Minor Faction: The Burning Crusaders

Back to this stuff for now. We actually have another session coming up, but this blog is about more than just what's going on in my current game. Today's post is another minor faction that may come up later in the Fomor campaign, though we'll have to wait and see. Credit for the image to Reddit user De_Vermis_Mysteriis. I missed saying that.


Name: The Burning Crusaders
Race: Mostly Human
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Appearance:
The female human wears glistening plate mail and wields two swords. Gouts of fire shoot out from her back and encase her in smoke. The swords are on fire and leave a small trail of sparks through the air. 

Profile:
The Burning Crusaders are sworn to the church of Sarenrae, though they have long since been corrupted. For the last century, their church has been infiltrated by demon-worshippers, and their entire structure has been radically altered. Instead of vanquishing evil and purging the world of sin, the Burning Crusaders are now agents of evil and serve the will of their demonic masters. They are under compulsions to think that they continue to serve their deity by eradicating evil-doers, and still abide strictly by the organization of the church.
The Burning Crusaders are highly militaristic. Historically, they traveled alone to serve out justice as paladins. Now they roam in large groups of blackguards, spreading death and destruction. They no longer bear the symbols of Sarenrae, but rather that of their new master. The official stance of the Church is that these mysterious demon-worshippers are irredeemably evil and should be eradicated. Obviously though, the Church makes no actions against the Burning Crusaders.
The Burning Crusaders fight mostly as melee combatants, relying on superior martial skill to overwhelm their foes. They have some magical powers if they are experienced enough. They still believe themselves to be paladins and champions of Good, and thus believe themselves to still have their abilities to heal, while in reality they mostly only harm themselves and their allies. In this way, they are actually very harmful to each other if given any time to recuperate.
The missions of the Burning Crusaders are inconsistent. Sometimes they are sent to spread general chaos, and other times to select targets. In the earliest days of the corruption, they were sent to other churches of Sarenrae to spread the demons' influence further. Assassination and open combat are not beyond their capabilities.