[Ransom]

Background on the Order is from a Tolkein RPG I'm in in RL. I'll have the first post written up later today. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

-Ransom

History of the Order of the Black Rose

“Ecthelion II, son of Turgon, was a man of wisdom. With what power was left to him he began to strengthen his realm against the assault of Mordor. He encouraged all men of worth from near or far to enter his service, and to those who provided trustworthy he gave rank and reward.”

-Appendix A, Return of the King, page 1030

Perhaps because of her national identity, Gondor always suffered from a dearth of information about her foes. While nobles, merchants, and even the Stewards had small number of personal spies, their efforts were largely devoted toward their political enemies. The only information about the movements of Gondor’s foes usually came from merchants. This information, when obtained, was often embellished to a great degree. Ecthelion viewed the chaotic state of Gondorian intelligence a severe annoyance. His solution was extremely unconventional, and the howls of outrage from the nobles echoed off the walls of Minas Tirith.

Ecthelion gathered two hundred men who had proven their loyalty to the White Tower both physically and mentally. On New Years Day of 2970, he knighted all two hundred and formed the Order of the Black Rose. Its organization was that of a religious order, with the member supposedly sequestered in a handful of chapter houses scattered throughout the land of Gondor. To further strengthen the false image of the Order, he attached half a dozen priests and priestesses of Namo and Nienna.

In reality, the order was given control of the Steward’s large but inefficient intelligence network. It took five long years of purges and training before the first pieces of reliable information began to flow in from such places as Harad, Laketown, and even Bree. The order continued to expand, adding more knights and spies with each passing year. Denathor II spent part of his youth with the knights, and its excellent performance greatly pleased him. He placed the order under his direct command, merging it with the elite Citadel Guard that held the White Tower.

Because of its activity in the intelligence area, the Order has gone to great lengths to conceal their identity. To this end, the picture of the knights of the Order as lone crusaders against evil has been firmly imbedded in Gondorian mind. Their dedication to the Summoner of the Slain and the Weeping Goddess is almost legendary, and more than one exaggerated tale of their exploits is circulating in taverns. To the best of common knowledge, the only time more than twenty knights of the Order gathered in one place was in the defense of Minas Tirith during the Ring War.

Sir Thagon Kestner
Human
Age: 25
Height-6’ 4”
Birthday: May 28, 25
Hair color: Black hair. Tied into rough pony tail.
Eye color: Grey.
Notable possessions: Worn suit of partial plate, bastard sword, main gauche, black traveling cloak, cloak with markings of the Citadel Watch, shield, assorted cloathing

History and personality:

While the dawn Fourth Age brought prosperity, peace, and rest to the land of Gondor, Gondorian Intelligence under the guise of the Order of the Black Rose scarcely had time to catch their breath after the Ring War. While some of the extralegal activities of the Order of the Black Rose offended His Majesty’s sense of justice, King Aragorn was wise enough to see that information about his enemies would ultimately save Gondorian lives. However, while the downfall of Mordor had allowed the Order to focus its attention on other areas of the world, the Order still took a healthy interest in internal affairs. The news that an unidentified group of raiders were operating in southern Gondor caught their eye, and two agents were dispatched to examine the situation.

Sadly, Thagon’s birth was marred by questions over the circumstances of his conception. His mother, a daughter of a local merchant, had caught the eye of an thirty-something bachelor with a fair amount of gold. One thing lead to another, and Thagon’s mother soon became pregnant. Thagon’s parents were married shortly afterwards, but his mother’s family never forgave her.

At the age of ten, the young boy had a encounter with a recruiter for the Order of the Black Rose. His parents took quite a bit of persuading, but the fact that their son would be known for something other than the circumstances of his birth soon convinced them. Unlike some of his fellow classmates, Thagon’s thick and swarthy body was ill suited for burglary and sneaking around in the dark. His instructors simply shrugged their collective soldiers and began to concentrate on other areas. He quickly became a master with the bastard sword, eventually developing his own unorthodox fighting style. His instruction, however, was not only in the physical arts. He learned how to hide himself in plain view, to disguise himself through the use of words and actions.

While eight years of service to the White Tower has left no physical scars on Sir Kestner, the years of intrigue and warfare has made him strangely philosophical and religious. Though no one can question his zeal, no one is quite sure of exactly who or what he is. Over the years, Thagon has developed extensive acting skills as well as a large cast of characters. His moods can swing from extremely calm to a mindless rage and back again in a span of minutes. But beneath his outward disguises, Thagon is a quite young man with an unswerving dedication to Nienna and Gondor.

