Chaos star
Heraldry
The Brotherhood of Night can usually be recognised by the chaos star
Residence
Outskirts of Do'bluth
History
The Brotherhood of Night originally consisted of refugees of various surface nationalities who were fleeing persecution, the law and in-laws back in the mists of history. The exact details are tainted with lies, exaggerations and creative interpretation of history. What we know for fact today is that out of a sizeable band of refugees that entered Underdark to flee their persecutors, only seven reached the place the Brotherhood of Night inhabits today. There they made a final stand and when things looked at their murkiest the Demon Tomakai appeared and feasted upon the flesh of the attackers.
In gratitude the seven swore themselves and their descendants to the worship of the demons of chaos, and foremost of these, Tomakai - The Lord of Anarchy. The seven used their newly acquired home as a base, and with their demonically enhanced powers they hired themselves out of mercenaries to anyone that would pay and offer a chance for battle and mayhem.
As time progressed and the notoriety of the Brotherhood of Night increased, other refugees joined. The only requirements were to worship chaos in one of its many shapes and to be able to survive in the relatively tough cave complex that became known simply as The Caves. The Brotherhood of Night has always been its own worst enemy, and more members have fallen to infighting than any other cause of death. To die of natural causes is considered to be nigh impossible and also unspeakably dull.
As time progressed, the descendants of the original seven founders formed the seven clans. Of these seven, one is lost in history, two were lost in the Nine Day War in 1103 AF and one extra clan was founded from artisans in 1102 AF.
How exactly the Brotherhood works as a society is somewhat of a mystery, as there are no courts, no laws and no secular police force of any kind. It is seemingly an oligarchy ruled by a council run by the five heads of the clans. There is also a Parliament of Chaos, whose purpose remains unclear but when working occasionally works as an advisory body to the Council. There are no elections to the Parliament and members come and go as they please.
Justice, in the Caves, is a synonym of vengeance and revenge and is relying on either being stronger than your victim or in a position where poisoning and/or backstabbing is a viable (!) option.
Recently a third political body has entered the arena, The Embassy to the Surface. This entity was originally (1090s) a place where misfits and troublemakers were sent to ensure that the Caves would remain isolated and left alone, but with events such as the victory on the Gathering Battlefield in 1101 AF, winning the Heartland Games in 1102 AF and the rediscovery of the Teeth of Tomakai later that same year.
Whereas the Nine Day War was seemingly caused by Shannow Warluster finally realising the other clan leaders laughed at him and not with him, it is curious to note that two of the clans that frequently voted against the interests of the Embassy and its then leader, Bane, found themselves eradicated or engulfed by other clans. Furthermore the fatality rate amongst heirs of the clans was staggering to the point where only younger sons that seemingly were out of the running and thus sent to the embassy found themselves in the seats of second in command of many of the clans. This applies for Bane (for Baby Bane), Kelvin, Amanita, Caellyn and Lobos. Kamlio is post-war officially in charge of the Temple of Chaos and Caellyn is in command of the joint Tir-Na-Bor/Fafnirsbane forces -.. It is understood Cal too has a position of note, but it is not yet confirmed what the role is. The Embassy has also completely engulfed the Consulate - a trade body that arranged the recruitment and hiring for the BON mercenary bands. Political observers anticipate a confrontation between the Embassy and the Council in the near future as the council is likely to want to curb the Embassy's power whilst still in its relative infancy.
Recent News: Members of the Embassy have now taken the position of leadership in all the Clans. The Fafnirsbane Clan has been amalgated into Tir-Na-Bor.
The Brotherhood is a devoted religious society, and worship ancestors and various powers of Chaos. The worship of Tomakai is widespread and although Golgamoth had many worshippers these have dwindled in numbers as Golgamoth was seen to muck about too much and also for completely failing to reward us for giving him Mordred's Box. The priesthood excerts a considerable influence through their interpretation of the various prophecies handed down by previous generations all the way back to the original Brotherhood and discussions around how a chaos worshipper should act always attract a lot of attention, fierce opinions and brawls.
The Brotherhood can at best be described as unrefined, and at worst as murderous, unenlightened and barbarous. Written works are generally frowned upon, and it is rare to find others than students of magic or religious matters who can read or write. It is not completely without culture though. Tales of various kind are handed down through the generations and retold in countless varieties around the fire or whilst drinking in the many taverns or barracks. Most alcoholic drinks served in The Caves are based on fungi, hence having varying degrees of more or less amusing side effects. One legendary drink, the Golgamoth Bathwater, is rumoured to have caused the unfortunate drinker to feel his brain trying to crawl out of his nostrils.
