past me….
He is angry, sister. I am frightened. My family is
frightened. Please do not leave my side. Thank you.
Let us walk a while, as far from this place as we can
manage. I will tell you what I have seen.
No, I am still wearing my gloves, but God wished me
to see anyway. The voices of my family grow ever stronger.
We must act soon if they are to be quieted again.
I saw the man we passed running through the streets of
the village at night. The people are asleep, trusting on God
and their fires to keep the night away. He laughs, knowing
that they are deluded. His spirit is consumed by anger,
sister, and little of the man is left within him. He is hungry
and must feed tonight. His hands and teeth are stained with
blood and every death makes him angrier still. Yet I saw
another soul within him, one at peace with the world and
caring for it as a farmer nurtures his crops. He hates that
part of himself and seeks to drown it in the blood of
innocents.
My father cries for me to stop him, sister, but I do know
how. I do not know where this village is and I do not know
if we saw the past or the future. We must do something….
Yes, sister, you are right. God will guide us. We must
discuss this with our sisters and then call upon our fellows.
His will be done.
— Agnes of Kent
Recruitment
The young girl thrashed about on the bed, scattering
straw all over the dirt floor of the farmer’s humble abode.
Her mother prayed desperately for relief and God’s aid,
while the father stood, his face dark, in the corner. He tried
not to listen to the cries of “devil girl” and “Satan’s lover”
coming from the crowd outside. Until yesterday, he thought
them his friends.
He was startled to realize that all had fallen silent
outside. He turned to the door to see a woman in a nun’s
habit standing there.
“Sister,” he started, but she ignored him, going to
crouch by the mother.
“How long has she been like this?”
“Two nights now, Sister,” said the mother, hope in her
eyes. “Are you going to cast out the evil spirit?”
“There is no spirit to cast out, my child,” said the nun.
“Your daughter is possessed by the Spirit of God, not a
servant of the Evil One. We can care for her, with your
leave.”
“Take her,” snapped the father. “And don’t bring her
back.”
God chooses the strangest people to be his prophets.
While the Sisters of St. John appear to have the same
screening process for postulants as other religious orders,
the first encounter with the order for many members is the
concerned face of a Sister praying above her as she
emerges from a vision. The order’s twin reputations for
both exorcism and dealing with those who receive the
gifts of prophecy and tongues from the Holy Spirit allow
it to track down many young women suitable for member-
ship long before they seek out the order.
Desperate families — or furious townsfolk afraid of
the Devil’s touch — easily hand over girls suffering
their first visions to the order in the hope of some cure.
For those possessed by evil spirits, the order’s exorcists
provide that cure and sometimes a new home, after
their former communities reject them. For those whose
visions are divinely inspired, only the Sister’s prayer
cycles and life of strict asceticism provide relief.
Otherwise, any woman who can provide both a
sufficient dowry, evidence of a good background and a
willingness to take Holy Orders is welcomed. Their
dowries and gifts help to support those girls brought to
the order with nothing.
Other Orders
A significant number of the Sisters also join from
other orders. Despite St Paul’s many teachings on the
gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, some nunneries
find women who possess those gifts in abundance to be
troublesome and disruptive. Visions interrupt the or-
derly ritual of prayer and the calm of the house. When
one of the nuns offers to take the troubled sister to
another order that specializes in such blessings, most
abbesses are happy to accept the offer. Such novices
adapt quickly to the Sisters of St. John’s special prayer
cycle designed to both enhance and control the visions
the prophets receive. They often aid their less experi-
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
ANCHORITES
0
few members of the order choose to live
lives of quiet meditation and prayer
away from the flock. These anchorites (female
hermits) normally hail from the ranks of the
Sisters who lack gifts of prophecy and exorcism.
Their devotional existences are interrupted only
by occasional visits from local people seeking
healing, advice or prayer.
This occasional contact with the world makes
the anchorites ideal eyes and ears for the order in
parts of Europe where it has no significant chap-
ter-houses. This, in turn, satisfies the anchorites
that they still have a place in the Inquisition,
even if their calling and gifts do not put them in
the mainstream of the order.
enced sisters in coming to terms with their new-found
abilities and soothe their fears with the calm focus of a
woman who gave her life to Christ years ago.
Testing and Training
Even those postulants who join the order with no
knowledge of its real purpose sometimes find their
minds opened to the words of the Lord. The Sisters
believe that God leads suitable women to their houses.
With around one in five of novices displaying the gift
of prophecy and nearly twice that number a gift for
exorcism, they appear to be correct. The order’s teach-
ers direct their novices to spend time praying over holy
relics, touching them gently as part of the prayer to see
if such talents will manifest. On occasion, they mani-
fest as a result of being in proximity to another nun
with the gift of prophecy. In some rare cases, they only
manifest after years of service with the order. Such
Sisters are treasured, bringing the wisdom of age to
their visions; they often rise rapidly in the ranks of the
Inquisition.
Those Sisters who show the gift of prophecy are
sent to houses that specialize in the development of
that talent. There, the most experienced Sisters teach
them the rigorous patterns of self-denial and self-
control that allow them some measure of control over
their gifts. Fasting, night-long vigils and hours of con-
tinuous prayer are all techniques used to focus the
visions. Each girl learns a particular trigger that will
become her own way of controlling the visions. These
are granted by God, during long nights and days of
prayer, and not taught by other Sisters. God grants the
visions; only He can teach their control.
Those novices who possess an aptitude for exor-
cism are trained within their home house. Both groups
are told of the Holy Inquisition and their role within it
as their powers come under their control. Initially, they
33
 serve the Inquisition as assistants to experienced exor- cess to thoughts and actions of the enemy that none of
cists. After two or three years, they are granted leave to the other orders possess. It is much harder to simply
perform the rites on their own or as part of a cell. dismiss someone as a tool of the Devil when you can
Those girls who remain, those to whom God has understand how they found themselves in their posi-
granted no special gift, have a choice: they may stay tion, or see the possible outcome of the creature’s
within the order as healers, administrators and the repentance.
public face of the order, or they may transfer to another While this caring and forgiving philosophy is quite
order of nuns, to act as the eyes of the Sisters in the in keeping with Christ’s teachings, it does not always
world, watching for other girls touched by God. Of late, sit well with the other orders. The Sister’s visions leave
a few have been recruited into the Oculi Dei instead, little room for the sweeping assumptions about the
serving as liaisons between the Sisters of St. John and supernatural that the other orders often make. The
the Eyes. This has been a boon to both parties, as it visions tend towards the specific, dealing with a par-
allows the whole of the Oculi Dei to keep watch for ticular demon, situation or group of people. Only St.
potential novices for the Sisters, as well as providing Teresa had visions that affected nations and the whole
the Eyes with pious and well-training healing women of the Inquisition. These individual visions focus the
to help reduce their often-dramatic death rates. minds of the Sisters on the suffering, or evil, of the
The order trains all Sisters, whatever their gifts, individual.
extensively in music, plainsong and chant. While most The Sisters are trained to discuss their visions with
monastic communities use some forms of chant and others of their order before other inquisitors. These
song in their worship, the Sisters of St. John are discussions lead to an interpretation based on the
renowned for the beauty and devotion of their music, order’s experiences to date. The version of the vision
a purity of sound that could only come from truly chaste other inquisitors hear eventually is one simplified in a
and pious souls. It is in these classes that a few of the calculated manner to make them react in the way the
Sisters display the order’s final gift from God, the Sisters deem best, rather than restarting the debate
Psalms that turn their words of praise into tools of over the interpretation of the original vision. This way
power against the enemy. of treating the other orders has lead to a little mistrust
of the Sisters’ abilities, but Mother Maria-Immaculada
Tortured Souls thinks this is a price worth paying. Individual nuns,
The Sisters of St. John have a unique perspective especially those in mixed cells, disagree and are far
on the enemy. God’s blessing on them more honest about the true nature of their
grants them ac- visions with their fellows.
Very few members of the order are
concerned with preserving the life of
l V is io n s of Teresa adetta l b e someone who has willingly given that
The Fina d by Sister Bern a n d in it all wil ht life to the supernatural in some way; they
Recorde r n b r igh tly, le s t t h e lig are concerned, however, with rescuing
shall bu and hide , e
T he lig h t ill c o w er o r t h e t im the soul that dwell within the body. In
“
t e d . T h e Enemy w shall perish not, f f a it h fu l particular, the Psalms some Sisters sing
illumina e
t r u e f a ce. Yet, he . The hearts of th not die. allow them to talk with the enemy in
show his t is not yet nigh w ill f lic ker, yet e m y something resembling safety. They
en it n
of Judgm from the light and flickering light, the E rarely use these opportunities to learn
shall turn arkness cast by the ent comes. more about Satan’s spawn in general,
d
Yet in the again until Judgm e L ig ht , yet the just about the particular soul and how
h r iv e s ha ll be th e u p o n it left the path of righteousness. They
shall t D ay , t he Name ls of the Lord mov rthy.
t are wary of deception, understand-
“On tha . I s ee the ange those who are wo l be ably, and constantly fear that the
be d im hey wil
Light will d eep a n d seek e L ig h t . T creature they are dealing with is not
f the of th
the face o ake up the sword a fallen human at all, but a demon
t alk
They will nd its Mind. a ea
nd the d . Hell shall
d w il l w merely masquerading in human or
H e a r t a e w o rld d near-human form. A mere suspi-
its
s t o r m w ill shake th is judgment at han is children, cion of deception can be enough
“A h o u r o f H w e lc o m e h to condemn a creature to the fire.
is the ill no t
again. Lo, es, and the Enemy w s. The Sisters can be utterly
open its ga im...
t
h o w m e , Lord Jesu implacable in their role as a con-
t h e y h h a t y ou s e a g a in,
no r w t must s ue.” h in science to those falling to
o n ot u n derstand n t , t h e lig h temptation. They are steadfast
“I d
sword st mome rike tr
nd. In this
“It is the e once more and the
beat
the heart
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
34 • COMPANION •
and unwavering in their beliefs, and can even convince
mages that perhaps they have followed the wrong
course in pursuing power. They can be equally relent-
less and self-sacrificing in attempting to turn Satan’s
minions from the path of damnation.
Sister Laetitia of the Convent of St. Cecilia in
England is reputed to have discoursed with a vampire
throughout three successive nights, praying over the
creature’s bed during the day. At the end of the third
night, the vampire resolved to watch the sun rise. Sister
Laetitia gave him the last rites as the sun scorched away
his flesh. She held his hand, even as he caught fire, and
called upon God to save his repentant soul in Jesus’s
name. She bears the scars of his passing proudly, as
testament to her dedication in saving souls for God.
The Sisters are not foolish idealists, though. Should
a mage, Devil worshiper or other servant of the enemy
prove resistant to the world of God and be unwilling to
repent, they have no hesitation in turning the sinner
over to the martially inclined members of the Inquisi-
tion for a more final solution to the debate. After all, it
is better to dispatch the unrepentant soul to Hell than
allow it to corrupt other souls around it.
Ghosts
Ghosts are a special case to the Sisters of St. John.
Some of the order’s most talented prophets, like Agnes
of Kent, receive their visions directly from the spirits of
the dead. While the Bible forbids attempts to contact
the departed, it does not speak on the matter of dealing
with the dead who contact the living. That, at least, is
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
the theology to which the order clings. The Sisters
view the restless dead as pitiable souls who have been
granted one last chance to redeem themselves through
the direct intervention of God. Surely, argues the
order, the Devil would gain no boon by denying souls
entrance to his kingdom.
The Sisters understand that most spirits have some
task of penance yet to perform before they can pass on
to their final reward, and are often guided towards
aiding them by their visions. This is not an element of
their calling that they share widely with other mem-
bers of the Inquisition. Only the Red Order participates
willingly in these missions, as much for the opportunity
to learn about the spirit as to help redeem its soul.
No Sister is allowed to deal with a spirit on her
own. At least two other members of the order must be
kept informed of the inquisitor’s dealing with the spirit
at all times, so that they can help the Sister spot
deception or wrong-doing on the part of the spirit that
could reveal it as a demon posing as one of the restless
dead.
Exorcism
If there exists an exception to the order’s policy of
treating each encounter with the supernatural on an
individual basis, it is possessing spirits. Those demons
that force their way into the bodies of innocent Chris-
tian folk and slowly corrupt body and soul with their
mere proximity are anathema to the Sisters. The order
believes that it is charged with protecting the souls of
35
 the Inquisition and the people of Christendom; pos-
sessing spirits are its chief foe in that task.
Thankfully, the very same mechanism the order uses
to find its novices also allow it to find people possessed by
demons. The order has a widely and publicly known
reputation for dealing with the possessed. It has enough
agents through the nunneries of Europe, its members who
have chosen the life of an anchorite or those who have
transferred to a different order that a sister can be sum-
moned to a possession within a matter of days. The Sister
of St. John who first hears of the possession will ensure that
the possessed person is restrained in some way to prevent
them escaping before help can arrive. In some cases, that
entails the victim’s family maintaining a vigil over their
suffering relative or, in extreme cases, calling upon the
local authorities to imprison the possessed person.
The order makes no distinction between the dif-
ferent forms of demons, ghosts and other spirits that
can possess the living. The sheer act of possession is
enough to earn the enmity of a Sister, whatever the
reason. She uses all the skills at her disposal to drive the
spirit from the victim’s body, including the use of holy
relics where appropriate. If none succeed, the Sister
orders the victim put to the sword in the hope that the
soul will find escape in death that it could not achieve
in life. If the spirit is driven from the body yet lingers in
the vicinity, the Sister summons the aid of other
inquisitors to help destroy the thing before it can inflict
itself upon another Christian soul.
Brave Souls
The idea of the Sisters of St. John as the heart of
the Inquisition is well founded. The nuns really do see
themselves in that role, watching out for the souls of
their fellow inquisitors as they pursue God’s work.
While relationships between the order and its fellows
in the Inquisition are generally good, this desire to
minister to the other inquisitors does cause frustration
when the other orders don’t see things the same way as
the Sisters.
Knights of Acre
The Sisters of St. John have a surprising amount of
respect for the Knights of Acre. While the Knights’
tendency to strike first and pray for the souls of the
departed later is a matter of some regret, the Sisters
understand that sometimes it is better to destroy an evil
before it has time to fester and spread. Indeed, when
visions of the consequence of letting a demon continue
to survive plague a Sister’s dreams, she can be the most
enthusiastic proponent of action against it. The Sisters
also understand better than the Knights themselves
the danger that the sword of the Inquisition faces.
Facing the enemy repeatedly in battle hardens the soul
at an alarming pace; the Sisters feel a particular calling
to care for the battle-weary soldiers.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
36 • COMPANION •
Red Order
The Red Order makes the Sisters of St. John
uneasy. The order’s self-selecting bias towards the
academic over the pious as candidates for membership
seems to have bled the more caring Christian virtues
out of the order. The order does respect the Theodosians’
ability to gather information about the enemy, but
remains concerned about the way it puts it to use.
Mother Maria-Immaculada initiated the move to put
the Red Sisters and Sisters of St. John in joint cells and
chapter-houses in the hope of keeping a closer eye on
the Red Order and injecting some mercy and love into
the Red Order’s thinking. Frankly, the experiment has
not been a success. If anything, the women of the Red
Order are more ruthless than their male brethren.
House of Murnau
The Sisters hold the Murnau family in high regard.
While the monastic orders give the Inquisition a depth
of piety and learning that are necessary to the cause,
the Murnau live among the lay people of the world and
are thus well-placed to both to detect and act on the
works of the Devil amongst the common folk. Many
Sisters hold the House up as a model of what the whole
Inquisition should be like: a mix of noble and com-
moner, priest and lay person, men and women, all
working together for the glory of God and the safety of
Christian souls. The family’s goal of throwing off the
curse of its past with a commitment to God’s service
endears it to the Sisters as well.
Oculi Dei
The Sisters are deeply afraid for the Oculi Dei.
While intellectually they understand the need for the
Eyes’ secrecy and isolation, most individual nuns fear
that the Eyes are putting themselves needlessly at risk
of corruption and discovery by acting without the
support of fellow Christians. Because of this fear, the
order has petitioned Marzone to allow some nuns who
wish to leave the order to join the Oculi Dei. The Eyes,
reluctantly, have agreed. So far, the experiment has
proven surprisingly effective. Fewer Oculi are simply
disappearing in areas where former Sisters are working.
While this lends credence to the claim that the Eyes are
too open to corruption by the enemy, the reports that
come back from the former Sisters do not tally with
this. They talk of horribly wounded Eyes delivered by
knights who leave immediately afterwards, and who
survive only through the healing ministrations of the
nuns. (See p. 45 for more details on these knights, who
are members of the Sword of St. James.)
The Flock
The laity, God’s people, are the reason for the Sisters
of St. John’s existence. God grants the order visions for
one reason alone: to help guide the Inquisition against
those who would harm His people. The Sisters see them-
selves as the voice of the common people in the Inquisition,
the little voice of conscience nagging at the other inquisi-
tors to remember what this struggle is all about. Each nun
in the order is required to spend at least two months each
year working among the common people. The only
exception to this rules are those Sisters whose sensitivity
to visions is so great that leaving their convent is distress-
ing in the extreme. In those cases, those nuns who work
with the prophetess must spend time among the laity in
their Sister’s stead.
Often, the time spent among the common people
involves tending to those people who have suffered
under demonic influence. The unwitting pawns of the
demons, those who were formerly possessed and those
who have been injured in the course of a struggle with
devil spawn all fall under the order’s care in the
aftermath of their ordeal. The Sisters tend to both the
victim’s body and mind, in the hope of allowing them
a full recovery.
Those whom the Sisters view as suffering irrepa-
rable spiritual damage are often given places as novices
or servants in remote monasteries or nunneries, so they
are protected from the temptations of the world. Those
who recover well are allowed to return to their old lives
or are recruited for the Inquisition, if their desire for
revenge against their former tormentors is properly
tempered with Christian values.
Some people, though, are too damaged by their
experiences to ever return to God’s path. These poor
lost souls are turned over to the Holy Office or other
local authorities for trial and execution for heresy. The
Sister involved in caring for the fallen soul usually
takes a little solace in the knowledge that the public
example of the unfortunate’s death helps warn other
Christians away from Satan’s service.
Convent of St. Cecilia, Amberley
The village of Amberley in England’s Sussex in not
a place of note. It holds a single manor house, a cluster
of smaller houses, a church and a small convent dedi-
cated to St. Cecilia. The farmers from the outlying
fields come on Sunday to pray in the church, and on
Thursdays to sell their goods and buy supplies at the
market in the village. A number of pilgrims passing
from Portsmouth to Canterbury occasionally rest in
the village, but it is not a major stop on the route. In
fact, if it weren’t for the presence of the Sisters of St.
John and one of the greatest concentrations of proph-
ets in Christendom, this would be an utterly
unremarkable village.
The Convent
The convent itself is a very simple building. It is
less than 50 years old; while the order has plans to
extend it at some point, these have come to nothing as
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
yet. The convent consists of a number of small, low
buildings within a large wall that affords the Sisters the
privacy they need. The largest building is the chapel, in
which the nuns mark the offices of the day. Adjacent
is the refectory and a small library with a selection of
the writings of the saints, as well as a complete record
of all visions received by the members of the order
within the walls. Opposite that lies the dormitory.
An extensive garden provides the nuns with much
of their simple diet and an attached herb garden pro-
vides herbs for healing and for controlling the Sisters’
visions. A small hospital can be reached directly through
a narrow door in the outer wall. It is the only point of
contact between the Sisters and the outside world. On
occasion, it holds local folk who are seriously ill. Much
of the time, however, it is home to inquisitors on
retreat.
The Sisters
Laetitia, the Mother Superior, has a formidable
reputation for turning the hearts of the corrupted from
the path of evil. She is growing old and tired, however,
and accepted the task of establishing the order’s train-
ing house in England as a way of continuing her service.
Laetitia accepts novices from all over England and
Northern Europe, and many of her pupils start receiv-
ing visions or develop a talent for exorcism. The
Mother Superior takes a personal interest in tracking
down and rescuing girls who are suffering from their
first visions from God. She takes great pride in the
growing number of Sisters in the convent.
In particular, Sister Agnes of Kent is proving to be
a fine inquisitor. The young nun is driven by visions of
her family to seek out servants of the Adversary. Agnes
is only in the convent for roughly half the year. The rest
of the time she spends with a mixed cell of Red Sisters
and Sisters of St. John investigating some of the more
inexplicable sightings of demons in England.
Sister Fryswyde is the order’s most skilled exorcist
in the country at the moment. She and her novices
spend much of their time on “pilgrimage” to places
where other inquisitors are struggling to deal with
possessions and hauntings. Winifred, a woman who
helps out with the kitchen garden on occasions is, in
fact, an Eye of God. She acts as the liaison between the
two orders, seeing if the Sisters’ visions can be matched
with an observations the Oculi Dei have made else-
where in the country.
The Enemy
The immediate area around the convent is free of
the influence of the Devil, as best the Sisters can
discern. This convent is not designed as a chapter-
house to cleanse the local area, however, but as a base
of operations for the Sisters across the south of En-
gland. Sister Agnes and Sister Fryswyde both lead cells
that are more often away from the convent than in it.
37
 The Sisters who remain in the convent have been
seeing the same vision, or variations on it, for the last three
months. The visions are all of blood, animals and the
deaths of innocents. Many of the Sisters are now afraid to
leave the walls of the convent. Laetitia fears that she
recognizes the signs: shape-changing witches and their
demonic animal consorts are abroad in the lands around
the convent. Winifred, who has recently returned from an
extended absence, is inclined to agree. Eyes in villages all
over Sussex are reporting increasing number of attacks on
farmers, with whole communities being slaughtered in
the night.
It looks as if the days of the convent’s isolation are over,
yet the Mother Superior is reluctant to summon a cell of
Knights of Acre for help, as that will raise too many
questions among the villagers. Instead, she has sent a
message to Agnes, requesting that she return to the convent
with all haste and bring her friends from the Red Order with
her. Perhaps the Red Sisters will provide a solution.
The House of Murnau
How can we not act? Have you ever walked home to
find that the filth in the street is even more odious then
normal? The stench sickens you deep to your stomach and
makes it hard for you to reach your own threshold. You gag
and retch the closer you come to your own front door and,
in the end, you have to turn from your home, the reek too
powerful for you to bear. You stagger away, yet around the
next corner lies a leper, his skin a mass of boils and sore. He,
too, smells like a peasant’s garderobe. Whenever you think
you have fled the stench, you catch it again.
That is what life is like for my family. Demons seek
power, and those of us who move in the circles of power
cannot avoid them. If we do not encounter them, they seek
us out. That is the burden God has placed upon us. We have
no choice in the matter. You chose to serve Him. I was born
to do it and I thank God for that blessing. Make no mistake,
I may make a play of being a wanton noble, but my faith in
our cause is as strong as yours.
I want to walk the streets of my home without the
stench of the midden assaulting me unexpectedly.
— Otto von Murnau
Recruitment
The view was beautiful. The harsh Bavarian winter had
given way to a mild spring and the garden was coming back to
life. The two cousins walked side by side through the rows of
trees, reflecting both on the grace of God’s creation and on the
duty that brought them together.
“You know why I am here, cousin,” said one, reaching up
to take some of the blossoms in his hand.
“I do,” replied the other, tersely.
“I know you wanted no part of this. Otto’s instructions
were clear, however, and you know he has Frederick’s full
backing. It is our duty…no, our obligation to serve the Church.
You are lucky that you have been spared this long.”
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
38 • COMPANION •
“For God’s sake, I have a family!”
“Yes, you do, and you would do well to hold your
blasphemous tongue around them. You may not carry the
name Murnau, but we are your family as surely as those
squalling brats of yours. Do they carry the curse, I wonder?
Have you told your wife about it? No matter. You carry the
curse and your duty is clear. Two men will arrive here
tomorrow seeking work, which you will give them. All three of
you will meet with me tomorrow night in my house in town and
we shall proceed from there.”
The idea of being recruited into the House of Murnau
seems an odd one. After all, how does one get recruited
into a family? Surely its members are born into it, not
recruited? Well, yes and no. By far the largest proportion
of inquisitors within the House is made up of blood family
members, though not all of them knew that they were part
of the family until their “gifts” manifested themselves.
Also, the House, as part of its duties to the Inquisition,
takes in men and women touched by God who wouldn’t
fit into the monastic orders and who don’t relish the life
of secrecy and paranoia that comes with membership in
the Eyes of God. Indeed, the Oculi Dei’s rather stringent
requirement for membership often make the House the
only order suitable for many new inquisitors to join.
Inquisitors of the Blood
When the head of the family, Frederick von Murnau,
formally agreed that the whole House should join the
Inquisition, it did not lead to the immediate assimilation
of everyone who bears von Murnau blood. The process of
bringing individual members of the family into the Inqui-
sition has been a slow and steady one. The immediate
family of Frederick and Leopold were the first recruits,
including Otto, who is the formal liaison between the
family and the Inquisition’s rulers. One by one they
invited in the extended family, after careful observation
for signs of possible influence by the enemy or an un-
healthy attraction to the paths of sin. With some
reluctance, the family had to undertake a small but rather
brutal, housecleaning to bring the whole House under the
Inquisition’s banner safely. By this time, the vast majority
of the whole extended von Murnau family across Europe
(and even further afield, given the family’s extensive
trading interests) is aware of the family’s duties.
The children of the family remain ignorant of the
greater calling of the House until their early teens, unless
circumstances force them into a greater awareness of the
family’s struggle earlier. The closest family member who
is an active inquisitor then takes the child aside and
explains in some detail the family’s duty to the Church
and to God.
Some family members choose to serve in other or-
ders. Others follow the ordinary route of their lives:
entering monastic orders, joining a military order or
continuing in the family’s mundane business. Each, though,
still uses her unique gifts in the service of the Inquisition.
 My dearest Otto,
It has been too long since we have met, my son. I demand that you come and
stay with me at your earliest possible convenience. We clearly have much to
discuss. I am sure that I speak for the whole family when I congratulate you on
your recent initiative. Brother Leopold speaks most highly of your oratory and
passion. It does me good to know that one of my blood can talk round even the
holy men of Rome.
It is a singular honor for our entire house to fall under the auspices of the
Church itself. It is also an honor most unlooked for, I can assure you. We have
never had any objection to members of the family, such as dear, unworldly
Leopold, taking vows, yet such an audacious enterprise never occurred to me nor
any of my siblings. It is a shame that the head of the family was not present at
such a momentous occasion.
Still, what is done cannot be undone. I would not like to be the one to oppose
the wishes of the Vicar of Christ — I value my slim chance of entering Heaven
too highly for that. However, I must call to your attention the matter of certain
elements of our family that might not find the Church as comfortable a home. I
feel that such family members should be found a comfortable, permanent home,
and I am sure you share my sentiments. It is a son’s duty to obey his father, is it
not? It will not be a pleasant task, but I am now convinced that you are the very
man for the job.
Your father,
Frederick von Murnau

Marriage with those suspicions already well ingrained. The von

Since the family’s induction into the Inquisition, the
prospect of marriage for its members grows ever more
difficult. Before the senior members of the family agree to
the contracting of any marriage between a von Murnau
and anyone not already within the body of the House, the
family’s inquisitors carry out an extensive investigation of
the family of the prospective family member. The Oculi
Dei occasionally contributes to such investigations with
anonymous documents outlining the shadier corners of
the subject’s family tree. Only once the family is cleared
of any immediate involvement with the Satanic do the
family elders allow the marriage. Franziska von Murnau
takes a particular interest in this area of the family
business; she has several scribes in her employ for the
express purpose of tracking not just her own family, but
the family lines of all those who marry into the House of
Murnau.
Spouses remain ignorant of the House’s role in the
Church until such time as they have proven themselves
loyal and expressed suspicions about the manifestations of
the family curse. Some, of course, come into the family
Murnau family’s reputation in Bavaria is more than a little
strange. Learning of the curse is one thing, however, and
learning of the Inquisition is quite another. Only those
spouses who have proved themselves loyal over a number
of years are enlightened as to the full role of the family
within the Church.
Forgotten Family
The Murnau do not sire bastards if they have any
sense. Sadly, not every young Murnau boy has sense —
more than a few scions of the house have sown their oats
rather widely. Not every indiscretion by a family member
is recorded, and once in a while the Inquisition turns up
an individual who possesses the same uncanny talents as
members of the House. The Inquisition always reports
such individuals to the House’s leaders, even if they are
inducted into other orders. Franziska’s scribes and re-
searchers then work hard to identify exactly which branch
of the family tree dropped this particular acorn. After all,
where one acorn dropped, there may be others. The
House has too many enemies of its own blood already and
can ill-afford to discover any more. Any hint of an

• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS • 39
 undiscovered member of the family causes its members to
scramble to track down and recruit him before the family’s
curse draws him into Satan’s clutches.
Staff and Servants
Many of the House’s employees remain blissfully
unaware of the family’s work. A close inner circle of
servants and employees are not just aware of it, however,
but are inquisitors as well. After some debate, the House
agreed to open its doors to people touched by God’s
blessing and provide them with a home within the
Inquisition. Both lay people and priests who disliked the
notion of joining a monastic order to serve the Inquisition
now serve it as part of the House of Murnau. Otto’s
immediate circle of companions is entirely composed of
inquisitors, for example, and they make up the heart of his
own cell.
Most of the senior family members now have several
inquisitors in their entourage, including Frederick. While
he isn’t actively involved in the business of inquisition
himself, such an important noble needs protection, espe-
cially from the forces of Satan that have divined the
family’s links to the Church. Besides, Marzone, Leopold
and Otto know that demons move at the very highest
levels of society. The chance to learn more about them
through the activities of such an important Bavarian
noble is just too promising to ignore.
Many family members were initially reluctant to
open the House’s door like this, but experience has
quickly proved just how good an idea it is. Commoners
and priests can often go places that noblemen cannot,
mixing with people even disguised nobles would find it
hard to converse with undetected. The success of such
cells in rooting out and destroying the servants of the
enemy, particularly within towns and cities, has done
much to improve the House’s standing in the eyes of the
other orders. Several of the House’s trading establish-
ments and city residences are now covers for cells of
inquisitors, often run by seneschals or merchants who are
both inquisitors and employees of the House of Murnau.
Our Duty
The House of Murnau’s unique gift for detecting the
enemy give it a rather focused view of the enemy. Much
like the Sisters of St. John and their visions, the von
Murnau curse focuses the order on the individual creature
of evil, rather than a classification of creatures. The House
therefore tends to focus on defeating individuals and their
supporters rather than on trying to classify their unholy
natures. If any classification of the Devil’s servants exists
in the house, it is a broad an unconscious one, derived
from the von Murnau’s attitude to the creature rather
than its own nature. These broad groups are outlined
below.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
40 • COMPANION •
Politicians
The House encounters Satan’s spawn worming their
way into the mortal power structures of the world more
than it come across any other form of demon. These devils
are the evil the family is destined to destroy, or so believe
many of the House. The von Murnau specialize in dealing
with these creatures simply because, to a large extent, the
family understands them. The basic tactics of acquiring
power and undermining enemies have been the von
Murnau’s stock in trade for generations and are much the
same as those tactics used by the demons. The order can
compete with the devils at their own level, and with the
additional advantage of the God’s blessing.
Inquisitors within the family have noted a number of
characteristics in common among these demons. For one,
they are happy to appear in mortal society, unlike many
other types of demon. Some even seem to relish being in
the public eye. For a little while the family thought such
creatures could easily be identified by an abhorrence of
appearing during daylight hours. Recent discoveries sug-
gest that this is not the case. While some demons certainly
do shun the daylight, others are as capable of walking
abroad at midday as any man.
Another common trait is the use of human or par-
tially corrupted lackeys, minions and cultists, just as the
House uses its servants, employees and even people just
trying to curry favor with the nobles. In many cases, a cell’s
first hint of the existence of one of the Devil’s children will
be the fetid stench of evil on one of her servants. A
messenger or tradesman who reeks of corruption is usually
a sign that a greater evil lurks somewhere near by.
After such a discovery, the family swings the full
weight of its abilities into play. Its senior members do their
best to arrange meeting with people who could possibly be
influencing the pawn, while members lower down the
social pecking order attempt to trace other servants of evil
in league with the initial suspect. Once the demon’s
power structure is identified, the family can use its wealth
and influence to discredit, injure or undermine the people
supporting it before seeking to confront the demon itself.
Sometimes, the nest of monsters turns out to be small
and the cell can handle the situation on its own. On
several occasions, however, a von Murnau cell has discov-
ered a wide-ranging conspiracy throughout a town or city.
Curiously enough, a family party often follows such dis-
coveries. The extended family arrives, complete with
knightly guardians from the Knights of Acre. Sometimes
pilgrims from monastic orders travel with the family
caravan, too.
Predators
The demons that hunt the living in a direct, physical
way are of less interest to the House than those who seek
temporal power or corruptive influence. After all, the
Knights of Acre seem better suited to dealing with such
monsters. The same cannot be said of the younger mem-

LEADING THE WAY
C he von Murnau family are the point
men of the Inquisition in more ways
than one. In individual cells, they are often the
first into a dangerous situation, deploying their
gifts to detect the enemy. In addition, a von
Murnau family house is one of the easiest and
least overt ways of establishing a cell of inquisi-
tors in the town. Once that house is established
and the von Murnau family member has made
something of a splash in the town’s social scene
and mercantile community, the House can fa-
cilitate the arrival of other orders in the town.
The family’s wealth lets it, say, endow a house of
the Sisters of St. John, which allows a handful of
nuns to start their work in the area.
bers of the order. Like most young men of noble birth,
young von Murnau men (and even some of the women)
are eager to prove their worth and establish a reputation
for themselves. Undermining and destroying a demon’s
power structure takes time. Killing a predatory demon can
be done quickly, if not easily.
Soon after hearing of the family’s role in the Inquisi-
tion, many young von Murnau spend a little time actively
hunting the enemy, traveling with retinues through the
family’s lands, looking for tales and rumors of diabolic
activity and seeking to deal with it. The older members of
the family actively encourage this sort of behavior. It both
encourages peasants on von Murnau land to believe that
the family actually cares about them and rapidly teaches
the youngsters that demon hunting is not something to be
taken lightly. To be on the safe side, the family endeavors
to place an experienced inquisitor, usually one not from
the family, into the youngster’s retinue — the better to
drag him out of trouble.
Corruptors
If the family treats the political demons much like its
political opponents, it treats the demons that seek to
corrupt others like its long-held family enemies. The
family’s propensity to lose members to the enemy’s wiles
makes the Devil’s tempters and corrupters of particular
concern to the family’s leadership. All family members are
under standing orders to report such creatures immedi-
ately to Frederick or Franziska and are forbidden from
acting against them until such time as they receive direct
instructions from the head of the family. Otto and Leopold
are excluded from this process, to minimize the chances of
the Inquisition as a whole becoming aware of how many
von Murnau have sold their souls. Obviously, this can
create problems in mixed cells; inquisitors from other
orders are sometimes puzzled by an normally enthusiastic
von Murnau’s sudden reluctance to pursue a particular
servant of the enemy.
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
Where possible, the senior members of the family
endeavor to send older and more experienced members of
the family to aid the inquisitor in her duty and to help her
resist the enemy’s wiles. This is not always possible, as the
enemy’s forces are legion and the von Murnau but a single
family. If help is unavailable within the family, Leopold may
push for a cell of Sisters of St. John to support the von
Murnau cell and help defend their souls. In extreme circum-
stances, the order may make a formal request to the Oculi
Dei, or even Marzone himself, for monitoring of the cell.
Some family members are uncomfortable with this
idea, as they are concerned it will undermine the
inquisition’s confidence in the House. Frederick and his
sister are canny politicians, though, and they have (quite
rightly) deduced that Marzone is actually happier when
his inquisitors confess their failings and weakness and ask
for aid — better that than lose more members to Satan.
After all, did not Lord Jesus teach the value of humility in
all things?
Once the word from the head of the family comes, a
von Murnau inquisitor should do her level best to utterly
destroy a corrupting demon and all those who serve it.
Once the demon is slain, the family member should
destroy its corpse and all of its possessions that the
inquisitor can lay his hands upon, including any property.
This is an unusual practice for the order: it typically does
its best to acquire the wealth and possessions of its fallen
foes for the use of the family and the Inquisition as a whole.
The House has in its employ many fine forgers and lawyers
who can quickly and effectively resolve matters of transfer
of title, especially with the lubrication of a little of the
family’s wealth.
This approach has lead to some clashes with both the
Theodosians, who would rather learn from the demon
than see it and all its belongings destroyed, and the Sisters
of St. John, who are often left to clear up and care for the
survivors after a von Murnau purge.
Family Values
The House of Murnau is the least structured of the
Inquisition’s orders. The monastic orders have strict
hierarchies derived from their founding Rules. The Eyes
maintain discipline and use organized lines of communi-
cation to protect the members. The House is an extended
family, though, with all the conflicts that implies. Any
attempt to get Cousin Gottleib to report to his Aunt
Christiana is doomed to failure. Thus the individuals in
question define relationships between the von Murnau
and the other orders. There are some general attitudes
that stem from the family’s noble status, though.
Knights of Acre
“Military orders are a good home for restless younger
sons who lack the discipline to make anything else of their
life. They’re useful when blood must be shed, but you
wouldn’t want them around the house.” That’s the atti-
41
 tude many nobles hold toward the various military orders;
it applies just as well to the House of Murnau’s view of the
Knights of Acre. The House’s skill lies in uncovering and
undermining the enemy, whereas (as the Murnau see it)
the Knights are the brute force of the Inquisition: useful
when you need to fight, but redundant until then. While
individuals in the House often have strong friendships
with individual knights, spending what little leisure time
they have time hunting and training with them, they tend
to regard their friends as the exception to the rule.
Red Order
The Murnau are rather more trusting of the
Theodosians than the other orders. After all, the order
can smell corruption: that stench does not (normally)
hang around the Red Brothers and Sisters. Like most
noblemen, the von Murnau appreciate having men and
women of learning to hand, to provide the knowledge the
nobleman himself doesn’t have the time or inclination to
acquire. There’s an element of truth to the Red Order’s
perception that the von Murnau see it as just a group of
scribes, whose services can be called upon whenever the
noble feel the need. The von Murnau give the monastic
order more respect than it realizes, though. They truly do
value the research the order undertakes.
Sisters of St. John
Individual members of the House of Murnau often
have the greatest respect for the Sisters of St. John. They
are well aware of how much freedom they have given up
to become part of the Inquisition and are in awe of the
sheer level of devotion and self-control the Sisters need to
control their visions. The two orders do have some dis-
agreements, usually over the House’s propensity to tread
all over victims of the Devil in its enthusiasm for rooting
out his servants. The Sisters feel, quite rightly, that they
are often left to clear up the mess. A number of generous
endowments of houses from the von Murnau family,
however, have done much to quiet the complaints.
Oculi Dei
The Oculi Dei and the von Murnau interact fre-
quently. Often the Eyes have spotted something suspicious,
but the demon is too wily to give aware its nature to the
observer. A member of the House of Murnau can quickly
put the matter to rest. The House sees the Eyes as an
extended group of its servants, one who do the hard work
of winnowing down the likely suspects. Once that tedious
labor is done, the von Murnau steps in and sorts the sheep
from the goats by means of their gift. In short, the noble
family see the lay order made up largely of common people
as inferiors — but useful inferiors, nonetheless.
The Flock
Truth be told, the House of Murnau joined the
Inquisition more for its own protection than that of the
flock. Like most nobles, family members tend to have a
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
42 • COMPANION •
healthy disregard for the well-being of the peasantry and
a positive enthusiasm for the downfall of other nobles.
Caring for the poor and unworthy is simply not the
family’s job. Noblesse oblige is not a concept with which
the family wastes much time, considering there are de-
mons to be exposed.
The family’s lack of formal religious education and
life-devoting service to Christ does makes it the order
most willing to kill those who serve or worship demons.
The family members hold the death of individuals to be of
little account in the greater scheme of things. The family
doesn’t go out of its way to kill suspects, and hands them
over to other orders for questioning or rehabilitation if the
opportunity presents itself. If killing the sinner is the
simplest option, though, a family member will often do
just that.
That said, the time spent in the Inquisition’s service,
the need to work with men and women of God and times
spent in prayer and retreat are all instilling Christian
values into the family with remarkable speed. If Fredrick
was aware of his family’s growing reputation for both
protecting the poor and providing them with alms, he’d
be furious. Such a change in the family’s image might give
away too much. He isn’t yet aware of it, however, and so
the steady reform of the family continues.
Another factor in this is the steady growth of non-
family inquisitors in the House. They are likely to moderate
the actions of a true-blooded von Murnau in the field, out
of empathy with the possible victim if nothing else. Those
von Murnau who work extensively with other inquisitors
do seem to gain more respect for the common people.
Working with people of common birth in life- and soul-
threatening struggles against the enemy has a way of
making them see their social inferiors with new eyes and,
often, new respect, too. If this trend continues, perhaps
joining the Inquisition really will be a route to redemption
for the family.
The Munich Residence of
Heidolfus von Murnau
Munich has been in existence for a mere 72 years, yet
is already a thriving town. This is due in part to the
patronage of the local noble family, the House of Murnau.
Heidolfus von Murnau, a second cousin of the head of the
house, Frederick von Murnau, has lived in Munich for the
last decade. He commissioned a large new town house
some four years ago, and work on the project has only just
finished. He could not be happier. Not only is the house
the most luxurious in the town, it’s also a perfect base for
his cell of inquisitors.
The House
The house itself is an impressive two story affair, twice
as wide as any of the other buildings on the square and at
least as deep. It has fairly large grounds, including stables,
servant’s quarters and a small garden, which are protected
by a wall. The ground floor of the house is the public space,
including a reception room each for Heidolfus and Aveline,
a large kitchen , a dining room and a study. Upstairs are a
number of bedrooms for both the owners and guests.
Heidolfus has absolutely no intention of inviting anyone
but other inquisitors to stay, and makes the entirety of his
old home available to prospective guests instead. Thus the
second floor houses a small chapel for the cell’s prayers and
worship, and a second, larger study where the inquisitors’
activities are planned and information about demons and
their servants is collected and studied.
The Inquisitors
Heidolfus von Murnau is both head of the house-
hold and the leader of the cell of inquisitors. The portly
man in his late 40s was one of the first members of the
House to join the Inquisition, and is deeply committed to
the role. He is also one of the main champions of accept-
ing non-related inquisitors into the House.
His (much) younger half-sister, Aveline von Murnau,
also carries the family curse. She is an inveterate socialite
and is at the heart of the young town’s social scene, a role
that allows her to inspect all newcomers to the town for
the stench of the Adversary. Father Munifrid used to
preach in a village on the edge of the main Murnau estate.
An encounter with a shape-changing beast changed all
that when God opened his eyes and granted him power.
The House of Murnau offered the priest a job within the
house and the Inquisition, and he gladly accepted.
Hugo, a farmer, nearly died in the same incident that
opened Munifrid’s eyes. God chose to bless him as well,
and he helped keep the beast at bay until members of the
von Murnau family arrived to deal with it. Hugo is now
rather uneasily posing as a household servant, but is in
reality the brawn of the Munich cell.
The Enemy
The area around Munich has suffered from an evil
reputation for generations. When Henry the Lion, Duke of
Saxony and Bavaria, founded the new town near Munichen,
he hoped to shake off the superstitions that clung to the
place. He failed. The legends of the hoi-hoi man persisted.
These stories tell of a tall, heavy-set man dressed all in black
who walks the forests and hills around the new town,
carrying a large rock with him. To encounter this figure and
hear his cry of “hoi-hoi” is death for most; only a handful of
people have met him and survived to tell the tale. They
rarely survive more than a week after doing so. The curse of
the von Murnau family allowed Hiedolfus and Aveline’s
father, Bodoloff, to identify a cult of men and women in the
area who worship the hoi-hoi man.
Bodoloff disappeared not long after Aveline was
born. His second wife died a few years later, leaving
Heidolfus to raise his sister. He has vowed to find out what
happened to his father and avenge his death. What
Heidolfus does not realize is that his father yet lives, as the
latest host body for the demon Hoilial. The creature was

• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS • 43
 summoned from the Pit centuries ago, and has rooted
itself partially in a rock and partially in a human host. It
is at its most powerful when the two are together, hence
the legends that surround the hoi-hoi man. It also has two
families of worshippers who have sustained and obeyed it
for generations.
Through Bodoloff, Hoilial is aware of the Murnau
curse and considers the family as good prospects for future
worshippers and servants, especially once he appears to
them as their beloved father. Other matters have occu-
pied the demon’s attention for over a decade, but with a
rival now thoroughly crushed, it can turn its attention
back to Munich and the Murnau family.
The Oculi Dei
So you think it is easy for the Eyes of God, my noble
friend? You think it is easy to watch a damned thing drain the
life from a man you have known for 20 years and doing nothing
to stop it? You think that slowly learning what creatures of the
Adversary lurk in the shadows of the town you call home is a
pleasant experience? Do you think I relish knowing that the
respected merchant my family visits is tainted by the very touch
of El Diablo himself?
None of these things are easy, señor. None of them. We
watch, so you may act. We suffer in God’s name so you can
gain glory. We all serve God and I give thanks every morning
that He granted me the chance to do so. Do not make the
mistake of believing that just watching is easier, though. I would
much rather act, but that is not my choice to make.
Here are the documents you requested. I think you will
find all you need is there. Now, if you will excuse me, señor,
I have other business to attend to.
My name?
Ah, no. It is not my place to act and it is not your place to
know my name. I bid you good night, señor.
— Osoro of Madrid
Recruitment
Eleanor woke with a splitting headache and no idea where
she was. She cautiously opened her eyes, only to find herself in
absolute darkness. She listened for a while, heard nothing and
so pulled herself to her feet. Stretching out her arms to feel
around her, she found nothing. She began to step forward, but
was interrupted by a familiar voice.
“I wouldn’t move too far that way, if I were you. This isn’t
a safe place to be even when you can see.”
It was the voice of the man from the tavern a week or so
ago: the one who had believed her when she told him about that
creature she’d seen. A shiver crawled down her spine. What did
he want with her?
“I’m here to make you an offer. It’s an offer you’ll accept,
if you have any sense.”
“Who are you?”
“Any number of people, my dear, depending on my need,
mood or God’s will. Now, be quiet and listen. Your willingness
to talk may have already endangered you, and your willingness
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
44 • COMPANION •
to listen may just save you.”
Nobody applies to join the Eyes of God. Nobody
knows they exist or, even if they have caught a whisper of
the order, where to apply if they did. The Oculi Dei choose
their members as guided by God. The good folk of the
order fall into one of three categories: those recruited for
their skills, those recruited for their experiences and those
recruited by happenstance.
The Skilled
When an inquisitor is setting up a new cell of the
Oculi Dei, her first task is to find recruits. She needs
people who possess a number of essential skills. The first
and most important requirement for an Eye is the ability
to keep a secret. Gossips need not apply. The order’s role
is collecting information, not disseminating it.
Almost as important is the candidate’s faith. Life as
an Eye is trying in the extreme, and only a robust faith in
God will see her through the terrible guilt and frustration
that comes with the job.
The third requirement is the intellectual ability to
analyze what the Eye sees. This isn’t the same thing as
education: academic learning is a luxury available to only
a few. Eyes need a degree of raw, natural intelligence that
allows them to draw accurate conclusions from limited
information. They need sharp wits more than they need
book learning.
The last is the ability to see what is truly happening,
rather than looking at events in a vacant way as so much
of mankind does. When the cell leader finds such a
person, she spends weeks or months observing him before
dispatching her report to her superior via an itinerant Eye.
When the candidate is approved, she arranges a clandes-
tine meeting with the chosen soul, and asks him if he
would like to serve the Church. If he agrees (and he may
take some persuading given how little explanation he
receives) the inquisitor sets him a task of minor impor-
tance and monitors how well he performs it. Only after
months of tests and minor tasks does she invite him to the
first cell meeting, with strict instructions to come masked
and not reveal his identity to anyone.
The Witnesses
Ordinary folk who have already survived an encoun-
ter with demons are another source of new Eyes. The
Oculi Dei are often the first people to know of the
encounter after the witness herself: they were probably
watching when it happened. The order endeavors to have
a member engage this hapless soul in conversation about
the encounter. If she displays a gift for analysis and an
interest in dealing with the demon spawn, she is offered a
place in the order once a superior grants permission. If the
Eye finds incontrovertible evidence that the witness
received God’s blessing, the approval of a superior is
unnecessary. If she is not deemed suitable, she is passed to
another order, usually the House of Murnau, as a possible
recruit. If she shows none of these qualities, the Eye leaves
 THE SWORD OF ST. JAMES
0 s far as the majority of the Inquisition is
concerned, the Eyes of God are purely
common men, sworn to watch, but not interfere in,
the works of the diabolic. They are wrong. The Eyes
were originally the information-gathering branch
of an order of knights called the Sword of St. James.
The Eyes outgrew their parent, which has long
since become a military adjunct of the Oculi Dei —
and a largely irrelevant one since the order joined
the Inquisition.
The Sword has actually split in two since Aignen
le Libraire brought the Oculi Dei into the Inquisition.
One group remains loyal to its founder, Rodrigue de
Navarre, and continues to act as a poor man’s Knights
of Acre. The loyalist Swords lack the blessing and the
skill of the Knights, however, and their numbers are
slowly decreasing, taking Rodrigue’s already shaky
sanity with them. The loyalist Swords and the Span-
ish Eyes are the only parts of the organization he
founded that he still controls. Losing one of them
would be enough to push him over the edge, if he
hasn’t fallen already.
Instead of risking the Swords in battle with the
enemy, Rodrigue is now directing them to weed out
Eyes loyal to “that traitor Aignen.” The Swords,
fanatical in their loyalty to Rodrigue, believe that
they are weeding out traitors and heretics from the
ranks of the orders, for the greater glory of God. He has
her be, yet watches her closely. All too often, a woman
who talks too much of the Devil’s work finds his servants
at her door….
The Unlucky
The last group of recruits are those who are unlucky
enough to blunder into knowledge of the Eyes of God’s
existence. These can be friends or family of an exiting Eye
who discover his secret, or ordinary men and women who
blunder into an investigation by mistake. Such unfortu-
nates are given two choices: join the Eyes or die. Most
choose the former. These recruits immediately “leave on
pilgrimage,” bidding friends and family goodbye for a
while. They are escorted by Swords of St. James to one of
the order’s temporary training camps, deep in the forest,
and trained (and tested for loyalty) before being returned
to their home city as a new member of the local cell. Those
who fail the tests at these camps never return from their
pilgrimage. The camps are struck as soon as the training
is done and relocated before the next group of Eyes arrives.
The Mobile Eyes
The mobile members of the Oculi Dei are among the
most trusted members of the organization. Very few of
them are recruited straight into the position, and only
then if God has directly given a sign of His approval by
blessing the new inquisitor with His gifts. Instead, mobile
Eyes are recruited from among the members in the static
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
instilled enough paranoia in them that they refuse to
believe anyone who tells them otherwise.
The second group of Swords, disgusted at the behav-
ior of Rodrigue, has pledged its loyalty to both the
Inquisition and Aignen, who has not revealed its exist-
ence to the Inquisition nor to the body of the Oculi Dei.
The Swords’ new purpose is to watch the Eyes and
protect those of them who open themselves to attack by
the enemy. Aignen lacks Rodrigue’s blatant disregard for
Eyes who “fail” by being discovered. All men and women
who join the Eyes are risking their lives for God, and thus
deserve what little protection the order can offer.
These rebel Swords know nothing of the shadow
Inquisition bar the fact that houses of the Sisters of St.
John are safe havens for the healing of wounded Swords.
Instead, each Sword is assigned a beat of several cells of
stationary Oculi to monitor and protect, without the
knowledge of the Eyes themselves. Aignen has more
than once received reports of Swords and Eyes who
have ended up monitoring each other. In such cases he
reassigns the Swords and congratulates the Eyes.
Many of the Eyes that have just “disappeared” in the
recent past have, in fact, joined the new Swords after years
of service as Eyes. While the disappearances continue to
fuel rumors, Aignen protects the secret right up until his
death at the hands of the Holy Office (see p. 97 of Dark
Ages: Inquisitor). He does not wish news of the Swords’
internal strife to reach the ears of Cardinal Marzone.
cells. Twice a year, each cell sends a member to a meeting
of five cells from all over the country. From each of those
meetings, a single Eye goes on to the main meeting for the
region, bearing the name of a candidate. At no point do
any of the attendees reveal their identity or home. All the
Eyes under discussion are referred to only by their code
names. At the final meeting, a handful of the proposed
mobile Eyes are selected for the job, based on a combina-
tion of the cell members’ reports and recommendations
from existing mobile Eyes in attendance.
An existing mobile Eye approaches the chosen in-
quisitor in secret. The Eye offers the job to him. If he
accepts, all branches of the Inquisition help him to sever
his ties to his old life. He then makes his way to a training
camp, which moves at irregular intervals of anything from
a few days to a few weeks. There, he spends months
learning survival and concealment skills, the details of the
broader picture of the shadow Inquisition, the existence
of the Sword of St. James and a broader set of code words.
The recruit works with his tutors to create a range of new
identities and then sets out to take up his new duties.
Those We Watch
The Devil may be in the details, but the Oculi Dei is
more interested in details on the Devil. The files of the
order probably contain more information on the habits,
activities and needs of the supernatural creatures of the
45
 Dark Medieval than any other body of writing in exist-
ence. It is only the scattered nature of the documents and
the observational nature of the information that prevents
the Inquisition coming to an almost complete under-
standing of the enemy.
The majority of the Eyes, because they are con-
strained to a particular area, do not have the depth of
perspective to categorize the demons they observe. They
might see enough to link the activities of the creatures
with a local piece of folklore, but their superiors discour-
age them from drawing conclusions like that. Instead,
they are told to record nothing but the facts of what they
see and observe. These facts are grouped into four broad
categories.
Their Habits
One of the simplest pieces of information an Eye can
gather on a suspected servant of Satan is its daily routine.
The order as a whole is aware that an individual who is
only seen at night bears further investigation, for ex-
ample. Luckily, towns are small enough that a cell can
assemble a pretty clear picture of the activities of a
monster simply through compiling sightings — and ab-
sences — recorded by individual Eyes. The order is
THOMAS’ MEN
0 ignen’s secret weapon in his clandestine
struggle with Rodrigue de Navarre is the
group of English and French spies calling them-
selves Thomas’ Men. This group is directly
descended from the spy network that the English
martyr, St. Thomas Beckett, established during his
exile in France. After its founder’s martyrdom, the
group continued to monitor the Church and nobles
of the British Isles and Normandy for signs of
heresy and sinfulness. Within a few decades, the
group learned of the demons that worm their way
into every power structure in Christendom.
While Thomas’ Men lack the reach and com-
mitment to “watching, not acting” of the Oculi
Dei, the group has been in existence longer and has
much to teach the Eyes about security and survival
over time. The merger of the two organizations was
a natural development once they became aware of
each other, giving the Inquisition a greater foot-
hold in the British Isles and boosting the ability of
the Men to deal with the devils it has uncovered.
A series of meetings between Aignen and
Simpkin Cotter, an inquisitor and leader of the
Men, followed. Now certain members of the Men
have been reassigned to Spain to watch Rodrigue,
his supporters and his Swords. So far, Aignen has
kept knowledge of the Men from Rodrigue, and he
fervently hopes to keep it that way.
For more information on Thomas’ Men and
Simpkin Cotter, see Dark Ages: British Isles.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
46 • COMPANION •
reluctant to commit any of its members to tailing a specific
Satan-worshipper unless it has no choice. The risks of
being caught are just too great.
Some habits are a very clear marker of demonic
nature: feeding on blood, for instance. Avoidance of
regular worship in church is considered equally damning.
Some habits are less clear-cut but still potentially reveal-
ing. A woman who regularly travels in company to a place
with a reputation for witchcraft or other supernatural
activity attracts much greater suspicion than a woman
who goes walking without escort, for example.
Observation of habits have allowed to the Eyes to
identify vampires as a distinct group of demon. The combi-
nation of blood drinking and not emerging during the day
are the twin tests needed to identify such a creature;
repeated observation of both will always trigger a report to
other inquisitors for example. The Eyes have not been able
to determine similar patterns of behavior for werewolves as
yet. Despite repeated attempts to identify such creatures by
observing people around the time of the full moon, no cell
has yet been able to do so with any accuracy.
Their Fellowship
Detailed records of exactly who the demons associate
with are invaluable to the order. Just like the House of
Murnau, the Oculi Dei has realized that most demons
employ servants or lackeys of some sort in the furtherance
of their diabolic business. Unlike the Bavarian nobles,
though, the Eyes have realized that following these lack-
eys can lead them not just to the demon at the heart of the
web, but also to other demons in the area. Extended
period of observation of the deeds of people that serve
demons have allowed the Eyes to conclude that the
demons in certain areas are actually warring with one
another. This has been one of the few flashes of hope in
an otherwise depressing litany of sins, horrors and blas-
phemies recorded by the order. If demons actually work
against each other, then the task in front of the inquisition
might be less terrible than it appears at first.
More astute Eyes have noted that a lack of friends can
also be an interesting marker of someone whom the Devil
has touched. Lone beggars who show an unhealthy inter-
est in others, yet who disappear for periods of time, are a
particular cause of concern. So too are brothers and sisters
within monastic communities who secret themselves
apart from their fellows. Sometimes this proves to be a
perfectly natural example of hermitage, other times a sign
of a more sinister calling.
Their Sins
One of the most crucial parts of the records are the
lists of sins committed by each creature. This ledger is
crucial in determining when other inquisitors should be
informed of the devil’s existence and the complete record
released. Murder of innocents counts for surprisingly
little. The order expects that Satan’s servants will kill;
that is the nature of evil. Murder is a lesser sin than
corrupting others into Satan’s service, though, because
that affects the soul and not just the flesh. Evidence of the
 appear as normal people until they display
their hell-spawned powers. Admittedly,
some of them live distinctly non-Chris-
My Dear Ai gnen , is do m an d lear ni ng . I wa r
s tian lives, but it is their display of power
u a m an of w
I th ought yo a glam ou
the Devil hi mself cast yo u are .
that marks them out as being of major
ng m is le d . Pe rh ap s interest to the order and a subject for
cleari e than
ould see yo u as m or regular observation. Displays of a wide
over yo u, so that I sh an d a trai t or , for yo u have range of powers are useful both as a guide
ol
Clearly yo u are a fo k t o the ro tti ng corpse of the for when to summon other inquisitors
t w or
revealed our grea seen them as I have , brot her? Have and a warning for those inquisitors when
t
Chur ch . Have yo u no ic w orms that ea t the pu tres cent they arrive.
di ab ol
yo u no t seen th e u have . We have seen
Of course, what counts as a “mys-
Ch rist ? I kn ow yo tery” is very much down to the
fles h of the body of de ba ted thei r nature an d pu
issan ce individual inquisitor and cell. A man
he r. W e ha ve
them t oget suddenly sprouting fur and claws is
in t o the ni gh t. ro ug ht
everyt hi ng w e have w -rid den
obvious to all. A man who shows
ye t , yo u ha nd ov er particular luck when gambling is more
An d dem on
the hands of that very
this past decade in t o ubt that yo u w ill clai m that God
open to debate (although the very act
of gambling make him suspicious to
Chur ch . I have no do that th os e w ords w ere naug ht bu t the more fanatical Eyes).
inspired yo u . I clai m dem ons, fill in g up yo ur ears w ith
of
the w hispered voices u no do ubt believe that this petty Informants
lie s. Yo ar ts , yet
thei r pois on ou s of go od men of faithful he t o be The vast majority of the Oculi
on is m ad e up
In quisiti thar s also believe them
selves Dei has no opinion at all on the
di d no t the trai t or Ca other orders within the Inquisition,
simply because they have no idea
faithful men ? ai t or . Yo u, li ke they, are w are
ill they exist. While most Eyes know
th ey , ar e a tr
Yo u, li ke e God an d
t o th e ri gh te ou s fu ry of th os e w ho serv e Sw ord an d they are working within a larger
organization, they have no idea at
fall ve th
ords of dem ons. I ha
no t beguiled by the w have yo u, bu t a tribe of German all of its scope or nature. Only the
t
I have the Eyes . Wha r of devil-w or shiper s, clot hed in the
mobile Eyes and senior members of
an or de the Oculi Dei, along with a tiny
bast ards an d handful of static inquisitors who
blood of thei r vic tims? ti ,
Filii et Spir tu s Sanc
have joined mixed-order cells,
In nomine Patris , et have regular contact with other
orders. The mobile Eyes have a
The Eye of God particularly good perspective on
their fellow inquisitors, as they often know
corruption of just one two or three different cells. Do the Eyes also keep files on
Christian soul can be a trigger for the involvement of their fellow inquisitors? Of course — corruption from
other inquisitors. within is the biggest danger of all.
The Eyes also record all visible breaches of the Ten Knights of Acre
Commandments and Christ’s teachings. Indeed, anyone
fragrantly breaching a commandment is liable to end up The Knights and the Eyes exist at different ends of the
in an Eye’s report, for it is one of the major ways of inquisitorial scale. The Knights are impetuous and direct,
recognizing one of the Devil’s chosen. The order regards preferring to deal with the enemy as soon as possible. The
blasphemy, even inadvertently or in jest, as another sign Eyes are patient and are only prepared to confront demons
of the Adversary at work. This does mean that the Oculi when they are convinced that the time is right. The Eyes
Dei spends much of its energy on investigation perfectly find watching a months-long investigation into a web of
mundane adulterers, loudmouths, thieves and heretics, demons collapse incredibly frustrating, all because the
but such information is never wasted. Secular and Church Knights have spotted a single demon and hunted him
authorities never complain when a detailed dossier of down. Some cells bear considerable ill-will to the Knights
evidence on such a person appears mysteriously. as a result.
The Eyes are somewhat jealous of the Knights, too.
Their Mysteries After years of watching devils do the most debased and
The last major set of information that the Eyes gather disgusting things, many Eyes long to slaughter them just
is regarding any overt displays of supernatural power. On as the Knights do. The pleasure of knowing that he
occasion, this is the only evidence that the order can get reported the devil to the Knights is not enough for many
of a subject’s satanic nature. Wizards, for example, often an inquisitor. Despite his vow, often he wishes it were he
wielding the blade.

• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS • 47
 The Red Order
The Red Order is something of a blind spot for the
Oculi Dei. Its twin methods of field research and labora-
tory study strike most Eyes as foolishly dangerous and
incomprehensibly pointless, respectively. Those further
up the ranks of the order realize just how close the
relationship actually is, because they are the ones respon-
sible for passing information from the Eyes to the Order
and communicating the Theodosians’ findings back down
to the static cells, to aid them in their observations. The
two orders actually complement each other well, they just
don’t have enough contact to appreciate that.
The Sisters of St. John
The more intellectual members of the Oculi Dei are
suspicious of the Sisters of St. John’s tendency to listen to
their own visions over the cold, hard reality of facts.
Those Eyes with the common sense to go with their
brains realize quite how often the two throw light on each
other. Both orders are also united in the care for the
common man, although individual Sisters have harangued
some Eyes for not acting to save people when the oppor-
tunity to arose. The Eyes accept that people won’t always
understand the reason they have this code, and members
rarely carry a grudge against the sisters for such outbursts.
The House of Murnau
The relationship between the House of Murnau and
the Oculi Dei is the relationship between noble and
commoner played out in microcosm. The von Murnau
look down on the Eyes and treat them as servants without
even realizing they are doing it. The Eyes, meanwhile,
delight in getting the von Murnau family to do their
bidding without even realizing it. More information on
demons tailored to make a particular impression is given
to the House than any other order. Respect for the House,
however, is growing in the upper echelons of the Oculi
Dei. The von Murnau have been very open in asking for
observation of some of the more troubled members of the
family. Through such work, the Eyes have learned more
about the von Murnau curse than most members of the
family know and have come to respect the dedication of
the House members to the cause.

The Flock
For an order that lives among the flock, the Oculi Dei
has an uneasy relationship with their fellow Christians.
Many Eyes find it harder and harder to make friends or
maintain existing friendships as they perform their duties.
After all, it is the fate of most Eyes to watch people die at
the hands of demons without interfering. Given how small
most communities are in the Dark Medieval, the chances
are that the victim is someone the inquisitor knows.
If an Eye is to preserve her sanity, she needs to
subscribe to a philosophy of the greater good and care for
the flock in general while not letting the fate of an
individual affect her too deeply. Over time, most Eyes end
up deepening their relationship with a very close circle of

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

48 • COMPANION •
family and friends, while doing their best to steer this
handful of people away from the dangers that lurk in the
night. Each inquisitor has to personalize the struggle and
tell herself that she is doing it for this particular group of
people and their well-being. Frankly, each Eye has too
much to cope with as it is to take the health and safety of
the whole flock on her shoulders.
In particular, most Eyes become very cold when
dealing with those who have gone over to Satan’s cause.
When the order finally summons the inquisitors to deal
with a threat, many an Eye has taken the opportunity to
inflict a little cathartic violence on one of the demon’s
servants. Not a particularly Christian reaction, to be sure,
but an understandable one all the same.
On the other hand, the order as a whole is very
concerned with the safety of the flock. The puppet masters,
who sit at the center of the webs of information that flow
in from inquisitors all over Europe, often decide which leads
the inquisitions should pursue solely on the basis of the
likely harm any particular demon seems capable of. It’s a
strange irony of the Eyes’ calling that those closest to the
flock are the least able to care for them, while those most
removed are able to act for the sake of the common man.
No wonder so many of the Oculi Dei go mad.
Everard’s Players
The good, God-fearing people of northern France are
used to seeing plays, but only in their churches. Priests act
out the parts of figures from the Bible in short tropes that
form part of the services on feast days. The plays are
conducted in Latin, so many of the congregation can only
guess at the story by the actions of the actors.
A man called Jean Bodel dared to challenge that way
of doing things. He wrote two plays at the turn of the
century that are now performed by small troops of actors
on stages outside churches. What’s more, his plays have
religious themes and some even actively mock pagans.
The Play of St. Nicholas tells of a saint who is entrusted
with the gold of a rich man, often portrayed as being a
pagan king. Thieves abscond with it, but the saint tracks
them down and recovers the money. Another of Bodel’s
plays, Le Courtois d’Arras is a variation of the Biblical tale
of the Prodigal Son, relocated to the town of Arras. These
troupes win adulation from the crowds and tolerance from
the Church, while acting as the perfect cover for a pair of
Oculi Dei traveling around the cities of northern France.
The Troupe
The small troupe of actors is lead by Everard d’Arras.
He once aspired to a life in a monastic order, but lacked
the resources or the learning to be accepted. He accepted
that God had chosen another path for him and waited for
Him to reveal his true calling. That moment came when
he saw the Le Courtois d’Arras performed for the first time.
He gathered a small group of would-be actors, many
recruited from the more shiftless types in the local inn, a
cart and the wood for a stage, and set off touring the local
cities with a version of the play.
• CHAPTER ONE •
• MY ORDER, MY BROTHERS •
Julien joined the troupe two years ago. He brought
with him a copy of the Play of St. Nicholas and the money
to buy the troupe out of debt. Everard acquiesces to his
actor’s strange demands because he knows that the troupe’s
survival depends on the strange Burgundian. Julien is, of
course, a mobile member of the Oculi Dei. He was
promoted to mobile status as a matter of urgency, when his
identity and calling were discovered by a demon. Julien
fled Dijon in fear of his life, accepting his new role after a
Sword of St. James tracked him down.
Varocher de Saumur joined the troop just a few
months ago in much the same way. A monster discovered
his identity and killed at least one other cellmate. Varocher
begged Julien to let him join the troupe for a short while,
and the older inquisitor reluctantly agreed. The Eye has
proved a talented actor, though, especially good at comic
roles such as the thief, Pinchdice, in the Play of St. Nicholas.
Gerner, a Sword of St. James, is discreetly following
the troupe on its peregrinations around the cities of
France, partially to monitor the two Oculi for signs of
treachery and partially to protect them if their hunters
ever track them down.
The Enemy
For much of the last two years, Julien has been the
model mobile Eye. He has liaised with local cells, acted as
a go-between with cells of inquisitors of several orders and
faced the enemy in mortal struggle more than once.
Everard and the other actors are certainly aware that
Julien has other interests, but only Everard himself has
ever tried to find out more. Julien was vigorous in discour-
aging that idea and the troupe leader backed down. The
sudden arrival of Varocher has rekindled the embers of
Everard’s interest once more, but this time he is being
more circumspect in his inquiries.
Sadly, the life of the troupe as an extension of the Oculi
Dei is drawing to a close, whether or not Everard discerns
anything resembling the truth. Neither Varocher nor
Gerner realize it, but their discoveries by the demons were
linked. Both had the misfortune to make an enemy of a
small group of Nosferatu. The right information has changed
hands, and the two inquisitors are marked and watched by
the hideous monsters. The demon spawn are hoping to
discover exactly who and what is paying them so much
attention through the pair. Gerner suspects that something
like this has happened. It’s only a matter of time before he
discovers the watching vampires, or vice versa.
Just to add insult to injury, Julien’s stirring perfor-
mances as the pagan king, which often elicit howls of
laughter from the audience, have not done much to
endear him to the local practitioners of pagan magic. The
next time the troupe makes its way to eastern area of
Brittany, the local witches have every intention of mak-
ing an example of the unfortunate actor. Of course, they
know nothing of his life as an inquisitor, nor the blessings
God has bestowed on Julien, Varocher and Gerner. More
than likely, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise.
49
Chapter Two:
Playing the
Inquisition
United we stand, divided we fall.
— Aesop’s Fables
The Medieval Church is the most powerful organization in the world, and is
positively labyrinthine in its complexity. Navigating its politics is nightmarish for
ordinary priests and bishops, and the members of the Inquisition don’t have a much
easier time of it. Likewise, for modern players and Storytellers, keeping the
nomenclature alone straight can be daunting. This chapter presents some informa-
tion on the Church, its structure, its terminology, and how the orders of the
Inquisition fit in.

Life in the Church

The religious life is not a calling suited to everyone. Those men and women who
pursue the service of God are a breed apart from their fellows, generally more highly
educated and privileged than the average medieval man. With that higher degree
of privilege, however, comes a correspondingly higher degree of responsibility, both
to the Church and to the laity.
Origins of Monasticism
The monastic movement began early in the history of Christianity as a whole,
its first stirrings arising about the middle of the second century in the East and
 concentrated primarily in the Holy Land and Egypt.
Several factors contributed to the phenomenon.
From the earliest of recorded histories, men and
women have retreated into the deserts of Syria and
Egypt, seeking to purify themselves and find ecstatic
union with God. Associated with this was the custom
of going into the desert to seek enlightenment, particu-
larly when worn down with earthly burdens or when a
heavy decision weighed on one’s shoulders. Retreating
into the wilderness to wander, question, and seek one’s
life’s mission was regarded as one of the holiest of holy
acts, undertaken at one time or another by Moses,
Elijah, and, most importantly, Christ Himself. It was
an act of primal faith that awed those who heard of it.
Many traveled into the desert to bring these “holy
hermits” sustenance and to learn their wisdom. The
early Christians, having been raised amid cultures that
valued and honored the self-punishing ethic of the
desert fathers, incorporated solitary contemplation of
God and orthodox self-denial into their ethics as a
highly desirable way of life.
Many early Christians also retreated into the desert
to escape the persecution that fell on them under the reign
of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Many of these politi-
cal refugees were hunted down and martyred. This only
increased the general Christian tendency to regard the
desert as a special place to both achieve communion with
God and to honor their martyred forebears.
During the reign of the Emperor Constantine and
his successors, Christianity rose from a marginalized
and persecuted cult to become the sole and official
religion of the Roman Empire, generating an influx of
new converts and creating a new set of problems. Some
Christians felt that the support of the Empire and the
new ease of being Christian within it diluted the zeal of
the early Church and, in some ways, sullied its purity.
Disputes arose among Christian authorities as compet-
ing doctrines were formulated and different sects
attempted to assert their interpretations of the faith as
pre-eminent. Many devout believers, disgusted by the
intrusion of politics into the practice of their faith,
abandoned the world altogether and withdrew into the
deserts in order to return to the pure foundations of
their religion.
Gradually, the numbers of Christians seeking to
“renounce the world” swelled to such an extent that it
became necessary to find some way to manage the “com-
munities” of holy men and women that were forming
around favored hermitage places. This led to the develop-
ment of two different forms of monastic experience: the
eremitic monastery and the cenobitic monastery.
Eremitic Monasticism and Cenobitic
Monasticism
Eremitic (“desert”) monasticism first arose in Egypt
in the mid-second century. Its origins are usually asso-
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
52 • COMPANION •
ciated with St. Anthony of Egypt, a Christian resident
of Alexandria who went into the desert at the age of
fifteen and lived a life of extreme personal asceticism
and austerity. The point of eremitic monasticism, as
exemplified by the life of St. Anthony, was to dwell
alone in nearly complete hermitage, in silence and
poverty, purifying one’s soul by privation and the
contemplation of God, entirely abandoning the iniq-
uities of the world and accepting only what sustenance
and shelter were necessary to maintain life.
Extensive organization among the eremite monks
was almost counterproductive, but eventually the sheer
number of Christians seeking to emulate the holy
example of the desert fathers swelled to such an extent
that some structure was required. Eremitic monks did
not have a specific Rule of Life to which they adhered,
but rather a collection of general customs that pre-
vailed among the various scattered monasteries in
Egypt and around the Mediterranean basin.
The strictest eremites lived in separate huts set out
of earshot of one another, only coming together for
worship on Saturdays or Sundays and otherwise dwell-
ing, thinking, and writing completely alone. Others,
less strict, would still live completely alone but come
together more frequently (sometimes daily) to wor-
ship, sing hymns and recite psalms in addition to their
private devotions. In either case, the eremites were
entirely dependent on the charity of others for their
material survival, following an ascetic mode of exist-
ence that held prayer as their only proper occupation
and embraced extreme personal poverty. Eremitic
monasticism eventually declined in prominence in
favor of more communal forms of monastic enclosure,
though it never entirely died out.
The cenobitic (“life in common”) form of monas-
ticism also arose in Egypt. Its foundation is credited to
St. Pachomius, whose first monastery was situated at
Tabennisi near Denderah, also in Egypt. The Rule of
Life he wrote allowed monks to live in isolated huts,
but gather together for common meals and worship
services. Silence, poverty, and prayer were still heavily
emphasized. Most significantly, however, it allowed
the monks to work to produce their own food and
clothing. Thus, the cenobitic monks became self-suffi-
cient, the size of the community limited only by its
production capacity rather than the unpredictable
nature of Christian charity.
St. Pachomius’s formulation was carried even fur-
ther by St. Basil, who constructed a Rule that abandoned
the idea of personal isolation and extreme asceticism in
favor of genuine religious communities based on mod-
eration and Christian fellowship. This mode of monastic
life spread rapidly around the Eastern Roman Empire,
with communities springing up in Sinai, Palestine and
Syria, as well as the isle of Lèrins off the coast of France.
 The monastery at Lèrins produced hundreds of well-
trained and devout monks who fused together eastern and
western monastic traditions. In Greece, the Holy Mount
Athos, which hosted both eremites and cenobites, be-
came the single most influential example of the eastern
monastic ideal. Both eremitic and cenobitic forms of
monasticism spread in the west, where the monastic life
developed yet another facet — the mission to convert the
heathen peoples of northern and western Europe to
Christianity. In 1230, the cenobitic monastic form (usu-
ally based on the Benedictine Rule or one of its several
variants) is the most commonly practiced mode of com-
munal religious life in the west.
Living the Monastic Life
The monastic day is ordered around seven offices:
Nocturns, Matins/Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None,
Vespers, and Compline. These hours are sounded on
THE BENEDICTINE RULE
0 n eastern monk, Honoratus, founded the
monastery on the Isle of Lèrins. It was one
of the finest early examples of the monastic ideal as
well as being an influential school of Christian
doctrine. It trained many highly educated mission-
ary monks, including St. Patrick, whose zeal led him
to bring the word of God (along with the monastic
system of communal religious devotion) to Ireland.
Christian missionaries trained in the monasteries of
Ireland established communities on the Isle of Iona
and at Lindisfarne, from which they converted most
of southern Scotland and northern England to Chris-
tianity and spread the monastic ideal from one end
of the isles to the other.
The monastic life did not, however, enjoy a
deep penetration into continental western Eu-
rope until the coming of St. Benedict of Nursia
(480 – 543), founder of the monastery of Monte
Cassino and the author of the Rule of Life that
bears his name. Benedict organized his monastery
in an almost military fashion, emphasizing in his
Rule the importance of a structured internal chain
of responsibility to regulate communal life, obedi-
ence and discipline, congregate meals and worship
services, standardization of dress, and a moderate
life divided equally between work, prayer, and
sleep. This marriage of religious devotion and the
military ideals of discipline, regulation, and mod-
eration appealed to the people of the west in a way
that the more strictly ascetic practices of the east
did not. Monasteries organized under the
Benedictine Rule slowly began to spread and,
eventually, became the norm for most western
monasteries. It also earned western monks the
title militi Christi, the Soldiers of Christ.
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
the monastery bells at roughly calculated intervals.
Timekeeping, even in the monastery, is something less
than an exact science.
Nocturns (sometimes known as Vigil or the Night
Office) is the first of the devotional offices, said at 2:00
AM in the summer and 3:00 AM in the winter; thus,
the monastic “day” actually begins in the middle of the
night. The spoken office consists of a hymn, psalms,
and various scriptural readings suitable to the darkest
hours of the night. Monastics may also spend this time
in lectio divina, silent prayer and meditation on the
nature of salvation, vigilance against worldly tempta-
tion, and solemn remembrance of the dead. Matins/
Lauds (sometimes called the Morning Office) occurs at
daybreak: 3:30 AM in summer and 6:00 AM in winter.
It is an office of joy and thanksgiving for the return of
the light; the hymns, psalms, and canticles chosen for
this office are usually ones of praise for the glory of God
and Christ.
Prime is a minor office between Matins/Lauds and
Terce, a time of communal prayer for a monastic
community before the beginning of the individual
workday occupations of the resident monks or nuns.
Terce is also a minor office, usually celebrated at 8:00
AM, both summer and winter, dedicated to prayers
directed toward the Holy Spirit, as well as prayers for
light and strength during the workday.
Sext is another minor office, taking place at mid-
day — usually 11:30 AM in summer and 12:00 AM in
winter — consisting of a sung Mass, followed by a short
period of prayer and rest. None occurs at mid-after-
noon, usually 2:30 PM in the summer and 1:30 PM in
the winter, marked by a brief service in prayer and song,
usually related to perseverance in the face of adversity
or flagging strength.
Vespers (also known as the Evening Office) is
observed toward the end of the day — 6:00 PM in the
summer and 4:15 PM in the winter. Its celebrations
usually include a hymn, two psalms, a canticle, a
Scriptural reading, a proper responsory, a litany of
intercessory prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, and a conclud-
ing blessing. Humility is often the theme of Vespers
services, as well as wisdom and repose in the Lord.
Compline is the last office performed before monastics
retire for the night, usually said at 8:00 PM in the
summer and 6:15 PM in the winter, consisting of a
short lesson, confession, three psalms and responsory,
a hymn, and a canticle.
The most important labor in a monastic commu-
nity is, of course, the adoration and contemplation of
God, including the rites of worship and religious rituals
common to all Christians. In some communities, these
devotions actually consume the bulk of each day’s
activities; all communities, however, spend a consider-
able amount of time engaged in worship. These rites
included the celebration of the Divine Office, the
53
 celebration of communal Mass, the offering of private
prayers and devotions not required by the community
Rule, and the celebration of processions and other,
elaborate ceremonies on Sundays and the feast days of
saints. All such ceremonies are performed in either
spoken or chanted Latin, and most include song of
some kind.
Mass is said twice daily, at Morrow Mass (usually
celebrated at the hour of Terce) and High Mass (usu-
ally celebrated at the hour of Sext); some communities
add a third Mass dedicated to the Virgin at an appro-
priate hour. In a nunnery, Mass is performed by a
resident (male) chaplain; in all-male communities, the
celebrant is generally appointed each week from the
ordained population of the community. The celebra-
tion of private Masses and the observance of private
religious devotions are common, as are the addition of
different liturgical offices (such as communal prayers
offered for All Saints, the Dead, or Our Lady) depend-
ing on the needs of the community.
Another important monastic labor is, of course,
education. In most cases, education is pursued in order
to promote the spiritual edification of the student,
rather than for the sake of learning itself. Monastic
curricula tend to be narrower in focus than the course
offerings of secular scholastic institutions, teaching
only grammar and rhetoric from the trivium and only
music from the quadrivium (see p. 149 of Dark Ages:
Vampire). A monastic education, while lacking the
breadth and scope of a secular university-style educa-
tion, is nonetheless superior to most other forms of
learning available at this time, particularly for female
monastics and those children not intended for holy
orders who attend monastery schools. Additionally,
monastic education often takes the form of historical
work, specifically the maintenance of historical records
and document archives as well as the preservation and
duplication of precious, expensive books. Missionary
work also falls into the field of education.
Physical labor is the third important facet of mo-
nastic daily work. The early monasteries were almost
invariably located in areas considered unfit for habita-
tion by any but monks. It was by the hands of many
early monastics that the wastelands of the world were
civilized, forests thinned, marshes drained, rivers
dammed, roads constructed and the arable farmland
that resulted from their labors cultivated to produce
grain and fruit. Agriculture remains a major monastic
enterprise. Many of the technical advances that have
fueled the prosperity of the times resulted from experi-
ments conducted with monastery fields and equipment.
Craft making, animal husbandry, the actual cultiva-
tion of crops and the maintenance of the monastery’s
properties all fall into the realm of agriculture.
Additionally, monastic communities have generally
been builders from the outset; an eremite might find a

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

54 • COMPANION •
cave to be sufficient dwelling, but the cenobitic monastic
communities require dormitories, refectories, infirmaries,
chapels, and other large-scale accommodations. Archi-
tecture is a common monastic occupation. Monasteries
that boast renowned architectural expertise include an
office known as the Master of Works. This officer oversees
all the monastery’s construction projects. Compassionate
care of the sick, elderly, and poor falls into the realm of
physical labor as well, as it is often travel intensive and
interacts with the secular world in the form of almsgiving
and hospital care.
Periods are also set aside during the monastic day
for food and rest. Generally, the community dines
twice a day, with dinner around midday and supper
around mid-afternoon. Meals are silent and served in
the rectory where all members of the community are
expected to eat, excepting only the infirm, who are
permitted to dine in the infirmary. A reader, selected
from among the community, stands in the refectory
pulpit reciting Biblical passages for the edification of
the community at its rest. Ideally, monastics are sup-
posed to abstain from consuming the flesh of birds, pigs,
cows, and other beasts of the land. Fish, eggs, and dairy
products are considered acceptable forms of nourish-
ment, and regular meals generally consist of bread,
cheese, vegetables, cereal, beans and egg dishes, with
ale or wine to drink. More elaborate meals may be
served on feast days, involving fresh-caught fish (rather
than the usual smoked or salted fish served at ordinary
meals or as pittances), a better quality of bread, past-
ries, and wine or mead in place of ale.
Monastics are expected to wash their faces and
hands in cold water daily, and their feet at least once
per week. Community members are permitted to bathe
in warm water three to five times a year. Such ablutions
are conducted in such a way as to minimize the temp-
tations of the flesh, since one always bathes with an
attendant. Sleep schedules tend to vary, but most
communities retire early in the evening and rise after
midnight to say the first portions of the Holy Office.
Community members are expected to sleep in the
monastery dormitory if at all possible. Most monastics
sleep clothed in at least a tunic. Beds consist of straw
mattresses on the floor and use wool coverings for
warmth. Fires are not permitted in the dormitory, but
in the event of extremely cold weather, braziers are
allowed. The sick sleep in the infirmary, isolated from
the rest of the community until they well enough to
rejoin it. The superior sleeps in his or her own quarters
if separate quarters are provided; otherwise, the supe-
rior also sleeps in the dormitory.
Community members are generally not permitted
to own private property, and mostly draw their cloth-
ing from a common store. The most common monastic
uniform is a long tunic or cassock, sometimes with a
surplice or scapular on top. Nuns wear veils that fall to
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
the shoulders and conceal the entire head except for
the face. When outside, most monks and nuns add a
cloak to their clothing. In cold weather, some clothing
may be fur-lined for warmth, typically using lambs-
wool; most monastic clothing is made of wool for
warmth and durability to begin with. Sandals are
permitted as footwear, as are “night shoes,” fur-lined
boots worn during the night offices to keep the feet
warm and to silence footsteps. Depending on the order,
the most common colors of monastic dress are brown,
black, and unbleached white.
Monastic Offices
Depending on the size of the community in ques-
tion, a monastery could possess any number of internal
officials responsible for maintaining both the disci-
pline and the life of the community. Below is a sampling
of the most common offices.
The head of any given monastic community, the
superior, is generally known as an abbot or abbess. The
process by which an individual assumes the abbacy
varies widely between individual monastic communi-
ties and religious orders. In some cases, the prospective
abbot/abbess is elected from a pool of candidates, and
their election confirmed by the monastery’s patron,
the order’s mother-house or representatives of the
papacy. In others, particularly in the case of wealthy or
strategically influential monasteries, the process of
selection can become a positively Byzantine political
nightmare as opposing sacred and secular interests all
attempt to install their own appointees. In either case,
the head of the household is the ultimate spiritual and
disciplinary authority within the community. He may
consult the community and take their advice on issues
of policy, but the ultimate decisions are his, and any
orders he issues are to be obeyed.
In larger communities, an assistant, known as a prior
or prioress, often aids the abbot or abbess on a day-to-day
basis. (In smaller communities, called priories, the prior or
prioress is the superior, in place of the abbot or abbess.)
This individual often shoulders the majority of daily tasks
with regards to the maintenance of discipline and the
prompt execution of the superior’s orders. A prior is
always an ordained priest who may celebrate High Mass.
The prioress does not enjoy this privilege, but otherwise
performs precisely the same tasks.
The cellarer or cellaress is the individual in charge of
feeding the community, its guests, and the poor or infirm
sheltering at the monastery. The office’s duties encom-
pass the maintenance of supplies of staple foodstuffs in
sufficient quantities, the housing and feeding of all ser-
vants and lay brothers and, in some cases, the auditing of
the accounts for the monastery’s holdings. This office is
supported by the efforts of the kitchener, often charged
with the task of obtaining fresh foodstuffs from local
manors and markets and supplies from the cellarer, as well
as the actual preparation of meals.
55
 The refectorer supervises the refectory (the hall in
which monastics meet to take common meals) and its
furnishings. The pittancer oversees the dispensation of
pittances (extra dishes of meat or eggs) as the community
requires. The gardener tends to the community’s en-
closed garden. In larger communities, a staff of servants
assists all of these officers; in smaller communities, these
duties all belong to the cellarer.
The sacrist (also sacristan or sacristaness, if female)
is responsible for the maintenance of the altar service, the
procurement and care of sacred vestments and ceremo-
nial items and the baking of bread for use in services. The
sacrist also sees to the community’s timekeeping equip-
ment, the bells that ring the hours, the upkeep of the
church interior and the care of the graveyard. Sometimes,
the office of the sacrist and the office of the warden of the
shrines (who maintains any shrines to the monastery’s
patron saints and any relics contained in those shrines)
are rolled into one. Sometimes those offices are separate,
but closely related in duties.
The chamberlain is responsible for many of the
same tasks in a monastery as he or she would be in a
secular household: the procurement or replacement of
tools, clothing, bedding, firewood, and other sundry
necessities of life. In most cases, the chamberlain also
oversees the cutting of hair and the shaving of tonsures,
as well as regular bathing for the house’s inhabitants,
clerical as well as lay.
The almoner oversees the community’s charitable
donations to the poor, most often in the form of food
and clothing but occasionally shelter, as well. This
work often involves leaving the cloister to distribute
alms to the unfortunate in nearby secular communi-
ties, usually on a regular monthly basis.
The precentor (precentrix, if female) is often the
most soundly lettered person in the monastery, given
the task of overseeing the study and copying of books
as the head of the monastery scriptorium. Sometimes,
the precentor is also the head of the choir. In larger
houses, the librarian (who oversees the maintenance
of the monastery library and supplies the copyists with
the ink, parchment and other materials they require to
complete their tasks) supports the precentor.
The infirmarian is responsible for the administration
of the monastery’s infirmary, tending to the needs of the
sick and old in both the monastic and any resident secular
populations. This individual usually has some skill in the
healing arts, as well as knowledge of medicinal herbs and
therapeutic techniques. In smaller houses, the infirmary is
usually of modest size, often little more than a dormitory;
in larger houses, the infirmary may actually constitute an
entire complex by itself, complete with dormitories, refec-
tory, chapel, kitchen and any other necessary buildings.
Monastic Rights and Responsibilities
Monasteries and their rulers are among the most
powerful and influential land magnates in Christendom,
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
56 • COMPANION •
enjoying a host of rights and privileges guarded as
jealously as those of a secular lord. A large monastery
and its abbot or abbess occupy the same position,
managerially speaking, as any other land-holding baron.
They exploit their holdings in precisely the same way.
Even the most powerful monastery, however, does not
simply grow up around a religious community; a pa-
tron, generally a powerful secular or ecclesiastical noble,
must found the community itself. Even the most mod-
est community must meet this restriction, or else the
community’s claim to the lands on which they dwell is
suspect. Communities without patrons (or lands) rarely
survive for long. The monastic community must be
granted the land on which the monastery itself is
constructed and from which it may draw resources for
its own sustenance.
Such acts of patronage are attractive to potential
donors for numerous reasons: genuine piety; atone-
ment for past sins or spiritual insurance against future
transgressions; as a mark of the sponsor’s wealth or
status. Many monastic foundations have more than
one sponsor and benefactor. Cases exist of monasteries
formed by corporate bodies of individuals and families
who donate land and supplies to the community. Some
foundations are genuinely spontaneous acts of piety
and generosity. Others are meticulously planned-out
affairs involving the partitioning of a larger monastic
community into two or more smaller communities,
each with a resident cell of trained monks or nuns from
the same order.
In return for the largesse of the original donations,
the community is often expected to provide services to
the founder, usually of a religious nature. Prayers for the
soul of the benefactor and his family and burial in the
monastery graveyard are not uncommon provisions in
foundation agreements. Additionally, the benefactor
may reserve the right to choose or appoint members of
the community, either immediately or in the future,
and may have confirmation (or veto) power over the
election of the monastery’s superior.
As the monastery’s patron, the founder is the
individual to whom the monastery looks for the major-
ity of its support: material and financial as well as
physical and legal. The donations of the patron, as well
as sundry lesser benefactors, often supply a monastery
with some fraction of the food, clothing, candles, and
other necessities of communal monastic life, but these
benefices are generally not sufficient to entirely sup-
port the community.
Most monastic communities collect income from
the same sources available to secular lords. Donated
croplands are farmed and the produce stored to serve
the needs of the community, with the excess sold for
cash revenue. Flocks of sheep are often kept to supply
the monastery with a ready source of raw wool, for
community use or for sale. Woodlands are cleared for
timber; mines are dug to extract metal and mineral
deposits; fishponds, in addition to providing a staple of
the monastic diet, can be leased for harvest; arable land
can be farmed out to others for a fixed annual fee. Many
monasteries hold rights over one or more parish churches
and can receive handsome profits from these depen-
dencies. Monasteries housing popular pilgrim shrines
containing the relics of saints are permitted to charge
fees for access to these shrines. The oldest and largest
monastic foundations often hold their lands by knight
service and so are barons in the eyes of secular law,
capable of fielding substantial numbers of knights and
men-at-arms in times of war and holding places on
royal councils among the wealthy and powerful of the
secular world.
Monastic communities, however, while enjoying
many of the same rights and advantages of widespread
land ownership as secular lords, have one distinct
advantage that their counterparts lack. Monastic com-
munities are not subject to secular law, but canon law,
and canon law unabashedly favors the position of the
religious community over the complaints of any secu-
lar litigant. Canon law at this time is in a state of
considerable flux, hardening, stratifying, and reorga-
nizing to meet the needs of an extremely active political
phase in both the papacy and the general life of the
Church. The creation of the Holy Office of the Inqui-
sition has moved the enforcement of canon law into
entirely new realms of widespread, uniformly applied
religious justice, administered by a highly educated
class of jurist-inquisitor monks, the Dominican Order.
Prior to the Albigensian Crusade and the conse-
quences arising there from, canon law was often poorly
understood and even more poorly enforced. Specially
trained advocates, Church lawyers educated in the
arcane minutiae of canon law, had the deepest under-
standing of the considerable body of religious legal
theory and precedent. Their knowledge was often far
more detailed than that of the bishops, archbishops,
and abbots primarily responsible for enforcing that law.
This tendency toward lax enforcement — particularly
with regards to accusations of heresy — led to vigorous
reform as well as political clashes, as canon law became
more rigidly defined and secular law began taking on
characteristics of canon law. Energetically enforced
canon law is a major source of irritation to secular
authorities, as even the most minor clerk can claim
benefit of clergy and the right to be tried in Church
courts, no matter what their crime might be.
Corruption within the Church
It’s an honored saw in every era that with great
power comes great responsibility. In the case of the
Church, the power is greater than even the power of
life and death – it is, in the eyes of its own members, the
secular authorities, and the common run of humanity,
the power to condemn a soul to eternal damnation.
Such power demands a higher form of accountability
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
and a more rigorous standard of behavior in its custo-
dians. The communities to which they belong, both lay
and religious, justifiably revile those monks, nuns, and
other clerics who fail to meet those demands and who
fall from Grace publicly.
Innumerable ways exist by which an individual
monastic might fall from Grace. The most common is
a deliberate or accidental breach of vows, or a trans-
gression against the order’s Rule of Life. Such things
can be as egregious as engaging in rampant carnality
with another in violation of a vow of celibacy, or as
mild as breaking the Lenten fast due to illness and
being required to eat proscribed foods at that time.
Depending on how public and how extreme the
transgression, it could be addressed in several ways. In
general, most monastic and secular religious founda-
tions prefer to keep their disciplinary actions in-house,
even in the case of such serious secular crimes as rape
and murder. There they administer justice according to
canon law and prescribed religious punishments. An
adulterous nun who bore her lover a child out of
wedlock might be punished by subjection to eremitic
cloister for the rest of her life, or she might be expelled
from her order entirely, depending on the situation
involved. A monk guilty of persistent insubordinate
behavior might be sentenced harsh penances: a bare-
foot pilgrimage in mid-winter, for instance. Unless the
breach of propriety was very public in nature, however,
such things rarely excite much notice among the laity.
On the other hand, the cultivation of wealth and
political influence for their own sakes (and the misuse
and misappropriation of Church funds for personal
comfort and aggrandizement) tend to be often noted
and bitterly reproached, from both the pulpit and
among the laity. Such things occur with depressing
frequency among the wealthier and more powerful
monastic foundations, which occasionally tend to for-
get that the pursuit of ephemeral wealth and power in
the temporal sphere is of secondary concern to their
real mission. When a monastery is sitting on top of a
gold mine in land rights and tax revenues, however, the
longing for a pure and true spiritual life can rapidly fade
in the face of avarice, with silver that purchases rich
food and comfortable clothing and a warm bed at
night. The widespread nepotism prevalent at certain
layers of the Church hierarchy is in many ways to blame
for this tendency. In some areas, the most senior
prelates are more political appointees than priests, the
relations of Cardinals who promised and provided a
remunerative post within the Church. Such breaches
in the contract of faith drive wedges between the
Church and the laity, hampering the life of many
Christian communities.
Tolerance for popular heresies or a failure to speak
out effectively against them also works against the
bond between a cleric and the laity, as does the some-
57
 times-pronounced ignorance among God’s own shep-
herds. Despite the generally higher level of education
that prevails among churchmen, some monks, nuns,
and parish priests are woefully unschooled in the spe-
cifics of their own faith. Such individuals make poor
combatants against the rise of sophisticated heresies,
and can even spread their own imperfect knowledge of
Scripture among the flock, giving birth to yet more
doctrinal errors. Minor flaws in teaching can produce
unintentionally terrible weaknesses in the armor of
faith, an issue of great importance to the people of the
time even without diabolic influences that stalk the
innocent. The only way to combat this failing, of
course, is to seek and obtain a higher standard of
education among the clergy — an uphill battle in an
era when books are costly to purchase and costly to
duplicate.
The Inquisition in the
Church
Among the orders of the Inquisition, the von
Murnau are born and the Oculi Dei chosen. The
clerical orders are all monastic or semi-monastic mili-
tary in origin, and entry into those orders is
accomplished according to their individual require-
ments. Male members of the shadow Inquisition,
however, have another option available to them: secu-
lar ordination.
Secular ordination is the process of taking Holy
Orders of a non-monastic variety. The canons regular
(the monastic clergy) profess vows that indicate their
desire to abandon the world and give themselves wholly
to Christ through a life of poverty, pious good works,
prayer and celibacy. The secular clergy profess vows that
permit them to remain in contact with the world, carrying
out the will and adoration of God through the central act
of worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, while main-
taining a life of Christian piety and chastity.
According to tradition, there exist four Minor
Orders (the Order of Porter, the Order of Reader, the
Order of Exorcist, and the Order of Acolyte) and three
Major Orders (the Order of Subdeacon, the Order of
Deacon, and the Order of Priest), each of which per-
form specific duties and hold specific obligations in
Christian worship, as well as enjoying specific privi-
leges. The Order of Porter (also known as Ostiariate,
the first of the Minor Orders) bears the responsibility
of guarding the doors and gates of the Church, the care
of the sacred vessels used during worship and the
bearing and opening of the sacred texts used by the
speaker. The Order of Reader (also called the Lectorate,
the second of the Minor Orders) bears the responsibil-
ity for the first portion of the Holy Mass, the Mass of the
catechumens (catechism) — the instructional part of
the service. They also form the body of the schola
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
58 • COMPANION •
cantorum and lead much of the liturgical singing that
takes place during Mass. The Order of Exorcist (the
Exorcistate, third of the Minor Orders) bears the re-
sponsibility for bringing spiritual healing to the flock,
the casting out of demons and devils and the rites of
physical and spiritual purification. The Order of Aco-
lyte (the Acolytate) is the fourth and highest of the
Minor Orders, whose duty and privilege is to assist the
members of the Major Orders during High Mass, caring
for the light, wine, and water during the holy Mass.
Minor Orders are not, technically speaking, a sacra-
ment bound by holy vows. Minorites may return to
secular pursuits if they choose to do so.
The Major Orders comprise the secular religious
celebrants of the Divine Office. The Order of the
Subdeacon (the Subdiaconate) is the first of these;
while also not a sacramental office, they are nonethe-
less ranked highly due to the privileges and duties
attached to the office. The Subdeacon assumes the
obligation of observing perfect chastity in the unmar-
ried state and takes the responsibility of reciting the
Divine Office, both for life. The Order of the Deacon
(the Diaconate) is the lowest order of the divinely
established hierarchy and is a true sacramental order.
The deacon is a true participant in the priesthood
inasmuch as he assists a priest or a bishop, usually both.
The deacon’s duties include assisting the priest in the
performance of High Mass, the distribution of Holy
Communion, the reading of the Gospel and preaching
to and instructing the laity.
The Order of Priest, the third and highest of the
Major Orders, is also a sacramental office. A priest is
very much a priest forever, “of the order of
Melchisedech.” He is expected to live a life of noble
character, adhering to faultless piety and chastity in
the unmarried state. His duties are the most important
of the secular clergy: the power to offer up the Holy
Sacrifice in the form of High Mass, the right to forgive
sin and the right to bless. Theoretically, any unmarried
Christian man may become a priest, including male
members of the monastic clergy.
The Poor Knights of the Passion of
the Cross of Acre
The Poor Knights have possibly the easiest road of
all the Inquisitorial orders to walk by virtue of their
very nature. While they may be a relatively young and
minor military order, the details of their commission
permits them a more legitimate excuse to leave cloister
than is possessed by either of the other clerical orders
of the Inquisition. They recruit not only from the
cream of those who apply directly for membership in
their own order, but also from all but a few of the other
military orders, creating a pool of seasoned military
men whose experience often tells the tale in confron-
tations with the Enemy. The sons of the von Murnau
and the Oculi Dei also enrich their ranks and broaden
the pool of resources available to them. All in all, it is
a good time to be a Poor Knight.
The Poor Knights arrange their days according to
the same structure as most of the other monastic
military orders. Like the Theodosians and the Sisters of
St. John, the Poor Knights rise for the first time at
Nocturns. It is celebrated in the commandery chapel
by the brothers in cloister and in the tent belonging to
the ordained priest among the Poor Knights in the
field. In both cases, the brothers say prayers and are
then dismissed to check on their horses and equip-
ment, speak to their squires if necessary, and either
retire again for a few more hours of rest or engage in
silent reading or private devotions.
At Prime, the Poor Knights rise again to begin
their day, usually with a full Mass in chapel attended by
the entire community; in the field, Prime usually only
marks the beginning of the workday. Following Mass,
orders for the day are handed out to those brothers in
cloister. These orders run the gamut of daily occupa-
tions for the monastery and include general
maintenance tasks (cleaning the chapel and refectory;
tending to the shrines of the monastery’s saints; tend-
ing to arms, armor and mounts; a term of attendance in
the infirmary or hospice) as well as short-range patrol
duty. Those cells of Poor Knights in the field are usually
already on long-range patrol duty or else carrying out
specific duties for the shadow Inquisition; these duties
take up the bulk of all daily activity, though the early
morning hours are usually spent caring for arms, equip-
ment, and animals.
At Sext, the Poor Knights pause in their activities to
attend High Mass (if Mass was not said earlier already),
and then to take the first of two communal meals. The
midday meal is silent except for the readings of the clerk,
who selects and delivers Biblical passages and psalms for
the edification of the brothers at their meal. Full knights
eat first, then sergeant-brothers, then squires; unlike the
purely monastic foundations, the military orders generally
take meat with their meals to maintain their strength,
though red meat is avoided on fast days. Knights in the
field usually hear High Mass at Sext and take their meal
communally without regard for rank, though they also
observe their vow of silence unless urgent matters need to
be discussed.
Work continues for the rest of the day until None,
when knights in cloister attend services in chapel. This
is followed by meetings as necessary among inquisito-
rial cells or with the senior members of the order to
discuss matters pertaining to inquisitorial duties. Poor
Knights in the field generally say brief prayers at Nones
and begin searching for a place to settle for the night if
they do not have a chapter-house or other shelter to
which they may return.
Among the Poor Knights, Vespers service is a vigil
for the dead, followed by the second of the day’s meals
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
and another opportunity for private devotions. This is
the same in both the cloister and the field. The last
drink of the evening, the final check on horses and
equipment and any consultation with squires that
might be necessary follows Compline service, and
then, at last, bed.
COMMAND STRUCTURE
WITHIN THE POOR KNIGHTS
C he Poor Knights possess the most rigidly
defined chain of command in the shadow
Inquisition, which is only fitting given its unique
position within that organization. At the top of
this hierarchy stands the aged Grand Master
Gauthier de Dampiere, whose health is declining
rapidly despite the best efforts of his staff to keep
him alive. It is very likely that the Poor Knights
will need to elect a new head of their order before
the year is out. Consequently, the Commanders of
the Tongues have begun jockeying for position,
each one finding the excuse to either personally
travel to Cyprus and visit the dying Gauthier, to
send a personal envoy, or at the very least to write.
There are eight Commanders of the Tongues,
one for each region in which the Poor Knights have
a presence. Beneath them are arranged the Knight
Commanders of individual monasteries. If Gauthier
chooses to give his personal approbation to one of the
Commanders of the Tongues, it may ease the elec-
tion of his eventual successor — or it may demolish
the upper reaches of the Poor Knight command
structure. Only time will tell on this issue.
Standing as an equal to the Commanders of the
Tongues is the Commander of the True Cross, the
Knight Castellan of the Fortress of the Cross, Gauthier
de Dampiere’s sharp-tongued left hand, Sir Jehan de
la Croix. Sir Jehan, despite the favor he finds in
Gauthier’s eyes, has been all but discounted as a
candidate for Grand Master. This is due primarily to
his youth and the fact that, at Gauthier’s strange
insistence, he has never personally commanded troops
in the field, though his inquisitorial cell is a precision
instrument of destruction.
The head of a Poor Knight monastery is its
Knight Commander or Knight Seneschal, whose
duties and privileges are identical to those of an
abbot while in cloister and a general while in the
field. Beneath him are the Knight Castellan (a
rank roughly equal to that of the prior in a regular
monastery and co-commander of the Knight Broth-
ers), the Turcoplier (the Commander of the
Sergeants of Battle), the Under-Marshal (the
Commander of the footmen), the Knight Broth-
ers, the Sergeant Brothers of Battle, and the
Standard Bearer.
59
 The Poor Knights are forbidden from owning pri-
vate property by their vows of poverty. Everything they
possess and travel with is issued to them by their
chapter-house, including horses, arms, armor, bed-
ding, and clothing. Poor Knights in cloister sleep in a
single dormitory divided into simple cells, containing
only space enough for their sleeping pallet and a chest
for storing clothing and mail. The dormitory generally
contains no fireplace, but braziers and charcoal are
provided in the case of exceptionally cold weather. A
single light is left burning all night for purposes of
safety. They are expected to wash their hands and faces
daily, their feet at least weekly, and bathe completely
at least twice a year. Anything more than that is
generally considered a sign of unseemly vanity. They
tend to favor short-cropped hair to help keep the lice
and fleas away.
The Poor Knights do not grant any greater weight
to the accomplishments of those brothers who mani-
fest the blessings of God when it comes to the
determination of rank or responsibility. Most Knight
Commanders value general competence more keenly
than the most spectacular display of divine providence;
competence, after all, is flexible and useful in more
places than the battlefield.
To young knight brothers flush with the gifts of
God and their first real victories against the Enemy,
this can seem like a tremendously backward way of
doing things. The first manifestation of God’s blessings
can, for a Poor Knight, be a heady thing comprised of
equal parts adrenaline rush and the exaltation of a truly
divine ecstasy. It is usually powerful enough to addle
the brains of even combat-hardened veterans, much
less excitable young men on their first missions outside
the cloister. It often has the annoying habit of simulta-
neously damaging a Knight’s humility and rendering
him drunk on his own righteousness. The Poor Knights
have consequently developed numerous strategies for
counteracting this effect.
No matter how skilled an individual Knight might
be or how highly sought-after his prowess, no Poor
Knight is permitted to spend all of his time in the field.
At least one third of each year must be spent in cloister,
attending to those duties that do not involve smiting
the minions of the Enemy with the strength of the Lord
and performing tasks intended to keep the knights in
contact with their own humanity. The most obnoxious
offenders are often given the most spiritually humbling
tasks, more often than not duties in the commandery
hospice, tending to the needs of the pilgrims whose
protection is one of their primary duties. A stint wash-
ing and bandaging the blistered feet of the faithful,
cleaning their clothing, preparing their meals, tending
their wounds and (in some cases) delivering their
children, is often sufficient to restore even the most
severely Conviction-drunk Poor Knight to something
resembling common sense.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
60 • COMPANION •
HAGIOGRAPHY AMONG THE POOR KNIGHTS
7
agiography is the study of the lives of the
saints, usually for the specific purpose of
edifying the soul. Contemplation of the blameless
lives of the sainted and blessed dead and prayer to
those beings for divine intercession is considered
a sacred act among Christians. In the popular
imagination, Heaven is populated with ethereal
beings that can grasp the hem of God and beg aid
for a soul in need, if properly approached. The
Poor Knights use the study of hagiography for this
purpose as well. Their commanderies are usually
founded in the names of suitably martial saints or
those saints whose relics reside in the commandery
chapel and shrines.
Most hagiographic writing tends to play some-
what fast and loose with the actual historical
events of a saint’s life. Such authors often prefer to
frame the stories in terms of Biblical lessons or
morality sketches designed to teach a specific
religious principle, whether or not the saint in
question ever said the words or performed the
actions ascribed to them. The Poor Knights tend
to be somewhat more rigorous in their research
ethic. While it is often difficult to sort the wheat
from the chaff at a thousand years remove, the
Poor Knights do their best to determine the actual
truth of a saint’s life or actions, the better to
catalogue their relics accurately and to determine
what specific effects, if any, a relic might possess.
A saint renowned for his Christ-like compassion
would generally not, after all, produce a relic
whose nature would lend itself to a martial pur-
pose; similarly, the relics of martial saints might
not be much use when trying to invoke prayers of
healing. Each thing under Heaven to its own
purpose and place, after all.
Those Knights who possess the inclination and the
skill are set to rearing the order’s oblates and orphans,
training and instructing the squires in their duties and
overseeing the activities of the younger Knights. Those
brothers of more scholarly inclination are given the task
of cataloguing the origins and functions of any holy relics
possessed by individual chapter-houses. This task often
involves the researching of and writing about the lives of
the saints to whom the relics originally belonged. Thus,
the Poor Knights often double as the shadow Inquisition’s
resident hagiographers and specialist historians in the
lives of the sainted and the blessed.
Player’s Toolbox
Questions to Ask and Answer:
Where does the character come from? To which
tongue of the Poor Knights does he belong (see p. 130
of Dark Ages: Inquisitor)? Did he grow up in the
order? If so, was his father a Knight or a member of one
of the other Inquisitorial orders, or was he an oblate?
Did he join the order completely willingly or was it
something his family expected of him? Is the character
genuinely pious? Is the character of completely martial
temperament? Studious temperament? What are his
primary duties in the commandery when he is not in
the field? Which duties does he like best and why?
Which duties does he dislike most and why? Does he
find the vows he took when joining the order onerous
or does he find it easy to live within the framework of
the order?
Character Concepts:
• The character is the youngest son of a noble
family. While Holy Orders were something he ex-
pected out of life, he in no way expected to end up in
the only military order professionally devoted to hunt-
ing down and slaying monsters. Expecting to find
himself in a foundation like the Templars or the
Hospitalers, the character has instead found himself
thrust into the dark underbelly of the world and en-
gaged in a struggle whose existence, and importance,
he never even suspected as the callow and privileged
son of nobility. Even worse, he has discovered that the
influence his father wields in secular society places his
own family in danger from the enemy.
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
• The character is an oblate raised within the
order from earliest childhood, most likely an orphan of
the Enemy’s malice. As such, he carries a wicked
grudge along with a considerable ration of skill and
drive. While he cannot wait to get into the field and
face the creatures that so deformed his life; his superiors
are rather justifiably worried that vengeance is not the
worthiest reason to take up arms against the Enemy.
They are equally concerned for the state of his soul.
• The character is an older and more experienced
knight from another military order who came to the
Poor Knights after witnessing a supernatural manifes-
tation of great horror. Perhaps he found a vampire or
other such demon lairing within his own chapter-
house, or perhaps he witnessed one of his own sworn
brothers being torn to shreds by a wolf-creature. What-
ever the impetus, he has come to the Poor Knights
seeking knowledge of the Enemy and bringing his
experience on the field of battle as well as the politics
of the commandery.
The Order of St. Theodosius
The Red Order is arguably the most unusual mo-
nastic order currently in existence. Above all other
things, the Theodosians break one of the most funda-
mental rules of monastic endeavor; for them, in many
ways, the pursuit of knowledge and education exists as
61
 an end unto itself, not only a way to more fully under-
stand the scriptures and the mind of God revealed
therein. Curiosity is the engine that drives most of the
Red Brethren, the relentless desire study, learn, and
know. The most intensely intellectual of the orders,
their standards of entry are high, their Rule of Life
unique, and their mission of vital importance to the
defense of Christendom.
The Red Order, however, is not completely differ-
ent from every other monastic order. Theodosian
monasteries celebrate the same rites of the Divine
Office as every other religious foundation; they rise,
pray, work and sleep on almost entirely the same
schedule. Their day begins in the middle of the night
with the Nocturns vigil for the dead and ends with
confession at Compline, as the sun slips below the
horizon. It’s the parts in-between where the greatest
variations in life occur.
Theodosians are primarily scholars and research-
ers. Where the monks and nuns of any other order
would spend the majority of their day’s labors at the
humble tasks of sustaining and maintaining their prop-
erty and dependents, the Red Brethren delegate those
tasks to lay brothers and sisters associated with their
monasteries, or to servants hired to perform specific
tasks. It’s the rare Theodosian who voluntarily spends
her days up to the elbows in soapy water helping with
the laundry or cleaning the chapel.
Instead, when the members of the Red Order rise
at Nocturns, they begin a vigorous course of daily
prayer, study and experimentation. As with every other
monastic foundation, the eight cycles of the Divine
Office are performed communally. The majority of the
OF THE VOWS OF ST. THEODOSIUS
B ainted Theodosius was a man ahead of his
time, a former heretic intellectual and
philosopher gifted with great wisdom and fore-
sight. When he formulated his Rule, he
acknowledged in it the need for those who would
follow his calling to interact far more than was
common among the early adherents to the monas-
tic movement. As such, the Theodosian Rule itself
contains few restrictions with regards to associa-
tion between Red Brothers and Red Sisters (though
that degree of license has since been edited to
bring the Theodosians more closely in line with
standard monastic practice) and no vow of silence
(which has not been required of the Theodosians,
despite repeated efforts to foist this stricture on
them). The Red Brethren therefore communicate
among themselves more freely than in most mo-
nastic foundations, where conversation is
considered an unnecessary distraction from both
prayer and work.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
62 • COMPANION •
community is expected to attend these services, but a
substantial portion of every Theodosian community
has permission to practice these prayers privately if
attending the service will seriously impair the perfor-
mance of their duties. Lectio divina worship among
individuals and groups engaged in similar tasks is
extremely common among the Red Brethren, who
sometimes have difficulty tearing themselves away
from whatever fascinating thing they’re working on
even to answer the call of God. Even so, they are rarely
permitted to avoid communal worship entirely. The
prior or prioress of the monastery is usually given the
additional task of tracking the attendance of the
community’s members and making certain that absen-
teeism does not become a habit. Even those Red
Brethren permitted to worship privately are expected
to attend communal services at least thrice daily,
usually the specific services of Nocturns, Compline,
and either Morrow Mass or High Mass.
The Theodosian cycle of research begins on the
second hour after Nocturns and persists until the hour
of Sext. During these hours, the Red Brethren are
permitted to read and consult with one another as their
research requires, to consult with any fellow inquisitors
of other orders present in the monastery or any local
secular communities, and to speak with any residents of
the infirmary or lay brethren who might be sources of
information. From Sext to Compline, they are permit-
ted to continue their researches if necessary. While the
sun is high, however, they are expected to do a certain
amount of genuinely practical work, such as copying in
the scriptorium, taking depositions from fellow in-
quisitors, writing of their own experiences for the
order’s records, engaging in experimentation with the
applications of the Holy Art and, in some cases, help-
ing maintain the order’s property. Those Red Brethren
who do not practice the Holy Art, for whatever reason,
often shoulder the majority of the order’s maintenance
tasks, either overseeing the lay brethren charged with
the actual physical labor or, in the case of a smaller
monastic house, performing it themselves.
A certain subtle snobbery exists within the Red
Order between those that practice the Holy Art and
those who do not. This tendency is by no means
encouraged, and is in fact vigorously punished with
penances designed to restore the offender’s humility
before God when it becomes too evident or obnoxious.
Human nature is human nature, however, even among
the Theodosians.
No one is quite certain why some Red Brethren find
it easier than others to learn the Holy Art, the special
cycles of prayers and invocations that call the Will of God
manifest into the world, or why some cannot learn it at all,
but theories abound. Most of those theories involve some
form of deep-seated moral or intellectual defect in the
brother or sister who cannot make use of this skill. Other
theories posit that a would-be theurgist cannot be in a
state of sin with unconfessed transgressions, no matter
how minor, weighing on the soul. Those Red Brethren
who cannot or choose not to practice the Holy Art
naturally tend to find these theories rather insulting. They
do not have any better explanations, unfortunately, ex-
cept among those individuals who have deliberately
chosen not to learn the Holy Art. Such individuals tend
to coolly point out that there are some forces with which
one should simply not meddle, even in the name of God.
In most cases, the theurgists of the Red Order are
made, not born. Unlike the Sisters of St. John, the Red
Brethren rarely manifest any “wild” expression of power,
even God’s favor, before they enter the monastery and
begin their training. The option to pursue tuition in
the use of the Holy Art is just that — an option, one of
many, and no official stigma attaches to those Red
Brethren who choose not to pursue that course of
study. Once a Theodosian passes her novitiate and
takes final vows, she is permitted to study the Holy Art,
to support the monastery in a more normalized role, or
to join the majority of the order in its researches on the
Enemy and the development of practical methods of
dealing with those foes in the absence of the Holy Art.
The Red Brethren who opt to study the Holy Art are
almost regarded as a separate population, as their duties
require a more intensive program of private lessons and
practice time in order to master them. They do not live
apart from the rest of the monastery population, but a
subtle separation in attitudes nonetheless persists despite
the efforts of most Theodosian abbots and priors to
discourage it. They are, after all, a community, and for the
most part the Red Brethren remember this fact well,
despite the propensity for personality conflicts. The
theurgists do not come by their power cheaply.
Among the practitioners of the Holy Art, the appear-
ance of some form of stigmata is the most common sign of
their mastery and, theoretically, their close communion
with God and Christ. Bearing the stigmata is often a sign
of supreme human holiness, a piety and humility that
raises the bearer into a higher spiritual plane. They are
literally regarded as the co-sufferers of Christ himself,
chosen to experience His pain and His sorrow for precisely
the same end, the expiation of the sins of the world. The
mere appearance of the wounds, therefore, without the
corresponding ecstatic experience of the suffering that
came with them — the ecstasy suffered by true saints and
the blessed — is considered an empty symbol, absent of its
true meaning.
Many among the Red Brethren bear some mark of
the stigmata — the punctured hands and feet, the scars
of the whip or the crown of thorns, very occasionally
the wound to the side — but rarely do they genuinely
experience the ecstasy of the Passion itself. Some
extremely few Red Brethren manifest the physical and
spiritual anguish of the stigmata without showing a
visible symptom — another sign of supreme holiness
and humility before God. To many lay observers of the

• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION • 63
 phenomenon, very little practical difference separates
a stigmatic who suffers the wounds and a stigmatic who
suffers the wounds and the Passion; the person is
considered holy regardless. Among other theologians,
however, the disjoined manifestation is troubling.
The possibility that some might be falsifying the
Stigmata is a loathsome thought and a dangerous accusa-
tion to make — there has, after all, only been one true and
confirmed stigmatic in the history of the Church thus far,
and that is St. Francis of Assisi. No one quite knows what
forms all its manifestations might take, and few are willing
to completely define the phenomenon into a rigid set
appearances that must be met for it to be true as of yet.
Among the Red Brethren, those who bear the Stigmata
are, provisionally at least, regarded as what they appear to
be, the chosen co-sufferers of Christ’s Passion. Those
practitioners of the Holy Art whose wounds are of less
exalted nature often take prayers with their more fortu-
nate brethren and seek after them for spiritual guidance.
Player’s Toolbox
Questions to Ask and Answer:
Where did your character come from? Was he or
she of noble birth? Gentle? Humble? Why did your
character choose the Red Order over any of the other
contemplative orders available? Did your character
join the Church willingly, or was your character oblated
against her will? Does your character practice the Holy
Art and, if so, why did she pursue that course of study?
If your character practices the Holy Art, how does the
curse manifest itself and how does the character ex-
plain that manifestation to herself and others? If your
character chooses not to pursue education in the Holy
Art, why did she make that decision? If your character
pursues the study of the Enemy, what area of study does
she specialize in, or is she a generalist? Does your
character engage in practical applications of theory
when it comes to fighting the Enemy? If your character
is male, has he chosen to become an ordained priest in
addition to being a monk? How did your character
meet the rest of her cell and how does she get along
with them?
Character Concepts:
• The character is a completely ordinary monk or
nun, but of a strange background that gives your fellow
inquisitors pause. Perhaps you come from a long line of
heretics with whom you broke faith, or perhaps you’re
a Curse-free cousin of the von Murnau, whose strange
reputation clings to you nonetheless. You resent the
questioning and suspicion, for you came to the service
of God with a fully willing heart, but at the same time
you cannot blame your compatriots for not trusting you
completely. You are driven to prove yourself and rise
above the iniquities of your origin.
• The character is a true stigmatic, whether or not
he or she practices the Holy Art. The character’s palms
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
64 • COMPANION •
and feet are pierced as though by nails, the character’s
back bears the marks of the lash and the brow the
crown of thorns, and on several terrible occasions the
character’s side has been pierced as though by a lance.
More importantly, the character experiences the ec-
stasy of the Passion, the transcendent agony of Christ
by which he paid for the sins of the world, a trancelike
state which can last for days and which can usually only
be broken by the administration of the sacrament of
Communion. The character may be exceedingly pious
and humble, a true living saint, or may be as confused
and frightened as some true stigmatics are at the first
manifestation of such grace. In any case, the character
is unlikely to live a quiet life as a servant of the shadow
Inquisition.
• The character, like the true stigmatic, has a
rather hard road to walk. A practitioner of the Holy
Art, he or she, rather than manifesting the marks of the
stigmata, displays curse-signs of obviously unholy prov-
enance. Perhaps her body is covered in pustules or boils
that burst and leak rancid fluid that stains everything
it touches, or perhaps he has an unhealing wound that
exudes the stench of rotting flesh, feces, or some other
revolting substance. The manifestation of the curse
does not permit itself to be concealed for long, but the
character does not wish to withdraw from the service of
the Inquisition. He is genuinely pious and believes that
this is the cross he must bear in order to serve the needs
of others.
The Sisters of St. John
In the minds of many of their fellows, the Sisters of
St. John are the only proper nuns involved in the holy
enterprise of the Inquisition. The Red Sisters are often
regarded as far too forward and lacking the proper
humility of true brides of Christ, as well as being
somewhat on the witchy side. The Sisters of St. John
generally tend to demur on this line of reasoning,
regarding their Theodosian sisters less as obnoxious
than as adhering faithfully to the Rule of their order,
which enjoins them to do certain things in pursuit of
spiritual perfection and service to God. That those
things often involve leaving cloister to research, teach,
travel and learn is simply an advantage enjoyed by the
Red Order. The Sisters of St. John do not begrudge
them that freedom — nor do they necessarily desire it
for themselves.
The Sisters of St. John are the most highly struc-
tured of the clerical orders of the Inquisition — and
this rigid structure is vitally necessary to the support of
its members. In an order where one in five young
women is possessed of a visionary talent that can strike
at random and leave its victim incapacitated with
terror and pain, unable to help herself or others, a
strongly established routine of daily life often helps
retain at least the veneer of normality.

MUSICAL TERMINOLOGY
The Sisters of St. John involve music in many
of their rites and services, even during those
private devotions wherein song is not explicitly
required. They have discovered, through trial and
error, that the act of singing, chanting, or other-
wise giving voice to joy in the Lord sometimes
soothes a Sister in the grip of her vision. If
performed by a visionary Sister, it can sometimes
trigger a gentler and more focused sort of vision.
• Antiphon: From the Greek, meaning
“sounding across.” A religious chant, sung as a
response between a single voice and a group of
voices or two different groups of singers, so that
the lines of the song move back and forth between
them.
• Canticle: A hymn with Biblical words used
in Christian worship.
• Chant: From plainchant or plainsong; a simple
type of harmonized melody, consisting of a single
line of unaccompanied vocal melody in free
rhythm with no regular bar lengths.
• Choir: A group of singers in a church or
other place of worship.
• Church Cantata: A choral work written
for performance during a church service.
• Hymn: Traditionally a song addressed to
God or a saint.
• Polyphony: Works in which many lines of
music are played or sung together, creating com-
plex harmonies.
• Psalm: One of the 150 songs attributed to
David in the Biblical Book of Psalms; commonly
performed as a part of many services in which
singing is an appropriate expression of worship.
• Psalter: An edition of The Book of Psalms
translated into the vernacular, often including
musical notation and rhymed text.
As with the Poor Knights and the Theodosians, the
Holy Sisters begin their day at Nocturns. It is the simplest
service of the Divine Office in terms of musical perfor-
mance, involving only the spoken or sung recitation of
appropriate psalms. The Holy Sisters consider Nocturns
an office for the dead, offering prayers to the proper
intercessory saints for the souls of their fellow inquisitors
fallen in battle against the Enemy.
Following Nocturns, most of the Sisters spend the
hours until Matins engaged in personal devotions,
reading silently in private or gathering in small worship
groups for silent or spoken reading. This time is used to
set their minds in order for the remainder of the day.
Matins is the first service that involves the full choir of
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
the Holy Sisters and is invariably chanted or sung with
great energy.
When the household is dismissed from Prime,
another period of time is allotted for private devotions,
reading, washing, or other preparations for the work
day. Morrow Mass is celebrated daily at Terce, with the
full complement of liturgical song rigidly observed.
Many visionary sisters experience flashes of the Holy
Sight during Prime services or Morrow Mass; no one is
quite certain why this is, but it occurs with a certain
predictable regularity nonetheless.
After Morrow Mass, the chapter meets and daily
work tasks are assigned to those Sisters fit for labor. This
is usually the majority of the monastery’s resident popula-
tion, despite the physical and mental rigors of bearing the
Holy Sight. Those Sisters too ill to labor vigorously are
usually confined to the infirmary or the dormitory, where
they are permitted to recover and work on those tasks that
will not further risk their health.
Infirm visionaries make most of the small handi-
crafts sold by the Holy Sisters. They also do much of the
sewing of new clothing and the repair of old clothing.
Maintenance tasks are carried out by any Sister capable
of performing them, visionary or otherwise, and usually
involve cleaning, tending the monastery garden, tend-
ing the shrines of the saints or the chapel, and caring for
the unfortunates resident in the monastery hospital.
While conversation between Sisters is frowned upon,
individual Sisters are permitted to sing as they go about
their tasks. This sometimes develops into spontaneous
expressions of antiphonic and polyphonic music.
High Mass, another sung Mass, takes place at Sext
with very little variation in text or song. The pieces are
chosen at the beginning of the week and remain the
same each day of that week. Sext is usually closely
followed by None, which is another brief service with
very little variation. The Sisters take their first meal
shortly thereafter. The meal is silent except for the
Sister or chaplain reading Biblical selections, and no
song is permitted during it. Afternoon work is often
related to a Sister’s duties as a member of the shadow
Inquisition. It consumes the hours until supper, the
second silent meal of the day, and Vespers.
In the monasteries of the Holy Sisters, Vespers is a
service that involves almost as much liturgical song as
Morrow Mass, and is generally an uplifting way to end
the day. The Sisters change into their night-shoes just
before Compline, which marks the formal end of their
day and is often the service where the order inserts a
third Mass, in honor of the Virgin. After this, the
Sisters retire.
The Sisters of St. John cling to their routine with
a ferocity that shocks even their fellow monastics at
times, even in the rare occasions that they’re deployed
in the field. This is particularly true of visionary Sisters,
for whom the normalized rhythms of monastic life are
65
 a bastion against the chaos that sometimes rages be-
hind their gentle eyes. The onset of the Holy Sight
casts a woman adrift from everything she used to know,
everything she once believed safe. It is not uncommon
for young visionaries to retreat into themselves, lapsing
into catatonia rather than meeting the challenge of
their gift head-on. Such young women often end up the
inmates of hospitals operated by the Sisters of St. John
among other charitable organizations, and must be
lured back into contact with the world whether they
want to come or not.
The Sisters have become expert in diagnosing the
onset of the Holy Sight and gathering such endangered
girls to them for their own safety and training. Once
within the cloister, such young women find themselves
wrapped in the arms of a comforting routine and a
community that finally, at last, understands them for
what they are — gifted by God, neither freakish mon-
strosities nor possessed, nor mad.
The visionary Sisters, however, are generally
not the only or even the largest component of their
communities. Only one in five girls who take Holy
Orders with the Sisters of St. John actually possess
any visionary talents. The majority are young women
of strong conscience who come to the order out of
the desire to serve God and their fellow Christians.
Many of these young women embrace the structure
of the Sisters’ lifestyle wholeheartedly for the com-
fort and security it provides, the feeling of belonging
to something greater and more lasting than them-
selves. Most take service with the shadow Inquisition
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
66 • COMPANION •
gladly, grateful to have the chance to help more
actively than they would as a layperson. They sup-
port the efforts of their visionary sisters, serving as
escorts, clerks, physicians and counselors. Their
contributions are many both inside their order and
in the world beyond the walls of their monastery.
Player’s Toolbox
Questions to Ask and Answer:
How did the character come to the attention of the
Sisters of St. John? Is she a visionary? If so, how did her
powers first manifest? How did her family react? Did
they give her up willingly to the care of the Holy
Sisters? Is she still in contact with her family or were
they glad to see her go? If the character is not a
visionary, why did she choose the Sisters of St. John?
Does she serve as a protector and guardian to a vision-
ary Sister, or does she serve the shadow Inquisition in
some other capacity?
Character Concepts:
• The character is a non-visionary Sister who was
foisted off on the order for the time-honored reason:
too many daughters, not enough dowry to go around.
She is angry and bitter; more to the point, she’s tooth-
grindingly jealous of the visionary Sisters who receive
so much attention and praise. While not treacherous or
untrustworthy, she is desperate in her desire to be more
than just a “normal girl” — she would do just about
anything to catch even a single glimpse of the Holy
Sight, and doesn’t understand why so many people pity
(or envy) her ignorance.
 • The character is a visionary Sister who is af-
flicted quite regularly with visions so vague that they
only make sense in hindsight. This is damnably annoy-
ing when all the other visionary Sisters are busy
complaining about how vivid, terrifying, and specific
their visions are. Perhaps the character simply hasn’t
figured out the precise means she needs to use to make
her vision focus, or perhaps she’s doomed to be the
Nostradamus of the Sisters of St. John and had best
take up writing rhyming quatrains right now. Her cell
is trying quite hard to be supportive and provide the
tools that she needs to clarify her visions; only time will
tell if their efforts are successful.
• The character is a visionary Sister who actively
fears her Holy Sight. At some time in the past, she was
gifted with a truly horrendous vision — a vision so pure
in its evil that it nearly broke her, both physically and
mentally. She has suppressed all conscious recollection
of the vision’s specifics but every now and then, some-
thing will set her off — a snippet of song, a moment of
deja vu, an off-hand remark, and the vision will mo-
mentarily recur in the form of a minor flashback. She
is extremely afraid that the vision had something to do
with her cell, her order, her family or someone that she
loves. She fears the doom or death of the things she
cares about, and is torn between the anguish of having
to watch it happen again and the pain of not knowing
if she might do something to prevent it, if she had the
courage to invite that vision to return.
The House of Murnau
Being born into the ancient and noble House of
Murnau is much like being born into any other family
of similar social status and political rank. From birth,
young von Murnau are expected to uphold the honor,
dignity, and reputation of the House. They are to study
earnestly at the knees of their tutors in all subjects
academic and martial, to accept and execute such
duties as they are granted responsibly and with all
gravity, and to obey the wishes of their parents and act
in accordance with the decrees of the head of the
household in all things. In theory, at least, this is how
von Murnau family life is supposed to function.
In practice, life in the von Murnau clan matches
the platonic ideal of the medieval family about as often
as every other noble house in existence, which is to say,
rarely. Young von Murnau cover the entire range from
obsequiously respectful to outright rebellious, with
every shade of personality in between. Generational
conflicts spring up with predictable regularity. The
results are equally predictable, leaving acrimony,
whether lasting or fleeting, short-term chaos and long-
term bitterness.
Individual branches of the family tree cleave closer to
the main body of the kin group than others; some von
Murnau cousins have never even met each other, while
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
THE MURNAU FAMILY TREE
0
good starting point for Murnau character
creation is figuring out where that character
would fit into the family tree. The Murnau, like every
other medieval noble family, has numerous branches,
cadet lines, and well-charted relationships with other
families of similar status. While the Murnau tend to
keep a closer eye on their male line relations (for
purposes of inheritance as well as the indisputable fact
that the Curse tends to dog the male descendants of
the family and their children much more vigorously),
they also keep relatively close track of distaff family
lines, as well. The distaff lines tend to produce Curse-
bearers with chartable regularity, usually in the form
of “skipped” generations. Grandchildren and great-
great-grandchildren of Murnau women who married
out of the family may suddenly manifest the taint of
their foremothers’ blood.
The von Murnau also have a tendency to
marry their cousins, a habit shared by nearly every
other noble and royal house in Christendom. In
the case of the von Murnau, this practice permits
the family to exercise a certain degree of control
over the spread of the Curse and the reaction of
the spouse to its existence. Even so, the Murnau
try not to marry too often within the seven pro-
scribed degrees of consanguinity, lest the tendency
become so marked that other families or un-
friendly eyes within the Church notice it — or
they breed themselves into extinction.
As of 1230, the main Bavarian “tree” of the
family is quite large. Leopold the Bear, the father
of the current Count of Murnau, was the eldest of
six children (four sons, two daughters), all but two
of whom married and produced prodigious litters
of little von Murnau. Leopold himself produced
four sons (Leopold II, first of the von Murnau
Inquisitors; Frederick, the current Count of
Murnau; and the ill-fated twins Weyland and
Wilhelm) and two daughters (Franziska,
Frederick’s frequently married and unfortunately
childless twin sister, and Agathe, happily married
and the mother of many children). Count Frederick
himself has been amazingly prolific, producing a
staggering thirteen legitimate children with three
wives and no doubt a bastard or six as a result of
extramarital liaisons. As a result, possession of the
von Murnau county seat, Murnauer Berg, is firmly
in the hands of the Bavarian line of the family for
at least the foreseeable future. Cadet branches of
the family exist in the Duchy of Austria, the
Duchy of Burgundy, the County of Saxony and
the Kingdom of Hungary, with far-flung Murnau
relations pursuing their lives and duties as far west
as England and as far south as Sicily.
67

GODPARENTING
3 espite the mutterings of their inquisito
rial colleagues, the members of the House
of Murnau are a good, Christian family. Newborn
von Murnau are baptized and Christened as all
infants are, usually on the day of their birth, and
provided with godparents whose duty it is to see to
the child’s religious education (two godfathers
and one godmother for a boy, two godmothers and
one godfather for a girl. They are unrelated by
blood or marriage, often family friends or local lay
clergy). Within the House, however, the child is
often assigned another “godparent,” the mentor
who will school the child on the nature of the
Curse, how to hide it and how to use it. This
pseudo-godparent is usually an aunt, older female
cousin or elder sister if the child is female, or an
uncle, older male cousin or elder brother if the
child is male.
others are raised beneath the same roof, so close as to be
siblings. Individual families are poorer or wealthier than
others because of past partitions of the house’s patrimony,
the clever use (or egregious misuse) of resources, or the
shifting fortune of marriage alliances.
Most young von Murnau are reared in an environ-
ment of relatively certain privilege. The County of Murnau
is rich in land from the family’s own possessions as well as
fortuitous marriage-alliances. Possessions scattered across
the length of Germany keep a steady flow of revenue from
taxes, manorial courts, rents and profits from mercantile
interests flowing into Murnau coffers. Being the offspring
of a powerful family, no matter how widely scattered,
most von Murnau children rarely lack when it comes to
the satisfaction of their material needs. They often enjoy
a higher standard of living than the lesser noble and
knightly households.
Murnau children are more likely to be reared by
their mothers than by a nurse for purposes of keeping
the oddities of Murnau family life from becoming the
grist of rumors. They typically enjoy closer maternal
bonds as a result. The early childhood years are spent
in much the same fashion as every other household —
the earliest years in play and learning to imitate the
actions of one’s elders, gradually blending into the
training received by young nobles all over Christendom.
Young von Murnau men are generally taught the
noble arts of rulership and warfare, and such scholar-
ship in letters and numbers as will stand them in good
stead once they assume a position of leadership. Young
von Murnau women are taught the desirable feminine
arts of household management as well as those social
refinements that add to their appeal and marriagability.
Tutors for the family’s children are often hired from
their own relatives in Holy Orders. Comparatively few
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
68 • COMPANION •
von Murnau daughters are sent to nunneries for rearing
and education, and even fewer von Murnau children
are married young. The later teens tend to predominate
as opposed to the early teens, due to the general
manifestation timing of the Curse. When von Murnau
children are fostered out to other households, they are
fostered exclusively to their own relatives.
The onset of the von Murnau Curse is, of course, one
of the more traumatic events in a family member’s life. It
is often one of the least predictable in terms of severity. All
von Murnau descended from the direct male line of
Christof von Murnau, legitimate or otherwise, bear the
Curse without fail. All of Christof’s daughters likewise
bore it, but their children, in some cases, escaped the taint
when they married outside the family. In general, the
weight of the von Murnau Curse tends to settle more
heavily on the shoulders of sons, grandsons, and nephews,
and transmits much more surely through their offspring.
When and why the Curse first manifests as it does is a
matter of some heated internal debate within the family
itself, and one that is in no serious danger of being resolved
any time soon.
The Curse normally manifests first in early adoles-
cence for both boys and girls, though the precise
severity and nature of that initial manifestation fluctu-
ates considerably. The most common manifestation
almost resembles a kind of allergic reaction. The young
von Murnau literally manifests a physical symptomatic
response to the presence of supernatural forces, wheez-
ing, developing hives or rashes, swollen eyes, and the
like. As the Curse-bearer grows older, this effect tends
to diminish somewhat in severity, becoming either
more manageable by sheer familiarity or, in some cases,
the Curse actually declines in sensitivity. Frederick II,
the heir of Murnau, manifested a particularly violent
initial reaction only to have the Curse subside into
virtual nonexistence once he reached adulthood. He
remains one of the least sensitive and least severely
afflicted of his father’s many children.
What precisely triggers that first manifestation can
be as much a mystery as the Curse itself. Sometimes a
definite incident can be pointed to (such as the especially
unpleasant circumstances that surrounded the awaken-
ing of Raganhard von Auschenbach: the discovery of his
brother’s corruption at the hands of a night-walking
monstrosity). Sometimes the Curse simply happens, like
a sudden growth spurt or developing breasts.
In very rare cases, the von Murnau Curse manifests
prior to adolescence. Early onset is usually severe to the
point of physical or mental debilitation. Brother Leopold
von Murnau manifested the Curse early, and the vicious-
ness of the Curse’s effects on his developing body rendered
him sickly for much of his childhood. In the current
generation, Gerhard von Murnau began showing signs of
the Curse as early as the age of five and remains highly
sensitive. He escaped being crippled by its effects prima-
rily due to the efforts of his brother Otto. Only rarely does
the Curse show itself in adulthood. When it does, the
expression tends to be rather weak.
As von Murnau children grow older, the manifesta-
tions of the Curse generally refine themselves. The early
allergic manifestation of irritated, newly awakened height-
ened awareness gives way to more sophisticated forms of
sensory input and physical reaction. Evil develops a scent,
a sound, a taste, a feel of its own; the body and mind of the
Curse-bearer develops a unique and individual response to
that perception. Moreover, as the Curse itself strengthens,
it tends to express itself in increasingly unpleasant ways.
As the von Murnau are exquisitely aware of the supernatu-
ral, supernatural forces also tend to become aware of them;
the Curse almost acts as a homing beacon for unclean
forces and draws down misfortune and maleficia of all
kinds, from petty personal difficulties to the much more
dangerous fascination of night-fiends and other monsters.
Of course, a handful of fortunate von Murnau
children in every generation manage to avoid becom-
ing the victims of their lineage’s unique heritage.
These lucky children enjoy the advantages and disad-
vantages of being normal inside the bounds of a
decidedly abnormal family. In general, they are brought
up in precisely the same way as their Curse-bearing
siblings and cousins; occasionally, they are even fa-
vored for their normality. It requires proportionally less
effort to raise and marry off an entirely Curse-free
child, after all. Such children tend to redound just as
favorably to the House, marrying into families where
strange, Curse-induced behavior would become an
unfortunate issue. Not surprisingly, resentment tends
to run high in the case of Cursed and un-Cursed
siblings and cousins; both sides tend to perceive the
other as “more special” in some way. This can lead to
considerable acrimony in childhood, spawning hurt
feelings and bitterness that can last into adulthood.
Player’s Toolbox
Questions to Ask and Answer:
When did the character manifest the Curse? How
severe was the initial manifestation, and was there a
specific trigger event involved? What was the character’s
first experience with the servants of the Adversary, and
how did that experience affect him? Who might he
have known that “went bad”? How did the character
come to join the Inquisition and in what capacity, lay
or clerical? If lay, is he a representative of his family, or
has he joined the Oculi Dei? If lay, what does he do for
a living, and from where does his income derive? If
clerical, which order and why? Does the character
belong to one of the orders of the shadow Inquisition or
one of the regular monastic or secular orders of the
Church? What branch of the family does he come
from? Legitimate or illegitimate? How does he relate to
his family in general, and specifically the other von
Murnau members of the shadow Inquisition?
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
Character Concepts:
• The character is one of those fortunate von
Murnau cousins who has managed to evade the Murnau
family Curse. Unfortunately that doesn’t help much, as
the character’s twin is a Curse-bearer and, in fact, got
approximately twice the normal “dose.” The sibling is
extremely bitter about this, needless to say. He may
very well have run off to seek some ungodly means of
rectifying the situation. This doesn’t endear the char-
acter to anyone.
• The character is a von Murnau member of one of
the other Inquisitor orders (a Poor Knight, a Theodosian
monk, or an Eye of God), or otherwise a member of a
monastic or secular religious fellowship. The character
has only recently been recruited, at the recommenda-
tion of the local Eyes of God, to act as a spy and an
informant in his or her monastery or cathedral chapter.
There are those who suspect that corruption has crept
into the house of God, and the character is expected to
help sniff it out. The problem? The character knows
that no such corruption exists, but suspects that the
originator of that accusation might very well have
fallen to the blandishments of the Enemy.
• The character is a rebel, with or without the von
Murnau family curse. He or she was offered a place in
the shadow Inquisition and turned it down for some
reason. Perhaps he’s a Curse-bearer who doesn’t want
to end up like Great-Uncle Ludveig, who went to his
grave at the age of twenty-four, frothing mad from the
abuse of his “gift” and wasted to a skeleton. Perhaps
she’s a daughter whose highest ambition is to settle
down with a fine husband on her dower lands and raise
a passel of (hopefully) Curse-free children. The family,
however, is not likely to let her evade her duty. This has
made her bitter, angry, and inclined to butt heads with
anyone who questions her “devotion” to a cause she
didn’t really choose.
The Oculi Dei
The Eyes of God are the most diverse order of the
shadow Inquisition. They are everywhere. They can be
anyone. They watch and they listen; they compile the
information that the more forceful orders use to take
action; they hide beneath the very noses of fiends and
devils, and call the vengeance of God down on such
things. The vast bulk of the order’s membership actu-
ally constitutes those of humble or gentle birth, despite
the noble origins of its founder, Rodrigue de Navarre.
Likewise, city-dwelling Eyes of God tend to predomi-
nate over country-dwellers, though a substantial number
of itinerant Eyes tend to dwell in the countryside when
they come to rest.
City-dwelling Oculi Dei tend to gravitate towards
certain ways of life. They are often involved in profes-
sions where they interact closely with others every day.
The merchant middle class, as an example, is ridden
69
 with individual Eyes. Whole cells hold membership in
influential guilds from Flanders to Florence. Many Eyes
of God serve in the local cathedral chapter in some
capacity: as priests in Holy Orders, as clerks in minor
orders, or as lay brethren. No small number of Eyes
serve in the city commanderies and preceptory houses
of the military orders, or monastic houses close to city
walls. They may be highly educated or entirely illiter-
ate, but in any case they are all in a position where they
may closely observe the daylight doings of their fellow
men. They take note of any suspicious patterns of
activity, soak up the local news and sort through the
information they take in to extract the useful details
from the chaff of gossip.
Few among the shadow Inquisition are as skillful as
the Eyes are when it comes to perceiving what others wish
to hide. Country-dwelling Oculi Dei often make their
homes in the larger towns and farmsteads, recruiting their
most trusted family members and neighbors to produce a
more tightly knit cell than those that occur in larger civic
areas. Such individuals are liable to be recruited from the
local manorial authorities — the reeve, the representa-
tives of an absentee landlord, the parish priest. Those
individuals usually enjoy at least a modicum of education
and a great deal of access to the manorial records and the
community to which they’re attached.
One of the most terrible burdens of the Oculi Dei is
the isolation and secrecy in which they pursue God’s
work. Enjoined by their order under pain of expulsion to
maintain rigid silence and absolute secrecy unless their
duties require them to come forth, the agents of the Oculi
Dei are expected to practice almost superhuman self-
sufficiency. The blessings that fall on them from above are
the subtlest of all the gifts granted to the Inquisition, as
quiet and unobtrusive as the Oculi Dei themselves. In
fact, many Eyes of God experience these blessings not as
an ecstatic union with the divine reported by so many of
their fellows, but as a silent reminder that someone does
see their work and does watch over them, in darkest night
and brightest day. It may not seem like much to the Poor
Knight who can draw upon endless reserves of strength on
the battlefield, or the Holy Sister who can see the hand of
the Enemy at work in the world, but it means a great deal
to the Eyes of God, both practically and psychologically.
Practically speaking, the Oculi Dei cannot afford
to draw attention to themselves. Many of their number
exist within extremely dangerous situations, perilously
close to the Enemy, where the slightest twinge of
divine influence can trigger a murderous response. The
hand of God that protects the Oculi Dei from danger
and exposure must therefore be clever, quick and light,
never obvious. Often, the Oculi Dei feel themselves
walking in the presence of angels even as they brush
elbows with the kin of Lucifer, protected and guided by
unseen forces. This can mean the difference between
sanity and madness, especially when the self-imposed
burden of silence that the Oculi Dei carry begins to
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
70 • COMPANION •
weight too heavily on them. Psychologically speaking,
the realization that there is indeed a divine guardian
watching over them, that angels do not fear to tread in
their shadows, can serve as a panacea to the self-
loathing and paranoia that tends to infest their minds.
Clinging to this realization and the knowledge that
they are, in truth, doing the right thing is often all that
saves the Eyes of God from madness.
Player’s Toolbox
Questions to Ask and Answer:
Where does the character come from? Is she of
noble birth? Gentle? Common? Did she grow up in the
country or is she a city mouse to the core of her being?
Why did she choose to join the Oculi Dei and what
events surrounded her recruitment? What events first
brought her into contact with the Enemy? Are other
members of her family also Eyes of God? Is she part of
a stationary cell or is she an itinerant Eye? What is her
purpose within her cell? Has she met any other inquisi-
tors and, if so, what does she think of them?
Character Concepts:
• The character is a newly recruited Eye of God,
young, frightened, and barely literate. Something that
he witnessed or is otherwise privy to led the Eyes of God
to his doorstep. Unfortunately, he cannot remember
the details of what he saw except in his nightmares. He
has been taken into the order so that he may be
watched and protected at all times, in the hopes that he
may remember what he saw.
• The character(s) are a husband and wife team of
Oculi Dei, recruited separately by the same individual.
Their entry tests involved being able to keep their
membership in the order secret for one year. After this
was established, the order granted permission for the
pair to work as a team as part of an experiment in
reorganizing how stationary cells function. Thus far,
the experiment seems to be working quite well, but
time will tell what effect it will have on their relation-
ship and their faith.
• The character is one of those few Oculi Dei
recruited from among the former servants of the En-
emy. Perhaps he’s a recovering ghoul or the embittered
kin of wolf-demons, but in any case, he’s been closer to
the supernatural than most Eyes of God actually want
to come. This character possesses a wealth of practical
knowledge of the Enemy. Unfortunately, he also pos-
sesses correspondingly great weaknesses (such as a
recidivistic vitae addiction, or pushy werewolf rela-
tives that won’t leave him alone) that certainly prove
challenging and might eventually prove fatal.
Serving The Inquisition
It is no easy thing, Sister, to be called to serve God in
the world, particularly in this calling that we now share —
to be the bulwark and sword against the armies of the Devil.
And so I pray you allow me to present to you something of
what it is like to serve our Lord and His Church in this holy
venture, even as weak and frail vessels that we are. For
against our great enemy, only the most stalwart, deter-
mined and prepared inquisitor will prevail....
— From a letter from Sister Vittoria Santi di
Parma, to Sister Mathilde von Murnau of the Order of
St. Theodosius
Mixed Inquisitor Cells
The various orders of the shadow Inquisition have all
followed their own calling against the enemies of God and
mankind for decades, and in the case of the House of
Murnau and the Red Order, far longer. Each order has its
own practices, methodologies, and leadership on their
holy mission, which were developed with the needs and
priorities of that particular order in mind.
A few years ago, Cardinal Marzone and the Supreme
Council of Faith realized that in order to be truly effective
against their adversaries, the orders had to cooperate more
closely, mixing their members into common inquisitor
cells and following a common Rule. This Rule would be
similar to that followed by the holy orders, but designed
for the Inquisition’s special needs and mission. Where the
rules and practices of the different orders came into
conflict, this common rule would take precedence and so
solve such disputes. It would also provide a structure for
the workings of the cells, and lay out in plain terms how
all those who served God under the Council of Faith
would deal with each other.
Using the rules of the Red Order and the Poor
Knights as a rough template, Marzone and several trusted
associates, including a canon lawyer, drafted a rule for the
shadow Inquisition. This Rule is now commonly called
the Marzonian Rule. It is one of the first things any new
inquisitor learns in their early training. In theory, at least,
all disputes over practices, procedures, should be settled
under the Rule’s precepts. In practice, of course, things are
not always quite so easy.
Mixing Men and Women
The Inquisition has both men and women in its
service, many of whom are in holy orders and under a vow
of chastity. The Marzonian Rule borrows from the Order
of St. Theodosius Rule, which was written in the time
when the order had double monasteries containing both
monks and nuns, with separate cloisters but some facilities
— such as the church, refectory and the scriptorium — in
common. The Rule stresses avoiding the appearance or
opportunity for sin, and keeps brothers and sisters sepa-
rated except in controlled, supervised interactions.
One of the primary rules that covers the interac-
tion of men and women in the Inquisition — the Rule
of Three — requires that a sister and brother may never
be alone together. There must always be a third present,
either a brother or sister, to avoid the appearance of sin.
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
No inquisitor cell can ever have just one female
member in holy orders. For the protection of her soul and
to guard against temptation, there must always be at least
two sisters together. Should it happen that one of the two
sisters of a cell is killed, the remaining woman must retreat
to the safety of a cloister until she is called to another cell
or another sister comes to join her.
The Rule also requires that men and women sleep
separately, preferably not even under the same roof.
When possible, common single-sex dormitories are
preferred. Borrowing from the Rule of the Poor Knights,
a light must be kept burning at all times in the common
dormitory, and each brother or sister must sleep alone
and clothed in their own bed.
The Rule applies primarily to clerical members of
the Inquisition: the Red Order, the Poor Knights of
Acre and the Sisters of St. John. So far, attempts to
bring the Murnau and Oculi Dei totally under the
Marzonian Rule have not met with total success. Even
the secular inquisitors, however, take some care to
observe the Rule of Three — at least with regards to
their clerical counterparts.
PLAYING BY THE RULE
C he medieval Church has strict standards
of morality, but also realistic expecta-
tions of people, both clerical and secular, to actually
meet those standards. Both the Church and the
general populace accept that the best way to avoid
succumbing to sin (particularly the sin of the
flesh) is to simply limit the possibility of tempta-
tion. For men and women under vows of perpetual
chastity, this means their lives (which now belong
to God and not to themselves) are strictly regu-
lated. Their interactions with members of the
opposite sex, even among their own family, are
restricted by the rules of their order.
These rules may seem confining by modern
standards and impractical in terms of actual game
play, especially in terms of male and female relation-
ships within a cell. Storytellers and players are
reminded, however, that the Marzonian Rule repre-
sents an ideal that the leadership of the inquisition
realizes is not always possible in the field. The Council
of Faith is thusly allowed to make dispensations based
on extraordinary circumstances. The inquisition takes
sin among its own members very seriously, especially
sexual sins, but at the Storyteller’s discretion may
bend the strict interpretation of its preventive rules as
need demands — at least until a sin has actually been
committed. Use the Rule and the difficulties the
characters have in meeting its standard as an oppor-
tunity for creative role-playing and enhancing the
chronicle’s storyline, not to prohibit out of hand a
reasonable if less than entirely orthodox cell.
71
 Mixing Clerical and Secular
The Marzonian Rule also provides guidance for cells
comprised of both clerical and lay members, whose holy vows
or other commitments conflict when it comes to the simplest
of matters. The Rule’s underlying principle is that each
inquisitor has his own personal vows to God, and God expects
him to keep that vow — but his vows are his alone. They
cannot be imposed on another, even another of his own order,
much less a fellow inquisitor who isn’t under vows at all. This
may mean that a Red Sister who is busy with her research may
not attend the daily round of services as regularly as a Sister of
St. John, who relies on them to give life the structure she needs
to cope with her dreams. A Poor Knight of Acre and his
Murnau counterpart may eat meat at dinner, but the Red
Brother does not. The Oculus Dei may wear a mask to a
chapter meeting, and then go home to a husband and children
whose identity even her fellow inquisitors do not know.
While respecting its members’ different vows to God,
the Marzonian Rule also encourages inquisitors to share as
much of their common faith and duty as possible so they
might strengthen each other in the Lord. The Rule asks
that members of a cell attend at least one service a day
together, to break bread and share a common meal (even
in companionable silence), and meet at least three times
a week as a chapter to discuss plans, discoveries, needs,
concerns and even personal gripes. Members of a cell are
also encouraged to share quarters in a (gender-separated)
chapter house, even if an inquisitor’s order has an abbey
or commandery nearby. Even lay inquisitors associated
with the House of Murnau and the Oculi Dei are strongly
urged to spend time at the chapter house with their cell
whenever possible, if they do not actually dwell there.
Some lay inquisitors do, in fact, share quarters with their
monastic associates, adopting the austere life for a time or
at least keeping their worldly dress and manners from
imposing on their religious brethren.
The Marzonian Rule is noticeably slanted in favor of
those already in holy orders. The general assumption on
the part of its authors (who were, of course, all in holy
orders themselves) was that it was better to require non-
clerical inquisitors to live like men and women in holy
orders than to ask those under vows to put aside the
blessings and structure of monastic life. Lay inquisitors
must often bear with both the structure and the restric-
tions as best they can. If this means rising in the middle of
the night to join their brothers in prayer, observing the
strict fast of Lent, leaving wives and children back at
home for weeks or months at a time or dressing more
somberly than the current fashion, the lay inquisitor can
console himself with the knowledge that such devout
discipline is good for his soul — and best of all, temporary
in its inconvenience.
On the Importance of Obedience
The Inquisition brings together individuals with a
single common goal: hunting down and destroying the
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
72 • COMPANION •
THE OCULI DEI EXEMPTION
C he Oculi Dei have always considered them
selves an exception to the rule — even the
Marzonian Rule — from the beginning. They rarely
stay at inquisitor chapter houses, nor do they often
share common meals or attend services with the
others of their cell. They sometimes hide their
identity even from their fellow inquisitors. Many
have other responsibilities, such as a trade, a posi-
tion in society or a guild, or even a family to support,
in addition to their duties to the Inquisition. Se-
crecy is the only protection they have.
While the head of the Oculi Dei, Aignen le
Libraire, acknowledges the need of many of the
Eyes to maintain their anonymity, he also recog-
nizes that many of his Eyes risk losing their sanity,
much less their very souls, to loneliness and despair
when they shun the comfort and companionship of
others who share their same burden. He cannot
require an Eye of God to reveal more of herself to the
other members of her cell than she feels safe in
doing. He has, however, written letters encourag-
ing those Eyes directly assigned to assist a non-Oculi
inquisitor cell to be as open as they can. They are
encouraged to act as the bridge between their more
secretive fellows and the rest of their cell for the
good of all.
One Eye in any given city or local region
usually meets with other inquisitors, even if he
wears a mask or prefers to communicate through
drop-points or in code. That particular Eye serves as
the contact point for all the Oculi Dei in his area.
He is responsible for ensuring the flow of informa-
tion goes both ways, as well as ensuring the
anonymity of his fellows.
Aignen and Lizia Montesi di Roma, who heads
the Oculi Dei in central Italy, both also strive to
impress on the leadership of the other inquisitor
orders why the Oculi cling to their anonymity.
They continue to support the Eyes and attempt to
explain to the other orders why, for the good of the
cause they all support, they must continue to be
allowed to do so regardless of the Marzonian Rule.
minions of the Adversary. Those individuals come
from different backgrounds and monastic orders, how-
ever, and have widely varying approaches to that goal.
Individuals may have specific goals as well, based on
their own experiences: an inquisitor whose cell was
wiped out by a pack of wolf-men may consider the
slightest sign of similar creatures in the area a far
greater threat than the Cainite priest who secretly
advises the local bishop, or the old witch-woman who
lives in a ruined tower and brews potions for lovesick
peasant lads.
 A Red Brother or Sister may have specialized in
studying a particular kind of witchery. He or she may be
willing to take great chances to learn more of the
sorcerers who wield it, in order to better thwart their
demonic gifts. A Poor Knight may have a particular
hatred for the warrior who slew his mentor, to the point
of vendetta. A Murnau may try to steer away from a
particular line of investigation if he thinks a renegade
of his own family may be involved, so that the family
can take care of it privately. A Sister of St. John may be
so driven to pursue the meaning of a particular vision
that she ignores the evidence gathered by her fellow
inquisitors. Past experiences, personal fears and dis-
likes or conflicting interpretations of orders from the
Council of Faith can all lead inquisitors to disagree
over the priorities and procedures of their calling.
The Marzonian Rule acknowledges that such dif-
ferences exist, but reiterates that by joining this great
endeavor, all inquisitors have pledged their obedience
PLAYING BY THE RULE, REVISITED
C he Marzonian Rule binds all inquisitors to
obedience, if not chastity or poverty. Even
when an inquisitor’s orders are against his better
judgment or the deepest feelings of his heart, he is
required by his vows to obey. Chapter meetings
allow all members of a cell, even Eyes of God who
choose to attend (or send written communica-
tions), to speak their minds and offer advice and
suggestions on what the cell is doing or what kinds
of investigations they should pursue. Once a Coun-
cil of Faith or cell rector has issued an order,
however, the inquisitor is expected to submit obe-
diently and do as he’s told. This proves his devotion
to God as well as to the Inquisition’s cause.
A player should expect times when his charac-
ter may have to do something in a story she does not
want to do, because she is bound by her vow of
obedience. The Storyteller or player whose charac-
ter is the source of these orders, however, should
also be careful to not abuse that power over other
players’ characters by always putting them in posi-
tions where disobedience seems to be their only
moral choice. That kind of plot twist becomes less
powerful the more often it is used, as the players
begin to take disobedience less seriously or become
frustrated by constantly being forced to make un-
desirable choices to avoid the consequences of
disobedience. Deliberately disobeying an order from
her superiors counts as a level 6 sin on the Hierar-
chy of Sin Against God (see p. 159 of Dark Ages:
Inquisitor). It requires a check to avoid losing
Piety, if the character has a Piety rating of 6 or more
(the difficulty of this roll increases by one if the
character is in holy orders).
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
as well as their lives. All things must be done in good
order, whether it is arranging for proper housing for the
sisters, holding a chapter meeting or determining the
right course of investigation for a cell to pursue. In-
quisitors who are not cooperative in their cell’s common
good work can be disciplined as the cell’s rector sees fit,
referred back to the Council of Faith for re-assignment
or even remanded back to their orders. This often
means the troublesome inquisitors are restricted to
cells of their own order only, under close supervision
from their superiors, or confined to cloister for the rest
of their lives. Disobedience that results in more serious
consequences may bring that inquisitor before the
Council of Faith or the leadership of their own order on
even more serious charges. The Inquisition’s fight is
too important to be lenient on its own recalcitrant or
even disobedient members.
Inquisitor Rank and Leadership
The Marzonian Rule also delineates how the hier-
archy of the Inquisition is laid out, with the Council of
Faith overseeing the activities of local cells and report-
ing in turn to the Supreme Council of Faith and the
Grand Inquisitor, Cardinal Marzone. This hierarchy
excludes the rulership of local Church authorities such
as abbots, bishops and archbishops, which is not likely
to win inquisitors either approval or support should it
become widely known. Cardinal Marzone believed it
necessary to free his inquisitors from required obedi-
ence to local bishops lest the bishop himself turn out to
be an obstacle — or worse, a target — of their investi-
gation. Still the Rule asks that all proper respect and
obedience be given to local Church authorities when-
ever possible, so long as no evidence exists that they are
themselves involved in the matters the inquisitors are
there to investigate.
In practice this has sometimes gotten a bit sticky,
as many Church prelates are suspicious of inquisitor
activities in their domains and jealous of their author-
ity. Inquisitor cells have sometimes had to be creative
or circumspect in explaining their presence in a given
diocese. Many cells carry a vaguely-worded letter of
authority from Cardinal Marzone or the Pope’s chan-
cery, which is usually enough to gain the eager (or
fearful) acquiescence of the local bishop or abbot when
a voice of authority is required.
Each of the five orders comprising the Inquisition
has its own titles and hierarchy of rank. Members of a
given order tend to revert to using those titles and rank
among themselves, with the highest-ranking member
automatically assuming a leadership role over the oth-
ers. When an inquisitor cell is comprised totally of
members of a single order, this remains the accepted
practice. In mixed cells, however, the Marzonian Rule
takes precedence. Titles from an inquisitor’s own order
are retained as a sign of respect, such as Doctor, Father,
73
 Commander, or even (for the lay members who can
claim them), Master, Sir, Lord or Lady. The more
familiar titles of Brother and Sister are also used when
the individual can claim no other. The highest-rank-
ing (or sounding) title, however, does not necessarily
denote leadership in a mixed cell.
Cell Leadership: The Rector
When a Council of Faith first forms a cell, the
Council designates the cell leader, normally called a
rector (although that individual is more often ad-
dressed by whatever personal title he or she happens to
bear). The rector is chosen based on his experience and
capabilities, not his actual rank or order. The tendency
when a particular order dominates a Council of Faith,
however, is to choose members of that same order as
rectors of new cells. This appointment is not perma-
nent. After a full year in the field, the cell members
have the right, if they wish, to hold an election and
select a different rector from their number. (In the few
occasions where this has occurred, the ousted rector
was re-assigned to another cell, so as not to incur a
leadership struggle within the cell.)
Other officers for the cell, such as treasurer, sub-
rector, archivist, cellarer, and other positions the cell feels
are necessary, are usually voted on by the membership.
The rector retains the right to veto any proposed officer.
Should the existing rector be slain, incapacitated or
recalled for any reason, leadership passes temporarily to
the sub-rector. The cell may also elect a new rector at that
time. Their election is subject to ratification by the
Council of Faith, but a Council rarely overturns such an
election unless they have strong reasons to doubt the
newly elected rector’s capabilities.
A cell’s rector is given the equivalent authority
over the cell members of the prior of a small monastery.
He (rectors are almost always male, save in an all-
female cell) rules over the cell’s chapter-house, leads
chapter meetings, determines the cell’s priorities (after
discussion in chapter with the rest of the cell), assigns
duties and administers discipline as necessary. He is
also responsible to the Council of Faith for his cell’s
activities and its mortality rates — he must give an
account of both the cell’s triumphs and its failures, and
the death of any inquisitor under his leadership must be
explained as well.
New members for a cell are assigned by the Coun-
cil of Faith, although a cell may request certain
individuals as replacements through its rector, should
the need arise. The Council is under no obligation to
fulfill a cell’s request, and often assigns new members as
they see fit to keep the cell properly balanced. In
particular, the Council will not allow a mixed cell to
become single-order — requests to replace lost mem-
bers in such a way as to create a single-order cell are
usually ignored.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
74 • COMPANION •
INQUISITOR BACKGROUND: RANK
0 s a Background, Rank represents the
status and reputation a character has
that extends beyond his own order and through-
out the shadow Inquisition itself. It represents a
combination of factors, primarily stemming from
the knowledge, wisdom and abilities demon-
strated by his accomplishments. It represents
what the Oculi Dei have in their archives about
him, and what the Council of Faith or other
Inquisition authorities (such as Cardinal Marzone
or even the Sicae Dei) know about him — even
what other inquisitors might have heard of him
by word of mouth. It also represents his leader-
ship potential, such as being appointed rector to
a new cell or asked to serve on a Council of Faith.
A character with one or two dots in this
Background is a likely candidate for appoint-
ment as rector to a newly formed cell. A character
with three dots has served several years in the
Inquisition and has possibly already served as a
member of a Council of Faith. His inclusion in an
inquisitor cell means his expertise is likely neces-
sary in order to be successful in the cell’s
assignment. He is almost certainly going to be
appointed as the rector by the Council that
assigns him to a cell.
At four dots, a character has led several
successful inquisitorial investigations as a cell
rector and may even secretly be a member of the
Sicae Dei (a responsibility which is known only
to the Sicae Dei council in Rome). At five dots,
the character has acted as Procurator Fiscalis for
a Council of Faith and is personally acquainted
with Cardinal Marzone and several members of
the Supreme Council in Rome. If he is not a
member of the Sicae Dei, he probably holds a
position of rank within the Church hierarchy,
such as abbot of a Red Order monastery or Knight
Commander of a Poor Knights’ monastery.
Because it does represent status based on deeds
and accomplishments, we recommend Storytellers
limit the number of dots a starting Inquisitor char-
acter has in this Background to one or two at most.
Players taking this Background are asked to come
up with some of their character’s past activities
(such as commanding a group of Crusaders in the
Holy Land, holding a position of leadership in a
monastic community or successfully fighting min-
ions of the Adversary in such a way as to bring the
character to the notice of the Church) in order to
determine upon what the character’s status is based.
Status is far more significant to the player and the
story overall if it is earned in play, not purchased
with bonus points.
 Once elected and approved, a cell rector can only be
removed from his position by the Council of Faith, and
only for a very good cause. A high mortality rate in his cell
or excessive valid complaints to the Council from mem-
bers of his cell can result in a review of the rector’s
competency. If the Council determines that the rector has
acted recklessly or abused his authority, he is removed
from that cell. Depending on the circumstances, he may
then be appointed rector of a newly formed cell elsewhere,
re-assigned to another cell as an ordinary inquisitor, or sent
back to his cloister for a time of reflection and repentance
before being permitted to rejoin the Inquisition.
Chapter-Houses
The Inquisition has a wide variety of chapter-
houses. The largest of these include well-known and
well-established monasteries such as the Red Order’s
Abbey of St. Denis outside of Paris; the Poor Knights’
Hospice of St. James the Elder, a fortified commandery
in Compostela; the great castle of Murnauer Berg in
Bavaria; or the Sisters of St. John’s Convent of the
Holy Mother in Aix-la-Chapelle. These great houses
often host the local Council of Faith or serve as
training grounds for new inquisitors. They can also be
places of rest and recovery for those whose experiences
in the field have left them battered and soul-worn.
Because these places are well-known, to the ser-
vants of the Enemy as well as the Inquisition, they are
fortified and well-defended. Decades of use have often
bestowed an ambient aura of Faith to these places
(although for the castle of Murnauer Berg, this is
limited to its chapel and crypts) so that they repel
demons by their very nature and provide rest and peace
for the servants of God who shelter there.
Hiding in Plain Sight
The working inquisitor chapter-house, however,
is likely to be far smaller and less obtrusive, so as not to
alert the servants of the Enemy to their purpose or
location. One practice is to quarter a cell within the
priory or abbey of another order or among the canon
monks of a city church. This provides the inquisitors
already in holy orders at least a place to sleep and
attend services, but it has its limitations. An inquisitor
cell may contain lay members such as Murnau or Oculi
Dei — or even worse, women, making this arrange-
ment impractical at best.
Placing the female religious members of an inquisitor
cell in a local convent of another women’s order has
become a very common practice among the Inquisition.
It provides the nuns in the cell with the required sanctified
isolation, although it does make their participation in the
day-to-day activities of the cell a bit more difficult. Not a
few Red Sisters — and even an occasional Sister of St.
John — have found that sort of arrangement more con-
straining than helpful.
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
POOLING BACKGROUNDS
8 nquisitor players can (and are encouraged
to) pool their characters’ various Back-
ground dots in order to build such commodities
such as their cell’s Chapter-House, as well as their
Allies, Contacts, Flock and Influence. A great
abbey such as St. Denis represents many more dots
than most player cells can come up with, but a cell
that combines seven points in the Chapter-House
background could provide the inquisitor cell with
a reasonably secure base of operations. For ex-
ample, they could arrange to work from a church
and its adjoining priory in a town (3 points to size)
where they can sleep and work with reasonable
security (2 points for locks) and allow them to
sanctify their holding (2 dots to Holy Ground).
An inquisitor cell that includes both clerical and
lay members may want to split their resources, so
that the real center of the cell is the local church,
where the three clerical members of the cell have
become part of that church’s staff (2 points to size,
1 point to Holy Ground), but also includes the
nearby townhouse of the Murnau knight and his
lady, which is well-secured (2 points to size, 2
points to security), and can be used as a refuge as
necessary. For further details on pooling Back-
grounds as a shared resource in Inquisitor, see
Right of Princes.
Other unobtrusive chapter-houses include manor
houses bequeathed to one of the Inquisition’s orders, a
town house belonging to one of the Oculi Dei or
Murnau members, or a priory (a small monastery,
usually dependent on another larger abbey for support)
that the Inquisition rents from another order, such as
the Cistercians or Benedictines. Such a chapter-house
does not belong to the cell, and the cell is therefore
responsible for paying the rent on time, overseeing any
lands or servants associated with the property (if a
manor or house in the city) and keeping the property
in good condition. The inquisitors may attend services
at a nearby church, or sanctify a chapel within their
own house; they must also arrange for sufficiently
isolated quarters for any nuns in their cell, which may
mean another house entirely.
Inquisitor Safe Houses
One last kind of chapter-house exists, though it is
less of a chapter-house than a secret place of refuge for
an inquisitor needing shelter or concealment from the
Enemy’s servants hunting him. These vary widely,
from particular village churches or monastic chapels to
crypts under a city church; to the house of a particular
merchant or craftsmen; the manor house of a country
knight who is a distant cousin of the Murnau; or even
75
 the expanded cellar under a godly peasant’s hovel. The
Oculi Dei have more of these hidden bolt-holes than
any other order, but often share the knowledge of one
or two of them with a local inquisitor cell. Inquisitors
are encouraged to find their own as well by making
contacts with local members of the flock and arranging
the use, access or rental of appropriate places. Not all
such refuges are Holy Ground, but every inquisitor cell
is encouraged to identify other nearby churches, chap-
els or shrines that meet that degree of sanctity for their
own protection.
Setting Down Roots
A newly established inquisitor cell may be sent to a
town where no Inquisition presence has yet been estab-
lished, which may mean the cell is responsible for setting
up not only their entire investigative operation but also
the chapter-house to use as their base. The Council of
Faith, however, does not send them out empty-handed; a
newly minted cell of inquisitors is given sufficient re-
sources to establish themselves and their mission without
having to beg door to door or shelter in hastily constructed
hovels. This may mean a letter of introduction to the local
abbot that allows the inquisitors to stay at a Benedictine
monastery, or a letter of credit that allows the cell to rent
a simple three-story townhouse. It could even be a pre-
established lease agreement with a local landlord or lay
supporter of the Inquisition’s work, such as an Oculi Dei
merchant who happens to own an entire block of such
houses (although his identity as their landlord as well as
their local informant may not be revealed). The property
could even belong to a local monastery or church (which
will be just as insistent about the inquisitors’ rent being
paid on time as with any other tenant).
If the cell contains one or more ordained priests,
sometimes the Inquisition leadership can arrange for a
cell to be put in charge of a small church in a town or
village, which gives the priest put in charge a respon-
sibility to his flock that extends beyond his duties to
the Inquisition. The exact nature of the property may
depend on the scope of the anticipated investigation or
the research done by the inquisitors themselves on a
prior visit to the town or region to determine a suitable
location and type for their chapter-house.
Inquisitor chapter-houses are often disguised for
the inquisitors’ own safety — the servants of the
Adversary can be dangerous foes, and even men of God
must sleep sometimes. The most common disguise is as
a religious building used for some other purpose, such
as a priory attached to a small town or village church,
a chapel or shrine belonging to a local lord, a hospital
adjacent to a monastery or commandery or even an
anchorite’s cell. This sometimes involves cooperation
from people outside the cell itself, such as the other
brothers, sisters or other staff actually doing the bulk of
the work of maintaining the building and its true
purpose while the inquisitors pursue the enemies of

