Crimsion Gauntlet

This group is related to The Chronicles of The Dark Hand.

Quotes: "The Blood Knight Order has shifted its ways too far towards that of the lesser races. Through our example, The Crimson Gauntlet will steer our order back in the right direction; back towards the Magisters: our true governors."

~ Arrodis Lightfury, Right Hand of The Crimson Gauntlet

"The Sin'dorei are the master race, and the true inheritors of the Light's power. All others must come to see the truth of our supremacy; to suffer under a delusion of anything less is heresy in its purest form."

~ Colius Thalaron, Left Hand of The Crimson Gauntlet

= Profile =

The Crimson Gauntlet's most important information is recorded here.

Main Details
Overview:

The Crimson Gauntlet (accepted acronym: TCG) is an elite sub-faction of the Blood Knight Order, whose advanced Blood Knights -- whose "Blood Templar" -- are dedicated exclusively and officially to dealing with some of the Thalassian state's highest-level and deadliest interests and threats of import.

Besides primarily and officially answering to the Blood Knight Order's rule, some senior Magisters, all of which happen to secretly belong to a shadowy cabal known as "The Medivh", also have a substantial say in the sub-faction's direction, mainly thanks to one of the group's two leaders: the ominous Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury. This influence thus makes the sub-faction governed by two groups, in practice; although another, too, holds a lesser say as well. This other, minor party, a powerful Blood Elven para-military organisation know as the Dominion of the Sun, also holds a smaller practical influence over the group, due to the bulk of The Gauntlet's Blood Templar also holding positions of support in said faction, and because of The Gauntlet's second leader: the ever-zealous Master Colius Thalaron.

Other then their multiple political influences and their elite warrior status in the eyes of many within Quel'thalas' and the New Horde's military forces, The Crimson Gauntlet also holds a few other key and often controversial identifiers of note. The most prominent of these identifiers are the Gauntlet's extreme, pro views on racial supremacy and blood elven nationalism. Said views are strong motivators for all within the group, making the faction hated by many; both at home and abroad.

Joining The Crimson Gauntlet:


 * Blood Knights:
 * In order to become a Blood Templar of The Crimson Gauntlet, a Blood Knight must first receive either a written or verbal formal invitation to "ascend" from one of the sub-faction's Hands -- one of its leaders. Exceptions to this rule exist, but are only made when one is formally endorsed by one of The Crimson Gauntlet's political influences; but such an avenue is rare.


 * Once a Blood Knight has received an invitation to be assessed for induction, or once a Hand has been called upon by either The Medivh or the Dominion to review one of their own recommendations, one must pass a unique trial of hardship, which may encompass elements of either mind, magic, physical might or all three and more. Said trail is to be hosted by either one or both Hands.


 * If a Blood Knight passes their set trial to the expectations of the hosting party, then that applicant is awarded the prestigious Blood Templar name, and accepted into the sub-faction whole; after they've recited the group's oath of Light ideology and nationalism. However, if a Blood Knight fails their set trial, then their memory is wiped back to a time directly before their invitation or endorsement, via The Medivh's use of Shadow magic; with or without consent. This is to ensure that the knowledge of The Gauntlet's ways is kept strictly on a need-to-know basis.


 * Associates:
 * Depending on the severity or uniqueness of the mission at hand, The Crimson Gauntlet has been known to also temporarily accept the aid of strictly screened veteran blood elven soldiers of other Thalassian military forces. Referred to plainly as "associates" by the Blood Templar, many of these faction-friendly soldiers are usually trained Spellbreakers or general warriors of great skill; all of which believe in the group's core purpose wholeheartedly.

Supplementary Details
Next Major Event (01/16/2017; 19:30Hrs ST):

Membership: Hands (Leaders):
 * Right Hand: Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury
 * Left Hand: Master Colius Thalaron

Membership: Blood Templar (Soldiers):
 * Master Koyasha Mace
 * Master Darnathalas Brightheart
 * Master Blaise Sunderblade
 * Knight Pyressa Bloodstar
 * Knight Cothalas Cloudfarer < Empowered: +5 to all combat rolls for x1 event >
 * Knight Thaneron Lightshield
 * Knight Selionia Sin'Dal
 * Knight Sylvania Brightheart
 * Knight Xaywug Dawnsong
 * Knight Maethel Dawnlight

Trusted Associates:
 * Relithe Dawnblade, Spellbreaker
 * Kaledan, Warrior

Group Specific Enemies:
 * The Sunstrikers
 * An ultra anti-establishment organisation of evil undead elves (specifically ex-Forsaken), bitter High Elves and disgraced Blood Elves, this budding new faction stands to topple all that the Magisters control. Led by a former senior Magistrix with a great thirst for revenge, this rebel faction operates from a magically-hidden base, deep within the tainted Ghostlands of Quel'thalas' south.

