Hey all, I've started a new D&D campaign and I was wondering a few of you out there might like to help me out with something.

There are two ancient 'Orders', lost to the pages of history that I'll be using in this game: The Order of the Phoenix and The Order of the Dragon.

The problem is I'm not very good at coming up with creative back-stories for sects, alliances, and societies in my games. The best I can do most of the time is a shoddy thieves guild.

So I'm asking if any of you out there (with info supplied by me) would like to take a shot at helping to 'flesh out' these two lost orders.

You will receive a small measure of fame (four players and myself will be grateful) and that’s about it.

I wouldn't mind giving it a go. Depending on how much you want written, when you need it, and if you need any rule-specific info. I don't know D&D from a hole in the wall so the last would be either a deal breaker or at least require another person to add to what I wrote ...

Eh, I could help you out Bradford, DnD is my Alma Mater of RP games.

But I tend to suck at writting long paragraphs of fluff text, we could complement each other if needed.

That could certainly work depending on what Revenant is thinking of.

It would help to know how things stand between the two orders. Are they friendly? Rivals? Bitter enemies? Can someone belong to both? What are the obligations and goals of these two orders? How does one join? Are these two orders well known or secret?

Can we have some more information?
Are the Orders in opposition?
Are they diametrically opposed (Good/Evil)(Law/Chaos)
Are there linking factors (race/alignment/religion) for the Orders?
Could the strength of the Orders allow for dedicated Priestly spellcasters?
Do the Orders have Interplanar ties? Are they in opposition to Extraplanar forces?
Have the Orders strayed from their original ethos?

Well, ya goobers, I was kinda waiting for to see if people were interested before I posted any info. No point in a long ass procudtion if no one was interested, ya know?

Now that there seems to be a fire lit, I'll post a lil more about it when get home.

Great questions by the way Raven, very good questions. I'll get you a hook up a bit later.

No. They are sworn brothers. The Order of the Phoenix were the theurgists and divine spell casters. The Order of the Dragon were the Knights and warriors.


The Order of the Phoenix were all Druids, some multiclass (Fochlucan Lyrist was popular) but the dominant class is Druid.

The Order of the Dragon were always melee classes, any are possible but Knight and Ranger were the most common.


Only duty. Both Orders were charged with keeping 'The Black King' sealed away.

Aside from that all those in the order are born with a mark (about 3"-4" in diameter).

The members of the Order of the Phoenix possess a birthmark that appears like a phoenix rising from its ashes.

The Order of the Dragon possess a mark that appears to be a side view of a dragon curled in the fetal position, the tip of the nose and the tail almost close the circle.


Certainly, all casters possessed Druid levels, other classes were acceptable providing the member remained true to the order. The order itself did not venerate any Deity, in fact all religions were welcome providing they kept the precepts of the Order in mind and they did not violate their Druid alignment restrictions (any neutral).


No real ties. The gods pay them no heed what so ever, and certainly don't owe them any favors.

For sealing away 'The Black King' both orders were hunted to extinction by armies of Baatezu. Through out the millennia no one knows the orders ever existed save for a select few historians and secret societies.


They performed their duties proudly, and then seemed to just vanish...


Yes and no. While the Orders accepted everyone who bore the mark (which could be of any alignment) no one was under any obligation to get along yet they all recognized they had a duty to perform: to destroy 'The Black King'



Technically The Order of the Phoenix and the Order of the Dragon were the same thing with two separate names to classify the difference between their professions (Order of the Dragon members never had Druid levels).


To destroy 'The Black King', however he was too powerful. The best they were able to do was seal his soul within a towering crystal and entomb it in the bottom of Lake Rytarr.

To ensure no one would shatter that seal they kept watch over the lake and its environs for several thousands of years. Nearly 1,000 years ago the last of the Orders (a Phoenix Druid, the Knights were slain first) fell to the Baatezu. Since his death, no others have been born with 'the mark'.


When you were born with the mark (one or the other) a representative of either order would find you and simply explain why you have it, and what your duty is now that you know its purpose. As simplistic as it sounds no one regardless of his or her alignment ever refused 'the call'.


The knowledge of both orders is lost to all but the most learned of sages. The information that we work on here in this thread will act as a hand out to one of the players. Instead of letting them know everything I'm going to keep the info as lost as possible.

{this is all just off the cuff}

I can see these orders starting out in the Dawn of Time (or at least the Dawn of the current Age of Man). Shamanistic Druids and Barbaric fighters resisting the imposition of a Great Evil upon the land. They destroy the physical remains of The Black King, trap its soul, and sit back to celebrate. The set up a watch on the barrow they've erected and celebrate.

