Knight of Blasphemy

 

“We are bound by the commandments of divinity, no longer. The power the gods covet, we have reclaimed for our own. The oaths we once swore now belong to a free accord.”

  The Knights of Blasphemy live by their title. Once sworn to the holy and just, these knights and paladins are unified in their broken oaths. Their faith fell to a craving of debauchery, power and lawlessness. Branding them heretics and criminals, deprived of the divine blessings they once held.   With the help of the Black Church, the blasphemers can not only live as high class residents within the Penumbra Barony. Here they reach into the abyss. Stealing the power they once prayed to wield. Now taking without sacrifice, and with an ever ever burning hunger for more.     The blasphemic knighthood was first created by Antonio del Nero within the sacrilegious halls of the Dark Cathedral. At first, they consisted of disillusioned Paladins of Ysand, which had lost the blessing of their former god.   With the help of the Black Church, the knights reclaimed the powers of their old blessings through stolen artefacts and corrupted scripture. Perverting their once holy powers into a sinister shadow of its past form.   Though the Nightfall Legion is young compared to the loyalists, in present time - the knights' numbers keep swelling with recruits from both Âzhgaard and Peregon. This makes them far more imposing than a handful of Ysand loathing blasphemers.       A surprisingly light two handed blade, for looking like a tall metal bar with sharpened edges. This is a blade seen as the popular main weapon for the knights, despite being much less effective in warfare, as compared to ordinary longswords.   The reason for its popularity comes from an internal culture among the knights to claim the heads of their opponents. Believing the edge of a sharper and more top heavy weapon cuts cleaner, while inspiring more fear into their enemies.     The Knights of Blasphemy enact faithless curses upon their foes. Either through enchanted blades or pure spells. Draining the essence out of their opponents, while gorging themselves on soul energies.   These abilities directly shatter the essence of a person. Withering away the flesh and spirit of most that are somehow redeemable in the eyes of the cosmos, while mutating the worst of the sinners into malformed monstrosities shaped by their crimes.   This magic leaves nothing but souless husks behind. Healing the wounds of the knights with the energy of their victims.     Compared to the average modern knight, the blasphemous ilk carry little in terms of projectile defence wards. Instead, they wield shadows and illusions in melee combat to confuse and flank their enemies.   The dark arts lets them mitigate the potency of holy and light based spells. This turns them into perfect counters against paladins and other heavily armoured units. Through altering their perceived reality, they can effectively outwit most melee combatants with their dark illusions.       The ceremonial name, for an otherwise cheaply made full plate. The Ornaments of the Black Church is an armour which is mass produced within the coal factories of the Penumbra region. Using the designs of yore for the uniforms, materials are spared to suit as many knights as possible in the gear.   While it still holds up well against the majority of melee arms, the armour is easily penetrated by firearms. Even longbows and crossbows of higher quality are known to shred through the plate with full power hits.