This Catholic holy order is, on the surface, just one
of many minor orders: the brothers are all doctors,
nurses and other medical personnel. With the modern
era, some of them are even paramedics. Many major
Catholic hospitals in Europe and the Americas have at
least a brother attached: the largest have a small
chapter house in the area (while the Order is
monastic, they are not cloistered).
Their avowed mission is to minister to the sick and
dying, helping those who can be helped and helping
those who cannot accept their mortality. Their secret
mission is actually much the same: The Order of St.
Lazarus is the Church's Undead specialists.
Every member of the Order is either a full Soldier of
God or a human that knows about the War. Considering
their affiliations, it might be surprising to know
that they are not directly overseen by Laurence: while
he uses the Order as needed, and approves of it, the
Archangel of the Sword has found that Zadkiel has a
knack for working with this group. That's what
subordinates are _for_.
The Order spends most of its time doing perfectly
mundane things associated with any healing Catholic
Order: however, when the Archangel of Protection
discovers an infestation of Undead, she'll make the
call for the nearest group of Lazarines to
investigate. Their human status allows them to remove
particularly obnoxious examples of the breed without
automatic disturbance, and their priestly status is
useful when dealing with the more superstitious kinds
of undead.
The major chapterhouse of the Order (in Vancouver,
Canada) is a combination of communications nexus and
research facility. The library alone contains some of
the most comprehensive collections of necromantic lore
in the world. New Lazarines also get 'hands-on'
experience, as it were: there's always a zombie or two
to study, and sometimes someone will bring in a
vampire - or even a mummy.
The Order is somewhat callous when it comes to using
up their captives for instructional purposes: they do
not torture, but neither do they show any mercy. The
training procedures are designed to promote a healthy
fear in the trainees, but a useful fear. Lazarines
usually leave their training with a solid
understanding of the Undead - and a deep loathing of
them.
PCs wishing to be Lazarines should take at least
Medicine/3 and Knowledge/3 (the Undead): a variety of
Ranged Weapons and the Corporeal Songs of Fire,
Healing, Light and Might wouldn't be a bad idea,
either.
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EDG <edg@sjgames.com>
In Nomine Collection Curator