THE VATICAN AND ITS BRANCHES

SELECTED EXCERPTS AND ENTRIES FROM “MANUAL ON THE DIVISIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VATICAN INSTITUTION” (1992).

THE CRUSADE: GLOBAL PLIGHT AGAINST THE OCCULT

The primary goal of the Vatican is to serve as the first line of defense against all things of occult nature; fiends, occultists, and individuals engaged in acts of blasphemy. Comprised of three branches that serve at the direct behest of the office of the papacy, each of them is united by their adherence to the Grand Crusade, a term which exemplifies their shared goal of cleansing the world of evil. Regardless of which branch they hail from, members are each expected to follow the Enchiridion, a set of guiding principles and rules which dictate how members of the Vatican conduct themselves in the field and within their respective sects.

HIERARCHY

The Vatican is composed of three divisions, all of which answer directly to the office of the papacy. Each division operates as an extension of the pope’s divine authority, and does not adhere to the typical ranking structure or overarching hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Each division operates independently of one another and is responsible for the training and upholstering of new, current, and retired members of their respective divisions. At the inception of each division, their original leaders were appointed by the then-active office of the papacy1, but all later ascensions to leadership positions have henceforth been a result of each division’s internal ranking structures. The heads of each division make up the Triumvirate of the Three Crosses, a council of three comprised of the Fiendhunter General, the Purgemaster General, and the Huntmaster General who can be assembled by the office of the pope at any time for any reason.

ORDER OF THE WARDENS

The Order of the Wardens is a paramilitary sect comprised of frontline vanguards and field combatants. They are the first line of defense against fiends, the occult, and the blasphemous. With historical roots tied to the Knights Templar, they have various chapters across the world in notable sanctuary cities for the occult and arcane. While they are based primarily in such cities, they have various independent units across rural areas.

As field vanguards and scouts, the Order of the Wardens is uniquely equipped for direct encounters with fiends of all types. Their arsenals typically consist of both traditional melee weapons (spears, halberds, longswords, pikes, and the likes) and contemporary firearms (hand cannons, shotguns, semi-automatic assault rifles, and the likes), and they are also known to sport lightweight sectioned metal armor over their standard clothes. The Order of the Wardens has no standard uniform, but each member is made recognizable by the Red Cross of the Wardens, a ritualistic mark awarded to initiates who go on to become wardens, which enables their members a capacity to detect fiend-related danger that nears them. While their equipment is varied and often entirely dependent on the individual warden, wardens are often seen sporting supplemental paraphernalia for their fiend-hunting: stakes, holy water grenades, and pasteurized demon blood among other things. Admission to the Order of the Wardens also grants one access to forms of ritualism exclusive to their sect. The Order of the Wardens welcomes arcanists, curators, grants entry to particular ritualists on a case-by-case basis, but does not allow occultists, demon-touched or witches into its ranks. The only exception to such a rule comes in the form of the Cruciform Division2, a small unit of occult-designated individuals and intelligent fiends who have been captured by the Order of the Wardens.

THE EXORCIST ASSOCIATION

The Exorcist Association is a priestly sect comprised of exorcists who fulfill scholastic and ritualistic roles. Their primary duties include performing exorcisms, cleansing spirits, lifting curses, and harvesting demon blood to be pasteurized. They are based out of various cathedrals across the world, and boast a presence in sanctuary cities, mundane cities, and in pockets of the American and European countryside.

