That's So Raven

Field reports from the Lady's chosen.

That's So Raven

Field reports from the Lady's chosen.

Wiki · Faction

Knights of Vindictus

Type: Paladin order Doctrine: Risen against demons, devils, and certain schools of magic; order-ordained racism / dislike of witches noted; swore to free the bound angel Ser Vindictus Notable Members (encountered): Capt. Tisdale, Sergeant Azros, Squire Eltiel, Ralph "Scooter" (deceased), Sir Titus, Ladre, Ser Gertz Possible Cousin Order: The Arcanist Inquisition (see Session Zero — paladins promising to destroy "all things unholy and dangerous, including specific schools of magic") Chapters (confirmed session 027):

What the Party Knows

  • Session 005: Met Capt. Tisdale and three of his men on the road to Lodestone before dawn. Stealth-trained plate-armored paladins, searching for Sergeant Azros's missing unit. Tisdale writes off Lodestone without entering.
  • Session 005: Sergeant Azros and Squire Eltiel are rescued from the Lodestone Barn-Temple. Three of Azros's unit were killed in the original goblin ambush; Tinrick was sacrificed.
  • Sessions 011–013: Party paid 1,000 GP by the Leilon chapter (via Ralph the Scribe) to retrieve deserter Nathaniel. Delivered him dead. (See session 027 below for the true nature of this contract.)
  • Session 024–025: Encountered the second chapter of the order on the cliffs east of Saltmarsh. Different colors. They were threatening the Mephisto Twins over a captured Ser Gertz. The cliff confrontation became combat; Sir Titus and Ladre identified.
  • Session 026: Ralph "Scooter" — the Leilon chapter's scribe — is found eviscerated and hanging from a timber outside the tower in Leilon. He had been running a summoning practice in the tower; Sir Titus binds the resulting devil at the cost of being pinned to the wall by his own sword.
  • Session 027: AC reads the chapter's journals on the second floor of the tower. The Leilon chapter is corrupt.
    • Mizora is in the margins of multiple journals.
    • The Scribe was the first to fall — Mizora reached him first, then he polluted the order.
    • Capt. Tisdale talked with Mizora (the "demon lady" of the journals) and was confronted about it by Nathaniel and Squire Eltiel.
    • Tisdale then "talked with Hector the Fang in secret" — implication: Hector was brought in to handle objectors. Nathaniel fled shortly after; the party's bounty was the chapter's cleanup.
    • The Yartar chapter sent Nathaniel in because they suspected the Leilon chapter of looking for the Tomb of Orcus. Nathaniel confirmed it.
    • The Leilon chapter believes Ser Vindictus is held in the Tomb of Orcus — and is acting on it.
    • The tower has a dark conduit running through it — something passes through the structure. See Knights of Vindictus HQ.
  • Session 033 (player notes pre-summary): The "Leilon Knights of Vindictus would have already gotten there a while ago" — referencing a possible Temple of Orcus location. Implies the order is investigating the same broader threats as the party.
  • Session 044 — Confirmed: the Leilon chapter is inside the Tomb of Orcus, turned. At least six Leilon KoV are now vampire spawn on the Tomb's first level. Ubys recognized their shredded tunics mid-combat. They arrived approximately 1–2 weeks before the party (matching the dried blood on the door from Session 043). They tried to consecrate or bind the Level 1 space in Tyr's name (the infernal inscription found in session 043 — crossed out in blood) — and failed, becoming spawn instead. One spoke before retreating: "You cannot stop the hunger. It will find you." None were killed in the Session 044 engagement; all fled after Turn Undead.
  • Session 045 — All six Level 1 spawn destroyed. The party pressed the advantage while Turn Undead still held and drove the combat to conclusion. All six vampire spawn were killed. Names recovered from stitched tunic-tags: Jorven "Stonejaw" Halvek, Thoren Blackvale, Durn Hollowcrest, Ivena Duskmoor, Rowan Vexlar, Malrik Tenebran. None were party-known individuals — rank-and-file from the column that rode out of Leilon. Provisions and personal effects recovered from their camp, including a journal naming Ser Draven Ravenspire and Ser Seraphona Shadowbane as the commanders who led the chapter in. Neither name is among the six dead. Thirteen KoV remain unaccounted for. The party located stairs descending to Level 2 of the Tomb at the session's close.
  • Session 046 — Seraphona Shadowbane found alive; Ravenspire confirmed corrupted. During Crowley's solo recon of Level 2, he discovered Ser Seraphona Shadowbane operating a devil-summoning circle and reporting to the Zarielian pit fiend General Zon. She confirmed: Ser Draven Ravenspire has been corrupted and moved deeper into the Tomb with the surviving KoV, toward something she described as "the abyss itself." Seraphona survived uncorrupted — reasons unknown. She is now working under Zariel's mandate, using Zon's resources (including his hellhound pack) to salvage the original mission: find and recruit Ser Vindictus for Zariel's Blood War service. The Leilon chapter's arc: entered the Tomb with a plan; the plan failed; the survivors are either corrupted, dead, or working for the enemy's enemy.
  • Session 048 — The 13 confirmed; mission ends. As the party escaped the Prison of Ser Vindictus, 13 corrupted Leilon KoV riding Vrocks were observed closing on the tower. These are the 13 unaccounted-for Leilon KoV — almost certainly including Ser Draven Ravenspire — who had descended through the 273rd layer before the party. They are now stranded in the Abyss: the portal to the Tomb of Orcus was sealed by Ser Vindictus on the party's exit. The Leilon chapter is effectively destroyed. Six dead as vampire spawn; thirteen corrupted in the Abyss; Seraphona stranded on Level 2 of the Tomb; the original mission (free Vindictus) completed by the party — not the order.