Knights Of The Holy Shield

In the fringes there is no greater ongoing and self sustaining tragedy then the tale of the Holy Shield Order. The story goes that during the sack of Tobacco by the acursed ratmen, the simple freeblades who would go on to found this Holy Order found themselves isolated and, be it willing or not, the last line between the rats and the huddled masses seeking refuge in the Cathedral of Myrmidia the Merciful.

Where other Mercenary bands took advantage of the chaos to loot and burn almost as much as the ratmen, they stood tall for four days and four nights loosing many of their number with no end in sight. It was on the dawn of the fifth day that it is said Myrmidia herself appeared to them and knighted every single defender and gifted them blessed shields that can turn any blow no matter the direction or awareness of the wielder.

With these holy gifts they waded into the teeming mass of rats and struck them down with the fury of the rightous. So insenced by this reversal the grey, horned witch leading the horde is said to have curse the new Knights of the Holy Shield to a half life. The wielders of these Holy Shields to this day are afflicted by a malady that slowly sloughs skin from flesh and turns their insides to liquid.

Wizards from across the Old World and even the Elven Isles have attempted to break the curse, but every effort is for naught. Whatever Curse that long dead rat called upon the order is so insidious as to not even be detectable as magic, the only reprieve is that it is not a malady of the soul. Even as they rot from the inside, the souls of the knights stand unbowed and uncorrupted by the rot of Chaos and Dark Magics.

Even with this curse the ability to wade into any conflict with immunity, to be the bulwark that never breaks is all too tempting to many who wish to carve their names upon the tapestry of history. Highborne or Low all are allowed to compete for their place when one of the fifty brother are claimed by their curse, ensuring there will always be a Holy Shield Order and an ever growing Graveyard of marytrs.