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Templars: Dark Knights

Templars: Dark Knights

Original: 4th article of faith of the Temple exerpt:

"We believe in the majesty of his works and the truth of his Code. We believe that it is the duty of the faithful to honor the five virtues of Cambruin’s Code, living their lives with valor, generosity, modesty, mercy, and justice."

Templars can be Dark Knights...anyone at WP care to explain this one to me? Any Templar that is a Dark Knight violates the 4th Article...

Sir Malric


Answer: An interesting theological conundrum you've hit upon here.

There are many possible resolutions.

Some might say that the Militant Arm of the Temple can be forgiven for not adhering absolutely to the fourth article, so long as their fight continues unabated and they are properly guided and watched for the growth of Sin.

Others might surmise that the injunctions implied by the Articles (and appearing in the comments) only truly apply when one is dealing with the Faithful and Righteous. After all, the Eternal Struggle mentioned in Article Seven would seem to indicate that there are times when Mercy should be forgone. You could say that Templars wear both hats - they're Knights to the flock, but Dark Knights to the unworthy.

Think also on this: the Article only demands that the Faithful proclaim that they believe in Cambruin's rule. Even the most cynical of Dark Knights would be willing to concede that. Cambruin DID rule, after all...

Of course, the Heathen and Unworthy might decide that the Disciples of the Flame don't practice what they preach.

Who does?

Where was Malorn for those 66 years? Well, you will recall that for the overwhelming majority of those years (more than fifty of them) Malorn was trapped on Kierhaven's fragment, because Runegate travel had yet to be discovered.

He spent about ten of those years having the Book of Swords dictated to him by an Archon.
The rest of the time he spent getting the word out.

The Articles were written after the first Reunited Synod, when Archbishops of all fragments were finally able to convene with the Patriarch for the first time since the Turning. A Bishop who had "seen the Fire" brought Malorn with him, and the Just One "pitched" his new slant on religion to the assembled clergy. They found it lacking.

Malorn was declared a heretic, so he promptly went back to the city he'd founded, and there he drafted the Articles as the foundation of his new relgion - think of them as a "Declaration of Schism."