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Gorbash Kazdar
2007-03-22, 11:03 PM
The Order Quarantine

When the Weeping struck the Feldarin Empire, it swept across the nation like a tsunami, an unstoppable force that felled one in three - or more - of those who contracted it. Worse, panic and the resulting collapse of government and society killed even more. Compounding the catastrophe still further, refugees fleeing from the chaos brought the plague, and the fear, with them.

In an effort to combat the spread of both and to instill some form of control, local lords and governments began setting up quarantines - sealing off their communities as thoroughly as possible and forcing any seeking entrance to pass rigorous inspections for disease, or turning refugees away entirely. At first these efforts were scattered, inefficient, and isolated, but as the disaster continued, those tasked with enforcing the quarantines began sharing their knowledge. Failures were learned from - if usually from afar - and successes shared and built upon. In time, the ad hoc sharing of information spawned a separate order, dedicated to controlling the plague. The best and most effective agents risked their lives by traveling from community to community to set up isolation practices, and groups of these enforcers would band together and descend upon places where quarantine had failed to contain the problem. This order was the Quarantiners.

Quickly given official standing, the Order Quarantine became the Empire's first - and last - line of defense against the Weeping. The most important of their tasks, and the one that consumed most of their time, involved establishing and maintaining the quarantines of those few communities that had not yet fallen prey to the epidemic - or at least had only been lightly touched by it. The Order also acted to enforce the quarantine when it was threatened, especially when that threat appeared able to overwhelm the local ability to maintain it. Lastly, when quarantine failed, the Quarantiners were the few willing to risk entering those communities to save who they could, and to keep refugees from scattering and spreading the plague still further.

In the course of fulfilling these duties, which saved thousands upon thousands of lives, the Quarantiners found themselves forced to commit atrocities even the darkest tyrants could scarcely imagine - but the monstrosities they witnessed outside of the isolation areas beggared even the ones the Quarantiners perpetrated to maintain them. The Quarantiners are heroes and villians, champions and monsters, both at the same time. Many, if not most, of those who survived the plague owe the Order their lives. Yet, the blood of thousands of innocents, left to die out of the quarantine zones, or even slaughtered to protect those zones, stains the hands of the order. Quarantiners are greatly respected, but just as greatly feared.

The horrors witnessed and perpetrated by the Quarantiners have scarred its members. Most are cynical and ruthless, but at the same time dedicated utterly to the survival of the empire as a whole. Though the plague has ended, the Quarantiners remain against the day it may return. Many in the order actively seek out places where pockets of disease may still survive, ready to spawn a new epidemic. But the order has taken on many new roles, as it is one of the few organizations still capable of acting throughout the empire. Its members are hardened warriors and investigators both, and their terrible occupation grants them a strange sort of authority. Quarantiners rarely are personally ambitious, but are accustomed to giving orders and having them followed - after all, only a few years ago ignoring one of the order could easily lead to the deaths of entire cities.


Roleplaying a Quarantiner
A famous story tells of the day a Quarantiner arrived at a village just coming to grips with the Weeping. One of the beleaguered townsfolk looked up at the hard-eyed traveler and asked “Are you here to save us?” The Quarantiner replied, “Yes. But doing so may kill all of you.”

This story portrays the popular – and often correct – view of the Quarantiners. Members of the Order are realists and pragmatists. They never sugarcoat what they plan to do, and how. They don’t ask for sympathy, or for you to be their friend, just that you do what needs to be done. And if you don’t have the stomach for that, then you better get out of the way of those who do. Not all Quarantiners are so cold and hard, but even the more personable ones have a tough core that comes out in a crisis – any of the ones who did not are long since dead.

Many Quarantiners are also very melancholy individuals. The populace may view the Order as made up of hard, capable men and women, driven loners of a heroic bent, but the majority did not start out that way. Most were common folk themselves; their dedication to the Order’s work often comes from having lost their own loved ones to the plague. In addition, nearly every surviving Quarantiner has committed some horrific act in fulfilling their service. Though they recognize that it was necessary, many are haunted by guilt. That is one reason Quarantiners remain so driven – to stop moving would allow their personal demon’s to catch up with them.

Organization and Notable Members
The Order Quarantine is a young organization, and has a relatively simple structure. At its head is the Magister Quarantine, the overall commander of the Order. Advising him is the Council Isolate, made up of the heads of the different divisions of the Quarantiners. Below the Council is the heart of the order, the four Chapters of the Quarantiners. The Knights Quarantine are the Order’s shield and sword, working closely with military organizations and providing the steel to back up the Order’s goals. The Priests Quarantine are members of the Church allowed to use their abilities and spiritual authority in aide of the Order, while the Magi Quarantine provide arcane prowess. The most numerous are the Sentinels Quarantine, jacks-of-all-trades who learn a little bit of everything in order to be ready for anything. Any full member of the Order can appoint Agents Quarantine, essentially deputized locals who help the Quarantiner fulfill his or her mission. Many Agents Quarantine, especially those who have lost their families or prove particularly adept at the role, are sponsored into the Order as full members.