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

76 • COMPANION •
God. Isolated manor houses are also common locations
for a cell, preferably those within some kind of enclos-
ing walls and containing a proper chapel. The cell must
then hire a bailiff or set one of its members to oversee-
ing the serfs and other peasant workers who work the
fields and live in the adjacent villages.
The disguise often extends beyond the building
itself. Inquisitors must sometimes put on modest civil-
ian clothing or the habits of another order in order to
conceal their presence from their enemies, though
they wear their proper habits when in the privacy of the
chapter-house. They also still follow the canonical
hours of work, rest and prayer whenever possible.
Sometimes the cell finds God-fearing and reliable
craftsmen (who may or may not be members of the
Inquisition themselves) and set them to work in the
ground floor shops of two or three adjacent houses,
while the floors above shelter the inquisitor cell.
The Flock
Inquisitor cells quartered in non-religious quar-
ters, such as a town house or country manor, have less
direct access to their flock than a cell based in a church
where people come to mass every week. Still, having a
flock reminds the members of an inquisitor cell why
they took up this fight to begin with, and praying with
a flock can help an inquisitor regain the Conviction to
continue on with his struggle. The inquisitors’ flock
may be a few individuals whom the inquisitors have
aided against the Adversary, the patients and staff at a
hospital that adjoins the chapter-house, a handful of
neighborhood families who have come to depend on
the inquisitors for spiritual guidance, confession or a
weekly mass, or even the congregation who regularly
attends mass at the inquisitors’ church. The inquisitors
may inherit their flock by taking over a local church or
slowly develop one through providing aid to those
victimized by the Devil’s minions or through their
interactions with their neighbors, whether local
townsfolk, nobility or peasantry.
TENDING THE FLOCK
5 lock is another Background that can be
pooled, and makes a good counterpart to
Chapter-House. Players should consider Chapter-
House and Flock together to come up with a
plausible resource combination for their inquisi-
tors’ cell. The Storyteller should also see to it that
the flock is made up of individual characters, with
names, descriptions and personalities (for at least a
few of them) so that their relationships with the
inquisitor characters can be meaningful. This can
provide both roleplaying opportunities and plot
hooks into stories. The fight against the Devil
becomes far more significant and personal when
the characters are fighting to help someone they
already know.
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
The Neighborhood
A chapter-house is more than simply the place the
inquisitors meet, plan their strategies and sleep. It may
also be their only refuge against the forces of the Devil.
In major cities like Paris, Florence, Lübeck or London,
the Council of Faith may oversee several cells in the
same city. The inquisitor cells may have access to more
than one chapter-house plus a number of other refuges
for their use, such as churches or the houses of Inquisi-
tion agents. The Church is pervasive and strong, and
there may be as many as two dozen inquisitors spread
across the city in several different cells to call upon
when need arises. Communication with the Procura-
tor Fiscalis and the Council is fairly easy and a cell can
receive a swift response to questions, requests for judg-
ment or pleas for help.
Such conditions, however, only exist in a few
places. More often, the Inquisition consists of one or
two cells investigating the servants of the Adversary in
a single town, a cluster of villages or perhaps even a
single county. The Council of Faith is a day’s ride away
at the very least. Under those conditions, the chapter-
house is more likely to be disguised from its true
purpose. The inquisitors must be circumspect in their
activities to avoid alerting their enemies to their pres-
ence and their investigation. The chapter house is then
more of a refuge as well as a base of operations, and its
defenses become more formidable out of necessity.
Still, the inquisitors are within relatively friendly ter-
ritory. Help is but a day or two away at most, should the
cell run into more than they can easily handle.
Of course, not all of Europe is so densely populated
or well situated. Active opposition to the Catholic
Church — and thus to the Inquisition as well — still
lingers on the eastern marches of the Holy Roman
Empire; in Prussia, Poland, Bohemia and Hungary; or
in the parts of Iberia and the Holy Land still dominated
by Islam. The chapter-house may be the sole refuge the
inquisitors have against their enemies in places where
the cell might expect local resistance by pagans or
Muslims, or for inquisitor cells in the borderlands
where the Church’s power is lessened by distance.
Under these circumstances, defense is far more impor-
tant than disguise. The chapter-house is almost always
built on Holy Ground, often in an already established
church or monastery.
The inquisitor cells are proportionally larger than
those in more secure locations as well and contain more
armed men, usually Poor Knights, fighting von Murnau or
Oculi Dei, or hired church troops. This does not mean the
Inquisition’s investigations depend on a show of force;
often the presence of armed men has the opposite effect
when an inquisitor is attempting to persuade a reluctant
Szeckler merchant or frightened Vlach peasant to trust
her enough to reveal what they know of local witcheries.
Still, when the nearest Council of Faith is weeks instead
77
 of hours away, the fortified monastery that functions as
the cell’s chapter-house and its knightly defenders may be
all the stands between them and the vampire-ensorcelled
angry mob or the depredations of savage werewolves.
Most inquisitors are glad to take cover behind its stout,
blessed walls.
Women in the Inquisition
If at least a few of the senior male inquisitors had
their way, there would be no women in the Inquisition
at all. All know that women are weak and susceptible
to sin. Fighting the minions of the Devil, like saying
the Mass, should be a job for men alone. Women’s
prayers are welcome, but their presence among God’s
holy army can only lead to temptation and sin.
Fortunately, Sister Teresa, founder of the Sisters of
St. John, and Sister Vittoria Santi di Parma of the Red
Order — not to mention the formidable Baroness
Franziska von Murnau — soon persuaded the Cardinal
otherwise. Still, the women are a minority among the
inquisitors, and their presence often complicates the
workings of a cell, requiring separate quarters and a
certain degree of care to avoid not only the appearance
of sin, but its actuality.
Nuns Out of Cloister
The Sisters of St. John and the Red Sisters of St.
Theodosius are bound to the sanctity (and security) of
their convent. They must request permission of their
abbess (if not the local bishop) to be absent from it,
from the time of their profession of vows until their
deaths. Many such sisters rarely leave their cloistered
walls, preferring to spend their days in prayer or holy
research for the glory of God and the benefit of their
brothers and sisters in the Inquisition. Just as often,
however, God calls a holy sister through a vision, a
strong urge rising in her heart during prayer, or even
the invitation of a visiting inquisitor who has sought a
night’s rest within the convent’s guest house. Through
His will, she is called to leave the cloister behind for a
time and enter the world in His service against the
demons and devils of the night.
Cardinal Marzone persuaded the Pope to grant a
special dispensation to those holy sisters who serve
God’s cause as members of the Inquisition, releasing
them from the confinement of their cloister under the
following particular circumstances: the sister must be
an active member of a inquisitor cell; she must not be
the only woman who is a member of that cell; she is to
submit herself to the authority of the cell’s rector and
the local Council of Faith, as a daughter to her father;
and she must be mindful always to live and act as a
faithful and chaste daughter of Christ, rigorously avoid
all appearance of sin, attend divine office and make
confession at proper intervals. So long as those condi-
tions are met, a Sister of St. John, St. Theodosius or any
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
78 • COMPANION •
other church order can leave her cloister and act as a
full member of the Inquisition.
The Marzonian Rule requires a sister-inquisitor to
always have at least one other woman in her cell, either
in holy orders or not, and to live chastely apart from the
men. Sometimes this means the sisters actually dwell in
a local convent, but have the dispensation to leave its
walls as necessary (in pairs, preferably, and properly
escorted). This can get a bit awkward, however, with-
out explaining to the abbess about their mission or just
why the dispensation exists in the first place. Sister
inquisitors try not to push the bounds of reason too
much by constantly coming in and out of the convent
as though it were a common inn. Sometimes it’s better
to simply keep a separate house (not an inn, which are
known to be places of poor repute and unsuitable for a
holy sister’s residence) for the sisters, so as not to have
to explain too much of the inquisition’s business even
to fellow clergy. Sometimes the sisters dwell in the
home of a lady of the Murnau, or an obliging female
member of the Oculi Dei who can provide suitably
chaste and private accommodations for them. Nuns
LAY SISTERS: THE ORDER OF BEGUINES
F
omen who wish to live a religious life,
but who cannot afford the dowry de-
manded by many abbeys or do not wish to make
life-long vows, have the option of joining the
beguines. A popular women’s religious movement
that started in Flanders in the late 12th century, the
beguines live communally in chastity and obedi-
ence as long as they remain in the sisterhood.
Sharing a house or small priory attached to a hospi-
tal, they divide their time between prayer and work.
The beguines have no common rule. Each
community is independent, and the women sup-
port themselves by spinning and weaving, scribing,
gardening, and tending the sick in hospitals. Un-
like a more conventional order, a beguine can
leave the community to marry if she wishes.
Although some more established orders look some-
what askance at these women who follow a
religious life outside the formal Church structure,
the practice has become quite popular. Many
beguine communities have been established
throughout Flanders, France and Germany.
Female inquisitors, both those already in holy
orders and some who are not, sometimes make
arrangements to live and work within a beguine
community while also pursuing their calling with
their cells. While the permission of the mistress of
the community must be gained, the beguines ask
fewer hard questions and are generally more le-
nient hostesses for their unconventional guests
than a Benedictine abbess.
out of cloister must be careful for their reputations, and
inquisitors must take that into consideration when
arranging housing for the cell.
Not Under Vows
The women of the Oculi Dei and the House of
Murnau need no papal dispensations to be part of the
Inquisition, but this doesn’t mean they have total
freedom to do so. In most of Europe, an unmarried
daughter’s future is determined by her family, who may
or may not take her wishes into consideration. A wife
is legally under the authority of her husband, who can
even beat her if he wants. A widow of the mercantile
or noble classes has most personal and economic free-
dom, but only if she remains unmarried.
The House of Murnau has a long-standing tradi-
tion of fighting the Devil, and thus women of that
house are granted somewhat more freedom than most
when it comes to involving themselves in the Inquisi-
tion. The House prefers the women be unmarried or
widowed without children; it is one thing for a woman
to spend time away from home or risk her life when she
is single, but quite another to do so when she has the
responsibilities of a husband or children. A married
woman can be involved if her husband permits. Only
a few rare husband-and-wife pairs exist, and the family
is still debating whether even that is a good idea.
While the senior members of the family (including
Otto von Murnau, who acts as the chief administrator
when it comes to keeping track of all the von Murnau
cousins and hangers-on in the Inquisition) must still
approve her petition, von Murnau women are known to
be extremely persuasive — even downright stubborn —
when it comes to coercing husbands, fathers, or even
over-protective brothers to give them what they want.
The Oculi Dei have no rules regarding women. Of
all the orders that make up the Inquisition, they offer
the most equality — and risk — to a woman seeking to
serve God among them. Though the Sword of St. James
(under Rodrigue de Navarre) was all male, the Eyes of
God soon realized that there were times and places
where a woman could not only be present, but hear and
see things that a man could not. Despite reservations
about the propriety of using female agents, Aignen le
Libraire recruited a number of carefully-chosen women
whose birth and social position (through family con-
nections or in their own right) gave the Oculi Dei
invaluable intelligence about the doings of kings,
counts, barons, guild masters and aldermen, and even
abbots and bishops. From those few women, the Oculi
Dei have expanded their network until the women
have become quite a sizeable faction of the order.
Only a few women in the Oculi Dei are of noble birth.
The great majority of them are women of the middle and
lower classes, from the washerwoman who works in the
castle of a powerful baron to the shepherdess and weavers
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
of the countryside, to the innkeeper’s wife — or the guild
master’s daughter-in-law. Some are in holy orders and
some are the wives of merchants or craftsmen, whose
husbands may or may not know of their duty to the
Inquisition and to God. Most of these women remain
nameless and faceless to their sisters in the Order of St.
John or St. Theodosius; their only protection for them-
selves and their families is their anonymity. Only the
nameless and faceless can watch in the market square or
listen when the master of the house speaks to his guests,
overlooking the very existence of the woman sweeping
the hall or serving his dinner.
Sex and the Single Inquisitor
All medieval society knows that women are weaker
and more susceptible to temptation, especially to sins
of the flesh. In secular society, a man’s infidelity is a sin
often overlooked, especially with women of lower
classes. A woman, however, can be utterly destroyed
socially if she is caught (and worse if she is married and
caught), yet the prevalence of courtly love literature in
France and Germany makes it sound dangerously at-
tractive.
The Church in the Dark Medieval is very prag-
matic when it comes to sex and sin. It even issues books
to parish priests that give standard penances for a wide
range of specific sexual sins, and teaches them how to
gently “encourage” their parishioners to confess inti-
macies that do not meet the standards of St. Augustine
and other church fathers. Church leaders know that if
men and women are permitted to spend time with each
other, they will eventually succumb to temptation.
“...To be always with a woman and not to have sexual
relations with her,” writes Bernard of Clairveaux, “is
more difficult than to raise the dead.”
Men and women who have sworn their chastity to
God are usually protected from their own weaknesses
by high cloister walls, a strict regimen of work, prayer
and study, and sleeping in a common dormitory. A
monk who has joined the Inquisition must interact
with women, even secular women, in the performance
of his duty to God. He must be even more vigilant to
guard against temptations of the flesh than his brothers
safe behind convent walls.
The pressure on a holy sister is even greater.
Should she falter, the scandal reflects on her order as
well as breaking a vow to God. Whether it is fair or not,
the stigma of breaking that vow has more devastating
consequences for a nun than it does for her male
counterparts. A male inquisitor in holy orders who
breaks his vow of celibacy may find himself assigned
severe penances and transferred to a cell hundreds of
miles away from the site of his original sin under the
strict observance of his superior. A Red Sister or Sister
of St. John could theoretically find herself returned to
the cloister indefinitely for the same sin.
79
 In practice, however, the Inquisition walks a fine
line between being firm in demanding blameless, chaste
and godly behavior at all times from its celibate mem-
bers. It realizes that men and women are not without
flaw, and are all in their nature susceptible to sin.
While the Marzonian Rule remains strict in its admo-
nitions to prevent the occurrence of sin, dealing with
those who have faltered is left up to the rector of a cell
or the local Council of Faith. Whether the sinning
inquisitor (or inquisitors) are discovered trying to hide
their fault, or whether they confess it in a penitential
manner also carries a good bit of weight in their
judgment. Those who confess willingly may be split up
and sent to different cells thereafter so as to avoid
further temptation, but they remain part of the Inqui-
sition. Those who seek to hide their sin, however, are
dealt with more severely. If they would hide one sin,
they might well hide even greater ones, which could
endanger far more than their own souls.
This puts an inquisitor who finds himself harboring
strong feelings (and carnal desires) for another in a difficult
and unenviable position, when one or both of them are in
holy orders. Can the Sister of St. John keep her feelings for
a certain Red Brother a secret, save perhaps in the confes-
sional — and dare she even confess? Can the Poor Knight
continue to work alongside a noble lady of House Murnau
but never feel anything but the chaste affection of a
brother for his sister? Can the Eye of God blacksmith, who
is not bound to chastity, continue to restrain himself in the
close company of the Red Sister he has loved since
childhood? If they succumb to their passions, do they
attempt to keep it a secret and risk discovery — or can they
face the shame of confession, penance and permanent

HOMOSEXUALITY
AND THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

C he segregation by gender practiced by the

Church for its monastic brothers and sisters
also attempted to prohibit homosexual liaisons (as
there was clearly more opportunity), as well as hetero-
sexual ones in more subtle ways (by requiring monks
and nuns to sleep clothed, and in separate beds).
Sexual sin was sexual sin, no matter what genders
were involved. It is important to note, however, that
in the Middle Ages, homosexuality was something
you did, not something you were. It almost always
applied only to men. Attitudes varied from culture to
culture, of course; there were places where such
behavior from the clergy was considered no more
unusual than seeing a priest living openly with a
mistress. In the confessional, however, the “sin of
Sodom” was treated as an even more sinful and
shameful act than adultery. Two inquisitors confess-
ing or caught in such an act would likely receive even
harsher penances, depending on the judgment of
their rector and Council of Faith, than their hetero-
sexually sinning colleagues.

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

80 • COMPANION •
separation? Is this love they feel from God, the author of
all love — or a carnal temptation from the Devil to weaken
them in their fight against Hell’s minions?
The answers to such questions can only come from
the inquisitor’s own heart. Thus far, no inquisitor
under vows has asked to be released from them. Such
a request would have to go to the Pope, and would only
be granted under extraordinary circumstances. Cardi-
nal Marzone and the Supreme Council of Faith do not
intend such a request will ever be heard. Sins can be
forgiven, but monastic vows are for life. Even breaking
those vows does not absolve one from its perpetual
requirements before God.
Family Values
Of course, not all inquisitors are bound to chastity,
which creates an entirely different set of problems.
Many members of the Oculi Dei and the House of
Murnau are perfectly free to marry, have families, and
indulge in a wide range of activities otherwise consid-
ered sinful for their clerical comrades. Still, many
non-monastic inquisitors are willing to accept living
under semi-monastic rule (at least temporarily) in
order to be part of the Inquisition, as such a lifestyle has
always been considered a kind of Christian ideal and
blessed by God. This allows them to acquire the ben-
efits of a holy life without having to commit to it for the
rest of their lives.
Inquisitors not under vows are expected to behave
in a righteous and Christian manner. Marriage, even to
another inquisitor who is free to do so, is far better than
succumbing to sin. The average chapter-house does
not have married quarters, however, nor does the
Marzonian Rule address many questions faced by non-
monastic Inquisitors. Should a married inquisitor live
separately from his wife while serving together with a
given cell? Should he live apart from the cell and so
miss the communal Christian life in order to live with
his wife? What if his services are needed by a cell a
hundred miles away — does he leave his wife at home
for months at a time (circumstances not unusual with
merchants and knights in service to a distant lord), or
bring her with him to a new city and risk her life as well
as his own, should the Enemy learn of her?
With these unanswered concerns, it is no wonder
that some inquisitors, particularly among the Oculi
Dei, consider the imposition of the Marzonian Rule on
non-monastic inquisitors to be discriminatory and
unfair. Many Eyes of God do not even reveal their
identities to other inquisitors, much less details about
their personal lives and families. The inquisitor from
House Murnau may already be married, or be expected
to marry and raise a brood to perpetuate his family line.
He may have feudal duties as well, to serve his secular
overlord for so many days a year — an overlord that
knows nothing of the Inquisition or its purposes. These
individuals may have commitments outside the Inqui-
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
sition that conflict or interfere with their duties. This
begs the question: where does their true loyalty lie,
with their families or with God?
Of Sin and Duty
Where an inquisitor’s first duty lies can be a matter
of some debate on other issues as well. How far, for
example, should an inquisitor go in order to collect
information necessary for her mission or persuade a
reluctant informant to speak? Does the Inquisition’s
noble and Godly ends justify the means used to achieve
those ends? This is of particular interest to the Oculi
Dei, whose members are more likely to be on the front
lines, running the risk of discovery or interacting
directly with the Adversary’s own minions in order to
fulfill their duty to their order. The holy sisters may be
able guard their chastity from the vile nature of men,
but sometimes to learn what’s on the Devil’s mind, it is
necessary to step into his parlor. For some women of the
Oculi Dei, their service to the Inquisition and to God
helps atone for the lives of sin they lead, in brothel,
bathhouse, or as the mistress of a man they cannot
marry either because he already has a wife, or because
he is himself in the Church.
Officially, the Inquisition agrees with the Church,
which holds out examples of the many noble virgins
who sacrificed their lives or endured great torments to
preserve their chastity. Unofficially, the Oculi Dei
remember Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, whose family
was spared destruction because she hid the Israelite
spies; and also Judith, who seduced the Assyrian gen-
eral Holofernes in order to slay him and so saved her
city. If God can forgive such women for doing what
women must sometimes do, they reason, then confes-
sion and forgiveness is possible for them as well, if they
give must their bodies as well as their minds and hearts
to His service. It is a slippery road to walk and a lonely
one, for despite the open invitation by inquisitor priests
to hear confession from any Oculi Dei who requests it,
many in that order find it hard to trust even a fellow
inquisitor.
Inquisitors face other trials of conscience and faith
as well. They often find themselves required to lie
about their mission, their plans, even their very iden-
tities to both officials of the Church and the secular
authorities lest some agent of the Adversary overhear
and guess the truth. Sometimes they must trespass,
steal or peruse private documents, or use falsehoods to
lure potential informants into confession of their faults.
Even harder to bear are the times they must stand by
and do nothing, while the Enemy’s minions freely
tempt, deceive or hunt innocent (or even not so
innocent) people; in order to trap the greater demons,
the lesser ones must sometimes be lured into a sense of
safety. Is it a sin, a tearful Red Brother asks his confes-
sor, to stand by and allow a demon to kill a young boy
81
 it has lured to an alleyway so they may follow its trail to
its masters? For the Oculi Dei, this is more common
than most of them will ever confess; for the others it is
nearly unbearable, and only for the most callous does
that dreadful choice ever get easier.
Torture and Punishment
The Inquisition is a secret organization, and as such
must be extremely cautious in how it investigates and
carries out its judgments against the enemies of God.
Inquisitors cannot simply arrest and torture anyone they
suspect of diabolical connections — especially if some of
those individuals are people of rank. Even the mysterious
disappearance of a saddle maker’s apprentice or a rural
peasant may rouse suspicion. Should a nobleman or
prominent merchant vanish, it can instigate a frantic
search on the part of local authorities or family.
Therefore, evidence of an individual’s collusion
with the Devil must be obtained through less radical
means. Seizing suspects for interrogation and sentencing
usually occurs only when sufficient evidence of their
guilt is already established. Out of pure practicality, the
higher the social ranking of the accused, the stronger the
case must be in order to take action against him and the
higher up the Inquisition’s hierarchy the case goes for
final judgment — when prominent men are involved
with Hell, the Church must muster greater resources to
bring them to repentance and justice. As part of this
procedure, inquisitors collect evidence for serious secular
crimes as well, such as murder, theft, rape, or treason,
under which even a nobleman may be brought to justice
and punished under secular rather than canon law.
While a local prince or count might scoff when a
nobleman is suspected of maleficium, offenses such as
murder, treason and tax fraud often serve just as well
where the secular courts are concerned.
When it comes to carrying a sentence against a
demon in human form, however — such as a Cainite or
shape-changer — the inquisitors need not defer to any
secular court or prince. The Inquisition accepts that
demons have already rejected God’s will and cannot be
saved, even by the most well-meaning priest (this
makes people like Sister Laetitia (see p. 35) both
awesome and somewhat suspect in their devotion to
redemption). There is nothing for the inquisitor to do,
therefore, but remove the creature from the worldly
plane with all due dispatch so it may corrupt no more
innocent but careless souls. Torture is used merely to
gain information from the creature, not redemption. If
its destruction serves to instruct those foolish enough
to have believed its false promises, then so much the
better. To this end, some inquisitors like to capture a
Cainite, then demonstrate its true nature by having
those it has deceived witness its destruction in the rays
of the rising sun.
Inquisitors must also be careful in how they present
themselves when the time comes to take action against
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
82 • COMPANION •
TORTURE BY THE RULE
C orture is used to persuade the convicted
miscreant to confess his sins for the good
of his soul, not to establish his guilt — although the
willingness of the accused to confess and beg for-
giveness for his crimes may have a mitigating effect
on the severity of his punishment. Torture is never
used lightly, but it is often required to ensure that all
sins are confessed and that the accused holds noth-
ing back that would otherwise imperil his soul. The
Marzonian Rule requires that at least four persons be
present when a subject is undergoing the question:
the interrogator himself, a scribe to take down what
is said as clearly as possible, a layperson whose job it
is to administer the correction as ordered by the
interrogator, and another, often a priest, who bears
witness to the proceedings and ensures that they are
in keeping with canon law. If the person being
questioned is female, a female witness must be
present, either instead of or in addition to the priest.
the Devil’s mortal minions. Sometimes, such in the
heresy-riddled Languedoc, the full authority of the Church
can be brought to bear (often in the guise of the Holy
Inquisition against heresy). This is also true in parts of
Italy and France, where a Cardinal’s writ carries sufficient
weight on its own merit that local authorities do not ask
too many questions. In lands such as distant England or
the Empire, however, or where the Adversary’s corrup-
tion has rooted itself deeply in the local Church, inquisitors
sometimes disguise their inquiries as coming from other
sources, such as a distant baron or bishop. In the Baltic and
Eastern Europe, the Inquisition has very little authority at
all. For the time being, the Supreme Council of Faith is
less concerned about regions where the church itself is
weak, and prefers to concentrate on cleaning out nests of
Satan’s vipers within its own heartland in the West.
The Sicae Dei, “Daggers of God”
Only two years ago, the Inquisition suffered a
serious blow when the Oculi Dei presented irrefutable
evidence to Cardinal Marzone that one of his more
successful inquisitors was secretly a member of an order
of heretical sorcerers who called themselves the Mes-
sianic Voices (more information on these blasphemers
can be found in Dark Ages: Mage). The resulting
investigation uncovered nearly two dozen more such
heretics, including Father Andrea Pitti, who had been
one of Marzone’s hand-picked advisors almost from the
beginning. Unfortunately, many of the heretics were
warned and escaped. The rest, including Father An-
drea himself, were captured, tried, and ultimately (for
despite their arrogant protestation of righteousness,
they would renounce neither their heretical beliefs nor
their sorcery), burned at the stake.
 The scope and personal nature of this betrayal —
and the fact that these deceitful creatures had been
able to infiltrate the very organization intended to
hunt them down — shook the Cardinal to his very soul.
Clearly, extraordinary vigilance would be required to
keep the Inquisition free of such taints, lest the good
work they were doing be corrupted from the start. With
a heavy heart but firmly convinced of its dire necessity,
the Cardinal instituted a secret organization devoted
to investigation and judgement, intended to search for
corruption among the very ranks of the Inquisition
itself. That organization, which reported directly to
him, became the Sicae Dei, the “Daggers of God.”
Organization and Practices
Two senior members of each of the five orders, who
were examined closely and judged free of all taints, make
up a special Council of Faith that oversees the internal
investigations of the Sicae Dei. Members include Aignen
le Libraire, Gauthier de Dampiere, Franziska and Leopold
von Murnau, and Abbot Gervèse le Fèvre. Any inquisitor
who is being considered as a potential member of the
Sicae Dei must be approved unanimously by the Sicae
Council and Cardinal Marzone, and must pass a rigorous
and extensive background investigation. A member of
the Sicae Dei must not only be of unquestioned orthodoxy
and strong faith, but must also possess a certain degree of
fanaticism and strength of purpose —he cannot allow
compassion to deter him from coming to a proper judg-
ment, nor carrying it out. Only those steadfast in their
own service to God and the Inquisition can properly judge
their brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. If decay or
disease in that body is found, they must have the courage
to rip it out by the roots.
The Sicae Dei are not numerous. They work in cells
of three, with representatives of at least two orders in each
cell. One member is always a priest, so he can hear the
confessions of any accused who desire to make them.
The cells are itinerant, going wherever they are
needed and working from the reports of Oculi Dei, local
Councils of Faith and even individual inquisitors in the
field. Often during an investigation, only one of the Sicae
Dei even makes his presence known to the local Council
of Faith or inquisitor cells, and never his true purpose. The
investigation is as thorough as the Sicae Dei can make it,
for their verdict — either of guilt or innocence — must be
unanimous. If they cannot reach a unanimous decision,
the investigation continues until they can.
Once a verdict is reached, the Sicae Dei have the
authority to arrest, question, and sentence — if necessary
— any and all inquisitors they have judged to be guilty of
corruption. They can also call upon other inquisitors in
the region to assist them in apprehending their guilty
brethren. Ideally, those judged guilty are given opportu-
nity for confession and absolution before they are
sentenced. In practice, resistance to arrest or lack of
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
THE PERILS OF PARANOIA
4 very inquisitor in the field is encouraged to
report to the local Council of Faith on the
suspicious behavior of any of his colleagues or supe-
riors. If any complaints seem worthy of further
investigation, they are passed up the line to Cardinal
Marzone’s office in Rome. While this results more in
piles of petty grudges and complaints than true
evidence, particularly at the local level, the watch-
fulness — and outright paranoia — it generates has
also resulted in several occasions of compromised
inquisitors being discovered before any real damage
was done. This same paranoia, of course, also makes
it harder for inquisitors to trust one another, espe-
cially among the Oculi Dei. The knowledge that at
anytime, her fellows may also be watching her for
signs of corruption, and that tempering her judg-
ment of possible devil-tainted sinners with mercy
may cause her own loyalty to be questioned, is
enough to put any inquisitor on edge, even with her
cellmates. Unfortunately, paranoia may ultimately
be the price the Inquisition must pay to be true to its
God-given purpose — a price that Marzone, at least,
seems willing to pay.
cooperation after capture sometimes means the opportu-
nity for cleansing the soul is lost.
The sentence for an inquisitor judged guilty of cor-
ruption is not always death, if the Sicae Dei feel there is
true remorse and a strong possibility of reform. Even if his
life is spared, however, lifelong penance in the cloister is
the least severe penalty he can expect. For those whose sin
is far greater, death is the usual sentence. For those who at
least take the opportunity to confess and be absolved, it is
as merciful a judgment as the Sicae Dei can grant.
The Sicae Dei cell makes a full report to Cardinal
Marzone and the Sicae Dei Council of Faith, but typically
after sentence has already been passed. Thus far, no Sicae
Dei judgment has been overturned — although if one
were, the decision might come too late for those who were
unjustly accused. Still, the Sicae Dei are comforted by the
knowledge that God’s judgment will, if necessary, correct
any fault in their own.
Sample of Play
This example of play is presented to illustrate how
the members of the Inquisition might function to-
gether, using their disparate talents in service to God
Almighty. It even hints at the political necessities of
preparing a case before simply going after the Devil,
sword at the ready.
[This is the second session for this group of players,
who have gathered again to fight evil in Dark Ages:
Inquisitor. Lee is the Storyteller. Shelley plays Judith,
83
 a Sister of St. John. David plays Alberto, a monk of the
Red Order. Alex plays Thomas, a member of the Oculi
Dei. The three are a newly formed cell that has been
sent to a village several days travel from their Council
of Faith, in order to investigate the recent disappear-
ance of several children.
[In their last session, the characters set up a make-
shift chapter-house and began questioning people in
the area. They have gathered some evidence for the
Council of Faith about a woman near the village they
suspect of unholy dealings, and are trying to decide
how best to proceed.]
Thomas leans back in his chair and stares at his
companions. “Each of the children’s parents are re-
ported to have had dealings with this woman in one
way or another. I think our case is sound.”
“You think she’s really a witch?” asks Judith.
“Well,” says Thomas, “she is known to dabble in
‘herbal remedies’ and the villagers tell tales of lovesick
folk visiting her in the dead of night. I’m not sure this
proves she had anything to do with the missing chil-
dren, but I think we have a case.”
“I’m not sure this is enough for me to draft a letter
to the Procurator Fiscalis.” Says Brother Alberto,
“What else do we have besides hearsay?”
“I told you, Brother, that each of the children is
linked to her indirectly. I think that alone warrants
further investigation,” says Thomas.
“It just seems to be… overreacting to arrest an old
woman merely because of a few rumors. Surely we’ll
find out more when we confront her,” says Alberto. “In
my experience, though, the kinds of things she’s
accused of doing hardly constitute maleficium.”
“The soul is delicate,” Sister Judith places a hand
gently on Alberto’s shoulder, “and though she may
believe what she is doing is good, if she has turned her
back on the Lord, she may encourage the same behav-
ior in others.”
“This is true… I suppose after even mere dabbling
she ought to be called to answer for her sins before
anything more insidious happens.” Alberto reluc-
tantly gives in. “Besides, even if she isn’t responsible
for the disappearances, she may have some informa-
tion that will help us find the children. I’ll begin
writing up our case, and in the morning we can go and
begin the proceedings. If we don’t find anything other
than simple superstitious trinkets, though, I’m afraid
this will be a short trial.”
“Be sure to include all of the statements I gath-
ered,” says Thomas. “Judith also prepared a document
outlining what we know about the last whereabouts of
each child. The ‘rumors’ smack more of fear than
gossip to me. Coupled with the information we have
about her penchant for ‘superstitious trinkets,’ as you
call them, I think we’d be wrong not to bring her in.”
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
84 • COMPANION •
[Lee has David roll Intelligence + Theology to see
how effective his argument for arresting this woman is.
Considering the evidence they’ve collected, Lee tells
David his difficulty is only going to be five. His three
successes are enough for Lee to tell David that he feels
his character’s writing is compelling. David says he’d
like to indicate that though they have some pretty solid
statements pointing to pagan practices, he’s not sure he
wants to push for the harshest punishment just yet.
[The players plan for a while how they intend to go
about finding this woman and taking her in for judg-
ment. They make a list of equipment they will take
with them in the morning, and the Storyteller looks
over it with a nod of approval.
[Lee tells them that their sleep is uneventful, and
that a messenger will leave at dawn with the letter
bearing their case.]
The shadowy woods seem even colder than a
typical November afternoon would dictate, and
the three inquisitors cautiously navigate the paths
leading deeper through the trees, staying alert for
any disturbances. A farmer they questioned a few
weeks prior told them the old woman’s name is
Brunissende. She has apparently only lived in the
heart of the woods near a small stream for only
about a year. It is a local mystery how she came to
have a cottage here, and Brother Alberto begins to
wonder if she even really exists.
“Wait!” Sister Judith hisses through clenched
teeth. She falls to her knees and covers her face,
breathing deeply and trembling.
The others rush to her aid, but keep glancing
around themselves for trouble. Sister Judith is
known to see warnings from the Lord well before
danger actually strikes.
“Trouble… watching… waiting… we have to
get away from here!” Judith drops her hands to the
earth and grasps at the dried leaves blanketing it.
She looks up at the others, wild eyed. “There isn’t
much time—”
[As a Sister of St. John, Shelley’s character is prone
to divine visions. Her trigger is generally the presence
of imminent danger. She is able to try and induce them,
but as it is the Storyteller’s prerogative to also throw in
visions as plot devices, Lee decides to give the players
a warning about an upcoming attack (otherwise this
group of non-combative characters might have a very
short mission indeed).]
A low growling sound creeps through the air,
cutting off Judith’s words. After a quick glance at
one another, the inquisitors scramble to find places
to hide.
Thomas climbs a tree nearby and scans the
area; he can see Alberto behind a gnarled oak and

