A wizard sits in his tower, diligently copying an aged, crumbling text. His hands move with precision that most archers lack, re-creating an exact copy of the spellbook for his own use. At long last he closes the ancient tomb, having transcribed the last page, adding a great amount to his personal store of knowledge. He stands up and stretches, but hesitates. He is sure that his elvin ears had heard something. Cautiously, he lifts his walking stick and goes to investigate. He creeps around the stacks of books, the glass-cased artifacts, powerful enough to make even the most seasoned of adventurers drool. The wizard stands at his window, which he is certain that he had closed. With a sigh he leans over to pull the glass back in, and his life ends.

A dagger to the throat, and the elderly elf is dead. Two highly muscled men, dressed in full plate, throw the wizard’s dead body to the ground. They spent days analyzing this victim, studying the wards on his tower, memorizing his routine, and then killed him like a rabbit. What could have warranted this effort? What was so valuable in the wizard’s collection that these men would take so much time and energy to kill him for?

Nothing. The tower is burned and destroyed, with nothing removed from its contents.

The Crusaders of Stasis are a fanatically anti-magic group, with only one goal in mind: the elimination of all magic in the entire cosmos, regardless of if it is divine or arcane. They seek to kill the gods themselves, to eliminate all traces of arcane magic, and instate a new order in the world, with The Crusaders as the rulers of all creation.

The Crusaders were founded long ago by the same man who now leads them, Ajano, a former paladin who resented arcane magic. He hunted down evil wizards and sorcerers and killed them in the name of his god, destroying their cash of corrupted magical items. However, one day his petty grudge and personal crusade went too far, and he turned on a wizard in his own group. Ajano’s god stripped him of his paladinhood, and send him into exile.

Ajano spent years in self-pity, a bumbling wreck of a man. All he could do is desperately grasp onto his holy symbol, which had long been worn away by time and neglect, and think, “why, why, why?” Eventually, Ajano’s twisted mind came to a rationalization, a reason why his god had abandoned him. His god must have sympathized with the arcanists, perhaps even endorsed them, and had used Ajano like a tool. His former lord was no better than the spellcasters that he had hunted. With that, Ajano decided that he would never again be deceived, and extended his crusade to not only war against arcanists, but any who bent the laws of reality for their own ends.

Since then, Ajano had managed to summon together a number of followers, enough to be considered a serious threat to any church or school of magic. Despite The Crusader’s distain for magic, they realize that without it the playing field is hardly leveled, and that perhaps they must sin a little for the greater good. As such, magical items are permitted for use by the higher member, but only ones that act to counter magic that already exists. For example, items that confer Spell Resistance, silence an area or block out magic are permitted, but a Wand of Fireballs would not be. Former spellcasters are allowed to be initiated into the society, so long as they renounce their “heretical” beliefs and only use their powers with the permission of the higher members of the group. Whenever The Crusaders of Stasis make a move, they leave behind a calling card, a shattered magical item and a drop of liquid lead. The Crusaders of Stasis are divided into circles, as follows:

Ajano: In the entire Crusaders of Stasis, none rival the authority that Ajano has. He is the absolute lord of The Crusaders, and should he make an order, or adjust a previous command, his demand is met without question. Since Ajano’s fall from grace he has trained himself in the art of hand-to-hand combat, without the use of his paladin powers. Though Ajano’s conversion to evil happened many years ago, he is no frailer than a middle-aged man. Somewhere along the line he ran into a way to preserve his life, and justified the use of magic to himself. He argues that in order to remove all magic from this world, he will be needed, and in order to do that he must rely on magic, if only for a little while. Ajano is a very active member of The Crusaders of Stasis, and takes on the most difficult missions for himself.

The Council of The Blessed: Though Ajano is ultimate ruler of this society, he cannot be called forth for every problem in The Crusaders. As such, he has appointed seven of his most powerful and loyal servants to make up The Council of The Blessed. The council members are individually referred to as The Blessed, for being selected by Ajano himself. They delegate missions, deciding who should handle what project, and handle cases of argument in The Crusaders. They are the ones who determine who is allowed to use a magical item, and handle discipline problems within their ranks. The Blessed also take on dangerous missions, sometimes even aiding Ajano himself. When a member dies, Ajano selects his or her replacement within one year.

The Seekers: Just Below The Council are The Seekers. These are dungeon crawlers, they seek out powerful, ancient artifacts that have been locked away. Individual cells act very much like adventuring parties, they are grouped together to take advantage of their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. Once they claim their prize, if they are able, they will destroy the item that they worked so hard to retrieve. If the item is too powerful to destroy, they then bring it back to The Vaults of Stasis, to be held and ultimately destroyed. Seekers are often taken away from their normal duties and put in charge of a group of Hunters, to give them more direction.

The Circle of Redemption: The Circle is composed of former spellcasters who have converted to The Crusaders. In order to take advantage of their abilities best, the most powerful of them are assigned to The Vaults of Stasis, and are brought into The Circle. They continue their magical research, in the continued search for better ways to destroy all magic. When The Seekers bring an item back to The Vaults, The Circle studies it, digging up any old tomes about it, and seek a way to destroy it. The Vaults themselves are warded with anti-magic fields, to keep the artifacts from escaping.

The Guardians: Very simply, these are the ones who guard The Circle and The Vault. Despite this simple and somewhat boring job, this is considered a huge honor, and a step on the way to becoming a Seeker.

The Hunters: The lowest rank, where the initiates are put. The Hunters do exactly what their name implies, hunt down spellcasters, and seek out items that are not powerful enough to warrant The Seeker’s attention. These also act as talent pools, occasionally a Seeker will notice a Hunter who has particular promise, and recommend a promotion. The promotion must be approved by The Council of The Blessed or Ajano himself.

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