The Order of the Black Serpent

The Order of the Black Serpent is a secretive and shadowy organisation that has appeared fulfilling many roles during society throughout history. The order's secrecy is the priority at all times and the order has been known to take extreme measures to avoid detection, sometimes disappearing for decades or even century's at a time. This makes it impossible to predict the end of the Order, even though now it is thought to be defunct. Over the century's since the orders beginning it has changed drastically. The only known work to contain references to the Order is 'The Sephiroth' a book by the poet Sir Mark Bruback.

Origin

The Order of the Black Serpent was a group formed during the crusades, those of the order, known as the knights of the black serpent, fought during the war. However the order was formed to fulfil a holy purpose, unequalled by any other knight during the crusades. At this time the order was made up of twelve men from Britain, chosen by the pope himself. Few artefacts remain from the original order, and if they do they May Be hidden in one of the many sanctuary’s ran by agents of the order. For this reason the original purpose of the creation of the order is unknown. It is believed they are sworn to protect humanity & ancient holy artifacts relating to King Solomon's Temple

The Crusades

As mentioned above this was the time that the order was created, although its purpose has faded in to history. Although we cannot definitively state that the Order completed their goal, it would be safe to presume that at least one of the knights returned, if not more, as the order continued in to later years. As this was a secret order little was recorded about them, and all that has has disappeared over the century's. Whether this is because the artifact's have been destroyed, or whether the order is in possession of them, hidden in an archive, we may never know. After the crusades ended evidence suggests that a hidden location was commissioned for the knights near the modern city of Birmingham. Although it is commonly thought that the order =were formed in the crusades, it may be that they were actually formed earlier, although this theory is disputed by many historians. After the crusades the knights were not heard of for a long period of time.

The Tudors

The Order was recovered during this time to help Henry VII conquer the throne of England. After this time they served throughout his reign, eliminating enemies of the crown secretly. Although they continued this service to Henry VIII it did not last long in to his reign, as an unknown argument took place, resulting in the order been banned from the palace. It was around this time that the palace cut off all ties to the order, leaving the order in a position were the crown did not condone the actions it took. This led to a whole new period in the order's history, as it no longer had the crowns commission.

The British Civil War

At this point in time the order had been cut off from the crown and catholic church entirely, leaving it to fend for itself. The secrecy of the order was still of the utmost priority, ensuring that the order still remained unheard of amongst common people, and shrouded in mystery amongst those that had heard about it. At this point in history the order had changed, allowing more than twelve knights into the order, but keeing it as a small group. After the Tudor times the order sought revenge on the monarchy, and this moment finally arrived in the form of the British Civil War. Although the order were not directly linked to the commonwealth (they remained an individual entity after the Tudor times) they still assisted in overthrowing the monarchy. During the war however there is barely any record of the knights, and many think that the orders involvement with the commonwealth is largely understated.

The Industrial Revolution and 18th Century

This is possibly the bloodiest time in the orders history. The order went back to the days of [...] the enemys to the king, but now used the time of turmoil in the British Empire to During this time the ranks of the order swelled considerably, and a hierachal structure was employed, despite the previous members of the order all been equal. At the top of the