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"These poor, simple folk - too fearful or too dull-witted to see the vulgarity and evil in their own midst. They wail and complain about my... uncompromising methods, but who among you can say that hanging half a village is a high price to pay for the assurance that corruption has been exposed and destroyed this day?"

—Ernst Traugott, Templar Witch Hunter[6a]
WHnt 05

An experienced witch hunter of the Empire

Templar Witch Hunters, officially designated the Ancient Initiatic and Holy Order of the Templars of Sigmar[5a] or often just called the Order of Sigmar, are the Imperial state-sanctioned witch hunters who serve the Cult of Sigmar.

Characterised by their tall, wide-brimmed hat, dark clothing, no-nonsense demeanour, and penchant for arresting and burning those who do not meet their rigorous standards of righteousness, few evoke terror in the guilty and the innocent like witch hunters. Much has been written of these dedicated individuals, and rumours swirl about them like the smoke from their pyres. But they conceal the truth behind a mask of competence and fiery zealousness.[4a]

Feared and respected, loved and hated, witch hunters are both the bane of Human civilisation and its salvation. Ruthless killers, they serve the interests of the Empire by putting torch to corruption wherever they find it. Anyone or anything they find that is unnatural, they oppose. Witches and warlocks, Hedge Wizards, sorcerers, mutants, deviants, blasphemers, Chaos Cultists, servants of Daemons, Chaos Spawn, Undead, sinners in general and anyone or anything else that does not conform to their conception of the good and righteous is cast down, the victim of another purging.[4a][4b] [2a]

Of the devout witch hunters, the Holy Order of the Templars of Sigmar has done more than any other group to ferment the gruesome and terrifying reputation enjoyed by all witch hunters. The broad-brimmed hat, brace of pistols and propensity towards mass burnings have all been "inspired" by this zealous group. Indeed, there are few who escape the suspicions of these witch hunters with the possible exception of other templars.[2a]

Long supported and funded by the Cult of Sigmar, these so-called "Templar Witch Hunters", a term that indicates their state-sponsored official status, are granted their powers by both the Sigmarite church and the government of the Empire. A templar's holy duty is to protect the Empire and its citizens from the Ruinous Powers, their allies and those who would serve them. Many witch hunters specialise in a particular field of investigation, and spend years, or even decades, travelling the Empire or even the wider Old World to track down all the members of a certain cult, or on the trail of a particular priest of a Dark God.[2a]

History[]

Origins[]

The Holy Order of the Templars of Sigmar traces its past back to Wolfgart Krieger, a man who stood at the side of Sigmar Heldenhammer as the founder of the Empire battled Nagash, the powerful Liche who was the creator of necromancy. For his bravery and unflinching resolve, Sigmar tasked Krieger with hunting down the followers of Nagash and all who would use Dark Magic to threaten the newborn Empire.[5b]

Founding[]

By the late second millennium IC, during the period known as the Age of Three Emperors, the Empire had languished in decline for nearly four hundred years. The numbers of daemonologists, necromancers, and Chaos Cults were growing with startling frequency, and the Empire, such as it was, proved powerless to stop the spread. With a weak and ineffectual leader on the throne, the people turned to the Cult of Sigmar for assistance. To meet the needs of the beleaguered Imperial Grand Provinces, Grand Theogonist Siebold II formed the Order of the Silver Hammer: a group of Warrior Priests of Sigmar and investigators who were committed to ferreting out the agents of Chaos. Armed with a letter of commission with the seal of the Grand Theogonist of Sigmar, they could reach anyone, anywhere.[4b]

For the next sixty years, these witch hunters were not regarded as a significant threat by the servants of Chaos, but they slowly expanded, building a network of spies and informants. Their reputation grew, and people began to fear their power. In response to the reckless destruction wrought by daemonologists and necromancers, the Grand Theogonist authorised the templars, as they were called, to use force in curbing the practice of all magic, ushering in a new era of brutal suppression of wizards in all of their forms.[4b]

With power inevitably comes corruption. The Templar Witch Hunters expanded their thin ranks by allowing nearly anyone who displayed sufficient religious dedication to join. And so, in the years that followed, they recruited uncontrollable zealots and men of low character to aid in the fight against Chaos. And then the Grand Theogonist dispatched the templars to cleanse the sinful city of Mordheim. Believing the Sisters of Sigmar -- the only order of priestesses to serve Sigmar in any official capacity at that time -- to be heretics and corrupted by the evil in the city, the Grand Theogonist branded these women heretics and excommunicated them from the cult. War raged for a year before a twin-tailed comet dropped from the heavens and wiped the newly renamed "City of the Damned" from the map.[4b]