Exactly how the economy of the Brotherhood works is anyone's guess, but there is an extensive farming of fungi and bands frequently rent themselves out as mercenaries. Trade with the outside world is relatively rare, but forces within the Brotherhood has recently voiced an interest in increased trade links. Lizard farming has been attempted in the last year, but there is as of yet no successful offspring.
The Brotherhood of Night originally consisted of refugees of various surface nationalities who were fleeing persecution, the law and in-laws back in the mists of history. The exact details are tainted with lies, exaggerations and creative interpretation of history. What we know for fact today is that out of a sizeable band of refugees that entered Underdark to flee their persecutors, only seven reached the place the Brotherhood of Night inhabits today. There they made a final stand and when things looked at their murkiest the Demon Tomakai appeared and feasted upon the flesh of the attackers.
In gratitude the seven swore themselves and their descendants to the worship of the demons of chaos, and foremost of these, Tomakai - The Lord of Anarchy. The seven used their newly acquired home as a base, and with their demonically enhanced powers they hired themselves out of mercenaries to anyone that would pay and offer a chance for battle and mayhem.
As time progressed and the notoriety of the Brotherhood of Night increased, other refugees joined. The only requirements were to worship chaos in one of its many shapes and to be able to survive in the relatively tough cave complex that became known simply as The Caves. The Brotherhood of Night has always been its own worst enemy, and more members have fallen to infighting than any other cause of death. To die of natural causes is considered to be nigh impossible and also unspeakably dull.
As time progressed, the descendants of the original seven founders formed the seven clans. Of these seven, one is lost in history, two were lost in the Nine Day War in 1103 AF and one extra clan was founded from artisans in 1102 AF.
How exactly the Brotherhood works as a society is somewhat of a mystery, as there are no courts, no laws and no secular police force of any kind. It is seemingly an oligarchy ruled by a council run by the five heads of the clans. There is also a Parliament of Chaos, whose purpose remains unclear but when working occasionally works as an advisory body to the Council. There are no elections to the Parliament and members come and go as they please.
Justice, in the Caves, is a synonym of vengeance and revenge and is relying on either being stronger than your victim or in a position where poisoning and/or backstabbing is a viable (!) option.
Recently a third political body has entered the arena, The Embassy to the Surface. This entity was originally (1090s) a place where misfits and troublemakers were sent to ensure that the Caves would remain isolated and left alone, but with events such as the victory on the Gathering Battlefield in 1101 AF, winning the Heartland Games in 1102 AF and the rediscovery of the Teeth of Tomakai later that same year -
Whereas the Nine Day War was seemingly caused by Shannow Warluster finally realising the other clan leaders laughed at him and not with him, it is curious to note that two of the clans that frequently voted against the interests of the Embassy and its then leader, Bane, found themselves eradicated or engulfed by other clans. Furthermore, the fatality rate amongst heirs of the clans was staggering to the point where only younger sons that seemingly were out of the running and thus sent to the embassy found themselves in the seats of second in command of many of the clans.
This applies for Bane (for Baby Bane), Kelvin, Amanita, Caellyn and Lobos. Kamlio is post-war officially in charge of the Temple of Chaos and Caellyn is in command of the joint Tir-Na-Bor/Fafnirsbane forces -.. It is understood Cal too has a position of note, but it is not yet confirmed what the role is. The Embassy has also completely engulfed the Consulate - a trade body that arranged the recruitment and hiring for the BON mercenary bands. Political observers anticipate a confrontation between the Embassy and the Council in the near future as the council is likely to want to curb the Embassy's power whilst still in its relative infancy.
Recent News: Members of the Embassy have now taken the position of leadership in all the Clans. The Fafnirsbane Clan has been amalgated into Tir-Na-Bor.
The Brotherhood is a devoted religious society, and worship ancestors and various powers of Chaos. The worship of Tomakai is widespread and although Golgamoth had many worshippers these have dwindled in numbers as Golgamoth was seen to muck about too much and also for completely failing to reward us for giving him Mordred's Box. The priesthood excerts a considerable influence through their interpretation of the various prophecies handed down by previous generations all the way back to the original Brotherhood and discussions around how a chaos worshipper should act always attract a lot of attention, fierce opinions and brawls.
