Report #2381 (Addendum)
©1998 Daniel Harms

And the Voice from the Throne spoke, saying: Unto thee, with whom my son has found favor, I give the keys of the gates. The last dawn shall come at a time of thy bidding, and thou shalt offer the lamb without blemish, and it shall be pleasing before the One.

The Apocalypse of the Risen

The Apocalypse of the Risen

During the first few centuries of Christianity, dozens of texts purporting to be the work of Jesus and his disciples circulated. When the Bible was assembled under the direction of the Roman emperor Constantine, a good number of these were omitted and suppressed by the Church. The fathers took special care to eliminate those which were of a Gnostic nature - that is to say, those which claimed that salvation was achieved through secret knowledge rather than grace. Our understanding of these lost documents comes mainly from the writings of the Church fathers, as well as recently-discovered collections of manuscripts such as the Nag Hammadi Codices. Many, however, have been lost. One of these lost books, the Apocalypse of the Risen, has provided the guiding philosophy of the Order.

The Apocalypse was found during the Crusades in a Roman tomb dating to the first century. A French nobleman returned to his homeland with it, and it lay in a chest in his manor for a century before the Order acquired it. As far as it is known, no other copy has survived to the present; if they were to find that another existed, the Order would make its acquisition top priority.

The Apocalypse of the Risen was supposedly written by Lazarus, and tells of his experiences between his death and resurrection. At first, Lazarus went down to hell, where he attended something called the "Feast of Iort" and met numerous demons of the underworld, described as winged faceless monsters. He then ascended into the blinding light of heaven, where he met the One Who Sits Upon the Throne and his Minions. The One, speaking through his messenger Angel, described what Lazarus must do in order for the great mission to be accomplished.

The world, the One said, had become corrupt since the Fall, with evil and iniquity on the rise everywhere. His close friend the Nazarean was one of the generals in the war against this darkness, but his message would be degraded and lost to all but a few. For God's plan for humanity to succeed, it would have to be due to the actions of a small cabal who would be indoctrinated into His teachings and who would perform their duties unswervingly. This was absolutely necessary, as only this group could prepare the world for the great judgement at the end of time - and then open the gates of heaven so the great judgement would occur. When Lazarus was called and awoke, it was to a higher purpose.

Goals

Those among the Order who have questioned its interest in the occult have good reason to do so, even though they do not realize it. The true purpose of the Order has been kept by its top councilors, and is only now filtering down through the ranks to selected members. That secret mission is nothing less than the destruction of the world.

The references to the "lamb without blemish" refer to the world itself. The Order's primary goal is to accumulate the occult knowledge necessary to bring about the Apocalypse and the Final Judgement. This sacrifice, however, may only be carried out when the earth has become as pure and good as is possible. The Order is currently attempting to save as many people as possible before the end comes, whether through religious conversion or merely implanting a spark of goodness and light within them. Even those members who find themselves doubting the basic mission have decided that what truly matters is saving souls, and this must be done even at the price of their own.

At the current time, the Order is attempting to bring as many outer members as possible in on their plan. This is difficult, considering the personality of the average member, so the Council is debating on how their mission might best be accomplished. Some advocate giving the members certain ceremonies to perform without telling them what exactly they are trying to accomplish. Another faction advocates establishing channels to more traditional Mythos cults, funneling information about a stellar conjunction to them, and then giving them the rituals to be performed at the right time. As the time grows near, other means might be found to cause the apocalypse, and it is likely that the Order will attempt as many of these as is feasible.

This has led to some members defecting, unable to cope with the hideousness of the new mission; the disappearances of several priests in the Catholic Church recently has been an effort to silence these individuals. On the other hand, several hard-liners claim that the world is only getting worse, and that the "lamb" should be slain as soon as possible. Perhaps a crucial group of members (or non-members) will make their choice clear in the near future.

Other Organizations

Delta Green: Delta Green's knowledge of the Order is summarized in Part I. While the Order is aware that some part of the U. S. government is interested in the paranormal, they have no knowledge whatsoever of Delta Green.

