Order of the Nail
Members of the Hellknight Order of the Nail see civilized society as an ideal and seek to unite all people within their cultural baseline. They also seek to destroy anyone who does not accept Chelaxian culture along with the wild beasts that threaten the safety of civilization.
- Creed: "Savagery must be quelled, in the land, home, and mind."
- Symbol: thick nails forming a sunburst
- Armor Features: breastplate emblazoned with a fiendish face, horned helm
- Favored Weapon: lance or halberd
- Reckoning: Piercing one's flesh with sharp metal.
Known Members
Tenants
- I will strike against civilization’s foes, braving both thicket and darkness.
- I will rid the world of threats to civilization and make it fit for the law to flourish.
- I will fear no creature, though the enemies of order are terrible.
- I will not be merciful, though the enemies of order may bear familiar guises—and may even be individuals I have considered dear.
- I will seek allies and advantage, confounding luck with wisdom.
- I will be the face that monsters dread: fierce, sharp, and unflinching.
History
One of the original seven orders of Hellknights founded in 4638 AR, the Order of the Nail was coaxed to relocate to Varisia in 4682 AR by Korvosa's Queen Domina. Although the belief of the Queen was that her invitation and generosity would make the Hellknights indebted to the crown, this was not the case, and the government has since held a decades-old grudge against the Order. The Hellknights instead pursue their own agenda and follow their own ideals of law and justice. Even so, they have aided the city on several occasions (after being well-compensated) and their subjugation of the surrounding wilds have been of assistance to the Korvosan crown.
Hellknight Hill
Years after Breachill’s foundation, the knoll’s natural defensibility made it an obvious spot for an order of the infamous Hellknights to build a keep. Hellknights are dedicated to the brutal pursuit of absolute law, and the Order of the Nail in particular is sworn to combat what its members call the regressive mires of the wild. This order built its headquarters, Citadel Altaerein, atop the rise, and the site has been known to the locals as Hellknight Hill ever since.
When the Hellknights dug into the hill to excavate crypts, vaults, and dungeons for their fortress, they discovered the ruins of Alseta’s Ring, yet they never deciphered the purpose of the long-inactive elf gates. In time, the Hellknights abandoned Citadel Altaerein for a much larger and better-funded home to the northwest in Varisia, leaving Hellknight Hill’s fortress mostly abandoned. For a few years, the Hellknights kept a small contingent of guardians to monitor the premises. But as their missions in Varisia mounted, the Order of the Nail abandoned even this effort, and the citadel began to fall into disrepair when its last caretaker left nearly a decade ago.