While the Order usually pairs their agents off in the field, Thagon’s unusual temperament virtually eliminated the trust that was almost essential to such a partner ship. Three years before the present, the chief priestess of Nienna attached to the Order paired him with a fellow agent named Leena Midthun. She was just as skilled in acting, and the pair quickly began to clash. They fought and argued on and off for the next two months before settling into a relationship of mutual admiration.

Motivation:
The Order is concerned over the recent increase of raids in Southern Gondor, and has dispatched two of her agents to investigate. Thagon and Leena will arrive at the staging point at the appointed time and place. Their first mission is to learn the identity and motivation of the raiders. Should the party be able to eradicate them, so much the better. However, should the threat prove overwhelming, the pair will escape to inform their superiors of the threat.

Any special features:
Equipment will be described in the first post.

Leena Midthun
Human
Age: 20
Height-6’ 2”
Birthday: May 28, 30
Hair color: Black hair. Usually worn loose.
Eye color: Grey.
Notable possessions: Worn suit of chain mail. Simple brown dress with various hidden pockets. Schlaeger (Heavy fencing sword). Unknown number of small and pointy objects.

History and personality:

Leena was born in the slums of Pelargir, another member of the faceless and forgotten poor. Her father had been crushed when a beam in the house he was helping to build fell on his head, ironically on the same day that his wife learned that she was pregnant with her first child. Her mother tried various lines of work, but could not earn enough to make end’s meet for her small family. The arrival of Leena’s younger sister further complicated the situation. Her youth was spent filching and stealing from various citizens to help pay for her family’s food and housing. At the age of twelve, her mother was murdered behind a tavern, placing the burden of earning money directly on her thin shoulders. She would have undoubtedly have spent the rest of her life on the streets had she not robbed the wrong stranger one blustery winter night.

Her target was a young couple who were making the mistake of traveling through the city at night. Leena had approached them near an inn, where the noise would cover her footsteps. Her hands had just begun to lighten the woman’s purse when she felt a metal gauntlet grab the collar of her shirt. Of course she kicked and fought, but kicking a man when he was wearing armor didn’t make much of an impression. She tried crying and apologizing, but her captors seemed absolutely deaf to her pleas. They dragged her to a large black complex on the edge of the city, where she learned she had chosen the worst possible pair of people to rob.

The man who was firmly marching her toward the chapel was Lord Ecthal, chapter master of the Order of the Black Rose. The woman, simply named Elenna, was the chief priestess of Nienna in the Order of the Black Rose. After assuring the girl that she would not have her hand chopped off for stealing, Elenna painfully extracted the girl’s life story. One of the chief traits the Weeping Goddess desired in her servants was compassion, and Her priestess managed to convince Ecthal that providing a home for their little thief and her sister would ultimately benefit the order.

This is not to say that the following years of her life were easy. Indeed, her continued residence of the chapter house came with the unsaid condition that she would be trained as a member of the Order. She did not exactly prosper under the strict regime of physical exercise and philosophy, though she became quite adept in fencing and the use of various sharp objects. Not exactly intelligent enough to serve as a dedicated spy, her training was directed for a situation where stealth and trickery were not enough. Leena learned to charm and to lie, to modulate her voice and emotions to fit any type of situation.

She undertook her first mission at the age of sixteen, a small sting operation to uncover a group of bandits in Southern Gondor. Elenna quite firmly paired her with Sir Thagon Kestner the following year. The sparks had begun before the introductions were finished, and Elenna watched the subsequent storm of shouting with a girlish grin unbecoming of a woman of her position. The fighting, while not sincere, had resulted in a small moral victory for Leena when she discovered she was the better actor. They both grudgingly admitted that they would work well together after two months, though their bickering has never ended. Now, however, their fights were used as a way for the pair to keep their skills sharp.

Years living and working the street have left Leena with a peculiar, confusing, and even humorous character, an affliction that Elenna was never able to fully cure. Much to Thagon’s ire, she is brash, fiery, stubborn, impulsive, and extremely passionate. However, Leena is very much aware that her fighting skills are much more suited for deception than for open combat, and manages to keep unnecessary fights to a minimum. She and Thagon share a strange kind of professional love for each other. Leena wants to go a bit further in their relationship, though Thagon has either ignored or missed her subtle suggestions.

Motivation:
The Order is concerned over the recent increase of raids in Southern Gondor, and has dispatched two of her agents to investigate. Thagon and Leena will arrive at the staging point at the appointed time and place. Their first mission is to learn the identity and motivation of the raiders. Should the party be able to eradicate them, so much the better. However, should the threat prove overwhelming, the pair will escape to inform their superiors of the threat.

Any special features:
Equipment will be described in the first post.

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