Move forward a hundred years. A corruptive presence has infected the Watchers of the Barrow and the group is nearly destroyed and the Black King freed. Only then do the forces aligned the Black King realize how much trouble they are in, how powerful the Black King is from beyond the grave, and how other groups will continue to be corrupted until the Black King is freed.

They hatch upon a plan. All the Druids and allied spellcasters get together from all across the land. They are joined by the most clever, bravest, and skilled warriors as well. They perform a great ritual taking years to complete. When they are done, the first Pheonix- and Dragon-born come into existance. The warriors and Druids gather them in secret to form the first members of the two orders. For the first time the world saw the Phoenix Rising and the Circling Dragon.

They inform these first members of their purpose and of how they will be the only ones capable of resisting the power of the Black King and its allies. The first task for the two Orders was to move the tomb. Then they set about the delicate task of creating the first secret societ(ies), their own duties, and figuring out how they would counter the actions of the Black King.

Centuries taught them many things. They learned how to nurture different forms of spellcasting and how to disrupt dark cults through precise, discreet actions. They learned how to become trusted councilors, judicious spies, and dedicated watchers. Whether glorious generals, village cobblers, or wandering woodsmen, the members of the two Orders discovered they were all true to their vows. Their sacred promise remained their unifying force and proved stronger than any of their differences.

The forces arrayed around the Black King didn't like being stymed. When the comfortable exertions of corruption failed them, and failed them they did, things changed. The Orders remained immune to all attempts to destroy them from within, so the dark forces decided that the Orders themselves had to go.

It began as a shadow war and would end up with an army of Baatezu crushing the life out of the final Guardian of the Order of the Phoenix. In between, down the long road of centuries, the Orders fought against mounting opposition. Their foes acted in greater openness and this is how most often the existance of the two Orders came to the knowledge of the world.

Still, all things come to an end. The Order fell. No more Phoenix- or Dragon-born came into the world. There was no one left to take up were their fallen brethen had left off. And what of the tomb of the Black King? The Crystal Prison at the bottom of Lake Rytarr?

Taking some license here ...

Millenia ago the land was ruled by a great King. He was wise and benevolent. Under his rule the kingdom flourished. Two orders were created under his riegn to safeguard the kingdom. The Order of the Dragon was the Right hand of the King, gauntleted and strong. The Order of Pheonix was his left hand, wise and just. These orders formed his elite personal gaurd and his greatest advisors in the wway of magic and the natural order respectively. Magically bound to service of the kingdom and the land these men and their decendants were marked for service with magical birthmarks that would lead them to the orders.

Sadly the King was unable to sire an heir. Knowing that among his advisors and generals there were none that could take his crown and hold his Kingdom together under fair rule the King set out to extend his lifespan until such time as a new ruler could take his place and rule with both strength and wisdom. Decades turned to centuries and the King delved deeper into magical lore to prolong his life and his reign.

But the King's one flaw was hubris and though he was able to extend his life greatly he was unable to find a replacement worthy of the throne in his mind. Eventually life magic and herbalism, gave way to alchemy, sacrifice and the black arts. Little by little the King's soul was darkened and then torn. The people began to rebel for they saw the evil brewing within their once great king. The Orders were insulated from these rebellions by the King who had long since formed a Cabal of Necromancers to help him prolong his life through death magic.

Soon the animal sacrifices were not enough to sustain the King and the Cabal turned to human sacrifice of the rebels to feed the King, eventually entire villages were consumed to feed the King enough life essence to continue his rule.

After a thousand years the Kingdom had fallen into darkness. The Black King, as he was now known, ruled with an iron will. Any who dared disobey him were consumed body and soul by the King adding their life to his own. The Black King’s dark magic laid waste to entire regions, draining all of the life essence from them to feed his hunger. The Orders, finally understanding that the King was now the greatest enemy of the both the Kingdom and the land itself rose up and destroyed the Black King and the Cabal.

But the Black King survived death, existing as a spirit of death. Members of his Cabal were able to flee and continue their worship of their dark lord. In the meantime the Orders were able to bind the Black King’s soul to monolith of crystal and to secret away this tomb beneath the dead lake Rytarr. The Cabal would align itself with the armies of Baatezu and hunt down the members of the two Orders, killing the bloodlines off so that no new members would be born and the orders would die out.

It seemed like they won, the Black King was defeated. But an oracle gave warning that one day the Black King would rise again, but would fall if two great armies, bearing the banners of the Phoenix and of the Dragon did face him in final battle.

Great mystical oaths were sworn, forging the two orders. When one member fell, the oath passed down the bloodline to his son, in unbroken chain.

Except someone figured you could break the chain by killing the family first. Many died. Warnings became stories, told in taverns by bards and storytellers.

But not all the chains were broken. Some survived, living and training in secret; others ignorant of their history.