“The yellow cloaks signify service to the Lion of the Desert, and though the templars wear them with pride and none else are permitted to wear similar attire. One look at the similarly hued walls tells you in what way Hamanu views his ‘chosen’ servants. They are as the rocks quarried from the lands and serve as building blocks in Hamanu’s great society.”
Hamanu expects much from his templars, demanding they master the complex legal code, enforce the laws it sets out, collect revenue from taxes and tariffs, maintain order in the city, lead his armies, and secure the city against all enemies. With such a daunting task set before them, it should come as no surprise that the templars and their servants, which include scribes, researchers, and attendants, represent a sizeable portion of Urik’s population. They, like everyone in Urik, are chattel to the sorcerer-king, an expendable commodity whose sole purpose is to serve the sorcerer-king.
Recruitment: Urik recruits heaviest from the noble classes, plucking the most talented among them for use in Hamanu’s grand temples. Individuals demonstrating battle prowess, psionic potential, or some ability in the arcane arts might be whisked away to study in those institutions set aside to transform ordinary citizens into useful servants.
Training: Selection to become a templar is no guarantee of a place within the esteemed community, but all who are given the chance to study in Urik’s superior schools can benefit from the experience and might yet find some other place in Hamanu’s service. Propaganda is an important element in the training programs; All templars are taught to revere the Great King as if he were a god. Instructors screen students for irreverence and blasphemy and punish anyone who displays these tendencies with a brutality that approaches abuse. Initiates learn to hide their doubts deep inside.
Duties: Urik’s templars are religious figures first and foremost and are expected to teach the coming glory promised by Hamanu to his people. These teachings reinforce the old beliefs that the sorcererking is in fact a god who is destined to usher the world into a new and glorious age. Templars are to quash discord wherever they find it and execute ringleaders to ensure a person’s devotion never wavers. Templars also act as law enforcers, sweeping the city for perpetrators who violate Hamanu’s Code. In this capacity, they judge the accused and dispense justice to any they deem guilty. In addition to these major duties, templars can serve as record-keepers and lawyers. Most templars also serve as military leaders commanding the famed legions as they secure not only the city, but also the surrounding countryside.
Advancement: Given the strict parameters in which they are expected to operate, there is little room for treachery and backstabbing to attain higher positions. In fact, many templars approach advancement with no small measure of apprehension since the higher one climbs, the closer the templar gets to the sorcerer-king. All templars wither in his presence, because he does not suffer fools nor tolerate failure. Templars climb in station based on their performance, and with their advancement comes greater rewards such as estates, slaves, and vast wealth. This said, high templars do not sit easily in their fortunes, for Hamanu turns to them first when he is displeased and looking for someone to blame.
Adventuring Templars: Urikite templars concern themselves with keeping the city in the same
state in which it has existed for well over a thousand
years, but Hamanu is a greedy liege and he looks
beyond his yellow walls, eager to expand his empire
across the region. His templars often venture into the
wilds to recover lost relics and gain intelligence about
neighboring city-states as well as hunt down slave
tribes who disrupt trade or trouble the client villages
in the verdant belt. Templars also oversee obsidian
extraction from the Smoking Crown, though few
relish this duty given the inhospitable environment
and the frequent slave revolts.