The Brotherhood can at best be described as unrefined, and at worst as murderous, unenlightened and barbarous. Written works are generally frowned upon, and it is rare to find others than students of magic or religious matters who can read or write. It is not completely without culture though. Tales of various kind are handed down through the generations and retold in countless varieties around the fire or whilst drinking in the many taverns or barracks. Most alcoholic drinks served in The Caves are based on fungi, hence having varying degrees of more or less amusing side effects. One legendary drink, the Golgamoth Bathwater, is rumoured to have caused the unfortunate drinker to feel his brain trying to crawl out of his nostrils.
Exactly how the economy of the Brotherhood works is anyone's guess, but there is an extensive farming of fungi and bands frequently rent themselves out as mercenaries. Trade with the outside world is relatively rare, but forces within the Brotherhood has recently voiced an interest in increased trade links. Lizard farming has been attempted in the last year, but there is as of yet no successful offspring. Largely left alone and unnoticed among the other denizens of the underdark it wasnt until around about 1097AF that the Embassy to the Surface was formed. A band of misfits and troublemakers from each of the Clans, sent to the surface to ensure that the Caves would remain isolated and left alone from the rising number of forays into their territory.
Despite great odds the Embassy began to gain respect in the eyes of their chosen Faction, the Tarantulas. In turn the Embassy began to have greater sway in The Caves, so much so that the leaders of the Clans began to send not only their misfits, but their best and sometimes cruellest to observe the ways of the surface dwellers and to gain alliances with those of a darker persuasion. The members of the Embassy began to gain a certain celebrity within The Caves which caused at least two of the Clan leaders' great concern for their position and influence, Events such as the victory on the Gathering Battlefield in f 101 AP, winning the Heartland Games in 1102 AF and the rediscovery of the Teeth of Tomakai later that same year caused such friction between the Ruling council and the increasing power and influence of the Embassy that rifts in Clans formed. A disgruntled group of Artisans decided that they had had enough of their leader's decisions and formed Tir-Na-Bor from Artisans from all the other six clans. These members searched the letters and scrolls for clues to the lost and seventh clan to add credence to their cause, and after a lot of death and bribes came up with a history, tainted in blood and some say it all lies.
The Clans
Entropy Clan
Possesses all of the religious high offices in BON and is a very religious clan, taking great delight in the worship of chaos, The Clan wants to spread the word, mayhem and the odd venereal disease. Other than that, the clan rarely gathers behind one goal. In the instances they have it has usually been for an extremely absurd or where there is a very clearly cut division between chaos and law. The Clan has recently made a strong stand against undead after it became apparent that Maar was a lawful ancestor, but this vie faded soon after and business (chaos) as usual start anew
Syndicate Clan
Bureaucracy, petty theft, blackmail, racketeering, gambling, mugging and you name it, The Syndicates have few morals and care little for law and order. Thanks to extensive blackmail, large family in political positions and the occasional threat, the Syndicates manages to be the strongest force in BON politics. They seem to desire power and money but have largely been unsuccessful so far. It wants control, money and power. Won't stop until they own the world
Clan Fafnirsbane
This clan wanted to BON evolve politically through alliances and trade and with carefully judged expansionism. Also wanted to be the ruling clan. The Fafnirs are fierce in battle, but lack the love of it many of the other clans show. The Fafnirs spearheaded allowing women positions in command in the forces and in the parliament. They are outspokenly in favour of drow culture and values (with the possible exception of actually only allowing women to rule.) and alliances with outside folk.
The Shadow Chan
As a clan with a much higher proportion of Magic-Users, Demonologist and Assassins than the other clans, this clan has unknown powers and profits highly from renting out its services. Small in numbers, but magic & poison makes for a fierce political opponent. Recently some members have gone missing. The Clan is mostly unknown and seems unconcerned about military prowess
Tir-Na Bor
The clan seeks alliances with other groups in order to get more influence and political strength.One way of doing it is to trade peoples skills for good money ,its a quite wealthy clan due to its highly skilled artisans. Clan is made of renegades from various clans and cultures and discussions tend to turn to endless arguments or in people doing their own business whenever it suits them
Clan C.ulahan
Responsible for much of the harvesting and cultivation of various mushroom and fungi products, this clan is much in favour of trade and outwardly relations, It's financially sounds, but looses out in political power because so few members are interested in politics. Wants a market for its good* Tends to be conservative and strongly opposed to women in power. Tries fancy politicking and deal-making without much success.
