Order of Himmel

Dedicated to freeing Xianese slaves

The Order of Himmel was started by Lady Arianna of Blue Heights and Sir Josef Himmel of Hellbock. Sir Himmel, long a opponent of slavery, provided resources from Baron Gottlieb Himmel, his father, through the Temple of Light. Arianna had already worked with several people willing to travel into Xian to free those people enslaved.

Lady Arianna started an organization based out of her lands in Phoenix Hold in 446 ah. Its goal was to free Xianese slaves as well as push court of Reiner IV of the Kingdom of Dakar into action.

In 452 she met with Josef Himmel the Lord of Hellbock, whose father often spoke out in court about the need to resist the Xianese or be destroyed by them. Josef, a strong supporter of the church, was just as passionate about resisting the dark sorcery of the Xianese. He spent much of his privy purse purchasing a small house in Bornheim and paying people willing to go into Xian.

Most of the people spend their time inside of Xian gathering information and freeing what slaves they can without getting caught. At times they will return to Bornheim and leave their individual signal to mark their return. Eventually they will contacted and information exchanged. The pay is very good, but the danger is very great. Given that most people of the western realms are pale-skinned they cannot blend in with the dark-skinned Xianese.

Lady Arianna

Main Article: Arianna

Lady Arianna spends almost 4 months of the year in Bornheim overseeing the operations personally. She gathers the information from those who have returned and brings them money and new instructions. On her way back to her home, she stops by and visits for a week with Lord Himmel to apprise him of what is happening. She does all of the negotiations with Ellendar for safe passage through their land.

Josef Himmel

Main Article: Josef Himmel

While Lady Arianna's focus is on the plight of the slaves, Lord Himmel's focus is the heresy. He pushed for the order to be named in honor of his father, whose appeal to the Queen for intervention fell on deaf ears. He has financed several raids into Xian by mercenaries which have mostly been successful. For his effort the Xianese have tried to assassinate him twice.

Clawis

A portly man of middling years, Clawis has worked for Lord Himmel his entire life. Currently he stays in the townhouse and helps those returning from or going to Xian. He manages the finances and copies information he receives. He owes Lord Himmel his life after he was taken from the fields and brought to Bornheim. He now has a trade a a reputation among both Lord Himmel and Lady Arianna for honesty and competence.