Excerpts from the Aspirant’s Treatise - Revised Edition
The Order of the Damned
There will come a day that I cannot return to you, and should you walk along the palace road the following morning you may see the bailiff fitting my head upon a spike. On that day you will know that I have died in pursuit of a future worth living in.
- Letter to the Love I Cannot Keep
- author unknown
When, where, and how the Order of the Damned began is anyone's guess. The 'why' however is rather evident. In a world of corruption, ruled by the Adversary, and managed by its demon servants and mortal puppets, what more potent a position is there for a knight - or more dangerous - than within an arm's reach of power?
The Order of the Damned is so called, but not very often and not by many. A member of this Order will never even speak the words "Order of the Damned" nor likely the words "Motive Knight" even in total privacy. While Orders like those of the Elucidation or of the Sunken Tower are an all but overt presence in the modern landscape of social disorder and the ongoing resistance against the forces of the Adversary, the Order of the Damned is the precise opposite. And whereas the Order of the Liberation keeps a great many records, and the Order of the Anointed keeps its songs and oral histories, the Order of the Damned keeps neither.
As it has been explained to me, the Order of the Damned is, in effect, an Order in thought only. Not in word even, as who would dare speak of such a horrid and dangerous thing? Certainly not its members, who recruit only out of a reluctant, heavy-hearted necessity. Who pass along their techniques out of a joyless sense of duty. Who know that from the moment they swear The Oath of the Damned that they are doomed, most likely, to a most horrible death - and should there prove to be a life after death, they are likely doomed to a foul fate in that next life as well.
Unlike the other Orders, whose modern existence - however well intended - aims to do what they can and pray it's enough, the Order of the Damned aims to do the impossible, and pray it's not too much. For the Order of the Damned holds counsel with demons, with the corrupt, and with simply anyone whom they believe can be used to defeat the Adversary - not that they would ever reveal their identity as a Motive Knight to such counselors.
Indeed, were one to survey a city of thousands or even tens of thousands, more than likely not one of its residents would know that the Order of the Damned even exists. Not because the members of this order are hidden from sight or skulk through the shadows. Members of the Order of the Damned tend to move in very visible circles, brushing elbows with the powerful, the elite, the corrupt - those people willing to deal with demons to enjoy a life of comfort and control. Rather, knights of the Damned endeavor to hide their intentions in place of their presence. In this high-society world of intimate corruption and powerful relationships, the game of what is and is not said is already afoot. Knights of the Damned simply play for different stakes.
Aspirants
An aspirant to the Order of the Damned is more than likely oblivious to the existence of the Order until the final days - or even minutes - of their induction. Unlike other Orders, members of the Order of the Damned take a single pupil at a time, and often only a single pupil ever. This individual may be kept around by the knight for months or years before further action is taken, slowly and carefully learning the pupil's inner life - their hopes, their intentions, their temperament, and most importantly whether they might be willing, if given the chance, to throw away their past, present, and future to strike a blow against the Adversary.
The final moments between a knight of this order and an "aspirant" - if they can even be called that - are often fraught and traumatic. These are often moments of tense conversation over glasses of poisoned wine, moments of bloody interrogation in a darkened dungeon, and at a minimum are moments of bare, uncomfortable truth with an either literal or figurative blade to the throat. A knight of the Damned who chooses a pupil poorly is a knight not long for this world. A revelation of one's identity is dangerous for any knight, but for those who keep their enemies close and their friends as far away as possible - even the slightest slip means certain doom.
Accordingly, the Damned often never know more than one or two - or in particularly rare cases three - other members of their order. The knight who trained them, a pupil they took should they live long enough to take one, and rarely one - or at most two - fellow knights.
It seems to me a lonely, miserable experience - but an undeniably effective one in the war against the Adversary.
Convictions of the Damned
Knights of the Damned do not learn secret techniques or meditations on which to call for power. Instead, they call upon their own overwhelming passion and conviction to shape their motive force - finding within themselves new heights to which they can reach, or new lows to which they can stoop, in the pursuit of the Adversary's defeat.
Executioner’s Conviction
Some members of the Order of the Damned want little more than to drive a blade between the ribs of the corrupt - reducing the Adversary's forces one deathrattle at a time. These individuals find that their souls empower and conceal their attacks, making them potent assassins of the vile and the corrupt.
Revenant’s Conviction
Among the Knights drawn to the Order of the Damned are those who view their quest like a form of walking death. Their bodies remain animate for only one purpose - to strike back against the forces of the Adversary. To these Knights, the ongoing need to eat, sleep, or even breathe are little more than inconveniences.
Vessel’s Conviction
Terrible though it may seem, some Knights of the Damned will go so far as to allow a Familiar, a form of lesser demon, to take up residence in their bodies - to possess them - in exchange for an ounce of the demons' corrupt powers. I can hardly condone this practice, but for those capable of leashing such a creature the potential advantage in combating the forces of the Adversary is undeniable.