Citadel Demain

Located just west of Egorian at the heart of the Chelaxian empire, the rebuilt Citadel Demain has served as the headquarters of the Hellknight Order of the Scourge since 4639 AR. It also was the home of the Order of the Thorn until its destruction in 4635 AR.

History

King Gaspodar approved the creation of Citadel Demain in Rova of 4590 AR in order to support the growing order of Hellknights.

Order of the Thorn

See also: Order of the Thorn

Lictor Aligois Thels succeeded Hellknights founder Daidian Ruel after Ruel disappeared in Calistril of 4589 AR. In Kuthona of 4609 AR, Thels reorganized the Hellknights into five orders, each capable of independent action: the Orders of the Chain, Gate, Pyre, Scourge, and Thorn. The Thorn assumed command of Citadel Demain near Egorian.

Demain was the site of the Siege of Demain, a battle of the Chelaxian Civil War between the Thrune-loyalist Order of the Thorn and the opposing Order of the Pyre in 4635 AR. The siege ended with the defeated Order of the Pyre incinerating Citadel Demain, practically destroying the Order of the Thorn and decimating the Order of the Pyre in the process. The head of defeated Order of the Pyre Lictor Ihonudayn was piked in the citadel's still-smouldering ruins.

Order of the Scourge

See also: Order of the Scourge

Citadel Demain was reconstructed in 4639 AR, and the Order of the Scourge moved its headquarters from its original home in Citadel Rivad, which the Scourge left to the Order of the Rack. The Order of the Scourge's reconstruction also added huge meeting halls to host the leaders of the Hellknight orders during the knighthood's rare conclaves.

Much of the innermost curtain was built using the ruins of the fortress that burned in the same location over 50 years ago. Its dark stones still bear the scars of the fire and are said to hold a strange warmth and traces of Hellknights—rent armor, blade scratches, or fused bone. Three moats ring the rising fortress, each connected by cascades and ascents. Unknown terrors live in Citadel Demain's moats, which contain great submerged moat gates.

Rumors

Rumors suggest the lictors of Scourge are constructing a secret tunnel between Demain and a stronghold deep in the Barrowood, as insurance should Cheliax's rulers ever turn against the knighthood.

Demain is also the focus of rumors about the whereabouts of the Ebon Thorn, an infamous custom-made suit of full plate armor worn by the Order of the Thorn's Lictor DiLavos until the Order's defeat at the Siege of Demain. Theories claim that the suit might have been intentionally hidden around the Siege of Demain to discourage sympathizers, buried by Thrune's opponents after the battle, or secreted into the walls during its restoration. Thrune loyalists and dissidents, and Hellknights and their opponents, have all considered pursuing the Ebon Thorn, but few attempt to infiltrate the Order of the Scourge's headquarters to do so.