The Platinum Order

Stub-class article · First seen: pre-campaign brief · Last seen: s22

The Platinum Order is the dragon-paladin clergy and scholar-knighthood of Vhal’Zarim, the order of the Bahamut faith, which by the world brief permits arcane study only under its eye, exalts metallic-blooded sorcerers and makes chromatic ones vanish. The party has never been to Vhal’Zarim or met the Order; the only link is Caelumn, who says it took him in when he was young for his draconic blood [1] and who told the party in session 18 that it is “accepting of all religions, as long as they’re not within our city walls” [9]. The DM has said that Vhal’Zarim and Aurelia hunted the chromatic dragons together almost to extinction, which is why the egg quest is so hard [4]. The Order is a separate religion from Aurelia’s Pure Light (ruling 10).

Overview

The Platinum Order is the Bahamut-aligned clergy and scholar-knighthood that runs Vhal’Zarim, the cathedral city built in the crater where Karvos once stood. The world brief names it as the institution under whose eye all permitted arcane study in Vhal’Zarim takes place, in a city where metallic-blooded sorcerers are exalted and chromatic ones “vanish” (world brief).

The party has not visited Vhal’Zarim and has not met the Order in the field. What play has shown of it comes from Caelumn, who was taken in by it when he was young [1] and described it to the party in session 18 [14], and from the DM’s lore on the dragon hunt [4][15].

Known traits

  • Seat, oath and flame. The Order’s city is bound by an oath to the Platinum Flame and a Church whose sanctified bells ring from the Sanctuary of Flame, where Bahamut’s eternal fire burns behind sealed doors (world brief).
  • Gate and disposal for arcane study. The brief’s binding line is that arcane study is permitted “only under the eye of the Platinum Order”, with metallic-blooded sorcerers exalted and chromatic ones disappearing. Whatever the Order’s procedure is, it ends in those two outcomes. The brief gives no ranks, titles or named officers. The wiki reads the arrangement as the inverse of Aurelia’s, a regulated permission against an unconditional prohibition; the DM has described Vhal’Zarim as “a rather religious city, much kind of mirrored in a way to Aurelia” [16].
  • Intake. The Order took Caelumn in when he was young because, as he tells it, it had a vision of his “very ancient powerful draconic blood”; he could never reach that power or anyone’s expectations [1]. He “may not have been found worthy by the majority of the people within the Platinum Order”, but a mentor kept faith in him and “is the reason why I’ve been allowed out” [2].
  • Clerical training. Caelumn has “cleric training due to my time in the clergy”, which gives him Guidance, Produce Flame and Cure Wounds [17]. Whether he is a current initiate, a former one or on leave is unresolved; he said he was “not really an initiate” [18].
  • Founding story and god. In Caelumn’s telling, Vhal’Zarim was attacked long ago by chromatic dragons, and “the platinum dragon” came down and saved the city; Bahamut was the only god who came to its aid [7]. The DM confirmed that Bahamut is “very much a god” [8].
  • Tolerance outside the walls. “We of the Platinum Order don’t judge other people. […] The Platinum Order is accepting of all religions, as long as they’re not within our city walls.” [9]. The table’s readings of this as expansionism are the players’ [19].
  • Eternal flame. Asked whether Bahamut promised a promised land, Caelumn said, “No, I am just awaiting seeing the eternal flame. And when I die, I shall be burnt forever.” [20]. Whether the flame is the Sanctuary’s sealed fire is not said.
  • Dragons. The DM’s account of how Aurelians regard dragons is that metallic dragons are “kind of considered holy in one respect” and chromatic ones “a sort of perversion of draconic energy” [11]. That is Aurelia’s view, not the Order’s, though it sits close to the brief’s posture.
  • Not known. The Order’s ranks and officers, and the chain from Caelumn’s unnamed mentor to the eternal flame; its view of the egg quest, which feeds The Egg on chromatic hoards; whether Caelumn could openly profess the faith in Aurelian territory; and the type of his draconic bloodline, which is Bahamut-tied but unresolved. His fire spells in play are Fire Bolt, Produce Flame and Chromatic Orb.

Relationships

  • Vhal’Zarim and the Sanctuary of Flame: its city and cathedral.
  • Bahamut: the god of the faith, whom the DM confirmed as a real god [8].
  • Aurelia and the Pure Light: a separate religious system (ruling 10). Cholmondeley was Pure Light and Aurelian-aligned, not a “Paladin of Bahamut”. The two cities share a history of hunting dragons, which does not make them one faith.
  • The dragon hunt: the DM has named Vhal’Zarim as Aurelia’s partner twice, in session 11 and session 22 [4][15]. In session 20 he named “Baltharim” [21], which his post-s21 clarifications read as Karvos, the city destroyed by the dragons and rebuilt as Vhal’Zarim. Which city is meant is a DM question; the Karvos canon stands meanwhile.
  • Caelumn and Father Thomas: Caelumn is the Order’s one link to the party, and he travels with Father Thomas, a cleric of Aurelia who prays to the Everlight [22].

Notable named figures

  • Caelumn: raised in the Order and now outside it, on leave or otherwise.
  • His mentor: unnamed, still backing him offstage [2].