Over the next three centuries, the Witch Hunters carried on as before, but the spread of Chaos proved too great a threat for them to contain. So terrible was the hold of the Ruinous Powers on the mortal world that in 2111 IC, the grand duke of Middenheim, who was also a witch hunter, had the entire town of Rotebach hanged, branding every inhabitant as a worshipper of Chaos. This event outraged the other cults of the Empire, and those of Ulric, Myrmidia, and others founded their own organisations to protect their congregations, though these never amounted to anything more than a few bands of poorly funded zealots.[4b]

Great War Against Chaos[]

However, in 2301 IC, the world changed drastically with the coming of the twelfth Everchosen of Chaos Undivided, Asavar Kul, which sparked the Great War Against Chaos. Once Magnus the Pious and his armies repulsed the horde, the newly-elected emperor was faced with the task of reuniting an Empire that had largely disintegrated over the previous centuries. To bring the unruly provinces back under the Imperial banner, Magnus bound all witch hunters under the control of the officer known as the "lord protector." This man would answer to both the emperor and the Cult of Sigmar. By partially secularising the Templar Witch Hunters, Magnus lessened any fears of an unchecked police force that would condemn followers of other gods to the same fiery deaths owed to mutants, Chaos Cultists and their ilk.[4b]

Once Magnus the Pious acknowledged the legitimacy of the Order of the Silver Hammer and bound it to the Imperial throne in addition to the Grand Theogonist, he made the Templar Witch Hunters the official state-sanctioned and funded inquisitors of the Empire. This granted the Templar Witch Hunters considerable power, placing them above their unsanctioned rivals in the other Imperial cults. Though the Order of Sigmar now has incredible authority, they are bound by Imperial law and must work within its boundaries.[4b]

However, Magnus was arguably the last strong emperor for nearly two hundred years, and through the ineptness or ignorance of his successors, the Templar Witch Hunters gradually slipped back to their old, abusive ways. Within a generation, the Order of Sigmar was burning and killing anyone it wished without regard to the law, and slipped from the emperor's control again. This continued until Volkmar von Hindenstern was selected to replace Grand Theogonist Yorri XV. Through the efforts of purer members of the Order of Sigmar, corruption within the Templar Witch Hunter organisation was revealed to Volkmar the Grim, who immediately took control over the unruly and violent faction.

Some whisper that the lord protector's post had been compromised by a hidden Chaos Cult that was responsible for the widespread slaughter that had gripped the Empire for years. Whatever the truth, the Grand Theogonist eliminated the lord protector position and created three new posts to replace it, titled "General of the South," "General of the North," and "General of the East." These Witch Hunter Generals controlled their territories with an iron grip, dispatching Templar Witch Hunters under their control to the dimmest reaches of the Empire.[4b]

At Present[]

The reforms Emperor Magnus the Pious wrought in their order charged Templar Witch Hunters to work within the law: they could no longer serve as prosecutor, jury, judge, and executioner, or, at least, not with the frequency and freedom that they had been used to. At present, they have the power to arrest any Imperial citizen they believe is guilty of witchery or Daemon-worship, and can call for that person to be tried at once -- a request very few town councils refuse. The accused has the right to a fair trial, although the definition of "fair" varies wildly from place to place.[2a]

The Templar Witch Hunters always serve as prosecutors in such a trial, and since there are no laws about sticking strictly to the evidence in a prosecution, some use oratory, implication, suspicion, and even veiled threats to persuade a lord, judge, or magistrate (and jury, if there is one) of the accused's guilt. If found guilty, the usual sentence for the accused is death by burning -- thought to be the only way to destroy the body and purge its foul spirit at the same time. No Templar Witch Hunter would ever use arcane magic to fulfil their duties.[2a]

Members of the Order of Sigmar are taught magic is a power of Chaos, and to use it against the thing that created it would be like fighting a fire by dousing it with oil. Partly as a result of this, many witch hunters believe all magic-users are tainted by Chaos in some way -- even Magisters of the Imperial Colleges of Magic.[2a]

To become a Templar Witch Hunter, a person must join one of the Order of Sigmar's chapter houses. There are many of them all over the Empire, but authorisations to join are not granted freely. Some chapters train Templar Witch Hunters and monitor them closely; others grant licences to anyone who seems qualified and motivated. In some of the northernmost regions of the Empire, Templar Witch Hunters are widely thought to be out of control, but then such are the dangers the Empire faces that these few think their actions wholly justified.[2a]

Organisation[]

The Templar Witch Hunters are actually true Imperial templars and members of the Holy Order of the Templars of Sigmar, more often simply known as the Order of Sigmar. The Order of Sigmar serves as one of the militant arms of the Cult of Sigmar and as a type of law enforcement organisation for the Empire as a whole. As such, the Order of Sigmar operates under the joint supervision of the Grand Theogonist of the Sigmarite church -- although the Grand Theogonist's many duties often makes this post more official than practical when dealing with day-to-day policy -- and the emperor.