Majestic-12: MJ-12 is not interested in charitable organizations, and no members of the Order have security clearances above Secret. The Order would be quite interested to know that highly-placed government agents were dealing with demons masquerading as aliens, but it is unlikely they will ever know.

The Karotechia: During the heyday of the Ahnenerbe, the Order was able to plant a few carefully-trained spies into that organization. At the end of the war, these individuals bore away some of the group's massive documentation - a tiny fraction of it, true, but an enviable collection nonetheless. Other members found themselves directly competing with the Nazis in their search for items of power. One retired member, now living in Uruguay, claims to have seen his old foe Reinhard Galt several years ago, but his superiors consider this unlikely.

Saucerwatch: In the view of the Order, Denton Schaeffer and his friends are only one organization in a mass of misguided fools on the trail of demonic entities.

The Fate: Recently, some of the Order's New York members have been unknowingly interfering in the Fate's activities in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn, where they believe they have uncovered a secret "devil-cult" of immense proportions. Alzis' amusement has almost met its limits, and he is considering his options for dealing with the New York members quietly. Alzis does not seek to destroy the Order itself, which he considers more of a distraction than anything else.

Army of the Third Eye: The Order is well aware of this group's activities, though their investigation centers on the idea of demonic possession rather than alien infestation. One of the Army's members is being treated by a Order associate, though he has yet to uncover much.

SUGGESTIONS ON USING THE ORDER
(Thanks to Jacob Busby for his suggestions)

The Order is best portrayed as a group engaged in doing the right thing in the wrong way. They are not evil cultists seeking to cause worldwide destruction for personal gain, or innocents manipulated by some broader agency. As with most of the greatest horrors of history, the Order's apocalypse will be brought about by ordinary people doing what they think is best for the world. As stated before, the Order need not be used with this motivation and played more as an organization of religious investigators, but a great deal is lost by doing so.

The Keeper should consider the Order's use carefully. On one hand, one of its main goals (the acquisition of occult knowledge) would seem to run in direct conflict with Delta Green's "scorched earth" policy. However, Delta Green might find that the Order's motivation to protect innocents from these horrors is not so different from its own. It may be useful to write up one recurring character from the Order, to give them a familiar face for the agents, and to have the Order's members become close to any religious investigators in the group. The two organizations have much in common, but the Order possesses a concern for humanity and a sense of morality which many will find lacking in Delta Green. This may give them access to people and resources that agents cannot reach, but Delta Green may also find itself bailing them out of nasty situations for which they were not prepared. The characters should find dealing with the Order to be uplifting, frustrating, and helpful at turns, and will hopefully come to respect the high ideals of its members.

Then the revelation hits. Their contact is initiated into the Inner Order, but runs to his friends when he finds outs the Order's true goals. Among the crumbling library of an old sorcerer, the PCs find a copy of the Apocalypse of the Risen which the Order had been trying to retrieve. Overnight the PC's friends have become their enemies - yet this is the result of the player's change in attitude, and not the beliefs of the Order. Do they try to get their friends out? Is the apocalypse far off enough that the Order's long-term goals are balanced by their short-term assistance? If they fight against it, should it be with words or weapons? Can the Order be transformed, or is it set in its apocalyptic path? Any number of possibilities may present themselves, and all of them promise many missions and a great deal of role-playing.

A FEW NOTES

The portrayal of the Order is not meant to denigrate Christianity in any way. Rather, the intent is to follow historical precedent, which shows us that even the most virtuous and moral of individuals, no matter of what faith, creed, or philosophy, can find themselves performing hideous acts. There are currently two real-life orders dedicated to Saint Lazarus; both are known for their good works, and the depiction of this fictional version does not reflect on them in any way.

INSPIRATION SOURCES:

Baigent, Michael and Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln. Holy Blood, Holy Grail. New York: Dell. 1982.
Englund, Kim. "The Last Dawn". The Unspeakable Oath. Fall 1992.
Gnostic writings. Available in various editions and on-line.
Millennium. TV series

Thanks to David Farnell, Adam Crossingham and Jacob Busby for looking this over before it was sent out.