Judith crouched behind a rock outcropping, but
no sign of where the growling came from.
After a few strained heartbeats, a huge black
dog stalks through the clearing, sniffing the
ground and air. Thomas relaxes and focuses on
the animal; aware right away that it is not a
natural creature. He slowly unsheathes the dag-
ger at his side.
[Alex states that Thomas uses the Gift of Second
Sight Benediction to determine if this is a supernatural
threat. Alex rolls Perception + Wisdom (five dice). His
difficulty is 6, and he rolls two successes. Lee informs
Alex that the dog is clearly not a typical animal.
Though it looks big and strong, it is also badly lacerated
all over. and seems driven to ferocity beyond even the
normal level for a rabid beast.]
From a closer vantage point, it doesn’t take
Judith the senses of the Eyes of God to tell that
this beast is of the Devil. It is covered in matted
patches of dirty hair. Its eyes are bloodshot and
thick saliva drips from its maw. Each breath
heats the air around it like the very fires of Hell.
It sniffs the air around the rock where Judith
hides, a low rumbling coming from its chest.
Seeing a chance to distract the creature, Alberto
kneels down quietly, picks up a rock, and throws
it as far as he can deeper into the woods.
[David, hoping that this monster isn’t any smarter than
a normal dog, wants his character to distract the creature long
enough for the inquisitors to get a running start. Since the
hound is over by Judith sniffing around, Lee rules that David
doesn’t need to roll for how quietly he picks up the stone. He
does, however, require a Dexterity + Athletics roll to see how
far into the woods Alberto can throw it. Alberto’s pool is only
three dice, so he decides to spend a Willpower point to ensure
at least one success. Lee sets the difficulty at 7 due to the
extenuating circumstances; with his Willpower point, David
manages two successes. Lee rules this is enough for the stone
to make a noise far enough away to attract the attention of
their pursuer.]
The sound of the rock skittering through the
leaves in the distance alarms the hellhound. It leaps
ferociously to the chase, running after the sound and
buying the inquisitors precious time.
Thomas drops from his perch, joining Alberto
and Judith as they run as fast as they can to get out
of the woods. They shoot glances over their shoul-
ders to make sure they are not being chased, seeing
no sign of the demonic animal.
Once they’ve cleared the trees, the three pause
to gasp for air.
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
[The Storyteller rules that their characters are able
to get away from danger without faltering (though he
makes a few rolls behind his screen to keep everybody
on their toes).]
“Cowards!” Alberto moans. “We’re cow-
ards… God forgive us—”
“No!” Judith glares at him. “That creature
has a master, believe me. We would gain nothing
from bleeding under its fangs.”
“Keep moving,” says Thomas, “We must
draft another letter to the Procurator. We’ve
seen enough, and I hardly think we’ll be bringing
anyone or anything back for judgment. He has to
know, and we may need help.”
“It takes three days for a message to reach
Faber,” says Alberto, “do we really have that long
to wait for reinforcements? We have a duty to
stop this evil now!”
“Agreed,” Thomas quietly responds, “but if
something should… happen to us, the Council
has to know what we’ve seen.”
[Lee lets the players discuss their plans for a while.
They decide that their characters should return to their
chapter-house and write a second letter to Procurator
Fiscalis Faber, telling of their encounter with the
hellhound and indicating that they will proceed to try
to rid the place of demonic influence. They agree that
they don’t want to appear weak in the eyes of the
Council, but knowing when to request reinforcements
is wise. Their characters spend the night praying and
resting in preparation for a second search for the
witch’s hovel.]
The next dawn, the woods are strangely
calm. Thomas walks this time with his dagger
drawn, the others keeping watch for anything
strange. They manage to get to the bank of the
stream before mid-day without any trouble, but
the quiet is unsettling.
After another hour or two of searching
along the stream, the group finally spots a small
wooden cottage about five hundred yards in
from the water. “It doesn’t look like anybody’s
lived there for months.” whispers Thomas.
The tiny house is warped from weather
damage, overgrown with vegetation, and devoid
of all signs of occupancy. The windows are
boarded and shuttered, and no smoke comes
from the stone chimney that runs up the far side.
“No sign of our four-legged friend, either,”
says Brother Alberto. “Perhaps he was some
kind of glamour.”
85
 “If he was a trick, he was a good one,” Judith
retorts. “He was close enough to me that I could
smell him, so let’s not let our guard down.”
“No danger of that happening,” Thomas
says. He clenches his jaw with resolve, then
slowly heads for the cottage.
The others follow, and together they circle
to the back of the building. A cool wind stirs
through the woods and under it they hear a faint
moaning. The door at the back of the cottage is
loose on its hinges, and the rotted wood gives
way with a gentle tug.
The inquisitors’ senses are assaulted as the
smell of dead, rotting things wafts from the dark
interior. They gather their wits, and step through
the threshold and into a small kitchen. A rus-
tling sound is immediately noticeable, and they
can all see that the decayed food lying on a
nearby table is swarming with maggots.
Thomas presses forward through a doorway
covered with what is left of a curtain, gesturing
for the others to follow.
In the main room of the house, the scene is
horrific. A chair and table are overturned in the
center of the room. Moldy straw and rushes
cover the floor. Tattered bedding lies against the
far wall, upon which they see a corpse that can
only have been Brunissende.
Judith grabs her rosary and mutters a silent
prayer. The woman’s body is naked and flayed
from neck to pubis. The rotted gray skin of her
abdomen is pulled back in a parody of wings and
her body cavity is filled with a nest of rats eagerly
feasting on what is left of her entrails.
Judith’s lips tremble as she tries to pull
herself together, and she is once again blessed
with a vision from the Lord.
[Shelley lets Lee know that she’d like to see if her
character can glean any information from her order
benefit about what danger might be lurking, so she
spends a point of Willpower and rolls Perception +
Empathy (for Judith this is six dice). Lee decides the
difficulty is 6; the roll produces one success. Judith is
given some insight, but it is definitely colored with a
dash of horror. After stepping aside from the rest of the
players for a moment to discuss what she sees, Lee and
Shelley get back into the action.]
Alberto braces her shoulders with his strong
hands and looks into her eyes. “What is it, Sister?
What do you see? Be with us, for the love of God!”
“Th-there is s-something here…” she stam-
mers, gulping air between her sobs. “I see her…
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
86 • COMPANION •
her flesh. It’s t-tearing… oh, God save us…
beneath us… it’s beneath us….”
Alberto releases her to regain her compo-
sure and the two men brush away the straw and
debris strewn about the floor. Beneath it, clearly
outlined in the floor, is a trap door.
Silently, they collect themselves. Judith
and Thomas ready themselves as Alberto slowly
pulls open the door. They are met with a rush of
cold air, the smell of earth, and the sound of
chains rattling in the darkness beneath.
They’ve been trained to face this kind of
fear. Each of them knows that if they wait too
long, the terror will grip their hearts and chal-
lenge their faith. Alberto pulls a torch from his
knapsack and lights it with a flint and steel, and
with one solid glance around the group, he
descends.
A rickety wooden ladder leads into the
cellar. After the Red Monk descends, Thomas
climbs down, followed by Judith. In the cold
belly of the cottage, the inquisitors are faced
with still more horrors.
The flayed bodies of children are chained
to all four walls. A circle of white powder takes
up the center of the room, in the center of
which lies the body of the dog that hunted them
yesterday. The coppery smell of dried blood
assaults the air but there is no movement, no
sound.
[Judith’s Orison is True Innocent, so Shelly asks if
she may spend a point of Conviction to make it harder
for her character to be harmed for the duration of the
scene. Lee nods, and notes he will need to succeed on
a Willpower roll against a difficulty of Judith’s Piety
rating if the creature that awaits decides to attack her.]
Judith again prays, but this time she bows
her head and seems sure of the safety of the Lord,
the sickening nature of what surrounds them
paling in comparison to the love of the Father.
They scan the room and see nothing still
living. Before they can move, however, the trap
door above them slams shut. A small voice
whispers in the darkness. “My pet brought you to
me, but he outlived his usefulness. His body was
weak.”
Thomas points to a corner of the room.
“There!” he croaks, voice dry with fright.
One of the children, a boy not more than six
years old, stands and tilts his head to one side. His
body is scarred and pale, with only tattered
breeches to clothe his body.

“You expected to confront the woman?”
He whispers. “She was a fool, but smart enough
to invite me here. This child has been an
adequate vessel.” The boy’s eyes open and re-
veal blood red points of light. When he speaks
again it is the sound of many voices as one, filled
with sorrow and torment. “But I long for the
strength of another!”
[Based on the scene at hand, Lee requires the three
players to make a roll to avoid the effects of Terror. None
of the characters has a point in Zeal, so they must all spend
a point of Conviction and roll Courage. They each
manage to roll at least one success at difficulty 6 (Alex’s
difficulty is 5, as his Orison is the Hierophant, which
reduces the difficulty of Courage rolls by one) and so are
able to press on without any negative modifiers.
[David asks if his dots in the Exposure Background
allow Alberto to know anything about what is going on,
and Lee asks for a Wits + Exposure roll. The roll is
successful, and David is told that his character knows that
when a fiend is looking around with glowing eyes, it’s
probably a good idea to avert one’s gaze. After a nervous
chuckle from the rest of the group, Alex states that he’d
like to spend a Conviction point to use his Hierophant
Orison’s ability to inspire courage to back up Alberto,
seeing as Judith already has some protection. As he will
now be down to two points of Conviction, Alex says he
is going to risk an extra point of Conviction to add
another die to his pool, so that he can get a point back if
he succeeds. With the additional die his pool is five and
he rolls a 1, 4, 5, 5, and 3. Ouch, a botch! After a little
cursing from the players, Lee informs Alex that his
character’s faith has just been shaken to the core and he
has lost all of his Conviction.]
“Don’t look at his eyes!” Alberto shouts.
Thomas has closed his eyes in silent prayer,
but when they reopen they are vacant and terri-
fied. “N-no! Oh, my God, no!” Seeming to sense
a weak link, the boy stretches out a hand toward
Thomas. He is knocked to the floor by an unseen
force, his dagger falling from his grip and into the
darkness.
Judith takes a deep breath and faces the
demon, tears rolling down her cheeks. She smiles
faintly as the possessed child shrieks, realizing he
is bound to the spot.
[Shelley has decided that Judith is ready to do what
she can to stop this before things get worse. Her
character uses Tears of the Martyr to hold the demon
in place. Her Wits + Boni Spiritus is only four dice, but
she adds her dot in Faith for a total of five. Lee knows
that the body of the boy doesn’t provide much in the
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
way of Stamina, so her difficulty is only 5. The roll
provides three successes, so the characters now have
some time to act (three turns, to be precise, provided
Judith doesn’t look away).
[David asks if he may take this opportunity to
restrain the enemy. Lee sees no reason to require an
initiative roll since the adversary is held in place, and
he only has David make his Dexterity + Brawl roll
against a difficulty of 5. Tackling the body of the
wounded child and wrestling it to the ground is rela-
tively easy; David rolls enough successes that Alberto
has the foe firmly in his grasp. When David asks if he
may also splash holy water on the fiend, Lee sees no
reason why not (since he already knows it will have no
effect on this creature).]
Brother Alberto drops the torch and rushes
the boy, tackling him to the ground and wres-
tling him into submission. The demon roars with
horror as Alberto raises a vial of holy water and
splashes it into his face.
“In the name of the Lord, be gone from this
place, foul demon!” Shouts Alberto. “Thomas!
Rope! Get me the rope!”
[Alex wants to know what he can do at this point,
and Lee explains that though his faith may have
wavered, he is not completely useless in this situation.
He may still act, but he has no access to Blessings or
Conviction to defend himself. This being the case,
Alex decides to have Thomas do his best to help, while
staying out of the fray.]
Thomas scrambles across the floor, and tosses
Alberto a length of rope, managing in the confu-
sion to retrieve the fallen torch. He stops for a
moment and tries to muster the energy to help,
but icy doubt grips his stomach and his eyes well
with tears. Pushing back into a corner, he avoids
getting any closer.
Alberto continues to hold the boy. Though
the demon seems strong of will the body is still
that of a badly malnourished child. He manages to
tie the creature’s hands and feet as he begins
reciting the litany of the Holy Rite of Exorcism.
The boy is tightly bound by the time Alberto
rises and Judith’s hold loosens. Though exhausted,
she begins to pray with Alberto.
“You may banish me from this place,” the
demon growls, “but you’ll not save the child. I’ll
drag his soul screaming with me through the gates
of Hell!”
[Fortunately, Alberto’s Willpower score is higher
than the demon’s, so the difficulty on the exorcism ritus
doesn’t go up. The difficulty of this roll starts at 10, and
87
 his dice pool (Wits + Boni Spiritus) is a mere five dice.
Judith, as another character with Superior Virtues,
lowers his difficulty to 9. Lee knows that David needs
seven successes for the demon to be cast out, and on the
first roll David manages to gain two of them. Alberto’s
Piety score is 7, thus he may continue the ritus for that
many hours, with David making new rolls each hour
until his character is exhausted, he botches, or the evil
being is cast out of this place.]

The two continue their prayers, unwavering

in the face of the obscenities spewing forth from
this poor child’s mouth.
Meanwhile Thomas can hear its voice in his
head. Like flies buzzing, it burns at his mind and
taunts him with whispers of how his order will
ultimately destroy him. He is told of the times to
come, when he will be a slave to Satan because
he is too weak to serve the Lord. It is too much for
him to endure in his weakened state; he drops the
torch and lunges for his dagger.
Alberto cannot afford distraction, but Judith
glances over her shoulder and sees Thomas. She
manages to grab the torch before the light is
extinguished, but is unable to stop Thomas from
cutting himself down the inside of his left arm.
The blood flows quickly and freely, and Thomas
simply sits and watches his arm turn crimson.

[While defenseless, Thomas is a sitting duck for

the mental urgings of the demon (it’s tied down, but
not at all powerless. It uses the Corruption Charm (p.
293 of Dark Ages: Vampire) on the Oculus). After a
few easy rolls against his character, Lee advises Alex
that he has hurt himself for one lethal level of damage.
Judith is distracted momentarily from the rite, but
since Alberto is the leading inquisitor for this process,
Lee allows Shelly to have her character help Thomas
and still assist for the remainder of the rite.]
The demon laughs. Alberto’s prayers rise to
a feverish shouting. Judith looks around herself
frantically, and plants the torch firmly into the
moist earth beneath her feet, leaving it burning
as she rushes to Thomas’ aid.
The Oculus is too weak to resist even Judith.
She knocks the dagger from his hand and wraps
his arm with cloth from her robes. He is babbling
like a madman as he presses his tear soaked face
into her shoulder. Like a mother she rocks him
until he is calm, and then returns to assist Brother
Alberto with the difficult task at hand.

[Shelley makes a roll to bind Thomas’ wound. Her

character fortunately has two dots in Medicine and is
able to successfully keep him from taking any more

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

88 • COMPANION •
damage. Lee has Shelley make a Manipulation + Em-
pathy roll to see if Judith can calm Thomas down and
help him throw off the effects of the demon’s Charm
(Lee grants her a low difficulty for good role-playing).
After Alex spends a point of Willpower, his character
is free from the subtle manipulations of the spawn of
Satan. Shelley advises Lee that Judith will rejoin Alberto
but keep an occasional eye on Thomas to make sure he
is all right.
[After two more in-game hours, another two rolls
and the judicious spending of Willpower, David man-
ages to gain enough successes to drive the demon from
the child. He also opts to spend a permanent point of
Willpower to keep the creature from ever returning to
this place.]
What seems an eternity passes, and finally
the boy’s body arcs back, as a pale green snake-
like energy erupts from his chest, coiling into
the air and then plummeting into the ground.
Alberto’s voice booms, “Stay, spawn of Satan,
from this place forevermore!”
Judith rushes to the child’s side and wipes
the blood and dirt from his face. “He sleeps.”
She says, smiling finally. “The demon lied. He
can be saved, but we must take him from this
place. He must not see what surrounds him.”
“But Judith,” Alberto says, “we must cleanse
this place of evil. The taint will linger, surely….”
They look to Thomas. He is weary but
aware, his bandaged arm sore but no longer
bleeding.
“Can you take him, Thomas? The Lord will
be with you. Heed his call.” Alberto asks, gently.
• CHAPTER TWO •
• PLAYING THE INQUISITION •
[Lee tells Alex that after the victory over the demon
and the encouragement of his companions, he regains one
point of lost Conviction, giving him enough drive to
move on. He has been an aid and witness to the power of
the Lord, so it is fitting that his faith will gradually restore
itself. The memory of this encounter, however, will linger
in Thomas’ mind for the rest of his life.]
“I— I think so… I can carry him over my
shoulder. Will you be long behind?”
“No. We will rejoin you before nightfall. We
have to depend on you, Thomas. Please, in the
name of God, save this child!” Alberto lifts the
unconscious boy and carries him to Thomas.
After careful consideration, Thomas agrees
to make the journey without the others. With
their help, he gets the boy out of the cellar and
into the sunlight. As he slowly wanders off into
the woods with his precious package, the remain-
ing two inquisitors begin the task of cleaning,
burying, and consecrating, all the while strug-
gling to remember the details they must report to
the Council of Faith in the days to come.
[Shelley’s character knows the ritus Hallow Ground,
and she advises Lee that after they clean the place
physically, Judith will take an hour and purify the
cottage, hoping to prevent any further encroachment
of the forces of Satan. Lee tells them that when they
return to their chapter house, they find that Thomas
has succeeded in returning the child to safety. The
three characters must now rest and regain their strength.
The pagan goings-on they heard about before no longer
seem to be a minor threat, and there is much more of
the Lord’s work to be done in this place….]
89
Chapter Three:
The Ways of
the Faithful
But this is why I have let you live: to show you
my power, and to make my name resound
through all the earth.
— Exodus 9:16
This chapter begins with an examination of what it actually means to
experience the degree of Conviction that inquisitors possess. The average
inhabitant of the Dark Middle Ages has a certain degree of faith, but nothing like
the absolute certainty that inquisitors have. Herein we make some suggestions
about what an inquisitor’s subjective experience might be like, as well as how
such a character might be seen by others.
The remainder of the chapter provides you with new Blessings, Curses and
Merits and Flaws to further define the capabilities of your Inquisitor characters.

The Lamp of Faith

Madmen’s eyes hold an unsettling fury and intensity. Curiously, so do the
eyes of many inquisitors. This is not coincidence.
The absolute belief, the driving faith of an inquisitor is a palpable thing.
Conviction is far more than a feeling that God exists, it’s an absolute knowledge
 of His existence and a driving urge to do His bidding
to the best of one’s ability. The inquisitor’s relentless
sense of humility and subordination to the Lord is as
terrifying as is his loathing for anyone or anything
serving the Adversary. In such a worldview, there is
no room for doubt. Inquisitors may doubt them-
selves, they may doubt others and they may even
doubt the Church, but they never, ever, doubt God.
The above beliefs and traits, when combined, are
what make up the game mechanic called Convic-
tion.
While any pious man might feel a moment of
connection to the Divine, a moment of absolute
certainty about God and the world, a moment of
righteous rage that gives his crucifix the ability to
ward off a vampire briefly, this is the level of inten-
sity that inquisitors live with night and day, year
after year. It can take its toll.
Callousness is the most obvious cost of such a
burning faith, but Callousness is only a problem for
some inquisitors some of the time. The day-to-day
interpersonal elements of Conviction can be much
more difficult to deal with; for an inquisitor, they’re
an issue constantly.
The Flock
Members of the flock are uncertain how to perceive
inquisitors. An inquisitor’s passionate faith often polar-
izes the laity. The more pious folk see inquisitors as
exemplars, role models leading lives worthy of imita-
tion by all good Christians. Those whose faith is less
perfect, however, may find an inquisitor’s intensity off-
putting, unnerving or even terrifying. Such intensity
can only come from absolute knowledge or delusion
verging on madness, and it can be hard to tell which is
which.
Those faithful in the former category are likely
to idolize inquisitors as living saints. They may
become strangely driven to serve the inquisitor to
the best of their ability, to be in his presence as much
as possible, or to pray with him on a regular basis. An
inquisitor developing this kind of cult of personality
is likely to have his humility challenged, and is better
off doing everything in his power to prevent such a
following from developing in the first place. Young
inquisitors may be inclined to revel in such attention
from the faithful at first, but such arrangements can
go wrong in such a terrible variety of ways that the
inquisitor never makes the same mistake twice. Wise
inquisitors, therefore, take steps to prevent such
things as soon as they sense any such tendency.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
92 • COMPANION •
Those members of the flock who fear the inquisitor,
however, are potentially more trouble. These individu-
als may feel that the inquisitor’s extreme faith somehow
minimizes or degrades theirs. They may grow bitter and
resentful. While they’re still faithful to the tenets of
Christianity, they may find themselves doing things to
undermine the inquisitor in question, trying to prove
him a hypocrite. So long as the inquisitor is acting
above board, he’s not likely to have a problem with
these petty faith-enviers. God save the inquisitor caught
in any kind of compromising position (like some of
those that might be brought on by Callousness), how-
ever, if such a member of the flock catches him.
Pagans
Pagans, on the other hand, are not divided at all
in their perceptions of inquisitors. To pagan eyes,
inquisitors are not so different from attack dogs. It’s
bad enough that monotheists are insistent that there
is and can be only one god and that it’s their own, and
that those not worshipping him must convert or die.
Almost worse than that, however, is their insuffer-
able self-righteousness, adding insult to injury as far
as the scattered pagans of Europe are concerned.
Run-of-the-mill Christian soldiers are hard enough
to deal with, but haughty, overzealous Christians
with a hint of madness in their eyes and no room to
doubt their own strange views of the world are
nothing short of a plague in human form.
Pagans perceive the unquestioning certainty of
Conviction as ignorance, arrogance and naïveté.
Those qualities alone would be enough to cause the
pagans to despise the inquisitors, but when the
inquisitors are so quick to use violence to enforce
their view of the world, that seals the pagans’ loath-
ing. Consequently, a direct correlation exists between
how much Conviction an inquisitor has and how
much a pagan will hate her. An inquisitor with a
high Conviction rating, even one whose Piety is also
high, still incurs murderous rage among pagans. God
help an inquisitor who opens his mouth in any
village where pagans outnumber Christians (and
while such places are rare throughout most of Eu-
rope, they still exist — in the Norse lands and in the
Balkans, primarily).
The Enemy
The allies of the Adversary feel the God-given
confidence of the inquisitor as a challenge to their
dark master’s power over the world. On the whole,
such foul creatures are used to feeling superior to the
mortals in their herd. It amuses them momentarily to
see a mortal show such arrogance. That amusement
often changes, once the inquisitor has channeled
the power of her faith into the monster’s undoing.
Vampires in particular fancy themselves the
masters of humanity. Many are used to being treated
with deference by the mortal slaves in their retinue.
When they meet an inquisitor who has the effron-
tery not to show them deference and — more
shockingly — the arrogance to show them the mani-
fest revulsion of the Almighty, it infuriates these
children of the Devil, at least the first time they see
it. Any vampire who survives an initial encounter
with an inquisitor (or, worse, a company of them) is
likely to show a great deal more respect to those with
true Conviction.
Other creatures vary in their approach to in-
quisitors with the true fire of the Lord in their eyes.
Feeling certain of their prowess in battle, the more
bestial of Satan’s minions are likely to attack the
inquisitor the moment he challenges them. Sorcer-
ers vary widely in their approach to the members of
the Inquisition. Some are simply pagans and respond
in true form. Others claim to be Christian, and may
even challenge the inquisitor to a test of whose
connection to the Divine is more legitimate. Most
inquisitors would agree that magi gain their power
from some source entirely unrelated to God, and
many witches often relish opportunities for battle
with an inquisitor who is arrogant in his faith.
Brothers in Arms
Inquisitors with high Conviction inspire and
empower one another, sometimes with nothing
more than a zealous glance. The enthusiastic ca-
maraderie that results in such situations can be
intimidating to witnesses. A strange synergy re-
sults when two devout inquisitors meet. Such
kindred souls often experience a palpable strength-
ening of faith and dedication to the cause, as the
two strengthen and reaffirm one another’s com-
mitment to the Lord. Members of the flock who
see such things may easily be intimidated by the
sheer unmitigated zeal evinced by inquisitors meet-
ing in such a way. Even other inquisitors with less
Conviction may find themselves ill at ease, though
they may just as easily be in awe.
On rare occasions, two inquisitors do not see eye
to eye. They may share their dedication and their
faith but nothing else. In such cases, the inquisitors
may grow arrogant, even prideful, in their particular
approach to their faith. Minor variations in Biblical
interpretation can grow into full-fledged conflicts of
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
dogma. In such situations, the inquisitors are often
fast enemies, at least for so long as they have no other
enemy to engage. That said, the moment a better
target — a vampire, a true heretic or the like —
comes along, the two immediately put aside their
conflicts and strive to outdo the other in performing
the Lord’s will. Such petty feuds can sometimes lead
to heightened zeal in the prosecution of the Inquisi-
tion, though other times it leads more directly to
foolhardiness as the two inquisitors in question be-
gin to take unnecessary risks in an attempt to eclipse
the other. When such situations do arise, the Devil
sits back and laughs.
Different from but relevant to the discussion of
how others perceive an inquisitor’s Conviction is
how they perceive that inquisitor when he’s momen-
tarily under the influence of power, not piety. If some
find an inquisitor’s Conviction disturbing, far worse
is their perception of an inquisitor who has become
Callous. These souls are so utterly in the grip of their
drive to root out sin that they forget that the Lord
also counsels humility and compassion. Callous in-
quisitors are loose cannons in the Lord’s army.
Conviction can be seen as madness channeled
to a respectable goal. When an inquisitor has be-
come Callous, however, that goal suddenly becomes
decidedly less respectable. Within the Inquisition,
allowing oneself to fall prey to unchristian impulses
is considered a minor disgrace. Most inquisitors have
had the experience of falling into Callousness at one
point or another during their careers. Experienced
inquisitors consider it a natural stumbling block
along the path of righteousness — so long as it
happens only once. Inquisitors who let themselves
fall into Callousness with any frequency are first
counseled, then reprimanded if the problem is not
addressed. Callous inquisitors reflect poorly on the
Inquisition specifically and the Church in general.
Members of the Flock and other targets of
Callous inquisitors’ ire have little good to say
about the experience of dealing with these alleg-
edly pious individuals. “Thugs,” “hypocrites,” and
“self-righteous adders” are all terms that have
been used to describe inquisitors with a Callous-
ness problem. There have been recorded examples
of inquisitors behaving worse than the agents of
Hell from which they’re supposed to protect the
Flock. While the Church is generally able to
quash tales of such behavior, it can’t hide the
deeds of every Callous inquisitor.
In modern terms, one Callous inquisitor can be
a public relations nightmare for the Church. For that
93
 reason (and on general principle too, of course)
Callousness is not dealt with lightly. That said, one
Callous inquisitor is unlikely to damage Church
relations in any larger sense while working in a small
village, although he can alienate important people
in the community and undermine his own ability to
function effectively in that town. What effect an
inquisitor’s Callousness has depends on his Impulse.
A Bravo will have a more clearly negative impact
than, say, a Dreamer or a Defender.
Blessings
The use of Blessings by inquisitors remains the
topic of much debate in the Church, both inside and
outside the five orders. The propriety of such tactics
is contested. The Inquisition’s advocates claim that
Blessings of all types are theurgy, the divine magic of
Heaven, and clearly proof that the Lord Himself
supports the Inquisition. The Inquisition’s detrac-
tors, on the other hand, point to a myriad of problems
common among the Inquisition, notably Curses and
inquisitors’ sometimes Callous behavior, as indica-
tors that the men and women of the Inquisition
might not be as divinely favored as it claims. Others
claim that inquisitors, while on the right side of the
war, are still nothing more than sorcerers.
That said, the Inquisition doesn’t have as many
detractors as it might because it remains a largely
secret organization. Were it to become common
knowledge, the tone of the debate might change
drastically. Blessings are a fact of life, however, and
older inquisitors have noted that not all Blessings are
created equal. It should be noted before continuing
the discussion that the terms used to describe Bless-
ings (Endowments, Orisons, Legacies and the like)
are all game terms and not the terms used by the
characters. To an inquisitor character, they are all
one thing: miracles revealing the design and favor of
an omnipotent God. (The Holy Art is an exception;
the Inquisition recognizes the use of the Holy Art
and its various paths and ritae as measurable and
practical applications of God’s power manifest on
Earth. This doesn’t mean, however, that the Holy
Art is universally accepted among inquisitors.)
Orisons, for example, are considered relatively
benign even by the standards of the Inquisition’s de-
tractors — if they’re noted at all. Orisons frequently go
unnoticed, even by those using them. On those rare
occasions when they are noted (usually by scholars of
the Inquisition), they are considered a sign from God
that certain of His children are favored for their good-
ness. While these Blessings are subtle, they reward the
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
94 • COMPANION •
devout with strength that lets them take the fight to the
enemies of God. Some scholars of Church lore consider
Orisons to be the right of every pious man and woman
— a right that most, in their fallen state, have forsaken.
The Holy Art holds a curious middle ground
where Blessings are concerned. More powerful than
Orisons and more predictable than other Endow-
ments, the techniques of the Holy Art are generally
considered true theurgy — the magic of miracles
granted by the Creator. The reputation of the Holy
Art benefits, oddly, from its static nature; its formu-
laic qualities make it somehow less threatening. The
prevailing attitude in the Church is that such knowl-
edge could lure a weak-minded inquisitor bit by bit
into the Dark Arts, but that the Holy Art in and of
itself is a Godly practice, best suited to men of
unusual virtue. The greatest stain on the reputation
of the Holy Art comes in the guise of its most
prevalent practitioners: the Red Order. Accusations
of heresy, witchcraft and sorcery have dogged that
order almost since its founding, and the order’s
secrecy has done nothing to comfort its detractors in
the Church.
Much more controversial are the varied effects
of Endowments. More than any other Blessing, En-
dowments resemble the kind of sorcery that virtuous
men are counseled to eschew. The sheer power and
the range of effects exhibited by Endowments makes
them suspect. Some of these Blessings, Legacies in
particular, almost seem to mock God more than they
exalt Him.
Attitudes vary throughout Europe; in the more
conservative areas, however, inquisitors using En-
dowments are protected from accusations of sorcery
only the fact that the Pope himself supports the work
of the Inquisition. Benedictions promote dishonesty
and sneaky behavior; Investitures promote hubris
and the sin of Wrath; and Legacies — considered the
worst of all — lead directly to trafficking with un-
clean and unholy forces. Of all the Endowments,
only the Psalms of the Sisters of St. John are gener-
ally considered innocuous. The more dramatic uses
are still suspected of giving the Sisters a taste of
power that could lead to unsavory experimentation,
though, particularly since the Church views women
as being weaker and less virtuous than men.
Luckily for the Inquisition, Pope Gregory IX
takes a much more pragmatic view of the use of
Endowments. Gregory has seen the remarkable good
wrought by inquisitors using Blessings of all types,
and he feels that the Inquisition is unquestionably
doing the work of God. That said, the Pope has also
heard of individual inquisitors using Endowments in
ways that he finds questionable, even reprehensible.
These stories temper his support of the Inquisition
with doubt, but these doubts — at this point, anyway
— are easily eclipsed by the Inquisition’s many clear
and indisputable victories over the Adversary.
Another group has also become aware of the
Blessings granted to inquisitors and holds its own
view on the nature of Blessings. Christian magi,
commonly referring to themselves as the Messianic
Voices, are inclined to believe that inquisitors who
make use of the more showy Endowments are a form
of sorcerer or “hedge magician,” with the ability to
use faith to trigger acts of theurgy (or even one of
their own kind, which can lead to all sorts of tragic
mishaps). The attitudes held by members of the
Voices toward the Blessings of the inquisitors may
range from a proud sense of shared purpose and
community, to competitiveness, to vague conde-
scension for their overzealous “little siblings” in the
Inquisition. For the most part, the unbounded an-
gelic magic of the Messianic Voices exceeds the
power of all but the greatest Endowments. Still, some
of these Christian magi see their magic and the
Blessings of the Inquisition as two similar gifts along
a continuum of God-given talents, provided for the
furtherance of His divine work.
Curses
An inquisitor’s life is not all about the Blessings
he receives. The greater power available to the truly
devout seems to be balanced (or enhanced, depend-
ing on one’s perspective) by the burden of Curses.
Many, perhaps most, inquisitors don’t see many
Curses as curses at all. On the contrary, suffering the
stigmata is not a punishment, but a sign that the
sufferer is Christ-like and blessed with the simulacrum
of the Savior’s wounds. Likewise, speaking in tongues
is viewed as proof that the “accursed” is actually
filled with the Holy Spirit, leaving the term “Curse”
seeming inaccurate. The Church holds stigmata in
particular to be an extraordinarily holy occurrence.
No inquisitor can ignore that fact, regardless of the
realities of living with the wounds bequeathed by the
Stigmata Curse.
In the Dark Medieval, suffering for God is con-
sidered a holy act and one that often presages
martyrdom. Members of the Red Order, the primary
“beneficiaries” of the Stigmata family of Curses,
accept their lot with varying degrees of grace and
even gratitude. While many feel blessed to be granted
the stigmata, however, many others are left wonder-
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
ing just why the Lord needs to cast another burden
on those who are at the forefront of the battle with
the forces of the Enemy, leading to a persistent
suspicion that Curses are not delivered by God at all,
but by His Adversary.
More complicated still are the less obviously
sacred Curses befalling other orders. The Anathemae
suffered by the Eyes of God seem to serve little
purpose other than to drive the inquisitor from the
fold, while the Maledictio that befall inquisitors of
the House of Murnau seem unquestionably diaboli-
cal. Even some Curses in the Stigmata family have
less in common with the suffering of the Savior and
more to do with simple suffering (e.g., Boiled in
Shame) — but again, suffering is considered to have
a holy component. Some inquisitors don’t believe
that Curses come from God at all, but are, rather,
“disincentives” visited upon them by the Devil him-
self. In particular, the elder inquisitors of House
Murnau are inclined to agree, particularly those
suffering from Maledictio like the Personal Adver-
sary, which seem entirely ungodly.
Regardless of the subjective experience of suffer-
ing a Curse, there are unmistakable consequences.
Laymen view a character whose wrists begin bleed-
ing while using the Holy Art is with a mixture of fear
and awe. Very few Christians are unaware of the
significance of the stigmata. The Red Order is lucky
in this regard, as few other Curses result in anything
but scaring the flock.
Learning New Blessings,
Acquiring New Curses
The process of learning new Blessings involves a
great deal of prayer and meditation. The inquisitor,
full of Conviction, must seek guidance from above
and accept the wisdom when it comes in its own
time. Rushing wisdom is impossible, and even at-
tempting to do so is unwise. An inquisitor who seeks
to channel the power of his Conviction without
divine guidance risks Curses (or worse).
An inquisitor whose struggles with the Adver-
sary have left him full of Conviction is generally
well advised to put aside the fight, let go of the
violence and conflict for a time and go on retreat
to let his gains in understanding and piety grow to
equal his gains in Conviction and experience.
This often involves going to cloister for a time (see
Chapter Two for more information on what a
cloistered inquisitor can expect); making a pil-
grimage apart from an inquisitorial cell; or even
95
 simply spending time alone, far from the business
of inquisition, and letting the wisdom of God sink
in to the inquisitor’s heart. Typically, an inquisi-
tor developing a new Endowment requires
anywhere from a week to a month on retreat
(depending on the power of the Endowment in
question; the player and the Storyteller should
decide how long the character remains away).
If the inquisitor is going on retreat in order to
bank more Conviction than the one point per day
normally allowed (see p. 161 of Dark Ages: Inquisi-
tor), she may bank a maximum number of Conviction
points equal to her highest Superior Virtue + its
controlling Virtue (Conscience + Faith, for instance).
The player must still roll for prayer as usual, but the
character may then bank the Conviction points thus
earned up to that maximum.
The inquisitor who does not take the time neces-
sary to reverently approach the mysteries involved in
learning Blessings, who rashly assumes that he can grow
in power through Conviction alone, finds that such
arrogance and pride lead to the Lord’s displeasure as
manifested through Curses. More experienced inquisi-
tors can see the measure of an inquisitor’s patience and
wisdom by how many Curses he bears. An inquisitor
with a single Curse can easily be forgiven. An inquisitor
with several, however, can safely be assumed hot-
headed and lacking in good judgment.
An inquisitor usually knows he has pushed his luck
and gained a Curse immediately after committing the
act of pride that earned it for him. The Curse itself may
not manifest immediately. The inquisitor who earns
the Curse, however, feels a deep sense of foreboding and
impending disaster that is followed by the onset of the
Curse’s symptoms, usually in the space of a day or so.
A Knight of Acre who pushes his advancement
too fast, hastily expending 25 points of Conviction
for an Advocate-level Endowment he needs on the
battlefield, won’t necessarily feel the actual effects of
the Call of Duty Curse fall on him immediately.
Initially, he senses that he did something terribly
wrong. A leaden weight blooms in the pit of his
stomach as he grows more certain that his haste has
brought a Curse down upon him. He has time to
agonize over what it is that he brought upon himself
before the full effects of the Curse begin to show,
usually before the next dawn.
Holy Art
Learning the Holy Art requires both dedication
and time. Unlike other Endowments, which harness
the power of an inquisitor’s Conviction and Superior
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
96 • COMPANION •
Virtues, the Holy Art requires primarily time and
dedication to learn. Some attempt to master the
Holy Art by sheer intellect; their lot is naught but
failure. Insight and faith are both necessary for those
seeking to learn such sacred secrets, as is the proper
reverent or pious temperament to begin with.
The more outspoken among the Inquisition
say that learning the Holy Art is simply a matter
of having intense faith and letting the power of
the Lord work through you while you are His
chosen instrument. Others are not so doctrinaire,
and claim that any good Christian choosing to put
in the time required can learn it. Its detractors
imply that the Holy Art has nothing holy about it
and is, at root, nothing more than another form of
heresy or witchcraft.
For the inquisitor striving to learn the Holy
Art, members of the Red Order prescribe prayer
and dedication to the mysteries of the Holy Trin-
ity. Many consider the first step of the first path to
be the hardest. Once a student of the Art knows
what channeling holy power feels like, learning
additional techniques is somewhat easier.
Given that the Red Order is the best situated to
enlighten their fellow inquisitors in the spiritual
techniques of the Holy Art, one would expect the
Order to graciously volunteer their knowledge to
their fellows. Such is not the case, however. The Red
Order’s reputation as students of sorcery has made it
both secretive and, oddly, a little arrogant. Many
Red Brothers and Sisters truly do believe at some
level that the Holy Art could lead a weak soul to
experimentation with supernatural power. Only
through their uncommon self-mastery have they
managed to avoid such a fate — or so they tell
themselves. Other orders may or may not, as they see
it, have the necessary piety and true strength of
character to safely learn the Holy Art. A Red Sister
might be willing (or even eager under some circum-
stances) to teach the Holy Art to a Sister of St. John,
but that same Red Sister might refuse utterly to teach
that same Art to a nobleman of House Murnau,
fearful of that order’s reputation for trucking with
the Enemy.
The Monastery of Laurendine, the Red Order’s
chapter-house in Toulouse, is the only place where
the Holy Art is formally taught to inquisitors outside
of the Red Order, under the close supervision of
Frère Francois Lerouge. Access to the school is
frequently used as a reward to favored inquisitors, but
the Red Order inquisitors of Laurendine are an
insular bunch. Inquisitors of other Orders have often
found the experience of learning the Holy Art at
Laurendine to be subtly unpleasant due to the cool
reception and constant moral testing of the Red
Sisters and Brothers. The experience is worse if the
visitor is from the House of Murnau.
On rare occasions — and generally at the behest
of very high-ranking inquisitors — whole chapters
are sent to Laurendine for education in the Holy Art.
While this is a more agreeable experience for the
visitors, it tends to antagonize the hosts.
Holy Ground and Sacred Relics
No one is more sensitized to the places and
items imbued with faith than an inquisitor. For
them, such things and places are the direct handi-
work of the Creator Himself, and as such deserve
the greatest of reverence.
As a player, it’s important to give full credit to
the feelings that proximity to such things and places
elicits in an inquisitor. Holy ground is not just a safe
zone, it is the land that the Lord God Himself has
seen fit to claim for the faithful. Relics and holy
items are likewise far more than they seem and,
therefore, worthy of deeply respectful handling. Some
of the holiest relics and blessed items are at the
center of complex church rites and ceremonies; even
the simplest blessed sword deserves some measure of
respect for the sanctity invested in its blade.
Holy Ground
The Lord has claimed some places on the Earth
for His own. These may be sites of great cathedrals,
or simply a wide spot on a road where a saint was
martyred. Such places of holy power resonate to the
senses of inquisitors. The feeling of well-being and
comfort that an inquisitor experiences in such a
place is rare anywhere else. Such tracts of holy land
are oases to the parched soul of an inquisitor. Not all
holy ground feels the same to all inquisitors. Most
inquisitors feel holy ground as calm and safe terri-
tory, but some such tracts — near the site of a great
battle against a pagan army or near the castle of a
vampiric lord — may inspire the inquisitor with
feelings of fiery righteousness or dedication to his
holy cause.
Sleeping on holy ground is a powerful experi-
ence for inquisitors. Only there do they feel
completely at ease and able to let down their guard.
Even those inquisitors who are troubled by night-
mares can sleep peacefully in such places.
Any additional game effects of holy ground
beyond those enumerated in Dark Ages: Inquisitor
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
are largely left up to the Storyteller, but many in-
quisitors have been known to experience unusual
boons or blessings while on holy ground, or shortly
after spending a particularly long time there (see
Storyteller Issues).
Relics
An inquisitor wielding a relic or holy item is
filled with a sense of validation. God does not
oversee a world ruled by accident and happenstance.
From an inquisitor’s perspective, if he’s wielding a
blessed item, it is a direct nod from the Lord Himself
that the inquisitor is on the right path to carry out
His will.
Underscoring that sense of purpose is the power
granted by the relic or artifact. The realities of
carrying a spiritually significant item are reinforced
by the practical advantages such items provide. The
feeling of rightness that runs through an inquisitor as
he holds the nail from the True Cross or the shield of
a saint cannot be overstated. The subjective experi-
ence of knowing God chose you to wield one of His
sacred items is deeply empowering. Any character
with such an item, even a lesser one, should carry it
with a deep sense of gratitude. If the inquisitor is
carrying a particularly powerful relic or holy artifact,
he should be doubly thankful; to the Church for
trusting him to carry it, as well as to God for deliver-
ing it into his hands to begin with.
Storyteller Issues
Beyond the basics listed in Dark Ages: In-
quisitor, the Storyteller has a great deal of
discretion with regard to how much power he
ascribes to the subjective experience associated
with holy ground and relics. Items and places of
lesser power might not have any game effects
whatsoever, and may simply leave the inquisitor
feeling mildly inspired or energized.
The Storyteller should emphasize, through sen-
sory descriptions, just what the character is
experiencing as she stands on holy ground or holds a
relic in her hand. Mention the way the holy ground
makes his steps seem more certain and his feet
lighter. Relate how the warmth of the saint’s sword
in his hand makes the inquisitor feel wiser, nobler
and more confident. These are not worldly phenom-
ena they are experiencing but, rather, aspects of the
sacred. Above all, don’t allow the player to take
these holy things for granted.
In addition to the effects mentioned in Dark
Ages: Inquisitor, a Storyteller may also want to
include one or more of the following effects for
97
 inquisitors who reside on holy ground or even for
those who simply sleep one night in such a place,
provided the area is particularly sacred.
• Inquisitors may regain two Willpower points
any morning they wake up on holy ground.
• For the purpose of determining Callousness
only, the inquisitor’s Piety score considered two
higher than it actually is.
• Certain Flaws (e.g., Nightmares, Blasphemous
Tongue) may be muted while on holy ground, al-
though it’s possible that others, like Worship
Obsession or Ecstatic, may be intensified.
Characters in possession of relics certainly are
blessed to have such items in their possession. Relics,
after all, allow the inquisitor to pursue God’s work
with power otherwise out of reach to the common
man. Possession of a relic, however, also has a num-
ber of disadvantages that a Storyteller is urged to
bear in mind. First, carrying such an item is a weighty
sacred duty. While the inquisitor is benefiting from
possession of the relic, he’s also tasked to safeguard it
from harm, desecration or loss. That can be a drain-
ing task, particularly if others seek to own (or, worse,
destroy) the holy relic.
Furthermore, the Church does not necessarily
accept that an individual can own a relic. Church
policy states that relics, particularly the powerful
ones, should be kept in reliquaries in fortified castles
where they’re safe from harm. Carrying around a
saint’s tooth in a leather pouch around one’s neck
because it provides the wearer with a number of
benefits is not an appropriate use of an item of such
profound spiritual significance. The Church itself
may feel it has the right to take a relic from an
individual it perceives as being insufficiently pious
(or, worse, insufficiently competent to safeguard it).
Conflict between inquisitors is a likely outcome
when the Church sends one group to apprehend
another and reclaim a relic they’re carrying.
Orisons
God imparts the most basic of gifts upon those
He feels are worthy, and the process through which
this decision is made remains a mystery. These
Blessings, though minor, often make the difference
between life and death during the trials faced by
inquisitors. As mentioned previously, Orisons are
extremely subtle gifts. Very few inquisitors even
notice them, and the Conviction spent to use a more
powerful effect of an Orison feels much more like
Divine inspiration than deliberate effort on the
inquisitor’s part.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
98 • COMPANION •
Orisons of Conscience
The most gentle act of compassion is a powerful
thing indeed, and those who perceive the world with
eyes unclouded by fear and anger are able to under-
stand more deeply the intricacies of God’s plan.
Gift of Kindness
A character with this gift has an air of generosity
and blessed peace. Others feel naturally at ease when
interacting with him and are comforted by his pres-
ence. Even those who are angry or frustrated are
easily calmed, and the character has a knack for
saying the right thing to achieve this effect. Inquisi-
tors with this ability have actually been known to
speak eloquently in a different tongue, when needed
to garner trust. The word of God, of course, knows no
language barriers.
System: The presence of this tranquil individual
makes it easy for others to respond well in most
situations, reducing the difficulty of all non-threat-
ening Charisma rolls by one. Also, the player may
spend a point of Conviction and roll Intelligence +
Conscience (difficulty 6) to gain insight as to the
proper way to behave in an unfamiliar setting or
culture. Depending on how successful the roll is, the
Storyteller might give advice on how the character
might carry himself when seeking audience with a
noble, or even provide the right phrase (even in a
foreign language) to win the hearts of wary strangers.
Touch of Compassion
During a time when some of the most advanced
medicine involves leeches, knowing exactly what
affliction ails a person can be very important. Those
with this blessing can tell how wounded or sick a
person is with a simple touch, and are frequently
blessed with the knowledge of how best to help. Not
surprisingly, this Orison is common among the Sis-
ters of St. John.
System: After laying hands upon a person who
is wounded, diseased, poisoned or otherwise dam-
aged in some way (the player must succeed at a roll
of Perception + Medicine, difficulty 6), this charac-
ter knows exactly what is wrong and how wounded
the patient is. The Storyteller should provide infor-
mation about how many wound levels have been
taken, and whether they are bashing or lethal.
One advantage of this ability is that it is nearly
instantaneous, taking but physical contact and one
turn of concentration to activate. Furthermore, the
player may spend a point of Conviction to find out
the best possible cure for the malady. Insight is
provided as to what will heal the wounded within
the creature or somehow purposefully modified from
the limits of medical knowledge during this era. The
its original state. For example, a letter written by a
proper herbs or environment become known, for
vampire or a sculpture chiseled by someone demon-
example, in lieu of any harmful solutions (no “bleed-
possessed will appear to this character as something
ing out the sickness,” even though this was thought
worked by a force other than human. Note, however,
to work). This does not impart knowledge of the
that this does not give any information about exactly
easiest cure, nor does it grant any information about
what kind of creature had an affect on the object,
where and how to find what may be needed, merely
merely that it was touched by something inimical to
what will be the most effective cure. Note that in
God’s Creation.
some cases, the inquisitor simply knows that the
target is going to die (since no cure or treatment
exists for the malady or wound) and had best start
Orisons of Self-Control
performing last rites. Though these Orisons are known to represent
“common sense,” they are also manifestations of self-
Aesthetic Eye awareness and inner calm. Individuals blessed in this
The work of the Devil is often cleverly disguised way appear as bastions of solidarity.
as that of man, as seen in many fiends who walk the
earth in human guise. These beings leave their
Loaves and Fishes
unholy taint on things they’ve had a part in making The Gospel states that Jesus “took the five loaves
or changing. Characters blessed with this ability are and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he
able to distinguish between things created by the blessed them, and broke, and gave to the disciples to
hand of man and those stained by demonic forces. set before the multitude.” With that, many people
were fed miraculously with a very small amount of
System: The player must spend a point of Con-
food. An inquisitor with this ability is able to emu-
viction and roll Perception + Alertness (difficulty
late the Savior by praying over a meal and then
7). If successful, the character can tell if an object
dividing it among many, who are then as well nour-
was wrought by an unnatural being. This ability
ished as if all had eaten the full course.
extends only to items that are created or changed in
a non-supernatural way, not to outright illusions or System: For every point of Conviction the player
products of Disciplines. It must be an item created by spends, the character may feed five times as many

• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL • 99
 people with an amount of food that would normally
be enough for one meal. This means that one travel
ration might nourish an entire cell on a journey into
harsh climates. The player may spend up to three
Conviction each day on this Orison, blessing three
meals to feed five persons each, or one meal that may
feed up to fifteen, or any combination in between.
Dream of Jacob
Jacob lay his head upon a pillow of stone and dreamt
of the Kingdom of the Lord, awakening with newfound
fervor. Some inquisitors are able to enter a deep state of
meditationthatiseasilymistakenfordeath,feelingstrength-
ened and renewed upon awakening.
System: After rolling Stamina + Self-Control
(difficulty 6), the player may spend one point of Con-
viction for each success. The character falls into a
death-like trance for a number of days equal to the
Conviction points spent. During this time, the charac-
ter need not eat and barely needs to breathe. Others
perceive him as dead unless they succeed at a roll of
Perception + Medicine (difficulty 6 + the number of
successes gained for the trance; maximum difficulty
10). In addition, for each day the character is in this
trance, one point of Willpower is regained in addition
to the discretionary points that may be regained due to
normal rest.
The drawback to this Orison is that the charac-
ter may not awaken before the time is up, regardless
of outside interference. At the Storyteller’s discre-
tion, the character may be stirred through prayer and
expenditure of Conviction by his flock or cell. Also,
if the roll to use this power is botched, the character
loses one point of Conviction and suffers one health
level of lethal damage due to the strain to his system.
Carried by Faith
The inquisitor’s faith makes him fleet of foot and
nearly tireless. A character with this Blessing seems
able to go on when others would be exhausted, and
leaves no tracks behind.
System: This player reduces the difficulty of all
Stamina rolls by one involving travel by foot. Also,
if he spends a point of Conviction and succeeds a
Dexterity + Self-Control roll (difficulty 6), the char-
acter may travel for the duration of a scene without
leaving any footprints, regardless of the terrain. Bear
in mind that the character does not actually become
any lighter or quieter, but merely leaves no evidence
of having passed through an area on foot (what he
might brush against with the rest of his body is still
fair game, of course).
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
100 • COMPANION •
Orisons of Courage
No danger is too great for those graced by the
power of God, and these Orisons represent the
mindful trust that there is a plan behind each pure
action.
Fear of God
The commanding presence of the Father is a
terrifying sight to behold, and some of His followers
seem to bear this mantle to a lesser degree. Minions
of Satan who encounter such inquisitors are some-
times stunned momentarily.
System: All Intimidation rolls made by this
player are at –1 difficulty. Supernatural creatures
and impious mortals can be forced to cower in fear as
well, if the player spends a point of Conviction and
succeeds a Charisma + Courage roll (difficulty is the
opponent’s Willpower). The target can do nothing
but cower in fear for a number of turns equal to the
number of successes gained, though he defends him-
self if attacked. Supernatural beings may roll
Willpower (difficulty of the inquisitor’s Piety) to
ignore this effect; mortals must spend a Willpower
point to do so.
Blessed Vigor
The seemingly insurmountable odds stacked
against most inquisitors would cause most people to
flee in terror when wounded. Some characters, how-
ever, are blessed in such a way that they can ignore
pain during battle and continue to fight in the name
of the Lord. They know their duty to destroy the evil
infesting the Earth outweighs their own suffering,
and press on to battle with Heaven-sent bravery.
System: For the duration of the scene, each
point of Conviction this player spends negates
one level of wound penalties (when Wounded, for
example, the character can spend three Convic-
tion and suffer no penalties, as if Bruised). This
does not heal the character, but allows her to fight
as though she is less wounded. Due to the extra
strain on the character’s body, the player must
succeed on a Courage roll (difficulty 5 + wound
levels) at the end of the scene or suffer an addi-
tional level of bashing damage. This Orison may
not be used if the character is Incapacitated.
Grace of Moses
Sometimes inquisitors are called upon to en-
ter climates and terrains that are harsh, barren and
deadly. They may have to walk across stretches of
desert or spend long periods of time at sea without
proper nourishment. When times are toughest, a
greater degree of tenacity shines through when
others might fail to persevere.
System: This character may enter dangerous envi-
ronments secure in the knowledge that God will provide.
All Survival rolls have their difficulties reduced by one.
Also, by spending a point of Conviction, the player may
make a Perception + Courage roll (difficulty 6). If
successful, it grants some insight into how to survive a
hopeless situation in a hostile environment. The Sto-
ryteller might provide information about where to find
fresh water, shelter, the aid of a helpful stranger, or
which two pieces of wood will rub together easiest to
make fire.
Endowments
More visible and obvious than Orisons but much
less predictable than the Holy Art, the Blessings
known collectively as Endowments are perhaps the
greatest spiritual weapon in the Inquisition’s arse-
nal. Unfortunately, teaching Endowments is
impossible; they come through the grace of God and
are fueled by the fires of Conviction. No inquisitor
can predict what capabilities another might possess.
True, the Oculi Dei show a strong predilection
towards Benedictions, and von Murnau inquisitors
almost always display their family’s curse (in the
form of the Forbidden Wisdom Legacy), but some-
times a Knight of Acre might burst forth in hymn
(using a Psalm) or a Red Brother move with incred-
ible speed and agility (displaying the Flight of Angels
Investiture). Being a member of the Inquisition isn’t
even a requirement to display Endowments; outsid-
ers with the right strength of faith sometimes exhibit
them as well (and are often promptly recruited).
Benedictions
Unlike the other orders of the Inquisition, the
Eyes of God work alone and must do so if they are
to be effective. The Benedictions granted them
reflect both their need to gather (and deliver)
information on the Enemy and their need to work
alone effectively.
Endurance Everlasting (Acolyte)
The solitary monitoring activities of the Oculi
Dei often put them in situations where fatigue or
need for rest must be ignored, if not transcended.
This Benediction grants the inquisitor the ability to
withstand the millstones of time, hunger and even
the slowly grinding mental attacks of the Adversary’s
pawns, so that the Eyes of God may perform their
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
God-given duties to the Inquisition. With the di-
vine assistance of this Benediction, the inquisitor
may even engage in long periods of intense exertion
without growing tired, enabling him to perform truly
miraculous feats in the pursuit of his calling.
System: Many of the enemies of God are active
primarily at night, and the duties of the Oculi Dei
often require them to remain awake and alert, watch-
ing the pawns of the Adversary for days on end
through all manner of harsh conditions. The Wis-
dom-based application of this Benediction allows
the inquisitor to remain awake, healthy and com-
fortable without needing sleep or even food. The
character suffers from neither discomfort nor penal-
ties from the lack of sleep or food.
The player spends a point of Conviction and
rolls Stamina + Wisdom (difficulty 6). Each success
allows the character to go two full days without
needing sleep or food. Furthermore, for the duration
of this Endowment the character gains a number of
points equal to his successes with which to augment
his Mental Attributes. Acolytes can raise Attributes
up to 6, Advocates up to 7 and Judges up to 8 using
this Endowment. Applications of this Benediction
do not “stack” with each other; the character must
wait until the duration expires on the first use before
using this Endowment again.
It is not always the body that grows tired, how-
ever, but the mind, particularly in the face of the
attacks on the spirit performed by vampires and
witches. The Faith-based application of this Bene-
diction provides an inquisitor with the strength of
will to fend off such attacks. The inquisitor prays for
the strength to withstand mental and emotional
trials; the player spends one Conviction point and
rolls Stamina + Faith (difficulty 6). For each success,
two points are added to the character’s Willpower for
the rest of the scene; those Willpower points may
only be spent for the purpose of fending off mental
attacks (i.e., Dominate or other mind-affecting
magic). Should a creature begin stripping the in-
quisitor of his will, the inquisitor may call upon this
Benediction again to help him thwart Satan’s will
(this is particularly effective against the Dominate
power Vessel). For all other purposes, the character’s
Willpower is unchanged.
In truly dire straits, an inquisitor must not suc-
cumb to exhaustion, regardless of how much he is
exerting himself. The Zeal-based application of this
Benediction provides the Oculus with the ability to
sprint, swim or work for hours on end without tiring
or needing to rest. The player rolls Stamina + Zeal
101
 (difficulty 5). For every success, the character can
exert herself to maximum ability and without rest for
eight hours. Three successes, for example, would
allow the character to sprint for 24 hours without
rest. At the Storyteller’s discretion, this Benediction
may also grant other associated blessings that aid the
character during long periods of exertion, like pre-
venting blisters, heat stroke or dehydration. Once
the duration has expired, however, the character
collapses in a heap, unable to do anything more
strenuous than hobble around for one day per success
rolled. This application of Everlasting Endurance
may not be used for combat; the character cannot
become a “fighting machine” for hours on end. It
applies only to menial work or travel.
Divine Light (Acolyte)
Inquisitors are frequently at a severe disadvantage
when dealing with the servants of the Adversary.
Thanks to their connection to the supernatural, the
enemy almost always knows more about the inquisitor
than the inquisitor knows about the enemy. The Eyes
of God in particular need to know when they’re in
danger, since they so frequently work alone. This
Benediction is a collection of intelligence-gathering
effects that help the Oculus know what he’s confront-
ing.
System: The Wisdom-based application of this
Benediction lets the inquisitor know when he’s
being watched or followed and may even give him
greater insights than that into his enemies’ attempts
to locate him. The Oculus closes his eyes for a
moment to pray; the player rolls Perception + Wis-
dom (difficulty 6). What information the inquisitor
gathers depends on how many successes the player
achieves.
Successes Result
1 The inquisitor knows if he’s being watched
or followed at that moment by someone in
his immediate area. The sensation lasts only
for one turn.
2 He knows when an enemy within a mile
radius is looking for him.
3 The character knows if he’s being followed.
This perception lasts for one scene.
4 As above, and knows the follower’s general
intent and whereabouts.
5 He knows if he’s being watched or viewed
by magical means.
An inquisitor using the Faith-based applica-
tion of this Benediction is able to tell when magic
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
102 • COMPANION •
or supernatural energies of any sort are being
channeled or used in his presence, including very
subtle forms of magic like the Presence Discipline.
To the sight of the Oculus, those using such
energies stand out from the crowd unmistakably,
often appearing wreathed in unnatural flames,
speaking in streams of black fog or in other, similar
ways. As with the other applications of this Bene-
diction, the inquisitor closes his eyes briefly and
says a prayer. The player spends a point of Convic-
tion and rolls Perception + Faith (difficulty 6).
Every success allows the Oculus to know if magic
(or vampiric Disciplines or the like) is being used
(and who is doing so), in a radius of five feet per
success rolled.
Using the Zeal-based version of Divine Light
gives the Oculus an uncanny awareness of when he’s
in danger. The feelings range in strength from vague
hints of doom to specific knowledge of plans being
made against him. The inquisitor prays for his knowl-
edge; the player spends a point of Conviction and
rolls Perception + Zeal (difficulty 6). The number of
successes reveals how specific the information is.
Successes Degree of Warning
1 The inquisitor has a nervous sense of fore-
boding when danger is imminent.
2 The inquisitor gains some small insights
into the nature of the danger he’s in, i.e., “I
think there’s an ambush ahead.”
3 The inquisitor knows when immediate dan-
ger is imminent and what form the danger
will take: “Three wolfmen are waiting for us
in the trees about fifty yards up the road.”
4 The inquisitor is aware of the danger, knows
the form it will take, who plotted it and why:
A gang of thugs awaits us in our room at the
inn. They are well armed and they were sent
by…the bishop!”
5 The inquisitor knows everything he would
know from 4 successes and has insights into
how best to avoid the danger or turn it to his
advantage.
This danger sense lasts for the duration of the scene.
Libera Me (Advocate)
To perform their sacred function for the Inqui-
sition, it is of the utmost importance that the Eyes of
God be free to roam where they will. This Benedic-
tion is unusual in that it does not aid the Oculus’
efforts at stealth, but helps him maintain his free-
dom. Depending on which Superior Virtue the Oculus
 uses, this Benediction channels the power of the
Father to free the inquisitor from a variety of snares,
both physical and otherwise, as surely as prayer frees
the soul of its burden. This Benediction requires only
that the inquisitor speak the words “libera me” (“De-
liver me”).
System: The Wisdom-based effect of this
Benediction rids the inquisitor’s mind of all forms
of supernatural control. This includes all of the
techniques under the vampiric Dementation,
Dominate and Presence Disciplines, as well as all
forms of mind-control used by mages and other
hell-servitors. The Eye asks for deliverance and
his player rolls Wits + Wisdom (difficulty 6). Two
successes are needed for emotionally based con-
trol (e.g., Presence) and the magic of mages and
the fae, while one success breaks all other forms of
mental control, including all conditioning that
would affect the inquisitor at a later date. This
Benediction can even purge the inquisitor of a
possessing demon, but this requires three suc-
cesses and the expenditure of a point of Conviction.
An Oculus using the Faith-based version of
Libera Me is set free from any form of physical
restraints or binding. Shackles and ropes fall away,
pillories and locked doors swing wide and anything
else inhibiting the inquisitor’s freedom releases him.
This Benediction affects snares and traps that the
inquisitor may find himself in as well. Roll the
character’s Dexterity + Faith (difficulty 6). One
success frees the inquisitor from most forms of bind-
ing, but more complicated bindings may require
more successes at the Storyteller’s discretion. If the
inquisitor is being held by multiple restraints, the
player must score one success for each (i.e., an
Oculus bound by manacles on his wrists, shackles on
his feet and rope tying him to a chair needs three
successes to be free).
The Zeal-based effect of Libera Me slams to the
ground anyone physically restraining the inquisitor.
While this primarily applies to those in physical
contact with the inquisitor, it also affects anyone
restraining the Oculus through any sorcerous or
magical means. The inquisitor’s player rolls Cha-
risma + Zeal (difficulty 7). Even one success slams
the inquisitor’s assailant(s) heavily to the floor
(though it does not cause damage). Furthermore, all
targets so affected are stunned for one turn for every
success beyond the first (in the form of a –1 penalty
to both initiative and dice pools for every success
rolled on the character’s behalf).

• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL • 103
 Vow of Silence (Judge)
The Oculi, forced to work on their own more
than other inquisitors, rely on stealth and secrecy to
do the Lord’s work. Vow of Silence is so named
because it prevents the lone Oculus from providing
any information to the Enemy, willingly or other-
wise. The power of this Benediction goes far beyond
mere silence, and lets the inquisitor cover his pres-
ence (and even his trail) in a myriad of ways.
System: Utilizing Wisdom for this Benediction
prevents the allies of the Adversary from using any
supernatural means to detect the inquisitor. Normal
senses work within normal ranges, but any manner
of sensing that goes beyond those senses cannot pick
up even the vaguest hint of the inquisitor. The
Oculus prays for concealment from his enemies, and
the player spends a point of Conviction and rolls
Wits + Wisdom (difficulty 5). Every success deletes
three successes from a supernatural creature’s at-
tempts to use magical sensory capabilities to detect
the Oculus. This Benediction doesn’t shield the
inquisitor from perception by normal people or
animals in any way, but it does work against the
Heightened Senses of both vampires and werewolves,
any form of telepathy and all locating spells used by
witches and wizards.
Slightly more complex is the Faith-based ver-
sion of this Benediction. Even though the inquisitor
himself may not give himself away, other things
about him might: his aura, objects he has touched or
even his soul itself (if captured by necromancers, for
example). By tapping into his Faith, the Oculus can
prevent the Adversary’s minions from using any of
these things against him. By so doing, the inquisitor
prevents supernatural creatures from doing any of
the following: reading his aura, using magic to pull
secrets from his corpse or interrogating his ghost, see
visions from objects he has touched, read his mind or
look into (or enter) his dreams. Werewolves cannot
even catch the inquisitor’s scent, although normal
dogs or wolves can. The Oculus says his prayer, as
usual, and the player spends a point of Conviction
and rolls Wits + Faith (difficulty 7). The number of
successes rolled determines how long the inquisitor’s
trail is covered.
Successes Duration
1 One Scene
2 One Day
3 One Week
4 One Month
5 One Year
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
104 • COMPANION •
The Zeal-based effect of this Benediction pre-
vents the inquisitor from giving himself away, even
if the enemy makes use of torture or mind-control
magic (including Auspex, Dominate, Presence and
any other vampiric Disciplines that control, coax or
otherwise extract information). When protected by
this use of Vow of Silence, the inquisitor completely
loses from mind any and all information his enemy
seeks. The information is gone not only from the
inquisitor’s conscious mind, but it is also gone from
his unconscious mind; it cannot even appear in
dreams or be whispered unconsciously during sleep.
Conveniently, when (or if) the inquisitor is once
again free and under no coercion, the information
returns to his mind. Some inquisitors who have
made use of this Benediction are under the belief
that an angel comes and takes their knowledge from
them for the duration, returning it to them only
when it can’t fall into the wrong hands. The player
need only spend a point of Conviction to trigger this
Benediction.
Investitures
The Knights of Acre are among the most dedi-
cated and zealous soldiers in the Inquisition. The
powerful Investitures they use in battle help them to
withstand even the Enemy’s worst onslaught, retain-
ing their reputations as powerful defenders of the
faith.
Lamb of God (Acolyte)
The pious inquisitors of the Knights of Acre are
the warriors of God in the most concrete sense. It is
to them that many of the heaviest burdens of vio-
lence fall. This Investiture provides the Knight with
an array of techniques with which to meet the allies
of the Adversary. The Knight using this Investiture,
however, must do one of the most difficult things
possible when calling on this Endowment: He must
be meek, mild and unafraid as he lets an opponent
land a blow on him. Any Knight of Acre who gives
in to retaliatory urges or falls prey to wrath immedi-
ately loses any and all benefits from this Investiture.
This is particularly difficult to cope with, consider-
ing two of the applications of this Investiture involve
the Knight freely letting his adversary cause him
harm. Wounds taken in this manner are considered
to be marks of faith and can only be healed with time.
Furthermore, this Investiture only works in the heat
of real battle; wounds taken solely to get the benefits
of this Investiture will not elicit the desired effect.
 System: The Zeal-based use of this Investiture,
often referred to as Talionis (based on the Lex
Talionis, the Old Testament law of an eye for an
eye), delivers to the Knight’s enemy the same dam-
age, slightly exacerbated, that they do to him with
fists or melee weapons. The Knight of Acre stoically
receives the blow delivered by his enemy. He may
not attack that turn, nor may he attempt to dodge
(although he may soak).
Roll the character’s Stamina + Zeal (difficulty
5). If the player obtains one or two success, all
damage dealt to the character (before soak) is
visited upon the attacker as bashing damage. If the
player rolls three or four successes, the damage is
visited upon his attacker as lethal damage. If the
Knight’s player rolls five (or more) successes, the
attacker suffers aggravated damage. Inspirational
tales circulate of Knights of Acre using this Inves-
titure to great effect on the beastmen populating
the forests of Europe.
The Faith-dependent version of this Investiture
is the least complicated. The knight simply accepts
any blow delivered unto him and relies on his humil-
ity and devotion to God to shield him from damage.
The player rolls Stamina + Faith (difficulty 6) and
subtracts successes from his opponent’s attack roll on
a one for one basis. If the player also spends a
Conviction point, this roll can be made reflexive
(that is, the Knight may still take another action that
turn). This application of Lamb of God can only be
activated on attacks that the Knight can see coming;
he gains no protection from surprise attacks.
The Inquisition depends a great deal on the
stamina and stoicism of the Knights of Acre, and
nowhere is this made so clear as in the Wisdom-
based version of this Investiture. This application is
a testing of the Knight more than anything else,
because it requires him to show great endurance in
the name of service to another member of the Inqui-
sition. The Knight piously accepts the damage dealt
to him by his attacker. However much damage the
Knight suffers (after soak, if applicable), that same
amount of damage is healed from a fellow inquisitor
determined by the player.
The player spends a point of Conviction and
rolls Strength + Wisdom (difficulty 6). If he gains
one success, the damage healed is bashing. With two
successes he heals his chosen target of an equal
amount of lethal damage, and with three or more, he
heals the amount of damage he takes in any type of
damage, including aggravated. Obviously, there is a
certain amount of strategy to be used here lest the
Knight suffer in vain; for example, this is a good
Investiture to use when dealing with an enemy who
does minimal to moderate damage with a single
blow, but not a good choice when dealing with
werewolves. It is said that this Investiture reminds
the Knight of the suffering of Jesus Christ on the
cross and the sacrifice He made to cleanse the sins of
the world.
Shield of God (Acolyte)
More than most other inquisitors, the Knights of
Acre place themselves in direct physical danger in
their pursuit of the Lord’s will. God, in His omni-
science, sees their efforts and grants them the strength
and resilience necessary to overcome the challenges
placed in their way by the Adversary. Many of the
Knights — those who have seen the most conflict,
generally — have learned prayers that beseech the
Almighty in such a way that He intervenes on their
behalf to protect them from assorted forms of bodily
harm. Those good Knights with particularly well-
developed Superior Virtues can survive rigors that
would kill other less pious men several times over.
Pragmatically, these prayers require but a quick two-
or three-word plea in Latin to invoke the Lord’s
infinite mercy, most commonly “Save your servant,”
or “Forgive me.”
System: Each Superior Virtue confers upon the
Knight knowledge of prayers to protect him from an
additional form of physical danger. Knights with
ratings in all of the Superior Virtues with this Inves-
titure become legendary for their seeming
indestructibility.
Perhaps the most miraculous of all, the Zeal-
based version of this Investiture allows the Knight to
survive the searing heat of flames, letting him walk
through intense and even magical flames without
suffering even the slightest burn or feeling any dis-
comfort whatsoever. The flames do not affect his
clothing or other possessions on his person. The
player spends a point of Conviction and rolls Stamina
+ Zeal (difficulty 7). Success allows the character to
remain in flames for three turns without suffering
any inconvenience or discomfort. As with the Faith-
based application of this Endowment, the character
may recite this prayer multiple times, spending one
point of Conviction each time, if circumstances
require him to remain in the flames for longer than
one prayer can protect him.
Knights using the Faith-based version of this
Investiture are blessed with the ability to survive
under water far longer than would normally be

• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL • 105
 possible. This prayer does not grant the character the
ability to breathe water, it simply allows her to hold
her breath for far longer than would be possible
without divine intervention (so if the character loses
consciousness, she’s out of luck). The player spends
a point of Conviction and rolls the character’s
Stamina + Faith (difficulty 6). Each success allows
the character to remain under water for an addi-
tional 10 minutes without suffering any adverse
effects (see p. 256 of Dark Ages: Vampire for rules
on drowning). A Knight may use this Investiture
repeatedly should his circumstances require it, so
long as his player spends another point of Convic-
tion each time the Investiture runs out.
The Wisdom-based application of this Endow-
ment protects the character from the damage incurred
from a long fall, regardless of the surface the charac-
ter lands on. The player spends a point of Conviction
and rolls the character’s Stamina + Wisdom (diffi-
culty 6). Each success effectively lessens the falling
distance by 20 feet (i.e., the character may fall sixty
feet, but if he gets three successes on his roll, the
damage from the fall is cancelled entirely, leaving
the character perhaps a little shocked and dishev-
eled but no worse for the drop).
Enduring Rock of Faith (Advocate)
Not all challenges faced by inquisitors can be
dealt with quickly. The Lord’s work eventually
places all members of the Inquisition in a position
of extended adversity. This Investiture grants the
Knight of Acre the ability to endure a variety of
drawn out, difficult situations without being
whittled away by physical or mental erosion and
falling before the Enemy.
System: The Zeal-based application of this Inves-
titure allows a Knight to survive even the most grievous
wounds inflicted on him in battle by rendering the
blows of his opponents incapable of inflicting signifi-
cant harm — or, at times, any harm at all. The player
spends one point of Conviction and rolls Stamina +
Zeal (difficulty 6). Each success represents one degree of
wound reduction (i.e., from aggravated to lethal, from
lethal to bashing, or from bashing to no wounds at all).
The player makes the roll at the beginning of combat;
for the duration of the scene, he can choose to lessen an
attack by one grade for each success (i.e., three successes
would allow the character to ameliorate an attack
causing aggravated wounds by three levels — that is,
from aggravated to no damage at all — or three attacks
by one damage category apiece (i.e., turning three
lethal attacks into three bashing, or ignoring damage
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
106 • COMPANION •
entirely on three bashing attacks). This application of
the Investiture can only be performed once per scene,
and the Knight must recite the invoking prayer before
he has swung his first blow in battle.
More physical is the Faith-based version of this
Investiture, which grants the Knight an astonishing
capacity for surviving even the best efforts of his en-
emies to inflict damage on him. When the character
invokes this Investiture, his player rolls Stamina +
Faith (difficulty 6). Each success provides the character
with one re-roll that he can use for soak rolls. The player
can take the higher of the original roll or the re-roll.
Example: Titus Thorpe, a Knight of Acre with
Stamina 4 and Faith 3, calls upon this Investiture while
in combat with a feral vampire. His player spends a point
of Conviction, rolls seven dice and gets four successes.
Four times over the remainder of the scene, Titus’ player
can re-roll any unsatisfactory soak roll, making Titus an
unusually resilient opponent.
Many of the servants of the Devil work their
wiles on the minds of men, beating down and dis-
couraging those who would stand in their way.
Vampires, in particular, have means of dominating
the minds of men (including inquisitors). The Wis-
dom-based version of this Investiture grants the
Knight unfailing certainty in his calling and his
mission. In game terms, this means that the Knight’s
Willpower is difficult to undermine. The player
spends one point of Conviction to trigger this Inves-
titure; for the rest of the scene, the difficulty of
resisting thralldom is reduced to 4 (see p. 162 of
Dark Ages: Inquisitor).
Milius Dei (Judge)
Those with true conviction and devotion to
God have shown astonishing skills in the course of
battle. This Investiture gives the Knight remarkable
(many claim miraculous) abilities in battle. These
abilities provide him with a degree of might and
prowess that even the chosen of Satan would be hard
pressed to match; indeed, such champions of
Christendom have been known to take on many
supernatural foes at once — and triumph.
System: The Zeal-based manifestation of this
Investiture improves the Knight’s reflexes to an
astonishing degree, giving him a chance to move out
of the way of any number of attacks against him. He
can sidestep attacks from an array of enemies — even
while taking the battle to the enemy. The player
spends a point of Conviction. For the rest of the turn,
the character receives a chance to dodge (with his
full dice pool) against every attack directed at him,
even if he’s attacking an enemy in the same round.
This use of this Investiture in no way provides the
inquisitor with more than one attack, it simply gives
him unlimited dodging ability. This Investiture does
not work if the character does not know an attack is
coming (i.e., if he is ambushed).
The Faith-based technique, when used strategi-
cally, can easily astonish the Knight’s opponent and
turn the tide of a combat. By speaking a prayer, the
Knight causes a number of attacks to give him the
health levels that they ordinarily would have taken
away. The player spends one Conviction point and
the character recites his prayer. From then to the end
of the scene, the character can reverse the damage of
a number of attacks equal to his Faith rating. A
Knight can thereby turn his enemy’s well-aimed
deathblow into a blessing of revivification. This
Investiture can only be used once per scene.
The Wisdom-based application of this Investi-
ture renders the Knight impervious to all forms of
supernatural weaponry, whether it be the claws of a
wolf-man, the hell-forged torture tools of a vampire
lord or the enchanted blade of a Saracen wizard. Any
such weapons used against the inquisitor may make
contact with his body, but then have no effect on
him at all, as though the weapon were made of thin
wood and the Knight’s body were made of stone. For
the sake of formality, the attacker may want to roll to
hit, but the outcome is the same: no supernatural
weapon affects the Knight in any way.
That said, direct magical attacks on the Knight
still work normally, as do normal weapons. Only
supernatural weapons using Brawl, Melee or Ar-
chery rolls are affected by this Investiture. No roll
is necessary, and the effect lasts until the end of
the scene.
Legacies
House Murnau is known for its powers of detec-
tion and its unholy insights into the supernatural
condition. While these inquisitors give up much in
the pursuit of their duties, their service to the Inqui-
sition is undeniable. The following Legacies are the
birthright of the inquisitors of House Murnau.
Divine Insight (Acolyte)
The von Murnau learn many secrets through
their curse. This Legacy provides the inquisitor with
uncanny knowledge about her supernatural quarry,
her quarry’s sources of strength and power and even
that quarry’s motivations and goals.
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
System: The Faith-based allows the inquisitor
to discern in which direction a given supernatural
target lies. The von Murnau prays, and the player
spends a Conviction point and rolls Perception +
Faith (difficulty 6); the number of successes reveals
how specific the information is. At times the insight
is a vague hunch, while other times the inquisitor
knows almost the exact locale of his target. The
inquisitor must have seen the target at least once
before; simply knowing a name is not enough (since
minions of Satan usually adopt false names or steal
the identities of good Christians, anyway).
Successes Result
1 Knows only the vague compass point:
Somewhere to the north
2 More specific: North and east of here.
3 East by north east.
4 The exact direction as well as a vague
notion of the distance
5 The exact direction, a clear notion of
the distance and vague insights into the
local landmarks in the area.
The Wisdom-based application is in some ways
the most frightening power that the Murnau can
bring to bear. The inquisitor can glance at a demon’s
heart (“soul” is probably an inaccurate term) and
know its desires. The player rolls Perception + Wis-
dom (difficulty of the target’s Willpower). The
inquisitor is granted information according to how
many successes the player rolls:
Successes Result
1 The inquisitor has a general idea of what drives
the creature: Hunger, lust, rage, etc.
2 The above, and the inquisitor knows whether
the creature has a very focused goal or a merely
general drives, though not what those goals or
drives might be. For instance, a near-mindless
Feral vampire wants nothing more than to feed,
and so appears to have a very general objective,
whereas a Cainite who wants to become prince
of a city wants something very specific.
3 As above, but the inquisitor has a general sense
of what the creature’s goals are and what targets
they might involve. In the above examples, the
inquisitor might sense the Feral vampire is driven
by hunger and wishes to slake that hunger on
anyone nearby.
4 As above, and the inquisitor learns the best way
to question or deal with the creature. The player
may add the von Murnau’s Wisdom rating to any
107
 Social rolls (including interrogation) made
against the creature.
5+ As above, and the inquisitor learns a very specific
fact about the creature. The player may ask one
question of the Storyteller. If the creature knows
the answer, the von Murnau learns it as well.
This application of Divine Insight may only be
used once per day on any given creature.
This Legacy’s Zeal-based approach detects the
nearest source of power, strength or succor of a given
supernatural. Under some circumstances, this might
give the Murnau some notions of how to render her
quarry defenseless, other times it might simply lead
her to a favored whore. All that this technique truly
does is lead the inquisitor toward some magically
oriented source of power or comfort.
The player rolls Intelligence + Zeal (difficulty
6). The Storyteller is free to interpret exactly what
this technique reveals. In the case of a vampire, it
could reveal the direction of a favorite mortal vic-
tim, a casket full of his native soil or his favorite
weapon. In the case of a werewolf, it might reveal the
creature’s place of heathen worship, favorite weapon
or lover. Used on a mage, this technique might point
the inquisitor in the direction of a cray, a magical
weapon or a spell book.
Surveying the Devil’s Flock (Acolyte)
Wise inquisitors know that often their worst
enemies are not so much the agents of Hell on Earth,
but those lackeys Hell’s agents command. A vampire
may himself be weak, for example, even helpless
during the daylight hours. With the reconnaissance
and support of those he has enthralled, his power can
be much more dangerous than an inquisitor might
immediately perceive. This Legacy provides the in-
quisitor with insights into the mortal thralls who
serve (or have served) an unholy master, willingly or
otherwise.
System: The Faith-based application of this
Legacy interferes with a target’s ability to receive
communication from a particular pawn of the Ad-
versary. The target is rendered wholly insensible to
that particular supernatural entity: She cannot hear
him, hear his thoughts, see him or discern him in any
way. Furthermore, things he has written become
entirely unintelligible. Should the supernatural en-
tity become violent with the target, the target believes
himself to be having fits and damaging himself. Von
Murnau use this technique when they need to pre-
vent a supernatural creature from making use of his
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
108 • COMPANION •
thralls. The von Murnau must perform a laying on of
hands on the target to be affected. The player spends
a Conviction point and rolls Manipulation + Faith
(difficulty 6). Each success renders the target insen-
sible to any communication from supernatural sources
for one full day.
The Wisdom-based application of this Legacy
lets the von Murnau know if a mortal is doing or has
ever done the bidding of a supernatural master. This
Legacy reveals such individuals by showing them
strangely discolored in some way; their skin may
appear jet black or their faces may appear a shocking
shade of red. The discoloration is often less intense
the greater the time past that the thralldom took
place. The player rolls Perception + Wisdom (diffi-
culty 6). Each success gives a clearer picture of what
that thralldom was like.
Each additional success reveals another clue
about the target’s enthrallment.
Successes Result
1 Detects whether the target has ever served any
sort of supernatural master.
2 Discerns how recently the target has served such
a master.
3 Reveals the gravity of the target’s trespasses (i.e.,
did the thrall simply act as a concubine for her
master or did she murder her fellow human
beings?).
4 Reveals the nature of the creature that held the
target enthralled.
5 Discerns how long the thralldom lasted and what
the target’s current feelings are toward her mas-
ter (or former master).
This Legacy’s Zeal-based technique is usable
only on those currently serving a supernatural mas-
ter. The target gains sudden (but, alas, temporary)
insights into the nature of her master. She sees his
full diabolical evil, the harm he has inflicted on the
human race and how he has undermined her God-
given free will. The target will initially be agitated,
then furious. All supernatural control is temporarily
negated. Once the period of negation is over, the
mortal remembers only that she betrayed her master
and feels intense remorse for it.
The Murnau must perform a laying on of hands
on the target and pray for her insight. The player
spends a point of Conviction and rolls Charisma +
Zeal (difficulty 6) to awaken his target to her
thralldom. Success frees the target from her master’s
control — and fills her with a profound anger toward
him — for one full day.
Pulling the Serpent’s Fangs (Advocate)
The supernatural abilities of the Enemy’s min-
ions are what make them so difficult to fight. The
inquisitors of House Murnau have a way around
that problem: This Legacy functions in an array of
ways to undermine a supernatural enemy’s power
in the world.
System: The Faith-based version of this Legacy
strikes dumb any opponent using the spoken word to
affect his enemies, including wizards speaking incan-
tations or vampires using Dominate or Thaumaturgic
rituals. Any incantations are ruined entirely, and
any effect the enemy may have been having (e.g., the
effects of the Dominate Discipline) comes to a com-
plete and abrupt stop. The Murnau prays for
deliverance from the subtle tongued serpents that
roam the world. The player spends a point of Con-
viction and rolls Manipulation + Faith (difficulty 6).
Any and all supernatural targets in the inquisitor’s
line of sight are immediately struck dumb, unable to
speak or vocalize in any way. The targets are ren-
dered unable to speak for three turns per success.
The Wisdom-based version of this Legacy makes
a creature of darkness loath to take any action
against the inquisitor. In some circumstances, the
creature may perceive the inquisitor as too holy or
sacred to harm, while in other situations the creature
may feel a strange, inexplicable sense of camaraderie
with the von Murnau that keeps it from acting
aggressively. Roll Charisma + Wisdom (difficulty 6).
Each success indicates how many Willpower points
the creature must expend before it is capable of
taking any action against the von Murnau. The
creature must expend this Willpower every time it
wishes to take hostile action towards the character,
for the duration of the scene. If the creature persists
in attacking (for however brief a time) and expends
all its Willpower, it immediately seeks to reconcile
with the von Murnau in any way it can. This effect
also lasts only to the end of the scene, at which point
the creature’s mind is its own again.
The most dangerous of this Legacy’s effects is the
Zeal-based technique. When the von Murnau trig-
gers this effect, the civil, reasoning side of the target
falls into slumber, leaving only the ravaging bestial
side to show what a monster the creature really is.
Vampires and werewolves immediately enter frenzy.
Witches, wizards and other magi, being human,
simply fall asleep. The fae respond unpredictably:
some fae burst into flames or dissolve into water;
some fall asleep as if they were human; some fly into
murderous rage and some are simply unaffected. The
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
player spends a point of Conviction and rolls Ma-
nipulation + Zeal (difficulty 6). Each success forces
the target to lose its human side for three turns per
success.
Fear No Evil (Judge)
A Murnau with this degree of understanding of
the ways of the Unholy has remarkably little to fear
from any agent of the Adversary, either alone or in
groups. The inquisitor’s power has grown such that
not only can he use divine power to sense the Devil’s
minions, he can control them, even to the point of
turning them on each other.
System: The Faith-based version of this Legacy
creates a circle of protection around the inquisitor
that keeps all supernatural creatures at bay. Super-
natural creatures, including ghouls, instinctively stay
away from the inquisitor. Those so willful as to try
breaking through the circle suffer three levels of
aggravated damage per turn (although those crea-
tures with the means to soak aggravated damage can
do so). The inquisitor says a prayer of protection; the
player spends two points of Conviction and rolls
Charisma + Faith (difficulty 7). The circle extends
from the inquisitor in a radius of five feet per success
(so even a single success results in a protective circle
ten feet in diameter). Any supernatural creature
caught in the circle when the von Murnau invokes
this Legacy may remain absolutely still to avoid the
damaging effects, otherwise it takes damage as though
it had broken the circle.
When the Murnau uses the Wisdom-based ap-
plication of this Legacy, it grants him a powerful
sway over supernatural creatures that closely re-
sembles the Presence Discipline. Not only do they
not perceive him as an enemy, they perceive him as
someone of great stature whom they want to please
and befriend. The allure presented by the inquisitor
is one based on charm and sheer magnetism. While
it is easily maintained so long as the von Murnau
parlays with the enemy, it evaporates should he do
anything blatantly unfriendly. Spend one point of
Conviction and roll Charisma + Wisdom (difficulty
6). The Storyteller then makes a resisted Willpower
roll for the target creature (difficulty 8). If the target
loses, he immediately falls under the sway of the
inquisitor, treating him as though he were a beloved
friend. This Legacy affects supernatural creatures
(including ghouls); it does not affect more than one
creature at a time, nor does it affect targets beyond
the inquisitor’s line of sight. This effect lasts the
duration of the scene, after which the target clearly
109
 remembers what happened and becomes enraged for
being manipulated in such a fashion.
Sometimes neither good will nor simple protec-
tion grants the inquisitor the safety (or peace of
mind) he requires. The Zeal-based application of
this Legacy causes all supernatural creatures within
a fifty-foot radius to turn on one another with ex-
treme violence. They do this heedless of any physical
or social consequences; only leaving the area allows
a creature regain its self-control once more. A pack
of werewolves may be made to tear each other to bits
with this Legacy, while a von Murnau who uses this
Legacy while the Cainites of a city are holding court
could, conceivably, wipe out most of the vampires in
the area.
The player spends three Conviction points and
rolls Manipulation + Zeal (difficulty 6). The Story-
teller must make resisted Willpower rolls (difficulty
8) for all supernatural creatures in the area of effect.
Any creature with fewer successes than the inquisi-
tor (ties go to the inquisitor), instantly sees all other
supernatural creatures in the area as deeply, viscer-
ally offensive and deserving of death, attacking the
nearest other supernatural creature with whatever it
believes to be its most lethal attack. Inquisitors do
not count as supernatural creatures (but may cer-
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
110 • COMPANION •
tainly be injured or killed as frenzied vampires and
werewolves lash out at everything around them).
Psalms
Many inquisitors consider the Sisters of St. John
to be the gentlest of the inquisitorial orders, and in
many ways, that is so. The Psalms of the Sisters are
used largely for coaxing knowledge from the Enemy
and for healing the Flock. More experienced Sisters,
however, can call on the power of the Lord in ways
that would be called miraculous — if they weren’t so
terrifying.
Jubilation (Acolyte)
This one supports and inspires the inquisitor’s flock
and allies more than it elicits information from the
agents of the adversary. Jubilation is quite aptly named
in that it requires the Sister to sing a joyful, inspiring
song to rally those around her. The more voices that
join her in her Jubilation song, the more powerful the
miracles the sister can perform with this Psalm.
System: The Faith aspect of Jubilation allows the
Sister to heal (or at least stabilize) those in the Jubila-
tion who are wounded. This effect of Jubilation affects
only allies, friends and members of the Sister’s flock
who join in the song. An unconscious ally can benefit
from this Psalm if a healthy person sings specifically for
him. Each person joining in the joyful song is healed of
one health level of damage. The number of singing
voices determines the effects of this Endowment. Nine
or fewer voices allow the Sister to heal one level of
bashing damage for those taking part in her song. If the
sister can put together a group of up to 29 voices, then
this Psalm heals one level of lethal damage, and if the
sister is able to put together a full chorus of 30 or more
voices, this Psalm heals one health level of any kind of
damage from all those singing. The character leads the
song; the player simply spends one point of Conviction.
The Wisdom application of this Psalm provides
those taking part in the Jubilation with a restful
night’s sleep and a new sense of purpose beginning
the next morning. As with the Faith-based applica-
tion, the more voices that join in the Jubilation song,
the more effective it is. The Sister leads the joyful
song to the Lord; the player spends one point of
Conviction. If nine or fewer voices join in the
Jubilation, then those taking part regain one addi-
tional Willpower point (in addition to the standard
one) when they wake the next morning. If 10 to 29
voices take part in the jubilation, then those in-
volved recover two additional Willpower points the
next morning, and if 30 or more voices join in the
inquisitor’s song of Jubilation, all those involved will
regain three additional Willpower points upon wak-
ing up the next morning.
The Zeal-based application of Jubilation causes
consternation to all agents of the Devil within hear-
ing distance. The noise of the Jubilation song causes
them intense pain and deafens them for a period of
time. Supernatural targets of this Psalm also suffer
from the equivalent of a wound penalty to their dice
pools for so long as they are in range of the song. Nine
or fewer voices cause a –1 penalty to creatures of
darkness and deafens them for eight hours, 10-29
voices cause a –2 penalty and leave the creatures deaf
for one full day, and the sound of 30 or more voices
in the Jubilation song cause those creatures such
pain that they suffer a –3 penalty to their dice pools
and are deafened for two full days. The Sister need
only lead the Jubilation; the player spends a point of
Conviction.
Remembrance Song (Acolyte)
Many of the duties of a Sister of St. John often
involve the memory: memories that need to be
jogged during interrogation, memories that need to
be given up to bring peace or messages that must be
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
remembered to be passed along. The three functions
of this Psalm combine those memory-related tasks.
System: No matter how painful some memories
are, almost everyone has joyful remembrances that
they can use to bolster their spirits in hard times. The
Faith-based aspect of the Remembrance song allows
the Sister to help others summon up those memories,
giving them the strength of will and spirit to forage
on. The player spends a point of Conviction and rolls
Charisma + Faith (difficulty 6). The character sings
a hymn in a firm, clear voice (under stressful or
terrifying conditions, the Storyteller might well re-
quire a Wits + Performance or even a Courage roll
from the player in order for the Sister to keep her
voice steady). For every success, one target enjoys
the following benefits: –1 difficulty on all Courage
rolls, +1 to the difficulty of any attack that targets
the recipient’s emotions in a negative way (such as
Presence 2), and +1 Conviction (this extra point
will not make the character Callous, and fades at the
end of the scene). This facet of Remembrance Song
does not function on Callous inquisitors. The ben-
efits last for one scene.
Frequently, the most difficult part of question-
ing the faithful is calling up details from past
experiences. The untrained mind is weak and forget-
ful, and often loses facts that the inquisitor might
find useful. The Wisdom facet of this Psalm allows
the Sister to sing a soothing song of prayer in the
presence of her target to help him remember vivid
details from the past. This Psalm helps the target see
the scene or the image he has been asked about in
perfect detail. Only real memories can be brought
back. False memories, like those implanted with the
Dominate power Reveler’s Memory, are easily seen
through and the real memory is brought to the fore.
The Sister must sing to her target for three turns
before the effects of this Psalm take effect. The player
spends a point of Conviction and rolls Charisma +
Wisdom (difficulty 7). The more successes she
achieves, the further back her target can remember.
Successes Age of memories
1 One Week
2 One Month
3 One Year
4 10 Years
5 20 Years
Like the other uses of this Psalm, the Zeal effect
affects memory. In this case, however, it also has
another communication-oriented effect. The Sister
111
 may speak a phrase of up to 100 words to the subject
of this Psalm and he will remember it verbatim.
Furthermore, the subject is only able to repeat the
message to its intended receiver, and once he has
spoken the message, it vanishes from his mind. The
Sister must first speak a prayer of safe travel for the
subject of the Psalm, then she takes the subject’s
hands, looks him in the eyes and speaks her message
to him. The messenger will capture every element of
the Sister’s words exactly, including pauses, accent,
inflection and tone, so the Sister must have the
message ready and pay attention to the details of her
speech. The player spends a point of Conviction and
rolls Intelligence + Zeal (difficulty 6). Each success
increases the length of the message by 20 words. As
the character doesn’t necessarily know how many
words she has to work with, the Storyteller should
make this roll for the player, who is then free to hope
for the best.
Song of the Seraphim (Advocate)
The highest of the nine orders of angels are the
seraphim, whose proximity to God makes them so
holy and immaculate that they cannot abide that
which is false or impure. This Psalm helps the sister
see through falsehood and arrive at the truth of a
matter, no matter how hard the Deceiver tries to
hide his works.
System: The Devil is a creature of lies and
deceit, but this song prevents falsehood from being
uttered in the inquisitor’s presence while it is being
chanted. When the Sister sings the Faith effect of
the Song of the Seraphim, those in the immediate
vicinity are unable to lie (including lying by omis-
sion). The only way those affected can avoid telling
the truth is to stop speaking altogether. The Sister
need only quietly chant this Psalm anywhere within
ten feet of the individual being questioned. The
player spends a point of Conviction and rolls Wits +
Faith (difficulty 6). Each success allows the Sister to
continue this song for three turns.
The Wisdom function of the Song of the Seraphim
washes away all illusion from the area in which the
Sister is singing. All illusions, glamour and trickery are
rendered transparent. This includes visions that affect
only the mind of the beholder, vampiric Disciplines like
Chimerstry and Obfuscate, and illusion magic. Once
cleansed away, the illusion is gone permanently unless
its creator generates it again. The Sister simply sings the
Psalm and illusions fall away around her. She can move
and sing at the same time, thereby leaving a large swath
of clarity behind her if she’s so inclined. The player
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
112 • COMPANION •
spends a point of Conviction and rolls Perception +
Wisdom (difficulty 6). Each success increases the radius
of effect of the Sister’s Song by ten feet.
The Zeal facet of this Psalm drains away the will to
fight from one target. The target must be a supernatural
creature or a fellow inquisitor overcome by Callousness.
The sister sings a hymn of peace; the player spends two
points of Conviction and rolls Charisma + Zeal (diffi-
culty 6). Each success subtracts one from the target’s
temporary Willpower. As the target loses Willpower,
he becomes less certain of his purpose and goals and
more malleable. If this Psalm should bring the target’s
Willpower to 0, he immediately loses all interest in any
sort of conflict and will likely flee (if pressed) or wander
away (if left to his own devices). If the target is being
interrogated when his Willpower reaches 0, he loses
any desire to lie or dissemble and he begins cooperating
with the Sister to the full extent of his ability.
Vox Dei (Judge)
A Sister of St. John who has reached this level
on the path of Psalms can use her voice to sing or
speak with a power that awes the flock and inspires
faith and fear in all who hear it. The very resting
places of evil are shaken by the voice of a Sister so
heavily invested with the power of the Lord.
System: When the Sister uses the Faith ver-
sion of Vox Dei, it has a deep impact on the hearts
of all those who hear it. In particular, it causes
those who have had any knowing (or even sus-
pected) interaction with agents of the Devil to
rush to the nearest devout person (anyone with a
Superior Virtue of 1 or more) and confess all their
dealings with those creatures of darkness. Such
confessions include telling everything they know
and all they’ve seen that pertains to those crea-
tures. This Psalm affects even ghouls and those
who have undergone the blood oath to a vampiric
master. The Sister of St. John need only sing a
song of penitence; the player spends two points of
Conviction and rolls Charisma + Faith (difficulty
6). Add the successes to the Sister’s Willpower
rating, and all those within hearing distance with
Willpower ratings less than that sum rush to the
nearest inquisitor and begin their confessions.
The Wisdom effect of Vox Dei allows the Sister to
sing out the thoughts of a supernatural creature so long
as she is making contact with it. If specific questions
need to be asked, others can ask the creature and the
Sister will be able to find and sing the honest answer.
Nothing the Sister sings when using this Psalm can be
false. In most cases, obviously, the creature being thus
interrogated needs to be restrained. The Sister must be
in direct skin contact with the creature she is interro-
gating; she must first sing a song of praise to God, then
she simply needs to sing, and the creature’s thoughts
come out of her mouth. The creature need not speak
any language known to the inquisitor, as she can simply
read its thoughts and sing in any language known to her.
The player spends two points of Conviction and rolls
Perception + Wisdom (difficulty 6). One full concept
can be expressed per turn, and the song continues for
two turns per success. If the creature has no knowledge
of human language (certain fae or werewolves), the
difficulty goes up to 8.
The Zeal facet of this Psalm is sometimes given
a name all its own by those who have seen it in
action: Dies Irae, the wrath of God. It is aptly named
because it shows that enemies of the Lord truly have
no place to hide when righteous folk do His work.
The Sister sings an angry song of judgment, and
every place within hearing distance that harbors the
minions of Lucifer meets with spectacular destruc-
tion: caverns collapse, wooden buildings are blasted
by Heavenly fire and become blazing infernos; even
stone buildings come crashing down like the walls of
Jericho, generally after being battered by enormous
winds and a constant barrage of lightning. Further-
more, the places that are cleansed by the power of
this Psalm are rendered Holy Ground for a short time
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
after the Sister’s song is finished, to prevent the
return of the spirits of evil that had lingered there.
Spend two points of Conviction and roll Cha-
risma + Zeal (difficulty 7). The number of successes
indicate how quickly the destruction hits; a single
success brings about a very slow destruction that is
likely to take most of a scene (and probably allow the
inhabitant to escape) while five successes indicate
that the affected places were almost instantaneously
blasted from the world by divine fire. If the player
rolls two or more successes, the area also becomes
Holy Ground (as per Dark Ages: Inquisitor, p. 197)
with an Ambient Faith rating equal to the number of
the Sister’s successes for one week. Channeling such
power, however, also takes a formidable toll: the
Sister takes one unsoakable health level of bashing
damage for each success rolled — a reminder that, at
the very least, speaking for God is a weighty matter.
Holy Art
The paths of the Holy Art presented in Chap-
ter Five of Dark Ages: Inquisitor are the ones
most commonly studied, and represent aspects of
the Holy Trinity. Two of those are available as a
primary path to specific orders, though members
the Red Order, with their focus on knowledge and
ritual, have their choice of any path to be their
113
 focus. What follows is a new path that may be
chosen as primary by an inquisitor of any order. It
calls upon that direct influence of the divine
present in every inquisitor. In addition, several
new ritae are listed, which indicate a bigger pic-
ture of the body of divine knowledge kept by the
Church for use in their battle against the forces of
Satan. While useful to the investigator in the
field, those in largely supportive positions also use
these tools. Some of the rituals are helpful in
producing weapons for anyone to wield against
the unholy.
Corpus Lux
The Lord shines His light upon the world in a
number of ways, but the most profound is perhaps
through the works of the faithful. Those who follow
the path of the Body of Light learn how the beacon
of faith can be directed through objects of purity, and
ultimately from the very core of their being. This is
not illumination of a physical nature, but rather an
intense form of that spark of life that each living
creature is blessed with. Though usually not visible
to the human eye, its searing purity reveals, repels,
and can even destroy the unholy with the brilliant
fury of Heaven.
This is a useful path for many inquisitors, as
many of its aspects involve the empowerment of holy
items frequently kept on hand. These objects are
generally useless in the battle against evil in the
hands of the average person. When wielded by one
who follows the path of Corpus Lux, however, they
become an important part of a warrior’s arsenal.
It is strength of character that an individual calls
upon when using this aspect of the Holy Art, thus
unless otherwise noted, the standard roll for this
path is Charisma + Corpus Lux; the difficulty varies
according to which power is used.
• Rebuking the Sight of the Tainted
By looking at a creature’s reflection in a mir-
rored surface and silently praying, the character
may gaze upon the light of God, which passes over
the demonic without a trace. To the inquisitor,
the other being does not cast a reflection at all.
This can be unsettling, but does show the inquisi-
tor when he is dealing with something that only
looks human. The surface may be anything reflec-
tive, including perfectly still bodies of water, but
this ability becomes useless in complete darkness.
System: The player rolls Perception + Corpus
Lux (difficulty 6). Success means that the character
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
114 • COMPANION •
cannot see the target creature in any reflective
surface if it is not wholly human. Failure indicates
that there is a reflection, just like any other natural
being, and this ability may not be used again on that
individual for one day. If the roll is botched, the
target is allowed to make a Perception + Alertness
roll (difficult of the inquisitor’s Charisma + Subter-
fuge) to notice that it is being observed in this
strange manner.
•• Protection of the Holy Cross
Characters using this power may present a cross
to repel demonic forces. Usually this is a crucifix, as
there is rarely a shortage of them in a cell of the
shadow Inquisition, but resourceful combatants have
been known to use a makeshift cross in times of need
(some question the sanctity of such actions, but
practitioners of this path argue that the light of God
shines through the faithful regardless of the quality
of the symbol they wield). The cross must be clearly
visible to the creature being held at bay, and the
inquisitor must keep his concentration on to the task
at hand. This requires unshakable faith and a steady
hand, as the strength of the Devil’s will has surprised
many a loyal servant of the Lord and ended their
cause prematurely.
System: The player makes a standard path roll
(difficulty is the target’s Willpower). The number of
successes plus the character’s Faith score is the num-
ber of steps back the target is repelled. This effect
lasts as long as the inquisitor can hold his ground. If
the roll fails, the player may still spend a Conviction
point to keep the creature at bay; it may not advance,
but doesn’t have to step back either. The target may
also spend a point of Willpower to ignore the effects
of this power for one turn. If the roll is botched, or if
the player chooses not to spend Conviction on a
failed roll, the attempt to repel the forces of evil is
sadly ineffectual for the duration of the scene.
••• Empower the Instrument of Faith
Objects used in holy practice are repugnant to the
get of Satan. It is well known that holy water, wafers of
communion, the holy rosary and the like are sometimes
effective in warding off the forces of evil, but in the
hands of the average member of the flock they are often
looked upon by demons as minor and insulting annoy-
ances. When wielded by the capable inquisitor, however,
they become weapons in the battle for righteousness.
System: When this character has at his disposal
any item that has been blessed or created meticulously
for holy sacrament (such as a Bible, for during this time
they were, of course, written by hand) he may use it to
harm supernatural creatures. The player rolls a standard
path roll (difficulty 6); the number of successes indi-
cates the number of turns that the item is empowered.
During this time, the character can make a
normal ranged or melee attack with the item and if
it hits, it inflicts one level of aggravated damage.
This damage is all that is inflicted, as holy relics are
rarely useful weapons in their own right, though
there may be exceptions at the discretion of the
Storyteller. The items may be used more than once
during the time they are empowered. If the player so
chooses, he may spend one Conviction to inflict an
additional level of damage, but he must state this
before the attack roll is made. Note: your Storyteller
may rule that certain items are harmful to the unliving
(see p. 290 in Dark Ages: Vampire), in which case
the damage from this power is in addition to any the
object already inflicts. If the roll to empower the
item fails, then it causes no damage beyond that
which it might already inflict; a botch means the
character loses one point of Conviction.
•••• Blessed Litany
With this relentless recitation of scripture,
the character causes supernatural creatures to flee
in terror or face the power of God through the
words of the faithful. The individual with this
ability must be able to speak clearly, though not
necessarily loudly. Demonic forces in close prox-
imity are compelled to flee by any means necessary,
otherwise the holy light that suffuses the
inquisitor’s words burns them like fire.
System: The character must be free to use his
voice, but regardless of whether or not it can be
heard (targets may not simply cover their ears, try
though they might) the effects of this power extend
in a radius equal to five feet times the character’s
Piety rating. Once the recitation begins, the player
spends a point of Conviction and makes a standard
path roll (difficulty 7). The number of successes plus
the character’s Faith score is the length of time in
turns that the repelled creature must flee in terror
using any means at its disposal. Failing the roll means
the power has no effect, and a botch costs the
character an additional point of Conviction. En-
emies affected by this power may spend a point of
Willpower to remain in the area. If the creature
cannot get away (if backed into a corner, for ex-
ample), the power inflicts lethal damage dice equal
to the number of successes on the original path roll
for each turn in the area. This damage may be soaked
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
if the target is normally capable of doing so. This
ability may be used but once per scene.
••••• Radiant Presence of the Lord
The light of God spills forth from the center of
this character’s being, burning away evil and banish-
ing the shadows of the Devil’s trickery. The inquisitor
using this power need only lift his gaze to Heaven
and ask for the grace of the Father to fill his soul. This
application of Corpus Lux actually surrounds the
character with a nimbus of golden light, illuminat-
ing the area briefly and showering all onlookers with
its serene glow.
System: The player spends two points of Con-
viction and makes a standard path roll (difficulty 8).
The character radiates pure golden light for a num-
ber of turns equal to the number of successes gained;
this has a number of effects. First, any power being
used in the area that creates darkness or illusions
(such as Obtenebration 1 or the Chimerstry Disci-
pline) is canceled for the duration of this power, if
the user’s Willpower score is lower than the
inquisitor’s Piety rating. Second, any creature hiding
its true form through possession or shape-shifting
must succeed at a Willpower roll (difficulty is the
inquisitor’s Piety) or reveal itself. Lastly, this ability
is particularly devastating to vampires. They react as
though exposed to sunlight with an intensity equal
to the character’s Piety for the duration (for ex-
ample, a character with a Piety score of eight forces
vampires to make a soak roll with a difficulty of eight
or take aggravated damage accordingly; see pp. 257–
258 of Dark Ages: Vampire for details on the effects
of sunlight). This power extends outward in a 25-
foot radius, plus five more feet for each dot the
character has in Charisma. Should the player botch
this roll, the character’s faith is shaken and the
player must roll to see if a new Curse is acquired.
Ritae
The body of knowledge recorded by the shadow
Inquisition is constantly growing. Presented here
is a further sample of the ritae that make up its
repertoire.
Prayer for Clarity (Level One)
Though the shadow Inquisition operates in se-
cret, its members strive to keep accurate records of
their encounters in order to build a body of knowl-
edge about how best to combat the forces of evil.
Unfortunately, many of the trials these intrepid
115
 warriors of God face cause their memories to be
fragmented, lost or even altered by the very creatures
they seek to recall. Those who are know this ritus are
capable of remembering the events of the last twenty-
four hours far more sharply upon its completion.
System: After a 20 minute session of meditation
and prayer during which the character must have no
distractions, the player makes a standard roll. Any
successes gained are added to those needed to remem-
ber events that have occurred in the last day (see the
section on memory, pp. 162 – 163 in Dark Ages:
Inquisitor). If the character is merely writing down his
thoughts and not attempting to overcome the effects of
terror or supernatural influence, the Storyteller may
provide the player some aid in remembering more detail
depending on how many successes the player rolls.
Blessing of Eternal Rest (Level One)
Inquisitors are aware of the use of wicked magics to
affect the dead, and the usual prayers spoken and rites
performed during a funeral are not always enough to
prevent this from happening. When a recently de-
ceased corpse is purified with this ritual, however,
desecrating it with necromantic arts becomes much
more difficult.
System: This ritual may only be performed
over a body within three days after death. It
involves praying for fifteen minutes and sprin-
kling holy water over the deceased. The player
then makes a standard roll (difficulty 6) and spends
a point of Conviction. From that point forward,
any attempts to use powers that affect the corpse
(such as the Mortis Discipline or any power that
seeks to communicate with the soul of the de-
ceased) have their difficulty increased by the
number of successes rolled to perform this ritual
(to a maximum of 10).
Sanctification of the Homestead
(Level Two)
Similar to the Hallow Ground ritus that purifies
an area temporarily, Sanctification of the Home-
stead can protect a private dwelling from any
supernatural breach for a time. This ritual is not as
well known, and its roots lie more with honoring the
hospitality and sanctity of the home than with the
actual blessing of an area for holy practice. Still, its
utility in the field is unquestionable and has guaran-
teed the restful sleep of many inquisitors.
System: This ritual must be performed in a
private dwelling and protects against uninvited visits
by demonic creatures. The character must sprinkle
holy water in all quarters of the building, burn an
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
116 • COMPANION •
ounce of frankincense and recite scripture for an
hour, after which time the player makes a standard
roll (difficulty 7). For each success, the structure is
protected from entry by any demon-possessed or
inhuman creature for one day. The only loophole is
that the creature may enter if invited by anyone
inside the dwelling. Note that this protection is
purely physical: a creature that can see into a window
or across a threshold could use mental powers to
force an occupant to give the needed invitation.
Furthermore, although the place may not be en-
tered, it may be damaged from the outside, forcing
those inside to flee. If the ritus roll is botched, the
ritual may not be performed again on the same
dwelling for three days.
Finding the Way Through the Word
(Level Two)
The faithful believe that holy scripture is a guide
to life, and the answers to all questions are hidden
within its words. As the unequivocal word of God,
the secrets of the Bible are revealed most readily to
pious warriors of His cause. By performing special
prayers in the right kind of environment, light can be
shed on the darkness of uncertainty.
System: This ritual must be performed on Holy
Ground. The character performing the ritual lights
a specially blessed candle and says a prayer before
poring over the Bible with an open heart and mind
for an hour or more (the inquisitor must not be
distracted, meaning the area must stay quiet for the
duration of the ritus). The player makes a standard
roll (difficulty 8), adding one die to his pool for each
hour of studying beyond the first. Each success allows
the character ask one question abut the best direc-
tion to take in a given situation. Answers are usually
vague impressions of right and wrong, basically a yes-
or-no answer as to whether or not a given path is part
of God’s will. The Storyteller has a lot of leeway here
as far as what kind of insight might be bestowed, and
a botch on the roll may mean the character thinks he
has the right idea when in fact he is letting his own
zealous pride direct him instead of the word of God.
At any rate, this kind of study for right-mindedness
may only be performed once per story.
Veiled Presence of the Holy (Level Three)
Inquisitors are frequently called upon to infil-
trate environments where the presence of the Lord
is not exactly… welcome. Needless to say, those who
serve God in such a direct manner usually stand out
when viewed with the subtle perceptive powers of
Satan’s get. It is rumored that members of the Red
Order created this ritual so they could walk unno-
ticed where supernatural eyes might pry. Not
surprisingly, some members of the Church hierarchy
consider the use of any rite that hides the presence of
God to be somewhat sinful, though no official stance
has been taken.
System: The character performs an hour-long
ritual during which his entire body is anointed with
special oils while he silently prays. The player makes
a standard roll (difficulty 7). For every success ob-
tained, the difficulty of any supernatural attempt to
perceive the character as anything but a normal
human increases by one. Though they are mere
humans, inquisitors generally display a special aura
when viewed by a power like Soul Sight (Auspex 2).
When this ritual is active, however, the character
registers as any other person; even strong emotions
are muted. Once successfully performed, this ritual
stays in effect for one hour per success gained, plus an
additional hour per point of Conviction the player
chooses to spend.
Tears of the Weeping Heart of Abel
(Level Three)
The Church uses standard rites to bless water for
use in holy sacrament, but thanks to the shadow
Inquisition, a secret, more potent ritual often finds
its way into the blessing. Agents of the Inquisition
deep within the ranks of the Church hierarchy
ensure that each time water is blessed, it passes
through their hands briefly so that it may be infused
with the righteous fury of God and used to cleanse
the Earth of evil. Surely not every drop of holy water
has been treated this way, but inquisitors in the field
find it useful to be able to create a potent weapon
that may be used by anyone in the battle against
Satan’s minions.
System: In order to perform this ritual, the
character must start with water that has already been
blessed in the conventional manner. If the character
intends to perform this himself, he must do so on
Holy Ground. The player makes an Intelligence +
Theology roll (difficulty 6). If this thirty-minute
prayer and benediction is successful, then the Holy
Art ritus may proceed. The player spends one point
of Conviction for each vial’s worth of holy water to
be blessed in this manner (so, for example, a bowl of
water that would fill four vials would require the
expenditure of four Conviction), after which time
the character takes another thirty minutes to recite
special prayers and breathe the power of God into
the vessel. Upon a successful standard roll (difficulty
7), the water is blessed in such a way as to cause one
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
level of aggravated damage to a supernatural being.
Each vial is good for one such attack.
Donning the Vestments of Sacred
Resilience (Level Four)
Through the use of this powerful ritual, a gar-
ment is blessed with protection against the forces of
evil. Many demonic beings are able to shrug off
damage, and inquisitors wearing cloth imbued in
this manner are able to take the same kind of comfort
in the safety provided by the Lord.
System: This ritual must be performed on Holy
Ground over a finely woven priest’s vestment. After
the character soaks the garment completely in holy
water and prays for two hours, the player makes a
standard roll (difficulty 7). For each success, a char-
acter wearing this specially prepared cloth is able to
automatically soak two levels of damage (any type)
dealt by any supernatural creature. The protection
lasts one hour for every success. For example, if the
player rolls three successes, he is protected for three
hours and may soak up to six levels of damage before
the ritual wears off.
Investment of the Lasting Sacrifice
(Level Five)
Similar to the Tears of the Weeping Heart of
Abel, this ritual is used to create a permanent ward
against the powers of Satan in the form of a specially
blessed crucifix. Some believe that supernatural crea-
tures are simply repelled by the sight of this holy
symbol, but the learned know that it is generally the
faith of the wielder rather than the power of the
object that actually forces back evil. Those who are
able to perform this ritual, however, can infuse a
crucifix with divine protection so that it might be of
aid to anyone who holds it close.
System: In order to perform this ritual, the
character must have a crucifix of high quality work-
manship. The entire rite must be performed on Holy
Ground, and involves fasting for three days and
praying constantly for the strength to fill the symbol
of Christ’s sacrifice with purity and strength. On
each day, the character may sleep only four hours
and the player spends two points of Conviction
(which may come from banked points). During
these three days, the character may also pray to
regain Conviction per the standard rules. If the ritual
is interrupted, all Conviction spent is lost and the
character must start over if the process is to be
completed. At the end of the third day, the player
makes a standard roll (difficulty 8), needing but one
success to create this minor holy relic. If the roll fails,
117
 the character may spend one more day to try again
(costing the player another two points of Convic-
tion and another roll). A botch, however, indicates
that the ritual was somehow flawed and may not be
attempted again on the same crucifix (which was
clearly not worthy of God’s grace).
The result of this rite is a crucifix that, when held
out visibly in front of a character, holds demonic
creatures at bay. Fiends repelled in such a manner
may not come within five feet of the possessor of the
relic without spending a Willpower point, and fur-
ther, may not directly attack this individual. They
can, however, spend an additional Willpower point
when close enough to attempt to knock the object
out of the character’s hand. This requires a standard
attack roll (minus one die due to the distraction)
opposed by the crucifix holder’s Strength + Faith.
This object does not inflict any damage, it merely
protects against the unholy. Such a crucifix counts as
a one-dot Holy Relic, should a player wish her
character to purchase one with Background points.
Curses
Many Curses are held to be blessings in disguise
— initially, at least. The Red Order in particular has
the dubious pleasure of celebrating their ambivalently
experienced connection to the divine. Other orders
may not even realize that certain burdens they bear
are directly connected to their Blessings or their
service to the Inquisition at all. Some Curses are so
subtle (or shameful) that inquisitors suffering from
them never speak of them at all, making the burden
heavier yet.
Anathemae
The least obvious but among the heaviest suf-
fered, the Curses of alienation native to the Oculi
Dei seem light initially, but wear down the afflicted
inquisitor’s soul more effectively than nearly any
other type of Curse.
Contagion (Acolyte)
The Eyes of God spend a great deal of solitary
time keeping watch on the forces of Hell. This Curse
enforces that solitude. Upon gaining this affliction,
the inquisitor comes to feel that the members of the
Flock are all deeply and thoroughly tainted with the
corruption of the Adversary. She would prefer to
speak to no one but other inquisitors or at least
clergy, and the very thought of physically touching
a member of the flock fills her with a horror so
visceral that she can barely stand the thought.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
118 • COMPANION •
System: The player of the afflicted character
must succeed on a Willpower roll (difficulty 5) in
order to stay in the presence of anyone not a member
of the clergy (or the Inquisition). Failure indicates
that the character removes herself from the group as
quickly as is politely possible, while a botch indicates
that she bolts for the nearest exit.
Spy’s Bane (Acolyte)
Though the Eyes of God are aware that some of
their number suffers from this affliction, they have
carefully kept it a secret from the other orders. This
Curse only manifests in the Oculi Dei when they are
fulfilling their calling as the Inquisition’s spies. When
the inquisitor is keeping a target under watch, this
Curse fills him with the urge to leave some small
memento, or in some other way leave a “calling card”
to let the object of his observation know that he is
being watched. This gesture might be a small, subtle
thing — turning a mirror glass-side up as its owner
sleeps, moving a dagger a few feet while its owner
isn’t looking or lighting a fire in a chamber’s fireplace
while the occupant is away relieving herself, for
example. Alternatively, the inquisitor might be drawn
to make a larger statement — a signature symbol
scratched into a wall, a small wooden cross left on a
table or even a carefully worded letter informing the
observed that he’s being watched. These gestures are
not destructive, as the drive to leave them is one of
pride, not malice. While this Curse has led to Eyes of
God being caught, it has also established those
uncaught few as legends (and sources of great con-
cern among those they’re watching).
System: Once per game session, when the ac-
cursed inquisitor is keeping watch on a target, the
Storyteller can quietly inform the player that her
character has been overcome by a powerful sense of
pride and ask her to make a Willpower roll (difficulty
8). If the roll succeeds, the inquisitor successfully
fights off the urge to leave a calling card of some sort.
If the player fails, the character makes some small
gesture that could let the observed know that he’s
being watched. If the player botches, the character
makes a grand gesture of some sort. The player
should determine what his character’s small and
large gestures are when this Curse is taken and stay
consistent any time this Curse manifests. It is that
kind of consistency that creates legends (and even-
tually comes back to bite the character, of course).
Life of Shadows (Advocate)
This Curse dooms its victim to ignominy. An
inquisitor who gains this Curse is suddenly very
forgettable. Those who don’t interact with him on a
regular basis can never remember his name (his
chapter is immune to this unless he is away for a long
time). When in crowds, the character is automati-
cally assumed to be an individual of little or no
consequence. Others forget his name and even his
face. Tavern keepers forget to bring his ale, key
figures in his own order forget to inform him of
important developments, and even family members
forget about his existence if more than a few months
go by without contact. While the character’s name
doesn’t disappear from records or the like, no one is
likely to remember to whom the name refers.
System: Charisma and Manipulation are effec-
tively reduced to a rating of one, while Appearance
drops to two when he is dealing with individuals he
does not know or who have forgotten him. Those
who know the character well will take the longest to
forget him (so his chapter, unless newly formed,
won’t forget him until a number of weeks have
passed). A week of intense interaction is enough to
keep the character in mind for a while, but the
character slips from memory as quickly as he enters
it. A week after parting ways, a new ally totally
forgets the character. This Curse makes the Allies,
Contacts, Flock, Influence, Rank and Retainers
Backgrounds very difficult to maintain.
Sentence of Solitude (Judge)
This is among the weightiest of all Curses suffered
by members of the Inquisition. It so utterly cuts off
inquisitors from both their flock and their peers that it
alone has driven accursed Eyes of God to despair and
suicide. The inquisitor suffering from this Curse cannot
bear the company of others. His knowledge (or sup-
posed knowledge) of their fallen state causes the
inquisitor such deep emotional and physical pain that
the very presence of another makes any kind of rational
action next to impossible. Most inquisitors experience
this pain as an intense headache, though there are some
who are overcome by sharp chest pains and shortness of
breath or by waves of debilitating nausea instead.
System: This affliction causes the character to
suffer dice pool penalties (as though she were physi-
cally wounded) so long as she is in the presence of
others. Just being in the same room as others (or
within 40 feet) grants a dice pool penalty of –1.
Being within 10 feet of another person increases that
penalty to –2. If another person is one foot away (or
nearer), the character loses three dice from all dice
pools. Two odd exceptions exist to this Curse: First,
the presence of the agents of the Enemy, whom the
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
inquisitor knows to be corrupt, doesn’t cause any
discomfort at all; an inquisitor afflicted with this
Curse could be in a room full of vampires and feel no
pain or anxiety whatsoever. Second, if the inquisitor
remains hidden and keeps others ignorant of his
presence, he can be in their presence without suffer-
ing any ill effects — creating an odd if comforting
temptation for those whose skills revolve around
remaining unseen.
Maledictio
The House of Murnau is felt to be among the
most cursed orders in the Inquisition,. Among the
reasons for those feelings are the Curses that the
order suffers from that make their interactions with
the supernatural perhaps a bit more ambivalent than
the Inquisition would like.
Immaculate (Acolyte)
Despite its name, which suggests a certain inno-
cence or purity, this affliction is one of the more
debilitating suffered by the inquisitors of House
Murnau. Inquisitors suffering from this curse are
physically ill in the presence of the enemies of the
Lord. Most vomit when they realize, through what-
ever means, that they are in the presence of an actual
supernatural entity, although some other inquisitors
manifest this curse in other ways, including debili-
tating ague, stomach cramps, sneezing fits and
diarrhea. Many, if not most, of the inquisitors from
the noble house suffer from the ability to sense the
presence of the supernatural through a foul odor or
other disagreeable sensation. This curse affects them
all the worse for their sensitivity.
System: This Curse is not a means of detection
in any way, but simply a consequence of the
inquisitor’s knowledge. Any time the inquisitor be-
comes aware of the presence of the supernatural, his
player rolls Stamina + Self-Control (difficulty 7). If
succeeds, the von Murnau chokes back the bile (or
whatever) and carries on with his work. If he fails, he
immediately vomits (or becomes otherwise ill from
the presence of evil) and suffers a +1 modifier to the
difficulty of all rolls until he leaves the presence of
the supernatural. If the player botches, the manifes-
tation of the illness is pronounced and dramatic and
results in a +2 difficulty modifier.
Lux Dei (Acolyte)
Most Maledictio result in the Curse’s subject
gaining a vague figurative aura or presence about
them. In the case of this Curse, the aura is quite
literal. The inquisitor truly does give off a faint
119
 white, gold or light blue glow. This glow comes from
the character’s skin and from the eyes, where it is
brightest, although the character himself cannot see
it. The Murnau may want to hide or wrap himself in
heavy robes or otherwise prevent his divine talent
from being made obvious, but very little can be done
to completely hide the glow. Those who know the
Murnau may only be moderately shocked and horri-
fied. Most will be incredibly suspicious at the very
least, and, more likely, terrified. The social ramifica-
tions of this Curse are extreme.
System: The character glows very faintly (char-
acters without augmented sense require a successful
Perception + Alertness roll to notice it; the difficulty
is 9 in daylight, 8 at twilight, 7 by torch or firelight
and 6 in darkness). The glow is not enough to read
by, although it might prevent other characters from
stumbling around in complete darkness (the von
Murnau cannot see his own glow). Alternatively,
the glow could come and go depending on the
character’s actions at the moment, causing him to
shine with righteousness when he has done some-
thing worthy and dimming out altogether when the
character has suffered a spiritual setback. When
present, all Stealth rolls are made at +2 difficulty and
the agents of Satan are at –2 on their difficulty to
pick the inquisitor out of a crowd, even if he’s heavily
robed. At the Storyteller’s discretion, this Curse may
only function in any scene wherein the character has
used a Legacy.
Devil’s Rapture (Advocate)
Inquisitors suffering from this affliction are drawn
to agents of the supernatural, not so much to cleanse the
world of their evil, but to talk with them. An inquisitor
in the thrall of this Curse insists on taking a peaceful
approach to dealing with any creature that is not
actively trying to hurt the inquisitor or his associates,
sometimes even to the point of selling out his side in
hopes of achieving some greater insight into the strat-
egies of the Enemy at a later date.
System: Any time the inquisitor encounters a
supernatural creature, whether it be vampire, demon,
werewolf or something else, so long as the creature is not
actively hostile to the inquisitor, the inquisitor is struck
with a kind of fascination with the creature that can
only be broken if the creature takes action against the
inquisitor. Upon meeting such a creature, the von
Murnau’s player makes a Willpower roll (difficulty 8).
Success indicates that the inquisitor is able to throw off
his fascination with the creature, while failure indicates
that he is intent on engaging the creature in conversa-
tion, ostensibly to find out more about the Enemy, but
often just to take perverse delight in the creature’s
presence. A botch indicates that the inquisitor is utterly
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
120 • COMPANION •
taken with the creature and may make outlandish
suggestions to the creature (e.g., “I think we could work
well together,” or “I’ll be happy to assist you so long as
you refrain from drinking blood while in my presence.”).
Friend of Fiends (Judge)
When the inquisitor acquires this Curse, it is as
though he has suddenly become a known entity, or
even a vaguely friendly entity among the forces of
the Adversary. At first meeting, demons or vampires
may smile at him as if they know him; in combat,
they may focus their attention on the inquisitor’s
chapter or allies, and avoid doing any real damage to
the inquisitor with this Curse. These behaviors are
hard to miss. In time, it’s highly likely that the others
in the inquisitor’s chapter will become curious, if not
disturbed, at the strange deference the Enemy shows
the inquisitor. The inquisitor himself may be plagued
with doubt at the behavior of his enemies.
System: Any supernatural enemy of the
inquisitor’s feels a strange attraction, an inexpli-
cable sense of kinship, to the one burdened by this
Curse. The monster will not use lethal force against
the inquisitor unless absolutely forced to do so (or in
frenzy). This doesn’t necessarily always work in the
inquisitor’s favor. Some fiends may be more inclined
to try to make the inquisitor one of their own; others
may kill the inquisitor’s entire chapter and family in
order to free the inquisitor from his unnecessary
mortal bonds. These behaviors have a curious way of
drawing attention to themselves. The difficulty to
spot them with a Perception + Alertness roll is only
5. Supernatural creatures themselves have no idea
why they’re acting as they are; they know only that
they sense something familiar about the inquisitor
and find him a kindred soul whom they would rather
not harm. This does not mean that the creature will
trust the inquisitor with its life (or unlife) or that it
will undertake suicidal actions on his behalf; the
creature simply sees the inquisitor as a potential
friend or ally. Servants of the Devil do not always
treat their friends and allies well.
Stigmata (Red Order)
None of the Curses falling on members of the
Inquisition is pleasant, but the Red Order, more than
any other, is both envied and pitied for the obvious
physical and spiritual nature of their Curses.
Curse of Salt (Acolyte)
Everything the inquisitor touches takes on an
overpowering taste of salt. Any food he touches,
whether with his hands or just his teeth and tongue
is, consequently, nearly inedible. Even water tastes
like brine (though it’s perfectly drinkable and causes
the inquisitor no ill effects). In a very short time the
afflicted inquisitor is forced to choke down anything
he eats. Soon the inquisitor becomes weak with
hunger. The Red Brother is usually able to eat
enough to keep his strength up, but in many cases,
it’s a near thing.
System: A character suffering from this Curse
cannot stand food. The player makes a Willpower
roll against a difficulty of 8 any time the character
eats. When the character has gone two days without
eating, she suffers from a hunger-induced weakness,
causing a +1 difficulty modifier to all Strength-
related rolls. Once the character has gone for four or
more days without eating, hunger takes over and
forces her to eat, but so long as this Curse is in effect,
the character derives no satisfaction whatsoever
from eating, however good the food. (See also the
rules for hunger in Dark Ages: Inquisitor, page 164)
Burden of the Cross (Acolyte)
Unlike most Curses suffered by the Red Order, this
one has no physical manifestation on the inquisitor’s
flesh (although some inquisitors do wind up with
mysterious calluses on their shoulders or across their
back). That’s little consolation to those inquisitors who
suffer from this affliction. Upon gaining this Curse, the
Red Brother feels as though he’s dragging a heavy
weight — widely assumed to be the weight of the
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
Savior’s cross — wherever he goes. He’s not actually
dragging anything, of course, but the burden weighs
upon him all the same. This Curse affects the character
only when he’s on foot and moving; if he’s swimming,
on horseback or sleeping, the burden is lifted — until
the character once more sets foot on solid ground.
System: The character feels the burden of the
cross any time he is running or walking. It restricts
him to three-quarters of his maximum walking speed
and lowers his effective Stamina by two for purposes
of endurance only (he retains his full soak pool).
Furthermore, to reflect the slow reaction speed caused
by his burden, the inquisitor suffers an initiative
penalty of 2.
Stench of Lazarus (Advocate)
The Gospel of Luke says that Lazarus rotted in
his tomb for four long, warm days — filling the cave
with the stench of decay — before the Savior raised
him from the dead. This Curse afflicts the accursed
character with that exact stench of death, causing
others to hold their noses (or avoid him altogether)
and attracting those wild animals that have an
appetite for carrion.
System: This Curse has a range of consequences
for the character afflicted with it. The most obvious
effect is that the character’s Charisma drops to one,
as others can’t stand to be in her presence. Further-
121
 more, the stench attracts animals that feed on car-
rion: flies, crows, wild dogs, pigs and the like (what
animals the character attracts, obviously, depends
on the region and time of year). A long, thorough
bath followed by a generous anointing with strong
perfume may hide the stench for a few hours, but it
inevitably returns. Those agents of the Adversary
with heightened senses (werewolves and vampires
in particular) will be able to catch the character’s
scent at a distance of one mile (and receive a –3
difficulty to track him) while those with normal
human olfactory senses can only smell the character
from 30 feet away. While those spending long peri-
ods of time with the inquisitor get used to the smell,
it is not uncommon for inquisitors of House Murnau
to initially respond unfavorably to Red Brothers
with this Curse.
Leper’s Visage (Judge)
The Savior is known for His miracles, among them
the healing of lepers. This Curse is the reverse, or
seemingly so, of His Grace. Just as Lot suffered pox, the
inquisitor suffering from this Curse gains the appear-
ance of suffering from advanced leprosy. While the
character does not actually suffer from leprosy (and thus
cannot spread it), the Curse resembles that disease in
every other way. Others give him a wide berth and are
likely to avoid him altogether.
System: The character afflicted with this Curse
appears just as if he were suffering from advanced
leprosy (though the damage is just cosmetic). This
causes his Appearance to drop to zero. The character
may be healed of this Curse if he’s willing to deal with
those who perform witchcraft (or vampires with the
Vicissitude Discipline) but none of the healing abili-
ties available to inquisitors will affect this Curse in
any way. If the character is healed, the healing lasts
only until the next time the character becomes
Callous. At the Storyteller’s discretion, the “lep-
rosy” may come back immediately, but at a rate
similar to that of the actual disease, slowly creeping
onto the character’s soft skin: stomach, face, geni-
tals, ears and so forth.
Interdictions
The Blessings of the Knights of Acre are some of
the most obvious and practical known to the Inqui-
sition. The Curses of obligation that affect the Knights
are obvious and burdensome in equal measure.
True Poverty (Acolyte)
Vows of poverty are not to be taken lightly. The
character afflicted by this Curse, however, is unable to
refrain from giving away all that he owns (with the
exception of the most basic clothing on his back). He
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
122 • COMPANION •
will give away a coat in the winter, food when he’s
already nearly starving, weapons before he’s about to
enter battle and the like. The compulsion to do so seems
noble and good to the knight suffering from this Curse,
and holding on to even the most necessary items
(money, weapons) seems to the knight like the most vile
greed. While knights traveling with other inquisitors or
close friends may have ways around the consequences of
this Curse, a Knight of Acre struck with this Curse while
alone is hard pressed to keep himself from giving away
so much that he endangers himself.
System: Any time the character possesses more
than shirt, breeches and shoes (enough to be de-
cently attired), his player must make a Willpower
roll (difficulty 6) once per scene to see if he can keep
from giving whatever “excess wealth” he owns to the
first person who looks like he might need it. If no
other person needs the knight’s goods more, he
might leave them in a church or actively go on a
quest to find someone seemingly more deserving
than he. If the character fails his Willpower roll but
really does not want to give away a particular posses-
sion (e.g., a powerful holy relic) he may spend a
Willpower point to prevent himself from doing so.
Cain’s Blight (Acolyte)
As the Inquisition’s weapon-hand, the Knights
of Acre see more than their share of violence and
bloodshed. Those knights who are struck with this
Curse, unfortunately, are never able to rid them-
selves of the sense that they are covered in the blood
of those they have slain. Even those who have only
killed the most loathsome enemies of God still find
themselves pondering whether the fiend they killed
might have been turned to the path of the Lord in
some way had they been spared. Those knights who
really have killed unnecessarily are hit hardest by
this Curse and have a difficult time recovering.
When the character feels soaked in blood in this
way, the only thing she’ll be able to think about is
washing the blood off. A character who has killed
only servants of the Fallen One is likely to feel only
the need to wash his hands, while an inquisitor who
has killed more than necessary may not only feel
sticky and covered in blood, but he may feel that the
blood of his victims continues to run down his body.
System: Once per scene (generally after com-
bat, but as determined by the Storyteller), the player
of a character suffering from this Curse must make a
Willpower roll (difficulty 7). Failure indicates that
the character feels tainted by the blood of those he
has killed and must stop what she is doing and wash
the blood away, or suffer a +1 difficulty penalty on all
rolls until he has done so.
Forsaken (Advocate)
The Knights of Acre are famed for their vast
accumulation of relics and holy artifacts. Some of
the Knights, particularly those who have been serv-
ing the Inquisition the longest, may even be
accustomed to bearing such items into battle as a
sign of the Lord’s favor. Knights who develop this
Curse, however, need the sign of God’s favor. If they
do not have a relic or at least a holy artifact, the
Knight is hesitant, possibly even scared, to go into
battle. The Knight feels certain that the Lord has
withheld his favor, an almost certain indication that
he will be slain in his next confrontation. Knights so
afflicted are likely to evince some most un-knightly
behaviors if confronted with violence: some may run
away, some may begin crying, and those who find the
strength to join the fray are likely to find themselves
trembling like children.
System: A knight who falls prey to this Curse
must have some sacred item in his possession before
he feels comfortable entering battle. If he does not
have such an item, his Courage is treated as though
it were 0 until he gets such an item. A Knight of Acre
with a Courage rating of 0 is a sad sight indeed: he
avoids battle by any means necessary, regardless of
the toll it takes on others’ respect for him. Should
circumstances force him to fight, all dice pools
pertaining to combat lose two dice due to the knight’s
violent fearful trembling.
Angel of Wrath (Judge)
The tasks of Heaven can weight upon a Knight’s
soul so heavily that he loses all ability to discern true
blasphemy from innocent turns of phrase or other
conversational faux pas. The Knight’s sense of pro-
priety develops (or his sense of humor degrades) to
such an extent that he cannot let pass even the
merest slight to his God, his faith, his church or his
calling without entering into physical combat. The
Knight becomes so sensitive that even common
utterances that might be seen as disrespectful are
interpreted as high offense and responded to with
swift and violent rebuke. The identity of the offend-
ing speaker determines the Knight’s exact response:
while he might pull his sword on another knight and
challenge him to combat for his temerity and disre-
spect, he can simply make due with slapping an old
woman or a child who offends his sensibilities (all
the while making it clear that he will not stand to
hear such blasphemy in his presence).
System: Any time another individual says or
does anything that could even vaguely be considered
to be taking the Lord’s name in vain, or bears even
the faintest odor of blasphemy, the player must roll
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
the character’s Willpower (difficulty 8) to keep from
falling prey to the righteous anger that wells up
uncontrollably inside him.
Visitations
It is not always a blessing to see visions, as the
Sisters of St. John have learned. The Curses affect-
ing the Sisters are not terribly dissimilar from the
holy sight they benefit from, and many Sisters have
given up trying to distinguish between the two.
Stray Vision (Acolyte)
The visions received by the sisters of St. John are
often — if not necessarily always — helpful or at
least enlightening to the inquisitor receiving them.
At times, however, the visions received are entirely
unrelated to anything playing any part in the sister’s
life. While they may be accurate, they are com-
pletely random and are unlikely to contribute
anything to the sister’s effectiveness in the Inquisi-
tion. As usual with the visions of the Sisters of St.
John, the visions received are of the darker variety:
premonitions of murders about to happen on an-
other continents, shadowy silhouettes of heinous
acts that the inquisitor has absolutely no ability to
prevent or affect, and other sights likely to impact
the sister’s peace of mind.
System: Once a day at the Storyteller’s discre-
tion, the inquisitor’s player makes a Willpower roll,
difficulty 8. Failure indicates that the sister falls into
a prophetic trance for (12 – Willpower) turns, wherein
she sees the darkest events going on outside of her
sphere of influence. It might be something taking
place a hundred miles away or on the other side of the
world, but the visions are always grim and take their
toll on the viewer.
Possessed Tongue (Acolyte)
The tongue of the Sister of St. John with this
Curse is sometimes not her own. For a few brief
breaths, no more than a handful of sentences, some
other voice — possibly angelic, possibly demonic,
possibly that of a ghost or other invading spirit —
controls her tongue and speaks through her. There’s
no doubting when this happens as the sister’s voice
becomes wholly not her own. She may speak in
languages unknown to the sister herself (although in
such cases she won’t understand her own utterances
if they are related back to her later). Frequently, the
content of the words spoken by the sister’s possessed
tongue takes on a vaguely prophetic tone (“The
shadows are moving to the south, and not even the
cross is immune”) though that need not be the case;
it’s equally possible that the utterances are deliber-
ately obscure or simply blasphemous. Regardless of
123
 the content, the Sister does not remember anything
she says while her tongue is possessed, although if her
words are related back to her, she may well find that
she has insights into the invading presence’s mean-
ing that others do not have.
System: Once per day, generally in calm mo-
ments when the chapter isn’t pressed, the sister’s
player makes a Willpower roll (difficulty 8). If she
fails, she loses control of her tongue and the invading
force, whatever the Storyteller determines it to be, is
free to speak up to five full sentences.
Slave to Visions (Advocate)
The Sisters of St. John are known for their visions,
but more often than not, they simply have to suffer
through them silently. For those Sisters afflicted with
this Curse, simply seeing the visions isn’t enough. They
feel the need to make the visions clear to those around
them through drawing, painting, sculpture or the like.
When the Curse hits, the Sister is overcome by an
overpowering need to make her visions manifest to
others. Until she has done so, she is completely dis-
tracted and cannot function well. In fact, the more time
that passes, the less the Sister is capable of doing any-
thing else but striving to portray her visions to others.
System: The Sister must recreate the image in
some physical medium: chalk on a wall, ink on vellum,
paint on leather or even sculpted in mud or other
substance. While a full recreation of her vision is likely
to take hours to get right, a sister in a hurry can generally
make a passable work in (10 – Crafts/Performance)
turns. The need to externalize her visions grows gradu-
ally stronger. The first three turns after the urge hits, the
sister suffers a +1 penalty to the difficulty of all rolls not
pertaining to her showing others her vision. The fol-
lowing three turns her difficulty penalty is at +2. After
that, the sister is so powerfully compelled to let her
vision out that she is nearly incapable of doing anything
else, and her difficulty penalty goes up to +3.
A Plague of Angels (Judge)
Sounds and sometimes visions of strange birds
and angels constantly haunt the Sister who has
acquired this Curse. The angels she sees are not the
typical white-winged Messengers approved of by the
Church, but strange angels with an odd look to
them: some may be bald, others have no eyes, others
may bear some resemblance to animals (which is
very Biblical, at least for the greater angels like the
seraphim). Neither the birds nor the angels speak to
the Sister, but they land in trees and watch her, they
rustle their wings when she’s trying to listen to other
matters, and they may shriek from time to time or
swoop into her path when she’s trying to focus, run
or perform some difficult task.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
124 • COMPANION •
Different Sisters have developed different theo-
ries about what these angels are. Some claim they’re
the angels of limbo; others claim they’re fallen an-
gels. Still others claim that they’re simply demons or
even witches bedeviling inquisitors. Whatever the
origin, the plague of angels makes it incredibly
difficult for the sister to focus. From the perspective
of those around her, the sister is simply distracted or
acting bizarrely. Only those who know the unfortu-
nate tendency of the Sisters of St. John to have
visions are likely to give the poor sister the benefit of
the doubt and not automatically assume she’s mad.
System: The choirs of angels, the shrieking of birds
and the rustling of wings attend the sister at all times,
reminding her simultaneously of Heaven and Hell. All
Perception rolls are made at +2 difficulty, and the
character suffers an initiative penalty of –3. Further-
more, at the Storyteller’s discretion, some larger, more
disconcerting manifestation may sometimes occur; these
are more likely to occur in moments of stress or conflict.
Merits and Flaws
The following Merits and Flaws are additions to
the lists in Dark Ages: Inquisitor (pp. 166-169) and
Dark Ages: Vampire (pp. 302-310). Merits and
Flaws are entirely optional and simply give you ways
of adding depth to your characters. A Storyteller
who feels that Merits and Flaws impair game play is
free to disallow them any or all of them in her game.
Physical
Tough as Nails (3-pt. Merit)
You come from hardy, thick-skinned stock, or per-
haps God has favored you. You shrug off damage easier
than most. All soak rolls are made at –1 to the difficulty.
Low Pain Threshold (2-pt. Flaw)
While you may have been generously blessed in
many ways, that is not the case when it comes to
dealing with physical discomfort. Your pain thresh-
old is extremely low. What others consider a minor
pain debilitates you. Although you soak damage
normally, you suffer an additional –1 die pool pen-
alty whenever you’re injured (and a –1 penalty even
at the Bruised level).
Mental
Talented Liar (2-pt. Merit)
Others may give themselves away when they lie. A
stammer, a glance at the ground, a quaver in the voice
— they all suggest deceit to the would-be dupe. Not
you. You can tell even brazen lies and make them sound
 entirely truthful. Even old priests have a hard time
discerning when you’re lying. If you’re crafty, you may
even be able to figure out ways around the Endowments
of your fellow inquisitors (not that you’d ever need to).
All rolls to discern whether or not you’re lying are at +2
difficulty. In the case of a really obvious lie, the difficulty
is increased by only 1.
David’s Aim (3-pt. Merit)
Your aim is blessed, like David’s when he let
loose his sling stone against Goliath. Your percep-
tion of distance and understanding of other relevant
factors give you a clear advantage on all ranged
attacks. Double all benefits from aiming (see p. 246
of Dark Ages: Vampire).
Gullible (2-pt. Flaw)
You’re not necessarily stupid, but you are definitely
far too trusting for the world you live in. You expect
others to live according to Scripture just as you do, and
that often makes you a dupe. Even obvious lies sound
plausible to you. Increase by two the difficulty of all rolls
to detect lies or chicanery of any sort.
Insomniac (2-pt. Flaw)
Getting to sleep is hard when you know the sorts of
creatures that are roaming the night, doing the Devil’s
work. Staying asleep is harder. You toss and turn and
can’t sleep at night. Roll Willpower (difficulty 7) every
night before your character goes to sleep. If the roll fails,
you do not sleep; all Perception difficulties increase by
2 the next day. Blessings that keep the character from
sleeping only make this Flaw worse.
Supernaturally Ignorant (3-pt. Flaw)
Your brief taste of inquisitorial life has made you
pretty savvy when it comes to the supernatural — or
so you think. Most of what you think you know is
egregiously wrong. When you find out, for example,
that silver weapons don’t in fact kill vampires, or that
saints’ medals don’t protect you from the spells of
witches (assuming you survive the experience), you’re
likely to assume that it was something unique to that
particular vampire (or witch), not that your “knowl-
edge” was wrong. The player must somehow rid
himself of this Flaw (perhaps by buying Knowledges
such as Occult or Hearth Wisdom, or studying under
an inquisitor with a high Exposure Background rat-
ing) before he can gain any Endowments above the
Acolyte level.

Social
Orthodox (1-pt. Merit)
While others adopt Catholicism with one or two
tiny private changes that make them feel better

• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL • 125
 about the religion (and might make them heretics in
the process), you accept Catholicism entirely on its
own grounds. You are a complete and utter true
believer, happily ignoring any evidence that might
give you second thoughts about the Church’s theol-
ogy or its earthly hierarchy. The Powers That Be like
you because you accept as God’s own truth whatever
they tell you. It’s easy to get along when you accept
everything you’re told. All Social rolls pertaining to
representatives of the Church are made at –2 diffi-
culty, so long as you do as you’re told and wholly
embrace the Catholic Church’s stance on everything.
Arrogant (1-pt. Flaw)
Whether or not you actually think you’re better
than others, those around you consistently feel that
you have a “holier than thou” attitude. You may
phrase things sarcastically too often, or you may
really believe that you are holier than most of those
you interact with. In any case, you suffer a +1
difficulty modifier on all Social rolls made to sway
others of equal or lower social stature. This Flaw only
affects the character’s friends and allies, and has no
impact on his dealings with the Enemy.
Criminal Past (1-pt. Flaw)
While you are currently an honest and highly
devout individual, that has not always been the case.
At some point in the past, you were a known and
violent criminal and may have been a hunted man
for your criminal activities. All Social rolls with
those who know your criminal history are made at +2
difficulty. Certain self-righteous clergy, in particu-
lar, will especially eager to bring you to justice should
they learn of your past. Those who know you are
unlikely to ever give you the benefit of the doubt
unless you have truly proven yourself reformed.
Malicious Zealot (2-pt. Flaw)
God-fearing Christians have nothing to fear from
you, but you take great delight in causing pain and
suffering to those who do not follow God. Heretics,
witches and those following any faith but strict Ca-
tholicism are open targets for you. Anytime you have an
opportunity to make a heathen suffer in any way, you’re
inclined to take it. Make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6)
when the character is in a position to cause pain or
suffering to a non-believer; if even one success is rolled,
the character masters her sadistic streak. Otherwise, she
takes the opportunity to torment the victim as sadisti-
cally as possible. If the character is Callous, the difficulty
of the roll goes up to 8.
Convert (3-pt. Flaw)
Although you are Catholic (and quite devout at
that), you were originally brought up in another faith.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
126 • COMPANION •
Your past as a Jew (or even a Saracen) is unmistakable
and comes back to haunt you from time to time. You
suffer a +1 difficulty modifier to Social rolls when dealing
with other inquisitors who do not know you. When
dealing with inquisitors in the grips of Callousness, you
suffer a +2 difficulty modifier. Their prejudice is likely to
be expressed in surprisingly direct and petty ways.
Supernatural
Bitter Blood (1-pt. Merit)
The Lord has made your blood bitter to the foul
tongues of the undead. One taste of your blood and
a vampire will never feed from you again. There’s
nothing preventing a vampire from bleeding you just
for the fun of it, of course, but you’re the last vessel
from which a nightwalker would willingly choose to
drink. A vampire taking even one blood point from
you must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) to
continue doing so, even if starving. A vampire in
hunger frenzy, however, will drain you drain without
batting an eyebrow.
Callous-Sensitive (1-pt. Merit)
You know well that inquisitors aren’t always the
paragons of piety that others expect them to be.
Furthermore, when other inquisitors have become
Callous, you can sense it. Roll Perception + Empathy
(difficulty 6) any time the character is in the pres-
ence of a Callous cohort. Even one success reveals
who it is who has fallen to Callousness. At the
Storyteller’s discretion, more successes may reveal
other information, including the duration of this
period of Callousness, just how Callous he is (i.e.,
how much higher his Conviction is than his Piety),
his Impulse and similar details.
Grace (2-pt. Merit)
Not only do you take great pride in doing God’s
work, but you also have the compassion and humanity
to avoid the hazards associated with such high levels of
Conviction. Your Conviction can be up to two points
higher than your Piety before you show the signs of
Callousness. An inquisitor with this Merit cannot
become Callous if her Piety is 8 or higher.
Order Prodigy (3-pt. Merit)
You are perfectly attuned to the wisdom and
tenets of your order, so much so that your almost
intuitive grasp of your order’s Endowments prevents
you from suffering Curses when learning them. Even
under difficult or rushed circumstances, you do not
acquire Curses from learning your own order’s En-
dowments. Learning the Endowments of other orders,
however, still puts you at risk. Murnau and Red
Order characters cannot take this Merit.
Saint’s Conscience (3-pt. Merit)
Like all Christians struggling with life, you can
make mistakes. On occasion, however, in times of
great moral ambiguity, you can pray to God for
guidance — and receive it. Once per game session
when the character is in a morally confusing situa-
tion, he can pray and get a clear answer directing him
to one course of action that is the most moral (and
has the fewest consequences). Characters may use
this Merit to keep themselves from acting in ways
that would lead to Callousness or other similarly
negative outcomes. The Storyteller determines which
path the character is better off taking and guides him
in that direction.
Vampiric Recognition (3-pt. Merit)
You are well prepared to carry out your inquisi-
torial tasks. You can spot a vampire at ten paces.
There’s something about them that you’ve learned
to recognize — something to which others seem
oblivious. Maybe it’s a slight metallic odor, or a
learned tendency to look at a person’s neck to see if
there’s a pulse. Whatever the case, you can tell a
vampire from a mortal with a Perception + Alertness
roll (difficulty 7). The Blush of Health Merit or other
mitigating factors might raise this difficulty, at the
Storyteller’s discretion.
Divinely Favored (4-pt. Merit)
You are the beneficiary of an extraordinary degree of
divine grace. While others seem to suffer Curses as some
form of atonement or punishment for their access to
divine power, you seem to bear that burden lightly, only
rarely gaining the Curses that befall other inquisitors. In
addition to whatever other modifiers may come into
play, all rolls related to acquiring new Curses (see Dark
Ages: Inquisitor, p. 202) are subject to a –2 modifier.
Inviolate (4-pt. Merit)
Your body is so filled with the Holy Spirit that
invading spirits cannot worm their way in. You
cannot be possessed by demons, ghosts, vampires,
witches or any other creature. This Merit only pro-
tects from Dominate 5 (Vessel); all other applications
of the Dominate Discipline work normally.
Gifted Exorcist (5-pt. Merit)
You have a talent for forcing demons and other
possessing spirits out of physical bodies that do not
belong to them. You are probably well known and
highly sought after for your abilities in this context. The
difficulty of all exorcism rolls (see the Holy Rite of
Exorcism in Dark Ages: Inquisitor, p. 195) decreases
by three. Furthermore, if conducting the exorcism in
conjunction with other inquisitors and one of them
botches, you may take the burden upon yourself and
• CHAPTER THREE •
• THE WAYS OF THE FAITHFUL •
expend a permanent Willpower point to prevent the
loss of the group’s accumulated successes.
Halo (5-pt. Merit)
You are blessed, and it’s unmistakable. You have
a halo — not a traditional halo of light so much as a
divine aura, actually, but it serves you well. Charac-
ters with this Merit radiate a sense of divine serenity.
While it’s possible to take aggressive action against
such characters, those agents of the Devil who would
do so must spend one Willpower point each time
(i.e., a vampire who insisted on hitting the Haloed
character three turns in a row would need to spend
three points of Willpower in order to do so).
Devil’s Puppet (3-pt. Flaw)
Demons and other possessing spirits find your body
unusually easy to take over and use as their own. Any
sort of possessing entity, whether it be demons, vam-
pires, warlocks or some other creature, has a far easier
time taking over your body than another nearby victim.
Creatures possessing you do so with a –2 difficulty
modifier.
Curse Prone (4-pt. Flaw)
Some inquisitors are fated to wield great divine
power with relatively little burden in their struggles
against the Enemy. Others, like you, may gain the
advantage of divine power, but it almost always
comes with a heavy price. In addition to whatever
other modifiers may come into play, all rolls related
to acquiring new Curses (see Dark Ages: Inquisitor,
page 202) are subject to a +2 modifier.
Unlucky (4-pt. Flaw)
Given how dedicated you are to doing the work
of God — and the fact that you know He’s watching
over you — it’s surprising how rarely things go your
way. Every time an opportunity comes along that
might let you shine, something comes along to ruin
it. Once per game session, the Storyteller should
increase the difficult of a critical roll you make by
two. If you fail the roll, it’s due to some random
element of bad luck (your knee buckling just as you
draw your sword, for example).
Spiritual Cripple (5-pt. Flaw)
Despite your great Conviction and devotion to
God and the Church, you are still challenged to gain
a higher understanding of a particular Superior Vir-
tue. One of the three Superior Virtues — pick which
one at character creation — is completely beyond
your understanding. You may be too lazy to develop
Zeal, too headstrong to develop Wisdom or too jaded
to develop Faith, but regardless of the cause, you
cannot acquire that Superior Virtue.
127
Chapter Four:
Soldiers of
God, Servants
of Hell
Evil enters like a needle
and spreads like an oak tree.
— Ethiopian proverb

The Lord moves in mysterious ways. Unfortunately, so do the enemies of the

Lord. Those who would stand against the forces of the Enemy must be prepared
to face foes wily as well as brutal, subtle as well as bloodthirsty.

