Vile Grandmasters

From all the knights that have fallen, the grandmaster has fallen the lowest and hardest. Once an epitome of virtues and skill, they have turned away and sought out forbidden wisdom or power that they valued over their former ideals. Seduced by dark secrets and lust for power that no man was meant to wield, they no longer respect what was once dear to them. Still, they value order and hierarchies and gather followers that they can corrupt to their own ways. Formidable combatants and equipped with spoils of their former exploits, they can easily overpower challengers to their leadership; and as long as they can provide their underlings with a twisted purpose and loot, they rule like they used to in their order. Sometimes they bow to a greater power, usually for the promise of even more power and knowledge. All grandmasters were pious and spiritual men in their former lives. This does not change with their fall, though the focus of their devotion is what changes significantly. With fanaticism and zeal they pursue their new dark goals and accept a life that becomes a perversion of all that was once dear to them. The new rites in which they indulge themselves are gruesome and cruel and stress their complete conversion from their past. Driven by new unholy desires, they use their followers to advance their new dark goals without restraint and mercy. Some still hold up some remote ideals of honour, but even that is often twisted and only concerns personal combat. In general, a grandmaster considers everyone as beneath his station, only making an exception for individuals of vast power. Although they are often associated with some kind of cult that promises them their desired secrets, in their hubris they don't get along too well with other cultists. Whenever possible, they try to take over the cult and rule on their own. Vile grandmasters are often bitter rivals of one another, which is especially true for members of different cults. But even when united in a specific cult, they usually get along only grudgingly. Often it takes a powerful cult leader to force different grandmasters to work together. With their skills and weaponry, enhanced through dark powers, the grandmasters are formidable foes indeed. Some of them have been brought back from the gates of death or even beyond so many times that they lost the last remains of their humanity. There is no mercy to be expected from a vile grandmaster, and he will never yield in a fight. Any would-be challenger is advised to be prepared for the worst before engaging this enemy.