Officially endorsed by the Church of their God, the Order became a favored charity across many lands and grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights in their distinctive white mantles with red cross were among the best fighting units of the times. Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout many kingdoms, and built many fortifications across the Holy Land.
The Templars' success was tied closely to the holy wars then called the Crusades; when the Crusaders suffered defeat and lost the Holy Land, support for the Order faded. So great was the power of the Templar at this time that even kings became jealous of them and feared them. Rumors about the Templars' secret rites created mistrust, and a King, who’s name is lost to history, and was deeply in debt to the Order, began pressuring the Leader of the church to take action. The King had many of the Order's members arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. The Church, under continuing pressure from this King, disbanded the Order.
The King thought that he had won, that the Templar treasure would be his, and as he raided the Templar headquarters, he found that all the records and more importantly the treasure had been removed. His deputies, as they moved to seize the Templar fleet, the largest in all the known lands, had already set sail. Where either had gone was a mystery.
The truth of the matter is that the Templar were taken from those lands and transported to the world of Otara by the God Moranthis. Dhelcrist, a land of the followers of Moranthis had been beset by attacks for nearly 2 centuries and could not hope to survive much longer. Their god decided to take a hand in their salvation and searched for a means to safeguard his people. He found those means in the Order of the Knight Templar.
Assuming a more familiar form that the Templar would recognize, he appeared in the dreams of the knights and indeed they did recognize their god. He told them that he had watched the plight that had befallen them and that their sacrifices in his name would not be in vain. He promised that he would deliver them unto a new land where they would be free of the persecutions of those who had betrayed them. He commanded that all that remained of the order as well as their treasures and amassed wealth be gathered and their Fleet set sail. He then told them that upon the third day of their voyage, he would deliver them to their new land. He then told them that although their salvation was at hand, there was a price to be paid, but one they were overly qualified to pay. They must save the peoples of the promised land from the ravages of the invading monsters and demons that threatened to destroy them and the lands they would soon inherit, and then once saved they must rule over the lands in fairness and kindness and help them prosper. Each knight of the order thus visited agreed. Within 2 weeks the vast fleet of the Templar, loaded with the entire wealth of the templar and it’s knights, save for those incarcerated and unable to join their brethren set sail as instructed. 3 days later a massive rift was opened before the mighty fleet and the ships sailed through and found themselves on a vast ocean near the coast of a strange land.
That they were indeed on a new world was immediately evident as this world had several moons. They looked upon the land before them in wonder and Moranthis appeared before then in the skies and cried down to them.
“Here now the voice of your God. This is now your place and the lands you see ahead are the holy lands of Dhelcrist. In this land I am called Moranthis. From this time forth you too shall call me such. Go forth Holy Templars of Moranthis and save my peoples and thus be one with this world.”
Within seconds many of the knights and priests fell to knees in awe as the power of Moranthis filled them. When they arose they knew that they had been accepted as the first Paladins and Priests of Moranthis. The order to make for the Land and dock were given and the vast fleet came finally to rest.
Within 5 years, Dhelcrist was saved and the Templar began the task of rebuilding. Back to Top