“The blade may hold back the dark; but only knowledge illuminates the night.”

A mixture of secret police and monastic order, the Camar Shiem (or Shadow Hunters in our tongue) are an ancient organisation sworn to defend the Realm from terrible threats that some say lurk in the shadows. A Sacred Band, the Camar Shiem do not concern themselves with common crime or even wars between Circilian states – their only objective is to eradicate the agents of the ‘Great Enemy’.

If the Army and the Navy could be described as the King’s sinew, sword and shield – the Camar Shiem are his eyes, ears and knife.

History:

In the aftermath of the Deluge, the Great Hunts again gathered pace and all across Circilia the Tainted were slaughtered mercilessly. In many places even those Tainted who had lived happily amongst the population for years were dragged from their home and killed by the frightened and angry populace.

Although King Isaladar was well aware of the danger the Tainted posed, he was sickened by this needless slaughter and used his household knights to forcibly stop the Hunts within the Realm. With the immediate slaughter ended, he was still left with the problem of how to manage the danger the Tainted posed. Eventually, after much thought, he decide to create the Camar Shiem, the first Sacred Band.

They were to be a sworn militant order, tasked with protecting the people of the Realm from the Taint, aloof from day to day politics and responsible to no one but the King. Isaladar wrote their code, funded them from his own purse and granted them the Untaken Rock to serve as their chapter house.

Since this time they have served faithfully and ruthlessly – an efficient and terrible weapon in the defence of the Realm.

Role:

Although the Camar Shiem’s exact responsibilities are unclear, it is generally assumed they are sworn to; find and destroy the agents of the Great Enemy, study our own Tainted citizens for signs of madness and safely remove them to a Monastry-Asylum should they fall to insanity.

Structure:

Only very little is known of the Camar Shiem’s organisation and structure.

They are recruited as infants from the nation’s poor houses and orphanages and spend their entire life serving their shadowy organisation.

As young men and women it is claimed they travel around the Realm seeking out evil and rooting it out were they find it. If they aren’t killed, as they grow older they return to the Untaken Rock where they continue to serve as librarians, researchers and trainers.

In addition to their sworn brothers and sisters, the Camar Shiem maintain a large network of informers and spies across the Realm.