Defenders of Truth

The Defenders of Truth are the zealots of Verena. They are passionate advocates of the right to freedom of speech, the right to possess books on any subject, and the academic freedom to pursue research into any field. Witch hunters think they are Chaos cultists in waiting, guilds see them as serious threats, and most lords think of them as dangerous agitators.

The Cult of Verena, as a whole, does not condemn the Defenders too strongly. Most priests agree with them in principle, but think the Defenders take things a bit too far. As a result, many Verenans are inclined to protect a Defender against peremptory arrest, something that can get them into a lot of trouble.

Defenders act first to prevent the destruction of knowledge, of any kind. They try to save at least one copy of any book condemned to be burned, and get it to a Verenan temple where it can be stored in safety. Something that exists in only one copy is very vulnerable, so some less-active Defenders spend much of their time making copies of saved tomes, for distribution to other temples. In some cases, reading the forbidden texts has a dreadful effect on the mind of the scribe, and the sect finds itself with a Mutant lunatic on its hands. 1a 1b

Some Defenders also believe those accused of heresy and other such offences of thought should be rescued. These people organise daring raids to save people from the pyre, or break them out of prison. Sometimes they find they have rescued Mutants, necromancers, or daemonologists, and then have to kill the criminal, but that is a risk they are willing to take. A few Defenders believe in taking a more active stand against those who would restrict freedom of thought; some of these people kill every witch hunter they can find. The cult does condemn such activities, as both unjust and likely to bring a world of trouble down on the cult as a whole.

Source
pg. 109
 * Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Tome of Salvation

pg. 110