Ordo Rosae

Inception (914 MH)

At its inception, it comprised of a group of highly nationalistic individuals whose loyalty to the Floral Revolution was unquestionable. These individuals were distinct from the Floralist Alliance, the founders of the Revolution and were broadly understood to operate outside of its authority, (although they certainly had the approval of the Floralists).

This version of the order adopted the identity of roses as an insult to the Olusian Royal Family, which used this as their official symbol. It also helped them operate in enemy held territory, as they used tokens of roses, (what would later become the seal of the order), to distinguish one another. A search from the guards discovering the token would lead to now suspicion of Floralist sympathies and was so successful, the Ordo reportedly started wearing the symbol openly. Doing so, two members could publicly recognise one another and communicate in Floralist Incantation right under the nose of Olusian guards.

Operations during the Floralist Revolution (914 MH - 918 MH)

Owing to the clandestine nature of its operations and unlike other nations where it may be advantageous to claim responsibility for an act, (the Ordo never acknowledges its operations), it is very hard to pin anything as the result of the Ordo. However, the are a few that can be reasonably attributed to them.

Kedomite Counter Espionage

During the revolution, as it was still being organised, there was a concerted effort by Kedomite agitators to infiltrate and takeover the Floralist Alliance, with an aim to turn it into a Hythnetic uprising. The Alliance itself was ill equipped to manage this itself, a somewhat disorganised structure allowing it flexibility, but also easily subvert able. It was therefore a key task of the Ordo Rosae to identify and remove these false individuals, something they managed with alarming efficiency.

The Defection of Recester (916 MH)

The defection of Recester at the end of 916 MH was not simply a result of cowardice. Although it was also influenced by the intervention of Palus, there had been a long running campaign of propaganda distributed across the city for nearly fourteen months prior to this. Popular support, even prior to the arrival of Palish troops, was on the side of the Floralists, it was a few key officials more concerned about defection that were against the idea. More on the speculative side of things was the suggestion that the Ordo had been involved in the deaths of some of those same officials. There are no records to suggest that these were murders, but likewise the convenience of the event cannot be understated.

The End of the Siege of Atcaster (918 MH)

The other major event, or circumstance, linked to Ordo activities is the disappearance of a few members of the House of Olus at the end of the siege. Notably, the military mind behind the Olusian Guard, Vinicius Olus, was never found. The capacity to breach Venrii Palace would seem to be out of their capacity, but one must remember resources were spread incredibly thin. By all accounts the Ordo where well funded and well connected, so access to equipment was likely possible. With the broken moral of the city there was also less of a risk of being reported, (although the Olusian Guard had caught on the the rose tokens as a means of identification). Whatever the truth, eight members of the royal household were missing after the fall of the palace and while some bodies would be recovered, the majority have still not been found.

Post Revolution (918 MH - Present)

Following the March of Flowers, the Ordo finally had to face the fact that it was operating on no real authority. Those who had taken power would certainly want to keep it, and the Ordo represented a potential threat to an emerging status quo. The siege had effectively killed off any serious opposition and so public talks began between the Ordo and the provisional government.

The Ordo leaders gathered from each city for what were expected to be tense talks, but almost immediately the parties found common ground. Both ultimately wanted the same thing, a new republic, free of monarchs and hereditary rule. As plans were built for the formation of the Senate, the Ordo were integrated into these plans as the final check on arbitrary power, a way for the government to be held to account.

The Ordo is structured uniquely compared to what one may expect, codified during its official foundation it maintains both an internal and external separation as part of its functions.

The Offices of Command

Each Office has its own branch of the Ordo that it is in control of, typically operating within the city which hold the seat of power for that office, with the exception of the Office of the Praefectus. When the Praefectus was constituted, plans to expand the Ordo were considered, but left to one side for two reasons. The first was that there was already plenty of power in the Office, it commanding the full Rusagan military, and the second was that the Ordo was already financially bloated in 1189 MH, being the largest drain on funds only after the military.

The branches of the Ordo are the Red Roses, (Recester), the White Roses, (Atcaster), and the Queen Lilies, (Dester). They are expected to fulfil all their own functions internally, with the exception of extra-jurisdictional operations, which are supposed to be done cooperatively.

Chief Spymaster

The role of the chief spymaster is an unenviable position. They are responsible for organising all operations within their city, (or district), as well as liaising with other branches when needed. They also have all of the responsibility however, in the event an operation fails the chief spymaster is the person held responsible by their Officer. The reason for this is simple, they are the only contact their Officer will ever have with the Ordos.

Auxiliary Spymaster

With the role of chief spymaster invariably being insecure owing to the need to meet with their respective Officer, many chief spymasters also employ auxiliary spymasters to add another layer of abstraction to their branches operation. Traditionally, these are also the final rank that can order extra-judicial executions, although the nature of secret services mean that this tradition may not always be kept to.

Auxiliary spymasters do report to their chief, but often are allowed to keep certain details in confidence. The precise nature of what must be divulged and what may be kept secret is codified by each branch differently, which can make cross branch operations difficult.

Handlers

Beyond spymasters are handlers and whereas the above ranks have soft limits on the number of individuals employed, the number of handlers is entirely at the discretion of their superiors. The Queen Lilies for example, are known to prefer many handlers to allow for more degrees of separation, whereas the White Roses prefer to empower individual operatives.

Agents (Roses/Lilies)

The individual agents of the branches are known as ‘Roses’ or ‘Lilies’ respective to their branch. The term has no connotation of seniority intentionally, to further obfuscate the roles of operatives within the Ordo. An agent could be at the very bottom of the chain, with knowledge based purely on notes delivered to them in the dead of night by an unknown individual, or they could be operating a cell of agents beneath themselves, well on their way to becoming a handler and knowing the identity of their direct superiors, nothing is certain.