This arrangement prevents either the church or the state from gaining too much power through misuse of the Templar Witch Hunters. Up until the deposing of Thaddeus Gamow, the order was led by an officer known as a "lord protector." Following Gamow's removal on suspicions of heresy, the Order of Sigmar was re-organised on a more decentralised plan; it was divided into the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts, with each district commanded by an officer known as a "witch hunter general." 

While each district and the chapter houses it is divided into are semi-autonomous in their activity, the order is generally led by a paramilitary hierarchy whose titles are determined by their responsibilities. These titles are, from highest to lowest, as follows:

  • Witch Hunter General - The witch hunter general is one of the three highest-ranking officers of the Order of Sigmar, responsible for overseeing an entire district of chapter houses.
  • Witch Hunter Captain – A witch hunter captain is an officer of the Order of Sigmar who is responsible for maintaining a single chapter house of Templar Witch Hunters within their district.
  • Witch Hunter Templar – A witch hunter templar is an agent of the Order of Sigmar, and is essentially the archetypal witch hunter lauded and feared in Imperial culture. Field agents operate rather autonomously, hunting down whatever targets they seek to destroy on their own, often accompanied by a small retinue of followers. However, templars do use the Order of Sigmar's chapter houses regularly as places to rest, resupply, share information, house prisoners, cooperate with other brothers or sisters of the order in need of assistance, and receive new orders from their superiors.
  • Apprentice – An apprentice is a trainee of the Order of Sigmar, assigned to a full witch hunter templar or a chapter house to learn the physical skills, spiritual discipline, and esoteric knowledge needed to seek out and destroy Chaos and other servants of evil as a full witch hunter.

In addition to apprentices, a Templar Witch Hunter might have many different kinds of followers in their retinue. Followers can include:

  • Mercenaries - Mercenaries are hired by Templar Witch Hunters to act as bodyguards and to provide additional military support.
  • Priests - Priests of any of the various Imperial cults can provide access to divine miracles and holy protection useful when fighting servants of Chaos, Daemons and the Undead.
  • Licensed Wizards - Templar Witch Hunters are rather divided about the use of magic. Many of the more conservative witch hunters view all magic as the work of Chaos and think the Empire would be a better place if every wizard were to be burnt. However, the more radical witch hunters argue that you need to fight fire with fire and bring along Licensed Wizards in their retinue to help them fight the supernatural threats of Chaos.
  • Zealots, Flagellants and other followers - Similar to their brothers-in-arms the Warrior Priests of Sigmar, Templar Wtch Hunters often attract and make use of particularly pious (or unhinged) believers of Sigmar in their retinue, both to help spread the correct doctrines of the faith regarding Chaos, mutants, heretics, and so forth, and also to lend their unique battle-frenzy to the cause.

In addition to the travelling retinues of the individual Templar Witch Hunter, the chapter houses of the Order of Sigmar require a large staff to keep the organisation functioning smoothly. Some of these civilian assistants include:

  • Preceptors - Preceptors are often priests or monks of Sigmar, who help teach and train apprentice Templar Witch Hunters.
  • Chief Librarian, Scribes and Sacristans - These learned individuals are responsible for recording, maintaining, and researching the vast amount of written records that the Order of Sigmar compiles. Everything from forbidden texts that list the true names of Greater Daemons to the transcripts of interrogations, the mission reports of returning templars, and many more mundane documents besides are stored in the libraries of the Order of Sigmar's chapter houses. These stores of information are one of the mightiest weapons the order possesses to wield against the minions of the Ruinous Powers.
  • Sister-Aids, Artisans, Labourers and Domestics - Sister-aids are the nurses, often priestesses or nuns of Shallya, who provide medical care for wounded or diseased witch hunters and their staffs; artisans and labourers keep the buildings of the Order of Sigmar in good repair, and the domestics keep them clean.
  • Cellarers and Animal Trainers - Cellarers are responsible for the provisioning of the Order of Sigmar's chapter houses and the maintenance of their gaol cells, and animal trainers are responsible for the keep of the various horses, messenger pigeons, bloodhounds, and other useful animals needed by the order's witch hunters.

Sources[]

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 37
  • 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Realms of Sorcery (RPG)
    • 2a: pg. 133
  • 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
    • 3a: pg. 31
  • 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Corruption (RPG)
    • 4a: pg. 123
    • 4b: pg. 124
  • 5: The Witch Hunter's Handbook (Background Book)
  • 6: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (PC Game)
    • 6a: War Career: Witch Hunter
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