Organization

Like most other Concords, the Pardoners are a broken entity. Each Necropolis has its own body - known as a Chapter - but they are concerned only with their own welfare, and not those of other cities. There's no sense in splitting off and providing a weaker front to the enemy: If the Chapter two cities over falls, their charges will just have to look to The Order for their souls.

That said, there is a central authority of sorts to the Pardoners, but it remains an informational one. A group of ancient, dedicated researchers known as the Curia maintains the Shadow Library, somewhere in Italy. Their purpose is to collect all known lore about Shadows and the Damned, as well as tactical information, uses of Castigation and anything else that could be of value.

Should another event like the Sundering take place, or a Storm completely erase all information from the minds of Pardoners, it is hoped that the Shadow Library will remain as testament to what they learned, and what they did. It may be a vain hope, but the effort must be made.

In the meantime, Chapters may send emissaries to the Shadow Library to request information, or deliver it. The members of the Curia are not eager to let anything out of their grasp - much less let people walk out with it in their minds - but if the situation is desperate enough, they may yet relent.

 

Chapterhouses

The Chapter is based out of a Haunt known as a Chapterhouse. They prefer it to be as strong and scary a Haunt as possible, so as to keep out both the living and the Storms. However, they prefer that the Haunt be a Ghost Haunt, and not "owned" by any member of the Chapter, as it would be compromised were that member to fall to the Enemy.

Every Chapterhouse has a Chapel, which is where the Pardoners go to have their Tainted Essence leeched from them, and be given their orders, lessons or tactical briefings. There is also a Foundry, where the Pardoners work their Shaping on the carcasses of the Damned they bring back.

It's also common practice to have a "Reservoir" locked up in the house, somewhere. This is a chained, gagged and lobotomized Damned who acts as the dumping ground for their Tainted Essence. If the Chapter's careful, a Reservoir will last for decades before finally needing to be replaced. However, once they lose their usefulness, they tend to explode, which means that watching the Reservoir for leaks is a constant duty.

As the Pardoners do not bother to play the Game of Houses, they maintain their Chapterhouse anywhere they like, much as they do their individual Haunts. No one from the other Concords bothers to give them much of a hassle, if any, and no one in their right mind would try to take it from them, either.

... But There's Always One, Isn't There?

The enmity between the Haunters and the Pardoners is legendary: they hate one another more than Freewraiths hate The Order, and the Pardoners actually detest the Haunters more than the Dark Walkers.

As far as the Pardoners are concerned, the Haunters are traitors: little better than the Damned. They've been given the gift {or curse} of a second chance, and they waste it by doing half the work of the Enemy. And if that wasn't bad enough, they're constantly trying to get new members, too...

So the Pardoners treat the Haunters just like they treat the Damned. They won't listen to their pleas or hear a word about mercy. They won't even bother to Castigate them - what would be the point? The only thing they're "good" for is termination - preferably with as few bullets as possible.

The Haunters aren't above making trouble for the Pardoners, since they know they have a measure of safety in their own part of town. And it's only the danger of high attrition, and the way the Haunters tend to be "Contained" in one corner of the Necropolis, that keeps a Chapter from marching on them outright.

But whenever one of their members spies the other, the guns and Arts come out. Neither one stops until the other is destroyed. And then they do something really memorable with the body, just to say "This is what you get" to the other side.


Back