The Steel Garrote is a feared paladin order dedicated to Woedica. They work with powerful individuals and business interest to hunt down those who violate contracts, especially if said contracts were endorsed by a priestess of the Exiled Queen. They were founded in the Aedyr Empire, and are active throughout it, they also operate in its former colonies and the Vailian Republics.
Think Upon Your Promises And Die, the litany of the Steel Garrote[ | ]
Ideally employed for those who have broken oaths, paladins of the Steel Garrote have been known to use this litany against a wide variety of opponents when they feel it is appropriate. While it works perfectly well on a battlefield, the order prefers for it to be used from stealth, so the victim hears the words of the litany just before a garrote tightens around their neck.
A hagiography in the church of Woedica tells of Unfric Calasair, an Aedyran paladin who took vengeance upon the infamous traitor to the imperial crown, Maldan Gower. Maldan had survived many attempts on his life before he escaped to the safety of Grand Vailia, where he believed he could not be touched.
When Unfric finally penetrated Maldan's defences, he spoke the litany and slipped the garrote around his neck, but his quarry proved tough to kill. Unfric repeated the litany, and still Maldan would not succumb, but stumbled to the parapet of his tower overlooking a rocky seashore below. Guards rushed to Maldan's aid and were only moments away from pulling Unfric off his victim. Unfric refused to allow Maldan to escape Woedica's justice. He leapt over the parapet, pulling Maldan over the edge by his neck. As their bodies plummeted toward the rocks, the guards swore they heard Unfric repeat the litany a third time, refusing to let go or prepare his body for the impact.
Though a search party did recover Maldan's body, Unfric's was never found. The Aedyran church of Woedica concluded that their queen had transported his body out of their physical world. In recognition of his dedication and martyrdom, they canonized him as St. Unfric of the Three Maledictions, a patron often invoked by the paladins of the Steel Garrote.[1]
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