The Tale of the Scorpion Clan & The Nine Day War
Allow us to recount to you the history of the Scorpion Clan„Our ancestor, Proteus, was banished from the surface for reasons that are today lost in the dark mists of years gone by. Hunted by his brethren who thought the punishment Insufficient Proteus who refused (not through fear) to confront them sought refuge in the bowels of the Earth. Forced deeper and deeper, he eventually ended up in a cave with no exits. Driven away, convinced that he is going to die, and yet he saw his brothers fall dead, victims of the stings of a multitude of scorpions swarming seemingly from nowhere. utterly inexplicably, Proteus was spared by these same beasts... Thinking this was a good omen, Proteus remained in the cave somewhere between the underdark and the surface and was soon joined by others as rumours of a mysterious exile that could befriend scorpions started to spread. Since that time, the Scorpion Clan became the shelter for all banished and ostracized. Coming from all over, from every land, from every. Living amongst the dark elves, the Brotherhood of Night and the Scorpion Clan allied with the powerful house Olath Orbben from the Tarantulas. The Scorpion clan is now specialized in skirmish missions and link betweea the underdark and the outside world. Their seclusion has enabled them to develop their own language and strange encryption. Some say that it was this that sparked Shannow Warluster, the leader of Clan Da Nich De, into starting what is now known as the Nine Day War, Other, more informed individuals will say that Banes an outcast from the Shadow Clan, found a willing ear in Shannow for his viperish tongue.
Whatever the true reason, true result was that Shannow began a civil war, starting with his hated rival, Ran Thela, of The Shadow Clan All the Clans where dragged into the conflict eventually. Compounds where destroyed and the heirs of all the Clans were found and killed by the rogue warrior, The Barricade. Clan Culahan and The Shadow Clan were completely destroyed although Ran Thela escaped to sow threads of havoc in the future.
The Brotherhood was set to destroy it self until Tomokai once again appeared and gathered the remaining leaders to him. On threat of eternal torment each Clan leader promised an end to hostilities and to give more power to the Embassy, in the hope of extending Tomokai i s rule.
Three major factions formed within The Caves after that day. The remnants of Clan Fafnirsbane joined with Tir-Na-Bor, and now named themselves the Scorpion clam Entropy Clan joined with the Syndicates and Clan Da Nich De on their own. A representative from each Clan or faction was named heir to their respective Clans and told to join the Surface Embassy,
Having been given more power to influence the day to day dealings in. The Caves, the Embassy began to forge more and more alliances with those of the Tarantula Faction, most notably a group calling themselves Olath Orrben.
In 1104 the resurfacing of Ran Thela of the destroyed Shadow Clan, caused more unrest in The Caves, Even more so after finding that not only was he trying to wrest control of the Embassy from the current leader, Kelvin Loremaster, but he had turned from Tomokai and began to worship the Drow Goddess Lloth
Ran Thela used Banes death at the hands of the grey dwarfs, Duergar, and the change of direction by the faction thereafter, to yet again stir revolt among the clans, before again disappearing. When the dust settled after yet more bloodletting the city (such as it was) was destroyed.
During heated talks between Clan leaders it was decided that the people of the Brotherhood of Night could worship who and what they wished, while no brother would take up arms against the other (except in self-defence)l
Another civil war before the ruins had been restored from the last was too much. This and some deadly mistakes by members of the embassy to the surface caused the clans to, for once„ combine,
The Matron of Olath Orbben, Araushnee Naxos DFey, was asked if the surving members of the BON could move onto and into, the city of Olath Orrben, Guilladurth, After some gruelling tests of loyalty and arms Matron Naxos D*Fey accepted thankfully, and the survivors moved north to a new home. And a new chapter in the history of the Brotherhood of Night begins.
Recent History
The Holy War & The New Chapter
Years have passed since these journals have been written in and the stories of the Brotherhood of Night been spoken about. Since the nine-day war the breakdown of the alliance between Olath Orrben and the Brother of Night and both agreed that it was time for the Brotherhood of Night to return to their own lands. Although not many know where the lands may be but some say that they located by the great city of Do’Bluth Ruled by the Illharess of house Karrash-Mor whom is advised by a council made up of members of the Crimson Guard.
What followed was a number of dark years clouded in herbal haze and strong fungi alcohol, it is no wonder why hardly any of the past events have been recorded. The Brotherhood Stooped into a form of chaos where all values went out the window and they were on the brink of collapse. They lost very important figures from the house. In fear of watching the new powers of the Brotherhood destroy itself and possibly himself in the process. Lobos Crossed the border and found sanctuary within house Karrash-Mor.
