The Brotherhood was founded around 4300 during the Tyranny of Salm-Lorin. After Atrabilorin the Dwarf died, the first Overlord of the City-State, the Council of the City-State elected not to fill the position for many years. The City-State grew and prospered and formed the Lord’s Alliance with other local barons and town of the area. After a hundred years the Lord’s Alliance suffered a civil war between the army and the merchants. The merchants were losing badly at first until Salm-Lorin, the head of the Guild of Arcane Lore, agreed to lend the might of the Order of Thoth to the merchant’s cause. Salm-Lorin was victorious and in 4287 the Council of the City-State proclaimed Salm-Lorin Overlord, successor to Atrabilorin.
In five years Salm-Lorin ruthlessly used the the power of magic and the Guild of Arcane Lore to crush all opposition. In 4293 the Council agreed to grant to Salm-Lorin all of it’s power and allow Salm-Lorin govern the City-State alone. Salm-Lorin ruthlessly purged the old noble houses that survived the downfall of the Dragon Empire and consolidated control over all aspect of life in the City-State. From 4293 on, this was known as the time of the Tyranny.
Driven from their ancestral lands and stripped of their ancient rights many of the nobility sank into poverty. Many vowed to regain what was their by any means possible. A few banded together and amide great risk of magical detection formed the Brotherhood of the Lion. The Brotherhood would protect and defend it’s members and strike back at any who supported the Tyrant. They would use any means they could to regain their rightful place and they agreed to restore their people, the Ghinorians, as conquerors of nations.
The Brotherhood is centered in the City-State of the Invincible Overlord. It’s reach doesn’t extend very far into the west as the Tharians nobility and Elessarian peasantry hold sway. However to the East and South in the Ghinorian Successor realms of Dearthmead, Modron, and Nomar they are a force to be reckon and a source of trouble for the nobility of those lands.
The Brotherhood is enjoying great growth in the land of Tarantis among the Ghinorian who are now under the rule of the Skandians.
The universal symbol of the Brotherhood is the bloody lion. A lion head rampant with blood dripping from it’s jaw. Another common symbol of the Brotherhood is the bloody paw. This more common among the street thugs as they mark their “examples” with a slash across the thigh with a steel claw and then draw, in blood, a lion’s paw print.
Traditionally the Brotherhood has been a secretive organization very jealous of it’s privacy. It expects absolute loyalty from it’s members and punish those that betray them harshly. It is not known widely that many member of the Brotherhood support the church of Mitra’s Order of the Temple. A militant order, they are dedicated to re-storing the honor of the Ghinorians and Mitra by force of arms. They were instrumental in the founding of Nomar several hundred years ago and now engage in a crusade to liberate the Ghinorians of Tarantis.
The Brotherhood and the Order of the Temple have come to an understanding and cooperate in many areas especially in Tarantis.
The Brotherhood is feared, hated and loved by the common Ghinorian man. When times are good the Brotherhood is looked upon as criminals and parasites and cries of law and order ensue. When times are bad the Brotherhood is looked upon as a source of pride a way of getting back at the oppressors of the Ghinorian people and a way to restore the lost glory of the Empire.
The Brotherhood is a radical organization that will do anything to accomplish it’s goals. As a consequence it is banned by nearly every government in which it operates. The Overlord bans the Brotherhood because of the threat to the Tharian Nobility. The Ghinorian Successor states ban them as the Brotherhood threatens the fragile peace that preserves their existence.
In the Brotherhood’s early years the beleaguered Church supported it’s goals and aims. However as the Grand Reformation has taken hold in the Church over the last two centuries the Church has turned to condemnation and censure of the Brotherhood of the Lion. Even after two centuries of Reformation the Church is still divided among the Reform and the Orthodox factions. The Orthodox faction has been known to use the Brotherhood to further it’s aims in the secular world.
Of all the Orthodox factions the Order of the Temple is perhaps the closest to the Brotherhood. They are actively working together in Tarantis to free the Ghinorian people from the Skandians.
150 years ago, the Tharians led the remnants of the
Lord's Alliance against Salm-Lorin and defeated him. Their leader, Lucius the
Great, became the Overlord of the City-State. Much of the new nobility
were drawn from the victorious clans of the Tharians and the Brotherhood renewed
their vow to regain their freedom. Now a 150 years later the Brotherhood is
little more than a group of thugs who control the underworld of the City-State.