“Kalak may be dead, but the old king is very much alive in the templars who survived him.”
Even when Kalak the Merciless still lived, the favor he once showered onto the templars had faded until they themselves were little better than slaves. Kalak’s desperation to complete his dark ritual of apotheosis turned all under his command to his tools, and he destroyed any who could not or would not serve his needs. In this way, he demonstrated his utter disregard for his subjects and also the extent of his derangement.
With his death came questions about what roles the templars would fill in the city-state—questions quickly answered when the templar Tithian claimed his throne. The templars survived the transition, but no longer would they serve as enforcers and slavers. Instead they became bureaucrats—cogs in the city’s governmental engine that were stripped of their power and consigned to life as public servants.
Recruitment: Templars in Tyr have lost much of their standing and influence thanks to the dwindling numbers of those who had originally served Kalak. The ones remaining husband their magic, never sure if the spell they cast will be the last, and the new individuals raised to their sides have little to no magical capability whatsoever. While Kalak lived, templars were drawn from the noble families, particularly from those children with a talent for the Way or who passed the initiation tests to qualify for templar training. Now, anyone with a head for sums and bookkeeping can find a place among these diminished administrators.
Training: In the past, Tyr’s templars numbered among the most dangerous in the seven cities, armed with power strong enough to crush slave uprisings and to make any aggression against the city-state costly enough to dissuade any effort at conquest. Apprentices were cloistered in the Templar District, where resources such as food and clothing were scarce, forcing the students to fight and vie for their shares. The best and most vicious students acquired better living conditions as they were groomed for higher office upon completion.
Now, training is far less competitive and students are taught numbers and letters, then are later sorted into their respective bureaus.
Duties: Templars who complete the training receive posts in one of twelve bureaus, ranging from Administration to Water and everything in between. Eleven of the original twelve have survived, with the missing bureau being the enforcers who kept the peace in the city. Templars no longer have the authority to arrest or pass judgment. Those important responsibilities now fall to the city watches and appointed judiciaries.
Advancement: High office has long been awarded to those cunning and bloodthirsty enough to seize it. Assassinations and betrayals remain the norm for Tyrian templars, and an individual can rise high quickly only to fall with equal speed when they lose favor and protection from the high templars leading the bureaus.
Adventuring Templars: Active templars are tied to their offices and have few opportunities for undertaking adventures that do not specifically concern their bureau. An office can find cause to mount an expedition, however, even in the most unlikely departments. For example, a templar in the Bureau of Administration might be selected to hunt down a missing or stolen document, while the Bureau of Mines sends templars and soldiers into new tunnels and chambers to clear out unfriendly infestations.
Many templars from Kalak’s time have severed
ties to the new government and thus can come and go
as they please. They might retain connections in the
bureaus, but they are free to embark on any adventures they choose.