Made up primarily of clerics, priests, and scholarly men, the Exorcist Association is not primed for direct combat with the beasts of fiendhood. Their specialties lie in handling sensitive and often intricate cases of possession, curses, and spectral-based haunting. Each prospect undergoes the Acquisition of the Stigmata upon earning the title of exorcist, a form of ritualistic magic which permanently scars the hands of each exorcist. While exorcists are not directly armed for combat3, they are all armed with the knowledge to entrap and ward off occult entities through ritualistic spells, containment arrays, and a multitude of supplemental techniques learned through formal instruction at the Holy Institute of Banishment in Vatican City. Similarly, the scholars and learned men of the Exorcist Association are the only group of individuals in the world capable of cleansing demon blood via demon blood pasteurization. It is through the Exorcist Association that the Vatican maintains an absolute monopoly on the pasteurized demon blood trade, and it is primarily through their efforts that the three branches of the Vatican receive adequate funding for their operations. Unlike the Order of the Wardens, all members of the Exorcist Association are expected to be adorned in priestly garments at all times, and must brandish a brooch depicting the cross representative of their organization. Similarly, the Exorcist Association does not allow for any form of arcanism, nor do they admit curators into their order. Exorcists must be strict practitioners of the ritualistic magic associated with their priestly order.

THE INQUISITION

The Inquisition is an vast group individuals tasked with hunting highly dangerous occult individuals and pre-eminent threats to the Vatican. They are also the central operatives deployed in the mundane world in collectives known as lodges silently apprehend, imprison, or exterminate emerging supernatural threats in metropolitan centers. Members of the Inquisition answer directly to the office of the papacy.

Operating primarily in the mundane world, the Inquisition is tasked with addressing remnant instances of fiendhood and blasphemy that occur in the darker corners front facing societies4. Colloquially, they are known as cleaners, due to the capacity in which they operate. Coincidentally, they are also the most expansive branch of the Vatican, and make up the bulk of their personnel. Unlike the Order of the Wardens or the Exorcist Association, the Inquisition lacks formal training procedures and functions more akin to a loosely connected group of small militias organized into lodges, which are headquartered in most major cities across the Western Hemisphere. Arcanists, curators and approved ritualists are allowed within the Inquisition, but a good portion of their rank-and-file is comprised of mundane individuals armed with provisional tools provided by the Vatican for missions. Most inquisitors only gather as needed at the discretion of their lodge commissioners, which function as their handlers. All inquisitors, with the exception of commissioners, are required to maintain day jobs and are encouraged to be active participants in their communities outside of their clandestine duties.

CHAPTERS, CATHEDRALS & LODGES

  • Vatican City (the Papacy): city-state and central headquarters of the Vatican. It functions as both the religious capital of Catholicism and serves the secondary purpose of housing various learning institutions and facilities related to the three branches of the Vatican.
    • Templar Hill (Order of the Wardens): the Vatican City chapter of the Order of the Wardens, a fortress, citadel, training facility and home to the dungeons of the Cruciform Division. It is the seat of power for the Fiendhunter General.
    • Holy Institute of Banishment (Exorcist Association): the primary training institution for the Exorcist Association, where prospects are initiated with the necessary rituals and procedures to become exorcists. It is the seat of power for the Purgemaster General.
    • Saint Germaine’s Tower (Inquisitors): the central headquarters for the Inquisitors; a small tower adjacent to Saint Peter’s Basilica. It is the seat of power for the Huntmaster General.
  • Order of the Warden Chapters5: a comprehensive list of all chapters currently under control of the Order of the Wardens across the Western Hemisphere.
    • Silver Falls Chapter, the Pines (Commonwealth of Brinehaven)
    • Pacífica Abbey Chapter, San Valencia (San Valencia)
    • Mordred Castle Chapter, New Avalon (New Avalon)
  • Exorcist Association Cathedrals6: a comprehensive list of all cathedrals currently under control of the Exorcist Association across the Western Hemisphere.
    • St. Catherine’s Cathedral, Brinehaven (Commonwealth of Brinehaven)
    • St. Malverde’s Cathedral, San Valencia (San Valencia)
    • St. Dubric’s Cathedral, New Avalon (New Avalon)
  • Inquisitor Lodges7: a comprehensive list of all headquarters currently under control of the Inquisitors across the Western Hemisphere.
    • Metropolita Lodge, New York City (USA)
    • Rustic Lodge, Philadelphia (USA)
    • Orange Lodge, Atlanta (USA)
    • Salt Lodge, Miami (USA)
    • Windswept Lodge, Chicago (USA)
    • Pulp Lodge, Los Angeles (USA)
    • Coldfront Lodge, Toronto (Canada)
    • Beaver Lodge, Montreal (Canada)
    • Costermonger Lodge, London (UK)
    • Butcher Lodge, Glasgow (UK)
    • Clover Lodge, Dublin (Ireland)
    • Beret Lodge, Paris (France)
    • Howitzer Lodge, Berlin (Germany)
    • Siesta Lodge, Barcelona (Spain)
    • Ragnarok Lodge, Coppenhagen (Denmark)
    • El Dorado Lodge, Mexico City (Mexico)
    • Big Red Lodge, Havana (Cuba)
    • Conquistador Lodge, Brasília (Brazil)
    • Bossanova Lodge, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