These drunken, lawless days once again resurrected the violent BoN nature to turn against one another and become more isolated than ever before. The Scorpion Clan and Clan Da Nich who had adopted members from the older clans, defeated during the nine day war had now started stirring again in these dark times. Slowly one by one the old clans started to splinter off from the Scorpion Clan and Clan Da Nich and the two clans became six once again and slowly increased in size. But the Entropy Clan and the Syndicate Clan stayed Strong to the Old BoN. Scenting the unrest Nugen the son of Tomaki saw an opportunity to gain followers and gain the power to eventually overthrow and hopefully murder his father. He visited the Clans in secret and in return fro demonic power all the old clans agreed to worship him except the Entropy and Syndicate Clans who Still see Tomaki as the one true god. Nugen and the six clans held talks between themselves and formed a new alliance that was hell bent on destroying the Syndicate and Entropy Clan.
The Command of these two Clans was made up by a War hardened Knight called Hatcher, A Paladin of chaos called Flea, and two other knights Tonk, a giant of a man who will always stand firm and Yeknom the Chaos herbalist. Tomaki un-believing that Nugen his own wanted to destroy him foresaw this fight as just another civil war and was not worth concerning himself with or of backing either side. Knowing they was outnumbered and tomakai would not help them as he was not worried about Nugen and did not care for the petty squabbles, so they started to find other ways to get help. This came in the form of a Leader that could lead them in what was to come and they reached out to a man called Madrak the necromantic Lord of Death they came across him in the Planes of the Undead for this man studies in the art of necromancy and Demonology. He is a spellcaster and not the most efficient spellcaster either. But his power comes from the fact he can control the unliving and call upon them to fight when needed. He also laughs like a goose at evil,nasty and vile things. Scarlet is Madraks wife and all that is known of Scarlet is that she is a incantress some say Scarlet is not his wife but is in fact his mistress and she whips him every day
Although Madrak Brought some form of stability and a formidable force of undead Nurgle warriors with him. His high command knew this would not be enough in the days to come. Remembering the last Civil war Madrak’s command knew Tomakai would not come to their aid and they had lost all faith in getting help from the Demon and sought a higher being another ancestor to worship who would come to their aid.
The ancestor they came to worship was Selvetarm although he is worshipped by a few followers mainly Drow as he is one of number of champions of Lolth he is very much an underrated ancestor. Cruel and malicious by nature, Selvetarm cares only for battle and destruction. The Champion of Lolth harbors a deep hatred for all living things, including his dominating mistress Lolth, and the only beauty he can appreciate is a well-honed and deadly fighting style. Selvetarm can exhibit a great deal of patience while waiting for prey to fall into an ambush he has set, but he prefers the wild abandon of battle frenzy to a careful and deliberate attack.
This Displeased Nugen and the other clans and what followed was a war to end all wars a Holy war.
The Clans massed their army’s and set out to wipe out one another. On the Planes of the Underdark the army’s met once again. Knowing this Madrak and his command called upon Selvetarm to aid them in battle what happened next would change the Brotherhood of Night forever. Nugen sent in his forces again and again but the Syndicate and Entropy Clan stood their ground under the protection of Selvetarm and their foes were stopped against the shields and axes over and over until their number was too few.
After the blood had drained and the battle came to an end the six Clans were wiped out completely and Nugen was defeated. However nobody had come across his remains and some say he went into hiding from the place he once came. Madrak and the rest of the command held talks and came to an agreement to abolish the clans and form under one banner for once and for all and just serve under one Clan and one house and one name the Brotherhood of Night.
This began a new chapter of the Brotherhood and each year the new surface embasy is made up of the Leader Mardrak and his mistress Scarlet, Paladin Flea And the champion Hatcher. Tonk and Yeknom have been missing from the Surface gatherings for a number of years nobody knows if they will return.
The Brotherhood of Night has formed an Unwritten alliance with house Karrash-Mor due to the fact they still have a strong bond with Lobos who acts as somewhat of a diplomat between the two houses. Although Lobos may not be part of the house any more, he is still the Patriarch to Tomakai and the only person who knows where Tomaki is. they both may have a big part to play in years to come within the brotherhood.… But still to this day nobody knows how Tomakai feels regarding the death of his son even though he was trying to overthrow him.
And So the Story Continues………………