The current Magister Quarantine is Abius Schmied, called the Smith. Schmied was the protégé of the first Magister, Sir Prochorus Josielßon-Mitfahrer, known as Stoneheart. Stoneheart was the one who convinced the leaders of the Empire to give the Order official standing, and who brought together the best to form its core. He was a ruthless and unyielding man, and Schmied is cut from the same cloth, though perhaps not quite as adept at expressing his vision as was his mentor. If anything, though, Schmied is a better administrator and more steady leader. In addition the Stoneheart, the Order recognizes the Countess Eschikya von Kaldathim as the honorary First Magister. Stoneheart was one of the Countess’ advisors, and it was she who truly pioneered many of the techniques employed by the order. However, the Countess serves as a lesson on why the Quarantiners must not be swayed by compassion. The Countess’ measures were largely successful, but a moment of weakness undid it all – when one of the quarantine camps outside of Kaldathim’s walls collapsed into a chaotic riot, the Countess gave in to a plea to allow the children of the camp to come within the city. One of those children brought the plague in with him, and within a fortnight Kaldathim became another city of the dead and dying. In the end, the Countess herself led her most trusted servants in sealing the gates to prevent any from fleeing and spreading the Weeping still further. She was successful, but died at the hands of a mob of her own subjects.

Stoneheart died a death of similar heroic and tragic proportions. Having been out of Kaldathim when the end came, Stoneheart remembered the lessons of his mistress well. When a city he was defending found itself under siege by a force of vagabonds, he lead a volunteer force in a sortie, ordering the defenders who remained within not to allow him or any with him back in until they had gone through a complete quarantine. More than two-thirds of Stoneheart’s men died in the battle, but they drove off the vagabonds. However, within a week the survivors began to sicken and die. Knowing the end was nigh, Stoneheart and the strongest remaining gathered all their supplies and built a great funeral pyre. They helped their weaker fellows end their own lives, and cast the bodies on the fire. Then, the strongest also committed suicide and were cast in by Stoneheart. At last, Stoneheart, looking surprisingly peaceful, cast himself upon the pyre – ensuring that none would be infected by his body. This self-sacrifice is an example to all in the order as to the dedication and courage required of them.

The members of the Council Isolate are storied as well.

Sir Haschiel von Garschrem, the Loyal Usurper, Councilor Militant, served a Baron who lacked the iron will to maintain quarantine, so Haschiel deposed the Baron until plague ended, following the Baron’s orders to do “whatever it took" to save his people. Sir Haschiel’s is deceptively quiet and even tempered, to the point that many consider him mild-mannered. On the battlefield, though, he is utterly fearless. His Knights Quarantine would follow him into the depths of every hell imagined – and have.

Intercessor Gendolyn Schraft, the Night Angel, Councilor Ecclesiast, was an Intercessor Vagrant and a prodigy with healing magic, famed for her kindness and for her ruthlessness. The most famous incident surrounding her occurred when she sealed herself and many others inside an infected ward to prevent spread of the Weeping, but many tell tales of her tireless ministry to the ill, even at the risk of her own life, and her iron resolve to keep the ill separated from the healthy, to the point of refusing to allow mothers to comfort their own dying children. Though her outward face – and that of her Priests Quarantine – is the kindest of the Order’s, all know that she may well be the most cruel of all the Councilors when her role requires it.

Meister Malachi Terahßon, the Man on Fire, Councilor Arcane was a famed magical researcher, known for loving the finer things in life. That was before the Weeping. Now, he is obsessive and hard, and leads a Spartan existence. The Meister earned his name when he used magic to burn half his town, including his own family, to cinders to prevent the spread of the plague. He had attempted to immolate himself as well. Somehow, this attempt burned out the plague but did not kill him. Since then, Terahßon has considered himself spared for a larger purpose and pursues that purpose with inhuman single-mindedness. Even his own Magii Quarantine, rarely stable individuals themselves, find him disconcerting.

Lalia Jager, the Daughter of Iron, Councilor Guardian, is a former head of a thieves’ guild, and before that a con artist, harlot, and worse. However, when the official government of her town collapsed, she and her guild took control and used any means necessary to protect the town from the Weeping. Her agents used every method at their disposal, and Lalia herself ruthlessly exploited every advantage and skill she had to keep things going. Those who questioned her methods disappeared. But Lalia was not in this for power or wealth – indeed, her own personal fortune was exhausted by her efforts. This dedication and flexibility has led to her becoming head of the Sentinels Quarantine.

Psionics
If you are using psionics in your campaign, you may wish to include an additional chapter of the order – the Psychics Quarantine. That chapter has its own member on the Council Isolate, the mysterious Black Seer.

Rhetorax Ignotica, the Black Seer, Councilor Psi, remains an enigma swathed in black silk from head to toe. It is unknown whether Rhetorax is male or female – its name is obviously an assumed one, meaning “teacher of the unknowable.” The Black Seer is seemingly emotionless, and invariably communicates via telepathy. Rhetorax had a knack for forseeing outbreaks of plague and appearing just ahead of time to help establish quarantine. Many saw this stranger as a stormcrow, or worse, connected the plague, but Stoneheart recognized that the Black Seer was simply someone so dedicated to the cause that he or she had burned away everything human – which Stoneheart could not help but admire in a twisted way. The Black Seer and the Psychics Quarantine may be the most feared chapter of the Order. In the contradictory manner of the Quarantiners, though, the methods of the Psychics are often the least bloody, since they specialize in stepping in well ahead of the point of crisis, when softer methods often suffice.

Gorbash Kazdar
2007-03-28, 10:22 PM
To Come:
Organization stats from the PHBII rules
PrCs for the Knights, Priests, Magii, Sentinels, and Psychics Quarantine
An example Quarantiner NPC