A Summary of the Red Order

The Red Order, a splinter faction of the Order which rules over the human holdings of the Mainland, has a singular goal and purpose: the destruction of all things non-human.
When the Order began to be more accepting of Monsters as they better understood Corruption and the Demonic threat, not everyone went along willingly. Some renounced the Order as having become heretical altogether, and groups of Paladins, Inquisitors, and other assorted holy men and women left the Order; these people believed that the only way the land would be cleansed and safe was if it was purified in the blood of Monsters and those who had fallen for their new wiles and charms.
Such it is that the Red Order is now spoken of in hushed whispers among humans and Monsters alike. Where settlements may once have lived in fear of even uncorrupted Monsters coming to steal away their people and raid their food stores, now they live in an unspoken fear that the Paladins clad in scarlet will raze everything they hold dear and put them to the sword.



Religious Views and Structure
The Red Order has sought out the tomes and language of the Order from eras gone by. They use olden term for various things - instead of a Chief Deity or the Heavens, they use the term "Overgod", and believe that they are here to wreak holy vengeance upon whomever opposes humanity through the Red Order's Paladins. The term "Holy Fire" applies more literally for the Red Order than others - in those chosen, or who's belief is strong enough to make magical powers manifest, the Red Order do bring about destructive flame, in stark contrast to the healing light or heavenly lightning that is normally bought about by Paladins of the Order.

Instead of Living Saints, those chosen "Heroes" by zeal or the Almighty, the Red Order call them Archangels. Only one such Archangel is among the Red Order's ranks - refer to the "Organisation" section for more information.
The leader of the Red Order's religious structure is known as the "High Confessor", and through him or her the Red Order will be given their doctrine - as the High Confessor is considered to have a direct line with the Overgod. As one might imagine, this doctrine is far more on the side of a vengeaful and powerful God than one of redemption and forgiveness.

Unlike the regular Order, the Red Order do not obey the teachings of the Brotherhood of Man - their teachings are of perseverance, of giving everything you have for as long as you can in service of the Overgod and their servants, no matter the odds. While this view does apply domestically - the idea that if one is devoted to the Overgod, their rewards will come in the next life - it's focus is much more applicable to the military, which is the emphasis of the Red Order: a warrior is expected to give their life and everything besides in battle, to fight with fury for as long as they can draw breath, and even upon defeat, to give their body and life if they must, and become an explosive conduit for the holy fury of the heavens. It should be noted that such a sacrifice is to be an absolute last resort, only to be used when facing one's certain and imminent demise or Corruption, and that to do so before such a time would be considered a sin as it deprives the Overgod of your continued service in life.

One thing the Red Order has retained is a surprising amount of egalitarianism from the baseline Order; there is no segregation of genders or of human races, as religious doctrine and text on these matters is clear and unambiguous. What they lack, however, is the tolerance of other creeds and cultures; while humans may all be the Overgod's chosen, those who do not follow or convert are enemies of heaven, and thus would be given no quarter.

The Red Order maintains the division into three core sectors for it's religious figures: the Paladins for military matters, the Inquisition for domestic matters, and the Clergy for political and religious matters (for, to the Red Order, they are one and the same). As with many other things, the Red Order call Paladins something different: Crusaders, as they see themselves embroiled in the midst of a Holy War they will fight to win, with aggression and action, seeing the defensive Paladin of the Order as being too passive. In common parlance, however, the term "Paladin" may well still be used among members of the Red Order.
As with the rest of Order lands, cremation is considered the preferred and default method of corpse disposal, but exceptions may be made based on local customs or personal choice.



Organisation
The Red Order, when it was formed, was comprised of two main classes of people - Order higher-ups and boots-on-the-ground Paladins, both of whom have differing ways in which they work toward the Red Order's goals.
Among where these two overlapped was the Living Saint Uriel, whom once led a troop of Paladins along the most dangerous territories to repel Demonic incursion and, before that, among the most dangerous Monsters and harshest terrain in Order Lands. Unwilling to lay down his arms to that which had taken so many of his men's lives and whom he had dedicated so much to fighting, he joined the Red Order, and leads it's warband along the border territories, near-indiscriminate in their annihilation of settlements and people there, considered sympathisers of Monsters at best and actively tainted with Corruption at worst - all fair game for meeting the end of a sword. This is the Red Order's near only active military force that fights in such a traditional manner - marching, clanking suits of armour, weapons and torches raised, and the occasional bang of gunpowder, holy fire, or the Red Order's notorious explosive runes. They carry their own banner, their own uniform, and their own insignia - they even have the Red Order's sole official holding, a Citadel deep within incredibly dangerous territory, and removed since the schism from nearly any maps.
What they share with the rest of the Red Order, however, is a predilection for secrecy and guerrilla warfare. Being entirely nomadic, this band is never in one place for very long, will strike swiftly and without error, and vanish again into the wilderness where none but the hardiest can follow them.

This, secrecy, is truly the Red Order's greatest strength. They hold no territory, they cannot be conquered or seiged out. They have no army to march against, no palace to storm, or citizens to convert. They are comprised of those hidden through-out human society at large, unspoken, unseen, and dangerous: which is just how the Red Order likes it. The psychological element of any one person potentially being a member of the Red Order has not gone unnoticed by it's members, and is often used to effect of making those they consider enemies fight one another in paranoia or fear.
Several remain within the Order itself, at all levels from being within normal Paladin troops to the Inquisition and even supposedly among the ruling council; all quietly working to filter funds, resources, or manpower to the Red Order with small tricks, aiding wherever they can; interfering with records, sending copies of intelligence to their contacts, and most importantly: spreading their ideas, quietly, to those who will listen, in the hopes of one day upstaging the Order and becoming the mainstream belief once again. Branded a heresy by the Order at large, the Red Order's supporters are careful to not let their intentions or beliefs be known; lest their lives be forfeit, one way or another.