General Enemies:
 * Burning Legion
 * The enemies of all denizens of Azeroth who haven't fallen under their tainted sway, the Demons of the Burning Legion have recently returned to try once more to dominate and destroy all; and that naturally includes Quel'thalas. Believing themselves to be the Blood Knight Order's best answer to such a threat, the Blood Templar of The Crimson Gauntlet regularly fight the emerald demons, doing their part in their world's most recent war of great stakes.


 * Knights of the Ebon Blade
 * Once considered a generally neutral order of fallen heroes, the Knights of the Ebon Blade passed the point of no return with the Blood Knight Order when they attacked its Matriarch as she protected the body of Tirion Fordring from their unholy desecration. Since this great slight against the Blood Knights, The Crimson Gauntlet has made it one of their priorities to attack any Ebon Death Knight they come across.


 * Alliance
 * Proving time and time again to be both enemies of the Blood Elves and their parent faction, the Alliance stand in defiance of the future world that The Crimson Gauntlet seek to have their people live in. As such, the Alliance are foes that the Gauntlet show no quarter. Ever.

Key Holdings:
 * Primary Headquarters: Xel'dormu's Sin
 * The warped remains of the Azeroth of an imploded alternate timeline, Xel'dormu's Sin floats decaying in the chaotic Twisting Nether, devoid of life and full of secrets. Claimed in secret by The Medivh as top secret Thalassian territory, The Crimson Gauntlet uses this enigmatic landmass as their headquarters, protecting it from outside sources, and keeping the spoils of their conquests safe there from all foes; among other things.


 * The Light Engine
 * Once a Void-drenched experiment of the ancient Black Empire, The Gauntlet recovered and converted this powerful artifact into a powerful battery of Light energy, after seizing it from the putrid, Silithid infested depths of Silithus in Kalimdor's south-west.


 * The Gauntlet's use of this crystal-like item is two-fold: the permanent powering of their headquarters defenses, and the temporary empowering -- boosting -- of it's soldiers for its missions.




 * Mir'ith Kah: the Summoning Orb
 * Modeled closely after the Nightfallen's Withered summoning technology, Mir'ith Kah, a red, hand-sized metallic orb, is a prototype used by The Gauntlet to magically summon-in on-call assistant magi-tech specialists from Silvermoon City, if needed on a mission.

Nationalism:

The Blood Templar of The Crimson Gauntlet proudly consider themselves to be the most radically patriotic of their racial kin. To these elite Blood Knights, their people and their state's prosperous future is paramount, and no other race can compare to what they consider to be their kinds' innate supremacy. Racism and a unique brand of brutal nationalism, in other words, is an element that lies firm within all Blood Templar; particularly their leaders.

Relationship with the Light:

Generally, The Crimson Gauntlet views the Light as the supreme power to ensure Sin'dorei dominance and supremacy. It is held that the Light is a tool meant to be commanded by the blood elves, and that blood elven supremacy in the Light must be regularly demonstrated to ensure the fear of the "lesser" races.

Working with an altered set of the traditional three virtues of the Light, the Crimson Gauntlet holds respect, tenacity, and justice as key virtues for its members.
 * Respect: For those who stand loyal and true to Silvermoon, pure of corruption.
 * Tenacity: To endure the hardships produced by the lesser races of Azeroth.
 * Justice: Against those who have wronged the Sin'dorei, and those who have wronged Quel'Thalas.

= History =

The Crimson Gauntlet's history is recorded here.

Prelude: Dawn of a New Sunwell Bc_icon.gif
In Year 26, the Sunwell, a once awesome fount of arcane magic that passively fueled the very existence of the Elves of Quel'thalas, was violently retaken from the Burning Legion, and purified of its corruption into a duel wellspring of Arcane and Light magic. Not since Quel'thalas' fall to the Scourge years before had the Blood Elves been so culturally impacted by such a victory. To the many, the Sunwell's return was welcomed without issue or question; to a powerful minority, however, its well-fought for return was not without a downside; a downside that needed to be prepared for.

