The Witch Hunts

Religious event

With some bigger local temples being besieged by the slaves of the Overlords, they pleaded for the tools to defend themselves. Politicians agreed that something needed to be done, and allowed them quite a few permissions to be able root out hidden spies for the Overlord's forces in towns and cities. Witch hunters would be assigned by the temples, but while they took orders from the priests, they would largely operate as a separate entity. They often joined Paladins and Clerics on their quests, from preventing Overlord attacks to taking down the tyrants. However, they would later become a great source of shame for the temples: while the views of most people on the Dark Elves, Orcs and Goblins would later change, the witch hunters and some temples stayed stuck in the old ways.

The witch hunters mainly targeted evil-aligned Sorcerers, Necromancers and Warlocks, and often joined adventurers when their target turned out to be of this nature. While the witch hunters did prevent some disastrous situations and slew many evil-aligned Orcs, Dark Elves and Goblins that were truly were loyal to the Overlord, they never questioned how these so-called 'dread hordes' were so easily slain. Some adventurers did have their doubts at the time, but this would often anger witch hunters. Sadly, many that were only operating under duress from the Overlord weren't spared when teams of Overlord spies were found. At the time, it sadly wasn't common knowledge that Dark Elves, Goblins and Orcs were enslaved, and only took orders under threat of their Overlord.
While some adventurers were likely to spare the Dark Elves, Orcs and Goblins that spoke Common explained their plights, the witch hunters would not show them such mercy: they'd assume it was nothing but lies, and slay them anyways. Eventually, this attitude would lead to them falling out of favor with adventurers,  and a schism between the temples and witch hunters.