The White Fire¶
Contested
This page is named in the open question Leadership of the White Fire: the Sancturi campaign material has the society led by Vinias (S179, S180, S181, S319), while the Proturan campaign has it "currently led by" Highlord Bertran Godebert (S078).
"Their reputation is mixed, and based on who you ask, they are Saviors, Meddlers or Villains." — Rivenlands, The Kingdoms (S319)
The White Fire is a secret society of wizards and demon hunters founded about the last of the Archwizards, Lothos. In every layer of the sources it works covertly against demons and other threats to mortal life: in the oldest as the Knights of Lothos, hunting "demons, killing dragons, taking down evil casters and generally fighting evil" (S372); in the Fourth Age as "a highly organized, well-funded demon hunting organization" running an intelligence network inside the Order of Valyr (S335, S329); in the Fifth Age as "an ancient secret society that dates back thousands of years to the Shattering," whose members are wanted criminals in the Imperium (S319).
Also called: the Knights of Lothos (S372, S519); the White-Fire Order (S208, S304).
Purpose¶
The newest Fifth Age account makes the society's aim broader than demon-hunting. "They follow the path of Kalar, the Creator. However, they are not a religious order. Their chief concern is the welfare and advancement of the races (intelligent life). They strive to protect them as best they can from outside interference such as Gods and Demons" (S319). In the Fourth Age Lothos "coordinates long term strategy with several ascendants of Kalar, Arya and Khardas" (S329).
The oldest account gives it a watch over the weakened Abscission. Because heavy magic-use in one place can open a rift to the Abyss, "some organizations exist to monitor Mithium concentrations and the strength of the Abscission fields to avoid these Rifts being created at all in the future. Two of these organization include the Knights of Lothos, and the Light of Kalar" (S372, S519, S513).
Organization¶
The fullest description is the Fourth Age one, which calls the White Fire an "intelligence cult within the Valyr military structure and more broadly across Terrun" (S329). Its members are arranged in isolated tiers, each matched to the Valyr ranks they usually hold:
| Rank | Role | Usual Valyr rank |
|---|---|---|
| Ember, or Cinder | "Asset. Low level rank, isolated." Many are lone intelligence gatherers; Embers who work in an operational group are Cinders. | Vanguard and below |
| Brand | "Cell leader. Handles one or two projects at a time, recruitment for the cell" | Vanguard and below |
| Torch | "Local authority. Manages several cells with complex projects, sometimes overlapping" | Vanguard to Grand Marshal |
| Lantern | "Regional authority. Manages long term strategy, multiple projects", working under a Flame "who they assume is 'THE' white flame" | Justicar or High Justicar |
| The Flame | "Organization authority": each Flame "is sworn to secrecy and operates in isolation, presenting themselves as Lothos" |
Above the Flames is Lothos himself, "Archwizard", who manages them directly. "In Valyr, there are 3 Flames with overlapping organizations. That way, if one becomes corrupted, the others can reliably detect" (S329).
The White Fire's hold on Valyr reaches its government. Lothos is "an advisor to the Triarchy, but also manipulates the elections. He ensures that 2 White Fire members sit on the council at any given time" (S329), and "most of the leadership of the Order are White Fire members" (S335, S338). Outside the society its fighters can hope to become "an auxiliary with the White Fire" (S338).
Its members carry tokens. In the Fifth Age, its agents "have small magical silver coins with the symbol of a flame on one side and an eye on the other. The coin turns black to the touch (if not held by the person it is attuned to)" (S047). In the Fourth Age its wizard Algonn received orders in "a white envelope sealed with a white fire symbol," which disintegrated "into white vapor" once read (S335).
Craft¶
The society keeps a secret of warding. "White Fire Wards" repel demons from an area by "some secret formula held by the white fire. Apparently these wards last a very long time … even hundreds of years"; they are "scattered across the lands of Valyr, but concentrated especially around towns and villages" (S335, S338). Its wizards fight with "white burning fire" that peels "stone and magma off" a demon (S338). The lore of Arcane magic counts the White-Fire Order among the orders "composed of significant numbers of Magicians" (S208, S304).
Leaders¶
- Lothos, the last Archwizard, manages the society directly in the Fourth Age (S329) and is its namesake in the oldest account, "the last known arch wizard" (S372). By the Fifth Age of the Proturan campaign he is dead: "Legend has it that Lothos (the last archwizard), passed his staff after his death to his long-time apprentice" (S078).
- Vinias, "a magi of legendary power" whose rumoured sightings include "almost every city and town in the West," leads the White Fire in the Sancturi campaign; "most recently, he led the White Fire to assist the Kingdom of Brusau in driving back the Imperium at the Battle of Beddenford" (S319). His agents are marked "White Fire (Vinias - LE)" (S179, S180).
- Bertran Godebert, Highlord, "a former ancient paladin of the Burning Sun cursed with Immortality by Kalar," is "the public face of the White Fire, and where he decides to take sides, the White Fire will intervene" (S319). The Proturan campaign has the society "currently led by the immortal paladin" and has him preside "in a chapter house within the City of Light" (S078).
The Burning Sun, Godebert's old order, is named nowhere else in the sources.
Reputation and relations¶
"There are various stories about them, some good and some bad. In general, they are seen as a benevolent organization by most," the oldest account says; they work undercover "as the interference of wizards is not universally seen as a good thing" (S372). The Fifth Age is harsher: "Any White Fire member is a wanted criminal in the Imperium" (S319), and they fight beside the Riven kingdoms against the Sancturi Imperium.
The same campaign records a change of heart. In Alghert, where the king and princess had made pacts with dark powers, the "White fire knows but looks the other way. Their new philosophy is that it is ok to sacrifice the weak to bolster the strong" (S127).
In Play¶
- In the Demonlands Mini Campaign, the party's characters carry the "fragmented recent memories" of men of a White Fire expedition led by Algonn, rangers and warriors who had come ashore in the Demonlands to dig a reddish crystal "for safekeeping" from warded ruins (S335, S338).
- In the Marshford Campaign, the notes record that a wight "escaped with" King Aderik Tugard and "gave him to the White Fire", and a man of the society, Caelwar, turned up among the party's contacts; the notes also tie a White Fire coin to a "Nameless Agent", a middle-aged man marked "(Nexagar)" (S359, S358).
- In the Sancturi campaign, the society's archmage Kolvar sent his agent Sivar and the dwarf Khalban to "look into darkness falling on Alghert" (S179, S180, S181); see the Sancturi Campaign.
- In the Proturan Campaign, Dala Stonefoot and her companion Tobias passed as White Fire agents with the society's coins at the tomb of Malathar (S047); the later notes reveal that Dala is "ACTUALLY a secret agent of the main Antagonist, pretending to be White Fire" (S058).
Earlier accounts¶
The oldest account (S372, S384) calls the society the Knights of Lothos and has it "work with" a living Lothos across the continent, "hunting demons, killing dragons, taking down evil casters"; the Fourth Age sources keep Lothos at its head, and the Fifth Age ones place Vinias or Godebert there. A 2019 session note on a powerful figure hiding his aura offers "White Fire" and "Asmodeus" as alternative explanations (S182).
Gap
No source says how or when Lothos founded the society, where its chapter houses are besides the City of Light, what the Burning Sun was, or how Vinias, elsewhere the Grandmaster of the Nexa-Vinians, came to lead it. The Fifth Age sources do not describe its ranks.