Development of the Inquisitorial Cell

It is no simple task to take on: the mission of defending the soul of mankind
from the depredations of foul and inhuman enemies. Fortunately, those coura-
geous individuals who accept that mission need not fight alone.
 Training Cells
In most cases, the first cell an inquisitor belongs
to consists entirely of other members of her own
order. The three clerical orders of the shadow Inqui-
sition — the Poor Knights, the Red Order, and the
Sisters of St. John — all prefer to train their newest
inquisitorial recruits in the relatively disciplined
environment of their own monasteries and abbeys.
These originating cells are usually single-gender
(Red Brothers and Red Sisters are not permitted to
fraternize with each other at this stage and are also
divided into single-gender cells). They are relatively
small, generally numbering about four members to-
tal, with a senior inquisitor overseeing the cell as
teacher and advocate.
At this point, the cell receives its basic instruc-
tion in the methods of recognizing and accurately
diagnosing the many different forms of supernatural
contagion afflicting the body of Christendom. In
many cases, this training period is extremely psycho-
logically jarring to the young inquisitor, who has to
come to accept the depth of danger that humanity
and the Church faces on more than just an intellec-
tual basis. Often, young inquisitors are exposed to
enemy captives in tightly controlled circumstances,
permitted to examine the physical signs of super-
natural affliction, and, in some instances, to speak to
SUCCESS AND FAILURE
= ot every training cell survives the initial
training process and exposure intact,
nor every young inquisitor. Individual inquisitors
and individual cells, no matter how promising,
sometimes fail the initial tests of faith and sense
they’re put to before they even reach the field. In
such cases, the cell is disbanded and the individu-
als that comprised it are separately evaluated by
their superior and the local Council of Faith.
Those young inquisitors that are judged to have
passed the initial training are assigned to a new
cell to begin their field training. Those inquisi-
tors that are judged to have failed are sent back to
enclosure to consider why they failed. Since the
Inquisition is a young organization and loath to
waste any resource, no matter how potentially
flawed, such individuals are often given the op-
portunity to mend their errors and try again in
another cell. If the individual consistently fails,
however, they are assigned to a permanent sup-
port position within their monastery or abbey,
and are never permitted to risk their own lives or
those of others in the field.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
130 • COMPANION •
these horrifying wretches. If the cell passes through
this initial training stage with all its members intact,
it moves on to the next stage of controlled field
training. From there, it goes to its first supervised
mission, generally a minor investigation.
Newly recruited von Murnau inquisitors re-
ceive much the same training in recognition and
diagnosis, bolstering their instinctive detection
capabilities. They are rarely divided into cells in
order to obtain this instruction. Rather, indi-
vidual von Murnau recruits are taken under the
wing of older and more experienced members of
the family, often the same “godparent” who teaches
them how to control their manifestation of the
von Murnau curse to begin with.
Teaching a young von Murnau the ropes is often a
less arduous task than instructing other new inquisitors,
simply because the von Murnau have fewer issues of
personal denial to overcome; they are, after all, aware of
the existence of the supernatural from the time of their
Curse’s manifestation. They usually have less difficulty
comprehending precisely how bad the situation really
is. Once this training period is complete, von Murnau
inquisitors are assigned to their cells by the official
liaison, Otto von Murnau, who spends much of his time
handling the requests of the clerical orders for his
family’s assistance and placing his relatives according to
their degree of personal skill and sensitivity. Von Murnau
inquisitors are often placed with a just-formed same sex/
same order clerical cell in order to further train with
them and to allow bonds of fellowship to develop
among those who must trust one another with their
lives.
Stationary Oculi Dei cells form when the most
senior Eye in the area begins recruiting from among the
likely prospects, calling the cell together for the first
time to learn the recognition codes and communica-
tion points that the cell’s members use. The most senior
Eye also gives the Eyes under his command what
training they receive in the methods of recognizing
supernatural creatures, their haunts, and their hunting
habits. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Oculi Dei tend to
have the highest degree of pre-existing recognition and
experience with supernatural forces after the von
Murnau; their cells tend to require proportionally less
training in this regard than the clerical orders, who
often possess superior theoretical knowledge to start but
less direct experience. Otherwise, stationary Oculi Dei
are the most secretive of all the cells, often single order
but of both genders from the onset; in many cases, they
are actively discouraged from trusting each other or
even their fellow inquisitors, taught to regard everyone
they meet with a jaundiced eye. Itinerant Oculi Dei are
often assigned to mobile inquisitor cells traveling into
areas with which they are personally familiar. They stay
with those cells until the mission is complete.
Once inquisitors have proven themselves ca-
pable within a single order cell, those training cells
are often folded together with members of the other
orders, lay and clerical, though they remain single
gender at the beginning. Once the cell’s ability to
function as a unit is established, the single gender
cells are often introduced to a brother or sister cell,
whose members are thereafter both required and
encouraged to work together, occasionally to the
extent that the two smaller cells become one large
multi-order, dual-gender cell. This is a point where
natural friction tends to develop and resolve itself
according to the personalities involved. Cells that
THE RISE AND FALL OF AN INQUISITOR
B ome inquisitors rise and fall more quickly
than others. The reasons for this are as
widely varied as the inquisitors themselves.
Some inquisitors are immensely politically
capable, working the ranks with skill and ambi-
tion and climbing the ladder of authority quickly.
Such individuals rarely stay at the level of the
field for long, remaining with their cell only long
enough to claw out a place on a Council of Faith
— or as an assistant to a member of the Council
of Faith. Piety is rarely much of an issue with such
individuals, as it isn’t faith that motivates them
or even service per se, but the construction and
maintenance of the inquisition itself. Once in a
position of power, these individuals rarely, if
ever, lose that position since they rarely do any-
thing that could cost them personally. They also
tend to stagnate in their personal spiritual devel-
opment even as their political power increases.
Some inquisitors make a great show of despis-
ing temporal power within the structure of the
inquisition, concentrating solely on their rela-
tionship with God and the struggle against the
Enemy. Such individuals run an entirely differ-
ent set of risks. Yes, the strength of their
communion with the divine armors them in holy
light, but those blessings also tend to alienate
them from their fellow inquisitors and from their
own humanity, as well. Extraordinarily driven
inquisitors rapidly grow callous and unfeeling,
intolerant of human foibles and weaknesses, cold
in heart if righteous of soul. This failing can cost
• CHAPTER FOUR •
• SERVANTS OF GOD, SOLDIERS OF HELL •
reach this stage are usually only disbanded if the
conflicts within them are completely irreconcilable;
even then, the same-gender cells are usually left
intact, merely separated from immediate contact
with their sibling cell.
Leadership within a cell is often a complicated
matter, simply because of the political and interper-
sonal issues involved. In single order cells, particularly
the clerical cells, the issue of leadership is fairly
straightforward — the most senior Poor Knight, Red
Brother or Sister, or Holy Sister is the official leader
and represents the cell to their superior within the
abbey and to the local Council of Faith. The leader
that results from this expediency may be weak or may
yield practical leadership to another in the field, but
the proprieties of clerical rank are at least honored if
not always observed.
lives — the lives of fellow inquisitors judged insuf-
ficiently pious, the lives of innocents judged not
innocent enough, the lives and souls of those that
could be saved, but who aren’t thanks to
uncompassionate judgments. Many of these in-
quisitors are actually officially disciplined; the vast
majority of them burn out, breaking their own
minds before they lose their faith, forced from
active duty by their own orders and the Councils
of Faith.
At the opposite extreme are those inquisitors
whose faith in God increases at the expense of their
faith in the good works of the Inquisition itself.
Compassion for the sick and suffering is one of the
fundamental tenets of Christianity, and often the
trait in shortest supply among the agents of the
shadow Inquisition. Those inquisitors who find
pity and Christian mercy in their hearts for the
wretched servants of the Enemy and, in some cases,
for the Enemy itself, often find their taste for the
hunt itself dying as their faith in a truly merciful
God increases. Some of these inquisitors voluntar-
ily withdraw from active duty in the field, preferring
to retreat into the enclosure of their communities
to contemplate God more fully and sustain the
efforts of their fellows from a support position.
Others remain in the field, acting as the con-
science of the inquisition while in the heat of the
struggle, reminding their colleagues that were Lu-
cifer himself to crave forgiveness of his sins, God
would grant it. Final judgment lies in the hands of
the Most High, not the flawed hands of men.
131
 In a mixed cell, the issue becomes more com-
plex. In such cases, the most senior inquisitor involved
in the cell might not be a cleric at all. Friction of
varying degrees of severity can easily result, but the
successful resolution of such personality conflicts
can actually strengthen a cell in the end. Leadership
does not always come to rest in the hands of the most
pious member of the cell, nor into the most senior of
the cell’s clerical members, nor the noble-born von
Murnau; instead, it typically comes to the most
capable resource manager, or preferably the man (or
woman) most endowed with common sense or care
for his fellows.
Evolving and Devolving Cells
Cells often evolve in capabilities and support by
the quality of their own actions. Successful encoun-
ters with the Enemy, a high rate of discovery,
experience and survival: all attract positive atten-
tion from the Councils of Faith and monastic
superiors. Successful inquisitorial cells are rarely
promoted entirely out of the field, but they often
become “teaching cells” when they have returned to
their chapter-houses or safe-houses, taking in younger
and less experienced inquisitors to train up as the
leaders of new cells. Similarly, the Councils of Faith
are loath to disband successful cells, even if indi-
vidual members of those cells might be needed (or
requested) elsewhere. In rare cases, a particular mem-
ber of a successful cell might be temporarily
“detached” and sent on a separate mission while the
cell is enclosed in a teaching capacity, but that
individual is usually reunited with her original cell
before it returns to the field. It is the current ten-
dency of the shadow Inquisition to allow successful
cells to persist in their field duties as long as possible
before pulling them from active duty to teach.
Cells can just as easily devolve if the personali-
ties involved are constantly at loggerheads, or if they
consistently fail to achieve measurable results in the
fight against the Enemy. Such cells are rarely permit-
ted to persist in mediocrity for long, and are often
disbanded by the local Council of Faith. The mem-
bers are either remanded back to their orders for
additional training, or reassigned to other cells in the
hope that they will learn and correct their behavior
in more congenial company.
Cells can also devolve when leadership issues
cannot be resolved constructively, or if leadership is
imposed on a strong pre-existing cell in an arbitrary
(or politically motivated) manner. The Inquisition,
like every other aspect of the Church, can become a
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
132 • COMPANION •
revolting mess of politics and backbiting when some
sitting member of the Council of Faith wants his
favorite nephew assigned to a prestigious cell with
the intent of placing him in command, or if a newly
minted von Murnau can’t stomach taking orders
from an Oculi Dei who outstrips him in experience
but not social rank. If a leadership issue has arisen
due to the imposition of a member unsuited to the
cell’s original structure, the cell has some recourse.
They may apply to the local Council of Faith for
redress of the problem, citing any difficulties that
might arise from the new leadership as reason for his
or her removal from that position. Interpersonal
difficulties are often given somewhat more time to
resolve themselves before the local Council of Faith
is forced to take action. Those Councils will not,
however, hesitate to disband a cell and reassign its
members if they consistently fail to place their mis-
sion above their petty personal squabbles.
Outside the Orders
Not everyone who heeds the call of God to
defend His children from the creatures of the Enemy
has the advantage of living within the aid and
comfort of the inquisitorial orders. The men and
women of the Poor Knights, the Order of St.
Theodosius, the Holy Sisters of St. John, and the
Oculi Dei are beloved of God and protected and
nurtured by the holy gifts of the divine. The hunters
of the House of Murnau, despite the terrible afflic-
tion of their curse, have not permitted their burden
to turn them away from the love of God, nor to deny
His blessings.
They are not alone.
Even within the five orders of the inquisition,
many do not — and, in all likelihood, will never —
experience the direct touch of God. Four of every
five Sisters of St. John have never felt the Holy Sight
grip them in waves of sudden, terrible knowledge.
More than half of the Poor Knights and the Red
Brethren have never experienced the rush of divine
strength and speed on the field of battle, have never
called down God’s holy fire to smite the creatures of
the Enemy. Some lines of the von Murnau family
have entirely escaped the scourge of the curse, but
still feel the need to serve.
It takes vast courage to face the creatures of the
dark armed only with human strength, human wit,
and human skill. The five orders of the inquisition
are not alone in their exposure to and experience
with the unnatural things stalking the cities and
country roads of Christendom by day and night.
Countless individual men and woman of the cloth,
men and women of humble means or the highest
birth, have witnessed things that have sent them to
their confessors in fear and galvanized their need to
act in defense of themselves, those they love, and
their people as a whole. Such individuals are quietly
sought after by the members of the shadow Inquisi-
tion and aggressively recruited wherever they are
discovered. The shadow Inquisition needs the pas-
sion and courage of such individuals: their knowledge,
experience, and basic humanity diversify its ranks
and remind it of why it exists at all.
Obtaining membership in the shadow Inquisi-
tion for one not already enclosed within one of the
FROM BENEATH THE ENEMY’S SHADOW
C he shadow Inquisition has a marked pref
erence for recruiting agents from among
the secular and monastic clergy, though they will
not turn away anyone who displays a genuine
desire to serve God in the war against the Enemy.
This includes some of the former servants of the
Enemy, human minions twisted by supernatural
forces but returned to sanity and grace by the
efforts of the Inquisition itself.
The Hospital of St. Dymphna, jointly oper-
ated by a cell of Red Sisters and Sisters of St.
John, has produced a number of such recruits,
recovered victims of the supernatural who have
replaced the lust they felt for their captors and
masters with an equally heated desire to redeem
themselves in the eyes of the Lord. Such indi-
viduals are accepted somewhat warily by most
cells and watched closely for recidivistic be-
havior when they come into contact again with
the supernatural; if they display it, they are
often put down without further mercy.
The secular clergy are also heartily sought
after, due primarily to the fact that they live “in
the world” and are often witness to events that
their monastic counterparts are not. Moreover,
after the inquisitorial monastic orders, the secular
clerical inquisitors are the most consistently liter-
ate and well-educated segment of the shadow
Inquisition. This body of individuals contains
prelates of all levels of sanctity, from bishops to
parish priests, ordained canons to lay brothers and
sisters, clerks in minor orders studying at the
secular universities to beguines seeking charity
for the poor.
• CHAPTER FOUR •
• SERVANTS OF GOD, SOLDIERS OF HELL •
established orders follows much the same pattern as
a recruit of the Oculi Dei. They must attract the
attention of a member of the shadow Inquisition or
a cell of its operatives in some way, usually by
possessing beliefs or fears that set them apart from
the ordinary run of superstitious humanity, or dis-
play some sort of experience or knowledge as a result
of contact with the supernatural. An investigation
follows, in which the Inquisition ascertains that this
familiarity does not derive from a close association
with unclean forces or supernatural associations of
an ungodly nature. Only after this fact is ascertained
is the future inquisitor approached, either by the cell
that discovered them or by a designated agent of the
The shadow Inquisition has also achieved
some penetration into each of the largest monas-
tic foundations of the era. It has enjoyed the
largest degree of success recruiting among the
Benedictine monks and nuns, whose militancy in
the service of the shadow Inquisition is almost
frightening to behold, but also enjoys the advan-
tages that the Cluniacs, Cistercians, Augustinians,
and numerous other monastic foundations bring
to the cause. It has fared somewhat less well when
it comes to recruiting among the newly formed
Mendicant Orders. Only a handful of Franciscans
have come to the service of the Inquisition and
even fewer Dominicans — a serious blow that they
would dearly like to rectify.
The Dominicans as an order are immensely
attractive to the shadow Inquisition, simply because
they are already doing much of the same work. The
Dominicans, along with support from the Benedictine
Order, are actively engaged in the inquisitorial effort
against heretics in the Languedoc, pulling out heresy
and destroying it, root and branch. To do so, the
Dominicans have made themselves one of the most
profoundly well-educated intellectual orders in
Christendom. That intellectual power is sorely needed
in the shadow Inquisition, where the line between
heretical belief and supernatural compulsion is some-
times heavily blurred. If they could, the shadow
Inquisition would recruit the Dominican Order
wholesale. Caution behooves them to move care-
fully and slowly, however, approaching only those
Dominicans whose experiences have led them to
suspect that there may be more than simple error and
ingrained heresy at work in the Languedoc.
133
 local Council of Faith. They are questioned closely
about the origins of their beliefs, the nature of their
fears and convictions, and their measure is taken
with regards to their personal piety and the ortho-
doxy of their faith. Once this is done, the cell reports
to the Council of Faith. If that Council is pleased by
what the inquisitors have uncovered, the prospec-
tive recruit is approached and initiated into the
shadow Inquisition.
The shadow Inquisition actively searches among
both secular and monastic religious orders for prospec-
tive recruits. It has found individuals at every level of
religious life that have fit the needs of the shadow
Inquisition. Likewise, it has sought and found those
members of the nobility — high and low — whose
personal experiences have jarred them from the com-
fort of their lives and led them back down, or further
along, the road of genuine piety, service and protection
of their fellow men. Those of humble birth have also
found their way into the embrace of the shadow Inqui-
sition and found there those willing to believe and trust
in them, who will not discount their experiences nor
deride their station.
Once recruited fully, such individuals are trained
in a slightly different fashion than other inquisitors,
depending on the nature of their position. Clerical
recruits, both sacred and secular, often have a slightly
easier time of the training process simply because the
Inquisition has a much readier and more constant
means of access to them. The local Council of Faith
often quietly pulls strings in order to have an inquisi-
tor tutor inserted into the staff of the cathedral or
monastery to which the recruit belongs. Sometimes
this tutor is another cleric — a monk, an ordained
priest or a clerk in minor orders; sometimes this tutor
presents him or herself as a lay brother or sister, a
servant, or other support staff for hire.
The education of the clerical recruit is con-
ducted more slowly and in a more personalized
manner than is common even for the monastic
inquisitorial orders. Noble-born recruits often take
their tutor into their household as a confessor or
chaplain. If their household does not support such an
individual, they find their tutor taking up residence
as the keeper of a local parish church or as a new
member of staff in the local cathedral chapter. This
is also true for the vast bulk of commoner recruits,
who often spend a good deal more time in confession
than they used to. Alternatively, they may claim to
be assisting the parish priest in tending the garden,
the village green, or the parish flocks.

• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •

134 • COMPANION •
 Among such individuals, secrecy is heavily
stressed for the duration of the training period and
for a substantial length of time afterwards. The depth
of need in the area determines membership in an
inquisitorial cell. Such recruits are usually assigned
to pre-existing stationary cells rather than becoming
the nucleus of a new cell, unless the situation is both
extreme and highly dangerous. In such cases, a cell of
experienced inquisitors is summoned to the area and
the new recruit becomes one of its members, the
local specialist on the scene.
In the event of the absence of a local Council of
Faith, as is often the case in certain areas in Hungary
and the rest of the lands in the east, inquisitorial cells
have been known to recruit first and crave permis-
sion to do so later. Given the Inquisition’s general
failure to penetrate the unholy East with anything
resembling consistent success, this tendency is strenu-
ously frowned upon by more conservative Councils
of Faith and silently applauded by more zealous ones.
This is not, however, a standard or widely accepted
behavior of the part of inquisitorial cells. Whether or
not success results from the effort, it must usually be
answered for before a Council of Faith and the new
recruit formally assessed afterwards. If the recruit
does not meet the standards of the Council of Faith
examining him or her, they are often “retired” from
active duty in the shadow Inquisition — usually
being pressured into entering holy orders within one
of the monastic foundations of the shadow Inquisi-
tion and kept under strict supervision. The cell that
recruited the unsuitable individual is punished, usu-
ally by suspension from their duties, followed by a
lengthy stint enclosed at the nearest monastery to
consider their misdeeds. Whether or not they will be
allowed into the field again depends entirely upon
the judgment of the local Council of Faith and the
needs of the region.
Special Cases
Suppose a player wants to create a character who
belongs to two orders at once? Some combinations
aren’t possible (for instance, no woman would be
permitted to be both a Sister of Saint John and a Red
Sister, nor a man belong to both the Knights of Acre
and the Order of St. Theodosius) but most are. For
instance, the opening fiction to this very book fea-
tures a character who is a Red Sister, but is born of
the House of Murnau and exhibits its curse. Like-
wise, the ever-adaptable Oculi Dei would very likely
be willing to take a member of one of the other orders
into their ranks. How should this be handled from a
Storytelling and game mechanics perspective?
• CHAPTER FOUR •
• SERVANTS OF GOD, SOLDIERS OF HELL •
CHARACTER CREATION PROCESS
Character creation for an un-empow-
ered Inquisitor follows the same guidelines as
standard, with a few minor modifications.
• Step One: Character Concept
Choose concept, Nature, and De-
meanor. The character may be a member
of one of the five orders or may simply be a
member of the Inquisition, at the player’s
option. Un-empowered characters do not
have Impulses.
• Step Two: Select Attributes
Choose primary, secondary, and tertiary
Attributes, one point in each Attribute, and
spread 6/4/3 points among them.
• Step Three: Select Abilities
Choose primary, secondary, and ter-
tiary Abilities and distribute 11/7/4 dots
among them. No Ability can have more
than three dots at this stage. All Inquisi-
tors must possess at least Theology 1;
Linguistics 1 (Latin) is recommended, as
most official communications are written
in this language and many common In-
quisitor recognition codes are spoken in it.
• Step Four: Select Advantages
Distribute 5 dots among Backgrounds,
7 dots among the Basic Virtues.
• Step Five: Finishing Touches
Starting Conviction is 1. Maximum
Conviction is 3. Un-empowered charac-
ters cannot become Callous and therefore
do not have Piety ratings. Starting Will-
power is equal to starting Courage. Spend
21 bonus points. At the discretion of the
Storyteller, the character may purchase
one Orison for 5 bonus points.
BONUS POINT COSTS
• Attributes: 5 bonus points per dot
• Abilities: 2 bonus points per dot
• Ability Specialties (maximum three
per specialty): 1 bonus point each
• Backgrounds: 1 bonus point per dot
• Virtues: 2 bonus points per dot
• Willpower: 1 bonus point per dot
135
 From a Storytelling perspective, dual-order
characters aren’t really any problem at all. In-
quisitor characters aren’t defined by their orders
in anything like the same way that vampires are
defined by their clans. As long as the choice of
orders makes sense and doesn’t put the character
in the position of having to live under conflicting
Rules (which is why characters can’t join more
than one of the clerical orders), there’s no reason
why such characters aren’t permissible.
The only game mechanics to be truly affected by
a character who belongs to two orders are those
involving Blessings. For instance, consider a charac-
ter who is both Red Order and Oculi Dei: Should the
player choose between a Benediction and the order
benefit of blackmail material, or between the Holy
Art and the order benefit of free Exposure?
The answer is, “Any of the above.” Not every
member of the Inquisition has Blessings, and not
every inquisitor benefits from their orders in the
same ways. The choice between a Blessing and an
order benefit is in place for players’ characters
because, as the protagonists of your chronicle,
they are assumed to be “a cut above” the rank and
file of the Inquisition.
With that in mind, the rules put forth in Dark
Ages: Inquisitor do not have to be hard-and-fast
indicators of what the characters are capable of
(rules for creating un-empowered inquisitors, you
probably noticed, have already been presented here).
Indeed, you may feel free to stretch the “rules” even
further. Suppose you envision playing a Knight of
Acre who, far from being a canny warrior, specializes
in aiding weary pilgrims and easing their pain after
long journeys. You might well feel that the Gift of
Second Sight Benediction (p. 177 of Dark Ages:
Inquisitor) is more appropriate than any of the
Investitures. Likewise, a player of an Oculus who
made a study of maleficium as a Dominican monk
might feel that the Faith application of the Divine
Light Benediction (see p. 102) is more appropriate
than the Wisdom-based aspect of that Endowment.
In both of these cases, the Storyteller is encouraged
to bend the rules to fit the character concepts, rather
than bending concepts to fit the rules.
In the Company of Monsters
Not every encounter an inquisitor has with the
supernatural is necessarily hostile. On some rare
occasions, the Soldiers of Christ and the minions of
the Enemy may very well find themselves at least
allies of convenience, if not comrades in arms. Greater
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
136 • COMPANION •
darkness threatens the lesser creatures of the night,
after all, and an inquisitor can make a fine shield or
weapon to use against those forces. Similarly, a lesser
monster can often be used to lead a canny inquisitor
cell to its master. No formal agreements of any type
exist between the Inquisition and any soul-devour-
ing Enemy, singular or collective; more often than
not, any arrangements that arise are short-lived,
tactical, and destined to end badly for one or more of
the involved parties.
Vampires
The Inquisition has had more regular aggres-
sive contact with the children of Caine than any
other supernatural menace abroad in the night. In
general, inquisitors tend to have a sound grasp on
the weaknesses of the undead and the most effec-
tive weapons for dispatching them. Many of the
more senior inquisitors also know how to go about
capturing one of the nighthunters for questioning;
experience has taught the inquisition that where
one blood-drinker appears, there’s almost invari-
ably a nest of the vermin.
On those (rare) occasions that the inquisition is
not interested in immediately creating a pile of
ashes, the philosophical bent of the Cainite heavily
colors the interaction. Cainites walking the Road of
Heaven, in particular, tend to generate a tremen-
dously conflicted reaction among inquisitors. The
pure piety that resides in many of these vampires can
sometimes drive even the von Murnau sense for evil
haywire — is a creature truly damned if he still fears
God, bends knee to Jesus Christ as the source of his
soul’s salvation, and requests confession and the Last
Rites before he’s destroyed? Even the less humane
followers of this road at least exude an aura of
profound holiness, of near-divinity in some cases,
that can cause them to be mistaken for angels long
enough to effect an escape or confuse a group of
inexperienced inquisitors into aiding some plot.
Similarly, Cainites following the Road of Sin
often tend to have a decidedly mind-altering effect
on even experienced inquisitors, much less neo-
phytes. The walkers on the Paths of Desire possess an
exquisitely refined understanding of want, the deep
needs of heart and mind, soul and flesh, that drive
both men and monsters. Canny Sinners avoid con-
tact with the Inquisition when they can, but they do
not necessarily fear to cross blades with the Soldiers
of Christ when other options fail. Everyone has a
deep-held, unfulfilled need, after all, and that is a
weapon of terrible power.
 Those Cainites who cling to their humanity
often have the hardest row to hoe when it comes
to dealing with the Inquisition. The mere appear-
ance of humanity, the tendency to dwell closely
among mortals and ape their behavior as though
still human, and even genuinely humane actions
are often insufficient to really recommend a vam-
pire to an inquisitor. No matter how humane a
vampire might appear, in the final analysis she is
still a blood-drinking monster. It often behooves
a Prodigal Cainite to simply keep her head down
and hope to be overlooked.
Similarly, the over-proud Scions often find all
their power and wealth availing them little when
faced with an inquisitor who knows what they are
and how they can die. If there’s anything an inquisi-
tor despises more than a vampire who pretends to be
human, it’s a vampire who expects their flock to
bend knee and offer homage.
Perhaps predictably, the followers of the Road of
the Beast and the Inquisition have thus far had very
little real contact with one another. What little has
occurred is mostly individual Ferals crossing the
paths of traveling cells, with both sides jumping back
and yelping, “What was that?!” Feral vampires, to
most inquisitors, are functionally indistinguishable
from werewolves and other shape-changing minions
of the Enemy; conversation is not often a strong
point between them, though bloodshed often is.
Werewolves
The Inquisition possesses little practical knowl-
edge about the complexities of Garou culture. Some
Theodosians who have spent time in the field re-
searching the phenomena of nature, as well as
supernature, have postulated that werewolves may
behave in a manner similar to the ordinary beasts
they so closely resemble. Certain Theodosian schol-
ars, operating mostly in the vicinity of the
Schwarzwald, have put forth the notion that
werewolves run in packs rather than existing as the
solitary predators so many inquisitors seem to en-
counter. They theorize that the wolfmen may mate
with a variety of different breeding stock (a horrify-
ing notion in and of itself) in order to produce young
separate from any supernatural rites, and are possibly
immortal as a result of being part-beast and part-
man. While this flies in the face of the standard
belief that were-beasts have sold their souls for the
gift of shape-shifting, it’s also not the strangest
theory that the Red Brethren have ever floated. It
has therefore received a minor amount of attention
• CHAPTER FOUR •
• SERVANTS OF GOD, SOLDIERS OF HELL •
from more intellectually inclined inquisitors. Even
the Red Order assumes that most werewolves are
possessed at best, active and malicious demoniacs at
worst, but the thought that such creatures have a sort
of observable social interaction intrigues many natu-
ralist inquisitors.
As far as most Garou are concerned, the Red
Brethren and their fellow inquisitors know just
enough to be dangerous — and what they know
implies a great deal of ignorance. Loose lips from
someone’s disgruntled kin in the Schwarzwald are
currently being blamed for the sudden spike of in-
quisitorial interest in the affairs of the Ten Tribes.
Currently, no consensus exists among the tribes as to
what to do about the inquisitors or if, indeed, any-
thing should be done at all; the inquisitors, after all,
are as fond of making war on the Leeches and the
other minions of the Wyrm as the Garou themselves.
For humans, they appear to be rather good at it.
The Warders of Men and those members of the
Ten Tribes who still incline toward their Christian
faith seem to believe that the Inquisition can be a
useful tool, if guided against the traditional foes of
the Garou. Those tribes who still bear a grudge
against the Church for its part in the taming of the
world’s wild places and the destruction of its older
faiths consider it their duty to put down individual
inquisitors and even whole cells when the opportu-
nity to do so presents itself. Rarely, if ever, do
naturalist inquisitors hoping to learn more about the
were-beasts manage to return from their research
jaunts completely unscathed.
Mages
The practice of magic is anathema in the eyes of
the Inquisition — even its own arcane scholars, the
Red Order, do not claim to “practice magic” so much
as call down the glory of the Lord in extremely
tangible, potentially destructive form. It is the stan-
dard belief of inquisitors in general that sorcerers,
witches, wizards, and all the diverse breed of en-
chanters and magicians are either frauds, deranged,
or the servants of Hell, having sold their immortal
souls for the power to twist the world to suit their
whims.
The mages are in a dreadful position when it
comes to interacting with the agents of the Inquisi-
tion. While some mages — particularly the Messianic
Voices, whose membership is deeply entrenched
within the structure of the Church — find the
inquisitors relatively simple to work around due to
certain shared beliefs, other Fellowships seem to run
137
 afoul of them at every juncture. In particular, the
Valdaermen, the Old Faith, and the Spirit-Talkers
have all enjoyed particularly unpleasant encounters
with suspiciously well-informed inquisitorial cells in
the recent past, a circumstance that leads them to
suspect Messianic Voice collusion in the formation
and leadership of the Inquisition. These fears may
have some level of validity, but if they do, even the
Inquisition itself hasn’t fully uncovered that truth.
The Order of Hermes has done a fairly decent
job of drawing unfriendly attention to itself thanks
to the collateral damage of its long-running feud
with the vampire wizards of House Tremere and the
fallout from its own internal struggles. Amusingly
enough, only the Batini have thus far avoided feeling
any trace of the Inquisitorial lash; that is principally
because the Inquisition has only the most nominal
presence in the centers of Batini power. Only the
Poor Knights of the Cross of the Passion of Acre
possess genuine holdings in the Holy Land, in the
form of the Fortress of the Cross on Cyprus, and the
gradually failing health of Grandmaster Gauthier de
Dampiere is consuming much of that outpost’s at-
tention at present. If the Batini continue as they
always have, subtly, there is every chance that they
and the Inquisition will continue coexisting peace-
fully in mutual ignorance until Hell freezes over.
Fae
Opinion is divided among most inquisitors with
regard to the fae. The average inquisitor isn’t en-
tirely certain that such things exist; even the average
von Murnau, whose awareness of such things is
generally much more acute, is not entirely certain
that the Fair Folk aren’t just genuine creatures of
legend. The entire notion of the fae as a threat to
humanity is something that is taken less than seri-
ously by all but the most paranoid or credulous
inquisitors. After all, many of the ills for which the
fae can be blamed can also be the product of pure bad
fortune: a child running away from an unwelcoming
home, a babe dying in the cradle, a million homely
and natural things. On cold winter nights in the
chapter-houses, though, gathered safe around the
braziers and the hearth-fires, some inquisitors tell
dark tales from their homelands about the pwca and
the baobhan sith, the rusalka and the veela, the
svartalfar and the Little Washer By the Ford. It is
almost a relief to them to believe that some things
are just stories.
This is the way the Fair Folk like it.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
138 • COMPANION •
The fae have their own concerns, most of which
are so arcane and inimical to the Inquisition that the
organization wouldn’t even try to understand them.
The fae have only recently begun taking an interest
in human affairs as whole again after several centu-
ries of reticence (ironically, it was a member of the
Red Order that attracted their attention; see Dark
Ages: Fae for more information). Now that the fae
are looking to humans and wondering why many of
the old oaths aren’t being followed, conflict between
the Fair Folk and the Inquisition will almost assur-
edly become more common to the detriment of both.
Antagonists
The servants of Hell come in many forms, both
fair and foul. Many have sold their souls for power, or
at least give every appearance of having done so.
Many possess the ability to twist the minds and souls
of men to do their bidding. Below is a selection of the
more infamous (and unknown) enemies that the
Inquisition has faced.
Byleth
Before his Fall from Grace, the demon now
known as Byleth was a creature of wave and water,
the embodiment of the ocean’s caress of the shore,
the endless motion of joining and retreat, constantly
repeated. He was a being of joy and passion, of
exultation and pleasure, and his greatest ecstasy
came from flitting unseen around those who did not
fear the sea’s pounding waves but went fearlessly
among them, swimming and bathing in his waters,
dancing and loving at the junction of sea and land
where he made his home. Why he chose to Fall is a
mystery known only to himself; in the end, he was
cast down with the third of the Host that chose to
defy their Maker, and, along with them made war
against Heaven.
Byleth, however, was fortunate. When the War
in Heaven ended, he was not cast into the Pit with
the rest of his forsaken kind. He escaped the wrath of
the Most High and fled into the world, taking
sanctuary within the living substance of a tiny seed,
wrapping himself in somnolence and hiding himself
from the vengeful gaze of the Creator and the loyal
Hosts of Heaven. The seed was carried far from the
site of the last desperate battle of the War, carried in
the fur of one beast, eaten by another, buried in the
body of the earth by yet a third. Byleth slept on
through the changing ages of the Earth, until the
memory of the War faded from mankind and the
knowledge of angels and demons became a rare
thing, harbored by priests and scholars and sorcerers.
Only then did he wake and stir the sleeping
life of the seed in which he rested, and cause that
seed to sprout and grow into a great tree, a silver
birch of unsurpassed size and beauty, which bore
the image of the fallen angel in its bark. It was
then that Byleth realized he could not free himself
from his self-made prison, but would require the
aid of another to set him loose. He found that
assistance in the form of a foolish and venal young
man who did his bidding and whose flesh he stole.
Then Byleth-called-James walked once more
among men, like a wolf among sheep.
During the long and cruel War, Byleth’s nature
had twisted and deformed, transforming him from a
creature of joy and pleasure to a thing made entirely
of hatred and lust. His first act, upon taking physical
shape, was to murder his host’s father and rape his
mother to death. Before he could continue that
rampage, however, he was forced from the flesh he
wore by the powerful faith of that host’s brother. He
fled and found a new form, a young man recently
killed in a senseless brawl, whose young betrothed
mourned him fiercely. Byleth-called-Geoffrey bat-
tened upon the life and soul of the woman his host
had loved; he would have devoured her utterly, but
once again he was driven forth. Red Sister Vittoria
Santini di Parma and Red Brother Giordano Nicola
d’Arzenta faced him down, broke his power over his
victim and forced him to flee, the rotting remains of
his host body crumbling to carrion around him.
Sorely wounded and enraged beyond reason by the
continuous resistance of the human meat that was
his prey, Byleth sought and found a third host, then
went hunting for his tormentors.
Byleth-called-Christof found Brother
Giordano, the weaker of the two inquisitors he
had faced, accompanying a band of pilgrims to
Santiago de Compostela. He joined that pilgrim-
age as well, with the intent of tearing off the
meddler’s head. This plan also failed. When Byleth
revealed himself, Brother Giordano and the rest of
the pilgrims drove him away, unable to face the
united power of their faith and will. He sought and
found another host and is now lying low, licking
his wounds and contemplating what this string of
failures has taught him. Mostly, he has learned
that the direct approach does not always work,
particularly when the enemy he faces is prepared
for him and sometimes even when the enemy
isn’t. He has also learned that mortal faith, turned
• CHAPTER FOUR •
• SERVANTS OF GOD, SOLDIERS OF HELL •
against him, is an agonizing and soul-flaying
weapon that he has no desire to taste ever again.
It’s much sweeter and far more satisfying to turn
that weapon against his enemies when he can, and
drink deeply of it himself when he can’t. To that
order, he is building around himself a small cult of
worshippers who are willing to yield anything he
desires of them — their bodies to satisfy his incan-
descent lusts, their faith to satisfy his endless
aching hunger for love — in return for relatively
modest favors.
The most important of these worshippers is a
French nobleman, whose deep purse has endowed
several Theodosian monasteries in an effort to soothe
the conscience-pangs his unclean desires rouse in
him. Byleth is using this connection to learn more
about the Red Order while he considers his next
move. He plans to make a lasting project of the
defilement and destruction of Red Brother Giordano
Nicola d’Arzenta, who had the bad judgment to
defeat him twice. At the moment, however, the
inquisitor is out of his immediate reach. This is of
little matter, though, as Byleth knows where Brother
Giordano is and has a nearly endless supply of monks
on which to practice his revenges in the meanwhile.
It is only a matter of time and a bit of planning on
Byleth’s part before they meet again; when that
blessed day arrives, the demon plans to make the
most of it.
The Pale Brother
A dark legend among the men and women of
the shadow Inquisition, the Pale Brother is a being
whose name alone causes nightmares among the
truly faithful and virtuous. His existence first
came to the attention of the Inquisition through
the Oculi Dei who, contrary to their normally
secretive methods of operation, volunteered the
information in their possession as a warning to
their fellows. That warning came in the form of a
testimony written in ink and blood by the hand of
an Eye of God who had fallen into the Pale
Brother’s sway, detailing that Eye’s journeys as a
member of the Inquisition and his encounter with
that devilish creature and its black monastery.
The manuscript was delivered by persons un-
known to an Oculi Dei information exchange point.
It came with a letter, written in a hand different from
that of the testament’s author. The letter was pur-
portedly written by a “fellow servant of God,” and
indicated that the document was intended to serve
as a peace gesture, a warning, and an educational
139
 volume. It also invited those who would know more
to seek and find him, for a little knowledge was
indeed a dangerous thing. The Oculi Dei changed
every information drop site for a hundred miles in
the aftermath of this breach of security, and imme-
diately warned all of the Councils of Faith, stationary
Oculi Dei cells, and itinerant Oculi Dei agents in
that area of the threat.
Many are the tantalizing clues inside that manu-
script, which included just enough detail for an
observant reader to almost puzzle out the location of
the monastery and the monster. Many young (and
not so young) inquisitors wished to investigate the
veracity of the testament and try to discover where
the black monastery lay. The Oculi Dei officially
believe that such an effort is a fool’s errand, likely a
trap cleverly disguised as an exotic way to commit
suicide. This fact has not prevented the more fool-
hardy members of every order from seriously
considering taking up the Pale Brother’s challenge,
though thus far no official investigation into the
matter has been commissioned.
The Circle of Red
The enigmatic Circle of Red has only recently
come to the attention of the shadow Inquisition, and
this in something of a roundabout way. A badly
injured man made his way to a commandery of the
Poor Knights in Poitiers. Cruelly marked with blade
and fire, he barely lived long enough to gasp out a
plea for help, not for himself but his kin, who were in
terrible danger. A cell of Poor Knights set out to
investigate. When they did, they found a burned out
village devoid of corpses or survivors of the attack,
with no signs of who might be responsible for it.
They were, however, alerted to the presence of
an unknown danger, and so stepped up the frequency
and duration of their patrols in the area as well as
calling on the assistance of the Eyes of God who
traveled the region. Two months of patient detec-
tive work and careful observation later, and the joint
cell of Poor Knights and Eyes began developing
leads. A pattern developed of raids on isolated farm-
steads and smaller villages just outside the easy range
of the commandery’s forces. Some of those leads
took them in extremely disturbing directions; some
of the information they developed seemed to point
toward the Red Brethren as the possible instigators
of the raids. Those few witnesses who were close
enough to witness the aftermath of an attack re-
ported seeing men clad in red vestments, like a
monk’s robe, riding away from the scene.
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
140 • COMPANION •
A delicate series of inquiries with the local
Council of Faith yielded the information that there
were, to that Council’s knowledge, no cell or cells of
Red Brethren officially active in the area. At an
impasse, the Poor Knights and the Eyes could do
little but watch and wait, hoping to be in the right
place at the right time to witness and stop a raid. This
opportunity came early in the year 1230, when an
Eye of God stationed in one of the nearby villages
reported a suspicious rise in activity near the out-
skirts of the manor.
A cell of Poor Knights was immediately sent to
reinforce the Eye’s position; on the dark of the moon,
that foresight was rewarded. The village was raided,
but instead of the easy target the assailants were
expecting, they found the inquisition waiting for
them. A running battle ensued, which saw unclean
sorcery used on the side of the attackers and the
blessings of God on the side of the defenders. Even-
tually, the raiders were driven off, leaving their dead
behind them. One of those dead was the red-clad
corpse of a sorcerer.
When questioned on the issue, the nearest
Theodosian chapter-house denied any knowledge of
either the situation or recognition of the dead sor-
cerer. The attacks have thus far abated, but since no
live prisoners were taken, no one as yet knows why
the attacks were occurring in the first place. The
Poor Knights and Eyes of God remain at a height-
ened state of alert in the region, keeping their eyes
open and their ears to the ground as they search for
more clues as the origins and purpose of this myste-
rious new enemy.
Wilhelm von Murnau
Wilhelm von Murnau was born on the long-
est, darkest night of the year, as a storm-wind full
of phantom voices rattled the shutters of his
mother’s birthing-room. All but her most faithful
servants cowered in fear. He drew his first breath
on one side of midnight, and his younger twin,
Weyland, took his on the other. Unlike their
older siblings Frederick and Franziska, the boys
were strange and fey from earliest childhood: se-
cretive, silent, and more comfortable with each
other than with the rest of the family. Their father
made no secret of his dismay with them, distrust-
ing the strong bond between them, the way they
seemed to share one soul and one mind between
two bodies. His prejudice filtered down to the rest
of their kin to greater or lesser degree.
 Weyland grew to become a quiet, thoughtful
young man, introverted and shy but willing to return
affection when it was given. His gentleness of spirit
and intelligence softened the regard of his siblings,
though he never managed to win over their father.
Wilhelm was also quiet and thoughtful, but with a
sullen and embittered quality to his silences. He
resented being regarded as freakish and strange by his
bizarre family, and though he loved his twin dearly,
he also grew to loathe the bond between them. A
gnawing dissatisfaction filled him as he grew older,
and he began to fear that he would never be com-
plete in himself, only the shadow of sweet and
charming Weyland.
As the twins grew older, they gradually became
more estranged from one another. Wilhelm with-
drew further from the family as Weyland was accepted
more closely into it. Eventually, the situation reached
its breaking point.
Wilhelm manifested the Curse far earlier than
most of the family suspected. Only Weyland knew
how long his twin had really been listening to the
spirit voices the Curse made clear to him. Eventu-
ally, he began to do more than merely listen to those
voices. He began to ask them questions, take their
counsel when they offered it, and seek out their
company.
In the Bavarian forests beyond Murnauer Berg
he sought and found the first of his advisors, a lady of
the Courts of Winter who found his mortal passion
enchanting and the darkness growing within his soul
a worthy thing to cultivate. At the age of fifteen,
Wilhelm von Murnau turned his back on humanity
to pursue the truth of his family’s legacy, and inaugu-
rated that decision in the blood of his twin brother.
Weyland’s death was considered a tragic accident;
Wilhelm was sent away from Murnauer Berg to
recover from the terrible blow. Within a month, he
had murdered the family that hosted him and van-
ished, leaving behind letters for his parents and each
of his siblings, promising that he would look in on
them from time to time.
Decades passed in silence, but Wilhelm’s family
did not forget the promise he had made them, nor did
he forget the vengeance he owed his siblings. In the
icy halls of the Courts of Winter and the twilight
gardens of the Courts of Autumn he sought and
found power, took service in exchange for knowl-
edge, swore binding oaths in return for tutelage in a
thousand black arts. In the black school
Scholomance, he learned the ways that forced de-
mons to bend knee and do his bidding, that bound

• CHAPTER FOUR •
• SERVANTS OF GOD, SOLDIERS OF HELL • 141
 spirits great and small to his whims. He mastered the
arts of night and winter, blood and death. In these
unholy places, time passed with exquisite slowness;
his form remained youthful even as his soul steeped
black in its own wickedness. When he turned his
malignant attention back to the world in which he
was born, he was in the prime of his youth, his power,
and his cruelty.
His first victim was his much-despised eldest
brother, Leopold, whom he intends to corrupt and
destroy. Pursuing Leopold, however, brought the
existence of the shadow Inquisition to his attention.
This is a matter of no small concern to the Courts in
which he dwells. While Wilhelm’s personal ambi-
tions involve grinding his family into the dust beneath
his feet, he is not adverse whatsoever to turning his
attention on their conspirators, and is even now
considering ways to do so. He has already made
contact with the demon Byleth, whose desires coin-
cide quite happily with his own. The two are even
now gathering the intelligence and resources to
pursue their vendettas most completely.
Fabrizio Ulfila
Intelligent and cunning, charming and urbane,
and utterly devoid of scruples: to those who know
him casually, Fabrizio Ulfila is the exemplar of the
hard-driving merchant prince. From his house in
Bologna, Signore Ulfila operates a minor mercantile
empire with trading interests spread around the
Mediterranean and throughout most of the conti-
nent, shipping spices and luxury items wherever a
demand for them exists. His business acumen sup-
ports his own luxurious lifestyle, a house in the city,
a villa in the country for the summer months, a
beautiful wife and children, and an equally beautiful
series of mistresses and lovers along with his finan-
cial duties to the Church and his guild. Despite his
libertine appetites, Signore Ulfila tithes quite faith-
fully and accurately, giving a generous discount to
purchases made by the Bologna cathedral chapter
and the local monastery.
Signore Ulfila takes pains to appear as one of
those men who is no more pious than he has to be
but, in some deep corner of his soul, he regrets that
fact. It tends to draw in the idealistic priests and
monks he preys upon and makes his pawns. Nearly a
thousand years old, Fabrizio Ulfila (not, to be cer-
tain, his real name) was born and reared in the early
decades of the Christian church, following its recog-
nition by Constantine in AD 313. His ambition and
intelligence led him to join the Church, where he
• DARK AGES: INQUISITOR •
142 • COMPANION •
ascended rapidly in power under the Bishop Eusebius
of Nicomedia, one of the most vocal and influential
proponents of the Arian Heresy.
The Arians were the first large-scale heretical
movement to develop within the orthodox body of
the Church, a sophisticated theosophic heresy based
on the denial of Christ’s intrinsic divinity, his sepa-
ration and distinction from the unknowable and
pure essence of God. Arianism bred countless subtle
variations of itself and heavily influenced the poli-
tics of the Eastern Empire before finally being stamped
out by the combined intellectual efforts of numerous
orthodox theosophists. Before that, however, Arians,
semi-Arians, Gnostics, and orthodox Christians
fought a very real battle for the heart, soul, and creed
of Christianity. Ulfila was very much a part of that
battle. His intelligence and manipulative skill at-
tracted the attention of his sire, an elder Ventrue
who was not content to let him squander so many
useful talents on behalf of a heresy doomed to failure.
Signore Ulfila acknowledges the correctness of
his sire’s decision to spare him the humiliation of
being branded a heretic and expelled from the Church
he had originally struggled so hard to construct. He
does, however, retain a bitter and vengeful interest
in undermining that Church whenever the opportu-
nity presents itself. To this end, he has inserted a
handful of agents in varying levels of the Church
hierarchy and uses them as agents of corruption,
poisoning the body of the Church around them. He
has also quietly supported the growth of several
heretical movements over the years, even going so
far as to give aid and comfort to those Cathars who
fled the Languedoc for sanctuary in the heresy-
ridden lands of Lombardy and Tuscany. His most
recent project is his effort to penetrate and corrupt to
his ends the scholar-inquisitors of the Dominican
Order, an effort that has thus far enjoyed little
practical success. Signore Ulfila is nothing if not
patient, however, and he is willing to give the
perversion of the Holy Office of the Inquisition all
the time such an endeavor deserves.
Bishop Estaci de Albi
The Bishop Estaci de Albi is a man of many
fine traits: deep faith in God, great learning, sin-
cere compassion for the sick and poor. He is also
a terrifying foe of anyone bearing Cathar sympa-
thies (to say nothing of the Cathars themselves),
a cleric of rigid orthodoxy and intolerance of the
slightest deviation in faith, fierce in his persecu-
tion of the unfaithful and his desire to educate
those who have fallen into error. In his early
youth, he rebelled against his father, a stubborn
and intractable sympathizer to the stubborn and
intractable heretics bringing chaos and destruc-
tion down on his homeland. He ran away to the
nearest Catholic cathedral chapter to seek shel-
ter. He was taken in, properly baptized, and
educated to take on the task of repairing the
damage done to the body of Christendom by de-
cades of heretical tolerance as well as open warfare.
Bishop Estaci was uniquely suited to this task,
and brought to it a frighteningly intense convert’s
zeal. He remains a fearsome enemy of heresy in all its
forms and has likewise turned his attention to polic-
ing the orthodoxy of his fellow clerics. In particular,
he has turned an unkind eye on the Red Order of St.
Theodosius, whose monastery of the Laurendine lies
in the shadow of heretical Toulouse.
The Theodosians’ orthodoxy, no matter how sin-
cerely expressed, has always been deeply suspect in his
eyes, with the liberality of their Rule, their unseemly
interest in suspect scholarship, and the immodest
demeanor of their companion female order. He began
an investigation into the origins and activities of the
Theodosians with the intent of requiring even more
vigorous reforms than the Red Order was already
attempting — and, in the process, discovered even
more than he already suspected. His investigators and
informants reported regular contact between the
Theodosians and the minor military order of the Poor
Knights of the Passion of the Cross of Acre, as well as
sundry members of the laity scattered across the
Languedoc and Lombardy. His interest piqued, he
began expanding the scope of his investigations to
encompass these laypersons, many of whom proved to
be damnably difficult to track or monitor and whose
answers to the questions of his agents were, in their
opinion, suspicious in their evasiveness.
• CHAPTER FOUR •
• SERVANTS OF GOD, SOLDIERS OF HELL •
Several of his agents have also reported an un-
usual connection between the Theodosians, the
Poor Knights, and a Bavarian noble house, the von
Murnau. That house appears to have numerous
relatives in Holy Orders with both monastic founda-
tions, many more relatives among the secular clergy
of the Empire, and an unusual number of lay breth-
ren involved in the activities of the Theodosians and
the Poor Knights. Quiet inquiries have yielded him
the information that the von Murnau, while wealthy
and powerful, are also somewhat strange in their
habits when it comes to the rearing and marrying out
of their children.
Bishop Estaci is beginning to suspect a con-
spiracy — a conspiracy of considerably less holy
intent than the conspiracy that’s actually taking
place. He has not, thus far, confided his fears in his
superiors; he believes the situation requires more
investigation and a more solid conclusion than the
dark fears he harbors, and so he continues searching
for more evidence of corruption within the Red
Order and the Poor Knights. He also keeps a close
eye on their suspiciously active lay brethren, many of
whom are members of the Oculi Dei or the House of
Murnau. As the matter stands, it’s only a matter of
time before Bishop Estaci uncovers the existence of
the shadow Inquisition. They know this, despite
their best efforts to throw his agents off the track.
What will happen if he does discover the shadow
Inquisition is a matter that no one, thus far, has
desired to contemplate, despite the very real danger.
No one wants to be the first to suggest that if the
extremely righteous Bishop Estaci de Albi cannot be
trusted to join the shadow Inquisition or at least to
keep his silence about it, he might need to be
removed from his position and possibly more ex-
treme measures might be necessary to ensure the
Inquisition’s secrecy.
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