History in the campaign

Session 9: The Death of Harvo

Main article: Session 9

Under the succubus’s spell at the cracked red crystal, each party member relived a greatest failure. Caelumn’s was his time in the Platinum Order: taken in young for his “very ancient powerful draconic blood”, he never reached the power or anyone’s expectations [1]. The succubus called him unworthy; he answered that most of the Order had not found him worthy, but that his mentor kept faith in him and was the reason he had been allowed out [23]. It is the Order’s first appearance, and the only account of how it treated one of its own.

Session 11: Owlbears and the Soulbinder

Main article: Session 11

On the road to Eldwythe, a farmer the party had helped said, “There’s something wrong about Aurelia. And I don’t quite like what they did with those dragons back in the day.” [3]. Caelumn asked, and the DM answered that Aurelia “hunted, together with Vhal’Zarim, hunted pretty much all chromatic dragons to near extinction and at this point it’s rare to find any chromatic dragons which is why your quest is so hard” [4]. Hugo put his dragon-skull helmet away [24]. It is the campaign’s first statement of Vhal’Zarim’s part in the hunt.

Session 18: The Wyrm Falls, the Catfish Escapes, and Mike Dies on the Road

Main article: Session 18

On the landfall beach, Caelumn explained his healing as cleric training from his time in the clergy [5]. He was from Vhal’Zarim, a cathedral city where “we all praise the Platinum Dragon” [6], and told the story of the chromatic attack and Bahamut’s rescue [7]. Teased about religion, he said the Platinum Order “is accepting of all religions, as long as they’re not within our city walls” [9], and, asked about a promised land, that he awaited “the eternal flame” [10]. The DM told Hugo how Aurelians regard metallic and chromatic dragons [11].

Session 20: The Man Who Was Always Here

Main article: Session 20

When Father Thomas turned out to pray to the Everlight, the DM had Caelumn make a Religion check and told him that, being from the “rather religious” city of Vhal’Zarim, “much kind of mirrored in a way to Aurelia”, he knew the deity of Aurelia is Aurelia [25]. Caelumn said that he too had been “raised in an order” and that his city “isn’t a very accepting city in regards to other faiths”, but that he would not question another’s choice [26][27].

Session 22: The Dragon in the Statue

Main article: Session 22

When the party learned that Aurelians were hunting a silver dragon, a History check by Father Thomas brought back that Aurelia and Vhal’Zarim had hunted dragons to near extinction and that now the sightings flagged metallic dragons as well as chromatic ones [28]. It repeated the pairing from session 11, with metallic dragons added, and left the question of which city hunted with Aurelia open.

Status

As of session 23. Active and off-screen. The Order governs Vhal’Zarim by the world brief, and no member has appeared in front of the party. Caelumn has not gone home, and his session 18 account is the only first-hand description of the Order on the record. The dragon hunt remains a campaign-level constraint on the egg quest [4], and the Order’s separateness from the Pure Light matters because Caelumn travels with Father Thomas.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 9, line 1190: Caelumn, "Caelumn was taken in by the platinum order, when he was young".
  2. ^ Session 9, line 1192: Caelumn, "I may not have been found worthy by the majority of the people within the Platinum Order, but my mentor always had faith in me".
  3. ^ Session 11, line 850: A farmer on the road to Eldwythe (unnamed; the DM voicing him), "I don't quite like what they did with those dragons back in the day".
  4. ^ Session 11, line 852: (DM canon) Aurelia and Vhal'Zarim hunted all chromatic dragons to near extinction.
  5. ^ Session 18, line 1724: Caelumn: "I have cleric training due to my time in the clergy" (first explicit in-fiction confirmation of clerical training).
  6. ^ Session 18, line 1730: Caelumn names Vhal'Zarim as a cathedral city where "we all praise the Platinum Dragon".
  7. ^ Session 18, line 1750: Caelumn delivers the chromatic-dragon attack myth and Bahamut intervention as the Order's founding event.
  8. ^ Session 18, line 1757: DM confirms Bahamut is "very much a god" in the setting, validating the Order's theological premise.
  9. ^ Session 18, line 1789: Caelumn names the Order in-fiction for the first time and states the tolerance-outside-walls policy: "The Platinum Order is accepting of all religions, as long as they're not within our city walls".
  10. ^ Session 18, line 1800: Caelumn rejects the Promised-Land framing and gives the eternal-flame eschatology: "No, I am just awaiting seeing the eternal flame. And when I die, I shall be burnt forever".
  11. ^ Session 18, line 1769: DM clarification, answering Hugo on whether Aurelians are trained to kill dragons: metallic dragons are "kind of considered holy in one respect"; chromatic dragons are seen as "a sort of perversion of draconic energy. Kind of like a dark offspring of that energy".
  12. ^ Session 20, line 753-766: DM lore: Vhal'Zarim is "a rather religious city, much kind of mirrored in a way to Aurelia"; Caelumn was "raised in an order" and calls his city not very accepting of other faiths.
  13. ^ Session 22, line 909-910: A History check recalls that Aurelia and Vhal'Zarim hunted dragons almost to extinction, now apparently metallic dragons too.
  14. ^ Session 18, line 1730-1800: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 22, line 909: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 20, line 754: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 18, line 1724-1726: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 18, line 1728: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 18, line 1792-1795: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 18, line 1799-1800: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 20, line 1263: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 20, line 748-762: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 9, line 1191-1192: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 11, line 853: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 20, line 751-754: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 20, line 753: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 20, line 763-766: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 22, line 905-910: Inline citation.
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