"The universe is a machine, where you have been placed. And like a machine, the outcome can be known. Every battle has already been won or lost. All that is left is for you to choose your side."
Hey. I just wanted to write this out so people will know what they are getting into and such, when they choose to create a character that is allied to, or a member of, the Warlock Order. As I have seen that increasing of late. Which is good. Well, I am not trying to tell anyone how to play their characters, this is just information.
The Warlock Order is, for all intents and purposes, a shadowy Storyteller organization of villains for Ship storylines that involve them. I created them, and they do have specific purposes, at least one of which all characters bearing allegiance to them willbe privy to. The Order is, all other motives aside, dedicated to bringing a monarchial dictatorship back to the Ghost Ship. That is the war of ideologies they fight.
Needless to say, their most dangerous enemy is the Mutiny Alliance, who would like nothing better than to see the Order exterminated from the face of the multiuniverse. If you play one of these characters, he (or she) should treat his cause like the covert agenda that it is. In a state where your beliefs and cause include destroying the current paradigm of rule, in any country, you are in grave jeporady. So the Ship is no difference.
The Warlock Order, itself, is not a clan of marauding warriors of evil hellbent upon slaying everything they come across. The Order is as its name would suggest, a very elite and exclusove league of magi. Now, the head of this arcane circle is Jaelen Westlock. Few will ever meet him. Fewer would want to. The Order accepts into its ranks, after heavy and twisted initiations, magic-users who fit their paradigm of sorcerery. Note that this can include True Mages, hedge wizards, werewolves, or even changelings. The posession and utilization of arcane powers is the prime requisite for membership. Vampires, however, are never considered for membership, without first undergoing rigorous rituals the Warlock Order believes necessary to safeguard infiltration. Masters of intrigue know their own and the undead are never underestimated by these mages for their abilities to use manipulation for their own purposes and schemes.
Recruits that are known Mutiny Alliance members or associates will find their hazing to be especially brutal and deadly, though, in the end, no less effective.
The nature of all such initiation rites will be left undisclosed for game purposes.
The Warlock Order's ranks are exceedingly small, compared to a military organization such as the Mutiny Alliance. It is best to remember that the Order is a league of magi hording conspiracies and lore in equal number, but relatively few in number. They are, again, a very exclusive group. However, to serve their belligerent cause of bringing the Hierarchy back to the Ship, the Order has a military wing of their own. The Dragon Legion is this particular group, a collective title for the army of the warlocks, which is composed of many different divisions. Nearly all operations of warfare are delegated to this group, which is lead by Karak and his 'Order of Oblivion' knights. The Legion is not a part of the Order, though it serves the warlocks faithfully. The Legion is orchastrated, in all operations, with an iron hand. Organization and cold, ruthless effeciency are what the Dragon Legion thrives on. The fascist mentality of the Order is best represented by this militant group. Brute force, infiltration, renonaissance, and assassination are all the avenues of the Legion. Although their own number vastly outnumbers the Warlock Order's true ranks, the Dragon Legion is, thus far, unfailingly loyal to the cause and any insubordination against members of the Order is treated by Legion superiors to be treason against the later.
The Dragon Legion is only the most violent, blatant, and formal of the Warlock Order's compatriots. Other pawns serve the Order through less grand means. Many of these are simply alliances to the Order made by smaller groups or individuals, or those manipulated to serve Jaelen Westlock's cause.
Well, that pretty much concludes this statement. On a final note, please remember that the Warlock Order was created for a Storyteller tool (although Jaelen Westlock is my character, and mine alone, hehe) to be a dark presence in the ship (aside from the more common rhetoric). If interested in joining the Warlock Order, the Dragon Legion, or simply interested in the current storyline itself, please contact me. (Chris/Xian is also in on this, so you can talk to him too)
George