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History
The Order was founded during the Spirit War between the tellurians and the trolls . Some trolls believed that the troll generals were too soft on the tellurian. They believed, that by honouring their real ancestors they would be granted the strength to defeat the tellurian. Thus, they started worshipping Wana and following her ways. The gained a small but very loyal group of followers, whom carried out special missions. They are rumoured to be responsible for the deaths of several high ranking tellurian during that time, although there is no real proof to be found as the Order works very secretive.
After the Spirit War had stopped, the Order still continued to assault the tellurian for some time, claiming that they were just regaining their strength and would strike with renewed strength at the trolls. When it became clear after a while that the tellurian were not going to strike at the trolls again, the order begrudgingly stopped their attacks. Some people believed it fell apart shortly after that, because there was no sign of any activities for quite a long time.
However, when the first hostilities started between the tellurian and the Elves , there soon were signs that the Order still existed and was stronger than ever. Although most of the cult's victims during that time were elves, there were also several Fae and also Midgardian people that were killed. There were rumours that the assassination of the midgardians caused a lot of internal conflict and fighting, resulting in a loss of members whom believed that they should only strike at their enemies, not at neutral people. The rumours also tell that even though they were allowed to leave in the beginning, eventually all these dissidents were killed by members of the Order.
After the internal struggle, a training scheme was established for new members to protect the Order. New members were also only allowed when they were invited by other Order members. This ensured that there would never again be such a huge dispute between members. Over time, the Order grew to its former strength and past it. New members from several races, including orcs , humans and even smart ogres joined the Order. It became a force to be reckoned with.
These days, if you are the target of the Order, you will almost certainly be dead unless you have a lot of money to buy guards or know a way to disappear from the world's surface. The Order is efficient and quick in dealing with those that deserve the Order's wrath. The Order has been relatively quiet for the last few years and although the Order is rumoured to have internal conflicts again, this is highly unlikely. It is more likely that they are preparing a big assault.
Goals and Beliefs
The Order of the Executioner has one main goal. This goal is to create as much chaos as possible in both Asgard and Midgard, so that these states will collapse upon themselves. Members of the Order believe that Wana will make Utgard like a heaven on Heimr if they can only remove the disbelievers. They refer to this as the coming of Guinee. The people of Asgard, Midgard and, to a lesser degree, those Utgardians who deal with the Asgardians and Midgardians peacefully, are, in the minds of the members of the Order, weaklings who need to be eradicated like a plague. The more these people suffer, the closer Guinee will come. This belief is where the Order's name and symbol come from, as they believe they are the executioners of the weak. The members of the Order give their lives willingly for Wana and the Order. They believe, that when they die they will wait next to Wana until the day that Guinee comes. If ever a member of the Order fails and returns alive, he will be exiled and hunted. Failing is a sign of weakness and if you are weak, you need to be eradicated like the rest of the weaklings.
The members of the Order sometimes refer to themselves as "The Chosen Ones". This is mostly a remnant of old times, when the Order had only troll members. When the Order was created, its founders believed that they should return to worship their "real" ancestors, by which they meant Wana, as she is the one that created the troll race. They believed that they were chosen to carry out this message to the other trolls. Another thing that remained is the way they refer to Wana. They do not simply call her Wana, they call her "The Great Mother", from the belief that it was her who created (gave birth to) the trolls. Although the beliefs of the Order have shifted over time, their devotion to Wana is still as strong or possibly even stronger.
Even though the Order's members are incredibly devoted to Wana, there are some members that also worship other gods, most notably Tal'kinita . This is of course because the Order mainly consists of trolls, but there have also been sightings of orcs and other races worshipping him. It is encouraged by the troll members of the Order to eat the bodies of their victims in worship of Tal'kinta, so that they will gain additional strength from him, together with the strength already given by Wana. Not much more is known about it, neither is there much known of how and why the other gods are worshipped.
Organisation
As stated earlier, the Order consists mainly of trolls, together with members of the other Utgardian races. Members of these other races have an equal chance of being invited and they are treated as equals in every possible way. There is no discrimination inside the Order, except toward those who are, in the eyes of the Order's members, weak. If a person in some way proves himself to the Order, there is a chance they will invite him to join them. There are a lot of things that influence this decision and it is highly unlikely that a person whom has been invited refuses the invite.
The members of the Order have many different professions. There are a lot of normal warriors but also assassins and rogues. There are also spell-casters among the Order's members, mostly shamans and some necromancers and priests. As necromancy is not believed to be evil by trolls, these members are equal in every right.
Although the Order is quite large, the organization is relatively simple. Order is kept by respect and devotion to a common goal. The new members who are still in training have the lowest rank, that of Apprentice, or also named "The Children". After this come the members, who refer to each other as "Brothers and Sisters". There is a small council that is in charge of the operations of the Order. This council consists of several female members, whom are named the "First Sisters" and there is a male leader, whom is referred to as "The Great Father". He leads the Order, together with "The Great Mother".
Training
New members of the Order undergo a special training before they are allowed to become full-fledged members. Every new member is asked to sacrifice his memories for some time. This is done to make the training easier, so they do not have to battle with existing prejudices, fears and other mental restrictions. The length of this training depends on the trainee's skills and several other factors, but it usually takes several years. If a trainee ever fails even one small test, he is killed. The first year or years of the training are completely devoted to teaching the trainee all about Wana and the worship of Wana.
The other years are used to train several useful skills. All new members are taught to read, write and speak both the high language and the low language. Every member is also taught how to wield an axe. All members use axes as melee weapons and only the shamans and necromancers carry other weapons, mainly staves that enhance their abilities. On completion of their training the new members are allowed to wear a pendant in the shape of a two-headed axe. This is the sign of the order and the only way one would ever be able to recognize members of the Order.