INTERFAITH RELATIONS

While the Vatican expresses near total hegemonic power over the Western hemisphere’s faith-based and occult centered operations, they boast a large number of contemporaries across the world. While all organizations are unified in their pursuit of cleansing the globe of occult evils, their approaches greatly vary, and the Vatican’s level of cooperation with such groups8 varies. Geographical distances often do not require for the Vatican do work directly with these factions, but historically, there have been several occasions in which the Vatican has had to consider joint operations to address particularly dangerous, troublesome, or consequential events.

FACTIONFAITHREGIONRELATIONS
AL-SAWDAISLAMICMIDDLE EASTNON-COOPERATIVE
OATHMEN OF KABALLAHJEWISHISRAEL, NYCSEMI-COOPERATIVE
THE ORTHODOXYEASTERN ORTHODOXEASTERN EUROPECOOPERATIVE
THE SHAOLINBUDDHISTCHINA, TIBETNEUTRAL
THE SOHEIBUDDHISTJAPANNEUTRAL
MT. FUJISHINTOJAPANNEUTRAL
DHARMA MANDALAHINDUINDIANEUTRAL
  1. ↩︎
  2. Members of the Cruciform Division can only be deployed with the clearance of a marshal and above. Members are kept alive within the dungeons of Templar Hill and are deployed via ritualistic magic as needed; their servitude is indefinite until their time of death, and each member sports a Cruciform Brand, which allows any person in possession of the Red Cross of the Wardens to damage or kill a Cruciform in the event of insubordination. ↩︎
  3. The exception to such a rule can be found in the form of the banishers, experienced exorcists who have earned the title by means of additional training. The banisher, compared to the exorcist, has additional access to combatic sealing spells, restrictive incantations, and access to words of holy power that leave them better prepared for direct encounters with demons and spirits. Where the warden fulfills the role of a front-line vanguard, the banisher operates in the same vein as an operative or specialist for particularly troublesome cases of occult blights. ↩︎
  4. It is widely understood that with the advancement of cities into the modern age, each evolution of humanity’s technological and societal progress has deterred and warded off a great many fiends; not into extinction, but rather, into the margins and the shadows. Much like wild animals, the fiend (monsters, specters, demons, and occult species) has had to adapt to changing times. ↩︎
  5. Front facing and non-hidden chapters are only present in occult-arcane sanctuary cities. The Order of the Wardens has decentralized and minor chapters spread across North America, South America, and Europe in rural regions, often times in smaller towns and counties where supernatural threats are far more common. ↩︎
  6. While many cathedrals across the mundane world posses an on-site exorcist or banisher, they rarely have the full organizational capacity that is found and much more needed in occult-arcane sanctuary cities. ↩︎
  7. Inquisitor Lodges are often hidden in plain site in office buildings, warehouse districts, or industrial parks. Lodge membership is typically very small due to both the rare and noncurrent appearances of fiends, witches, and other occultists in mundane-majority cities and the level of skill required to become an inquisitor. ↩︎
  8. There are many folkloric sects of hunters and scholars that are otherwise not recognized as viable institutions by the Vatican; many are too small to be considered proper institutions, and may be more aptly described as collectives, enclaves, or specialized families all loosely unified by what the Vatican might consider to be pagan, broadly spiritual, or archaic beliefs. ↩︎