Days after the Sunwell's reclamation, under the shadow of night in a corner of the Ghostlands, a secret gathering of some of the Blood Elves most influential senior Magisters took place to discuss what a future alongside a divine Sunwell, and a "reborn" Lady Liadrin, could hold for their organisation's ways. Hours of heated debate passed, and, whilst the general consensus of that fateful meeting was that the Sunwell's divine turn was welcome, the gathering couldn't shake their fears over the potential rise of a politically powerful, devout group of Human-esq Light practitioners within Thalassian society. In an effort to preserve their Blood Elven culture's spirit of complete freedom of magical inquiry from the conservative views of the future faithful, the few gathered Magisters agreed to form The Medivh: a hidden order of cold intellectuals, hellbent on working towards the maintaining of the Magisters overall ideological hold on Thalassian society firm; particularly from Lady Liadrin and the new faithful.

Part I: Return of the Silver Hand Legion-Logo-Smalls.png
< Section Under a Major Rewrite >

Years passed since The Medivh's founding, and much influence had been obtained in many internal and external spheres of influence; without the group's outing. Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury, more commonly known unofficially as "The Dark Hand of the Magisters" for his wiliness to do the Magisters, in particular The Medivh's, more discreet dirty work without question, had been assigned the long-term task by the shadowy group of keeping tabs on those Blood Knights who, like him, privately stood against becoming ideologically in-line with the views of the Blood Knight Order's religious Matriarch, Lady Liadrin. Arrodis accepted his task with great enthusiasm, and chose to focus much of his watch on The Dominion of the Sun, knowing from experience that the paramilitary group contained many of the order's fringe of interest.

Whilst in the process of observing the Dominion's knights of like-mind, the Burning Legion returned to Azeroth, and the Horde and Alliance lost their first major battle. Priorities changed, and the project was put on-hold as the war caught fire in the Broken Isles.

Time passed.

In response to the Burning Legion's return, like warriors across the globe formally collected into mega-orders of their own. In this spirit, the Blood Knight Order formally joined a remade Order of the Silver Hand under a new Highlord, in-effect committing to officially mingling with the lesser races in the process; something that many Blood Knights vehemently hated. Blood Knights of interest to The Medivh began to reveal themselves more brashly; and Arrodis was watching.

< Work in Progress >

Scrambling to meet the Legion's might, and keen to seize any opportunity to prove their worth to the Thalassian State, the Dominion sought to create a jointly-run military force of elite soldiers. An observer of the Hegemony, and long-time ally of its leaders, Knight-Lord Arrodis Lightfury approached The Medivh with a plan that would both grant the Hegemony the force that they sought, as well grant The Medivh the start of the anti-faith back-up plan that they desired. The Medivh agreed to politically back the Phoenix Hegemony's move to create their own military force with Thalassian Troops, knowing that their blessing would inevitably mean a silent sway with the Hegemony if needed.

And thus The Crimson Gauntlet was born.

Part II: Rise of the Blood Templar Legion-Logo-Smalls.png
< Section Under a Major Rewrite >

Two leaders, Arrodis Lightfury and Colius Thalaron, the sub-faction's Right and Left Hands respectively, were appointed, and Blood Knights from within the Hegemony began to be recruited and up-skilled into "Phoenix Knights": the group's vision of elite Blood Knights. The Medivh granted Arrodis the use of an off-world Thalassian claim known as Xel'dormu's Sin for his group to operate from, and, together with Colius, the two began their work against all who stood against their parent factions.

= Trivia =


 * OOC: All editor privileges and credits for this page belong to Arrodis (user), aka Jesse, of Moon Guard-US.
 * OOC: In order to keep up-to-date with our RP group's happenings, it is essential for all members to observe The Gauntlet's external text chat channel. One can find said channel among the Dominion of the Sun's Discord text channels.
 * OOC: If you've any lore concerns about the group, please don't hesitate to bring them to me, Arrodis. Catch me in-game via mail, or whisper me anytime I'm online; I'm happy to chat.

= Gallery =