Grassroots support is also vital to the Red Order. Whilst official Order doctrine may dictate it's followers to believe something, not all will go along willingly; to these people, mostly in Order heartlands whom have never laid eyes upon a Monster but remember the old stories and the fear that used to surround them, who remember the fall of Kingdoms at Demonic hands, the Red Order offer them others who believe as they do. A farmer will give some produce, an innkeep may offer a meeting place in the basement, and a daughter who goes off to "live with the convent" may indeed take up a sword in the Red Order's name. All people provide something to the Red Order, and when called upon, will give resources or action to the cause; resulting, directly or otherwise, in the spill of blood more often than not.



Tactics
The Red Order carry the doctrine of the Order with them in combat - use of specialised teams for fighting specific Monsters, squads of single gender for specific situations and mixed depending on what's called for, the use of equipment and numerical advantage to fight physically superior foes, and use of zeal-induced magic among Paladins to their advantage, to name but a few - their unique situation has resulted in being forced to adapt, and not just with the increased used of strike-and-fade attacks.
The Red Order have a far greater emphasis on secrecy, as discussed above, and this extends to espionage and intelligence. The Red Order can go quiet for months, even years, only to tear through their targets like a hurricane with preperation and precision; the image the Order paints of the Red Order as brutal savages betrays the cunning that goes into the planning and execution of their operations. If the Red Order has learned one thing in it's lifetime, it's patience - cells may go dormant for years if they believe they are under investigation or watch. The enthusiasm and dedication the Red Order have is reserved for the battlefield, not the moments leading up to it.

Magically and equipmentally, the Order does not differ from the things the Order has for them - after all, much of their armoury and toolkit is quite literally re-purposed from Order-made things - but one thing amongst all else does stand out: the Red Order's infamous explosive runes. These runes, carved into arms and armour, or amongst the more dedicated carved directly into the skin, are set to trigger in 3 circumstances: Corruption taking ahold of somebody, or upon their mental desire to be activated - which, in most cases, will be to evade capture or as a final suicide attack if the user falls in battle. These explosions are incendiary, leaving a scorched ground - and often, scorched bodies of the foe. The user's body is atomised, little more than dust remaining of them. Most often, these explosions aren't very large, to avoid collateral damage, but may be made larger by simply adding more runes to one's person, if the situation is desirable.

The only other difference of note is the magic that Paladins of the Red Order possess - as mentioned previously, this more often than not takes the form of fire, and lacks any of the healing prowess practitioners of the regular Order may have thanks to their powers in favour of greater destructive tendencies. A Red Order Paladin would not smite a single foe, but burn them and any fortifications nearby.

The Red Order's fury and hatred of Monsters and Demons, quite ironically, makes them among the most qualified to fight them, both on and off the battlefield. Several of the mind-altering effects and powers of Demons and Monsters, Corrupt and un-Corrupt cannot function when there is no doubt to prey upon, no buried love or desires for their kind in the hearts of the Red Order. Even Corruption itself has a much harder time passively turning those truly devoted to the Red Order's cause to it's way of life, for any vices they may have for Corruption to prey upon are drowned out by the bloody chorus of the soul of one of the Red Order. The lack of mercy the Red Order shows to Demons and Monsters also makes them, in some circumstances, more effective combatants generally - the Corrupted can walk away from many serious injuries and recover, but with no hesitation, there are far less injuries, but far less survivors, of a fight ending in the Red Order's favour. Similarly, their willingness to sacrifice their lives means that Demons cannot keep them and forcibly Corrupt them, making the recuperation of losses much much harder when compared to fighting the Order properly. Indeed, whilst the Order may well be adopting what is best to fight Demons in a pragmatic and even moral sense, were the entirety of humanity to be as wholeheartedly convinced of their ideals and steadfast in their beliefs as the Red Order, the current Demon Lord may find herself as being one of the least effective in history due to her decreased emphasis on straight up fighting the forces of humanity.



The Red Order Abroad
Whilst the Red Order is stationed on the Mainland, thought has been given to the other major powers across the land.
Misceus, with it's co-existence stance on Monsters and comparably weaker state, is an anathema to the Red Order. If and when the Demonic threat is dealt with, Misceus would surely be the target of a Crusade, and genocide of all Monsters living under it's reign.

Zipangu's Monsters, unaffected as of yet by Corruption and thus enjoying a friendlier relationship with the humans there, is seen in a similar light; but, without the infiltration of a major power structure and much lessened grass roots support, the very few Red Order missionaries sent out have found little success; the existence of any "Red Samurai" any time soon is unlikely. Were the Red Order to win their war on the mainland, Zipangu and all it's inhabitants would be given an ultimatum, as so many others before them have: "Convert or die."

The Mist Continent, embroiled as it is in it's war, is a dangerous place for the Red Order. Were they not so busy with their own problems, they would likely provide assistance to the anti-Monster element in the area, indirectly. How long this allegiance would last with heathens is another question...

Overall, the Red Order is far more concerned with the state of the Mainland, and cleansing it of all it sees as an affront to the Overgod: all that which is non-human, and after, all those whom do not bend their knees to the Overgod.



"Monsters will fight Corruption, if a threat it is to their way
So keep vigilant with them for the monsters they fear
lest the knights clad in red come riding
and burn your life away."
- Unknown, common among soldiers and civilians on border territories, whom work with Monsters more often than most. First heard during the Reformation Era.