>>5340271One of Bennett’s first decrees was the creation of a military order, to safeguard the Orthodox Church and her followers, fulfilling the same role that the Knights of Seiros had. This army became known as the “Crusaders”. While in theory, they were to be only a defensive army, safeguarding the Church’s territory and teachings, they were used more frequently to target and harass pockets of resistance that still held faith in the Central Church. This gave the Empire plausible deniability when it came to accusations that they were attempting to install a new religion. The Orthodox Church and their Crusaders would work slowly to convert the entirety of Fodlan away from the Central Church.
The Crusaders first started targeting villages and areas where members of the Knights of Seiros had been seen taking refuge. Once found, they would judge the entire village as having been complicit in the crimes of aiding the Apostate Rhea and her order of killers. Their actions lead to many a village being put to the torch, as well as many public conversions and denouncements of the Archbishop.
You would find yourself in battle with the Orthodox Crusaders when accepting a mission from Duke Fraldarius, who you had recently become acquainted with. By now, you and the Blackwings had proven yourselves to be a reliable sort, and your success rate had begun to speak for itself. The western lords saw the Knights of Seiros as a valuable ally to help fight back against the Empire. Many of the Knights had scattered across Fodlan, seeking to find Rhea, who had gone missing following the battle of Garreg Mach. Others had chosen to band together and fight back against the Crusaders, who by now had developed a reputation as a merciless sort. One band of Knights had been defeated by the Crusaders, and was being dragged to Rome, the capital of the Orthodox Church. There, they were to be publicly executed as a show of force. Your mission was to stop the Crusaders before they reached Rome and free the captured Knights of Seiros.
You tracked the Crusaders down easily enough, thanks in part to their large baggage of prisoners. Said prisoners consisted not just of captured Knights, but even clergymen of the Central Church, as well as peasants who refused to denounce Rhea. The Crusaders sought to make their way to Rome through Magdred Way. You were intimately familiar with this territory, having come through here before during your fight with Lonato, many years ago. You knew that the area was covered in a dense mist that heavily impacted visibility. It would be a hindrance to you as well as the Crusaders, but you still found a way to use it to your advantage.
>A): Under the cover of fog, you facilitated a prisoner escape>B): Under the cover of fog, you ambushed and massacred the Crusaders 