Following the destruction of the 4 dragons of the southern Midrealms the Order concentrated on helping the new Kingdom of Farlond consolidate and expand its control in the south. This continued until the mysterious and tragic incidents of 850 when the Order was destroyed just after the conquest of Blar. Many of the knights participated in the conquest of Blar, which at the time was in the grip of an evil diabolical cult, headed by the Duke of Blar. Blar's main population center was conquered in the spring of 850 and the knights rode into the town in a mighty procession. Almost immediately they began the task of purging the evil cult from the land. As part of this operation the Order's operatives discovered the cult's headquarters below a temple of Omotnoi in Blar, where they recovered the PigIdol . This was a fateful event as the idol proceeded to corrupt the mind of the field commander, Captain Hollant.
When several priests of Klay attempted to have the idol destroyed Hollant tricked them and had them murdered, deceiving his superiors into believing that the idol had been destroyed using a forged letter. After subverting some of his subalterns Hollant returned to the Orders headquarters with the idol in the fall of 850. Within 2 months its influence subtly corrupted the order such that a minor doctrinal dispute and several rather mundane rivalries and minor disputes were amplified into a wave of mayhem. Armed groups of knights assaulted one another, murders were committed, and other depraved acts began to occur in the ranks. Finally fighting broke out between two factions which threatened the security of the town of Cuivaran itself and the Eldar Lady Yllethendian stepped in with fey magic and her elite household force. The entire order was decimated and expelled from the town. Meanwhile all its chapters in other locations either were closed or were severed from the Order.
The survivors of the debacle in Cuivaran were able to find refuge in a keep, GriffinHold , in the southern part of Farlond . Now held in deep suspicion and still in the thrall of the idol they could do nothing but hole up in their final refuge. It is not certain exactly what happened to them at GriffinHold after this. There was a fairly long period of peace during the late 800's. The place gradually attained a greater and greater air of unsavoriness and decrepitude, but its inhabitants paid their scutage and other duties as required, otherwise keeping to themselves. At some point around the time of the collapse of the Kingdom of Farlond the surrounding forest simply swallowed up GriffinHold , its tiny forest village was abandoned, and the saga of the knights apparently ended.
Indeed the structure of the Order was destroyed in 850. In truth the Kings of Farlond had grown somewhat nervous of the power of the Order in any case, and took advantage of its breakdown to restore various holdings, charters, etc it held to royal control. While the Order wasn't officially banned it was effectively disbanded and faded from memory. However a few priests and paladins who had not become corrupted by the idol continued to maintain some of its traditions. To this day the Temple of Klay in Olethia still confirms paladins according to its practices. It is unlikely that the Order will ever be revived in its old form, but some of these traditionalists may one day form a new Order on the traditions of the old. Copyright © 2022 Tod G. Harter. All rights reserved. No unauthorized distribution without the express written permission of the copyright holder. This document was prepared using Hairball version 0.5.1 on 2022-02-26 License