The Order of the White Rose is a mercenary company with a history of dabbling in the occult. Do you need a group of money-hungry folks with few scruples for your setting? Then this article is for you!
The Order of the White Rose is a mercenary organization, serving whoever can pay the most coin. Their distinctive crest is a familiar sight in every region that has seen war in the last century, from the County of Beroux to the Dwarven Fortress of Hig Kalduhr.
The exact founding date of the Order of the White Rose is a mystery, but scholars familiar with the former kingdom of Debonsly have uncovered occasional references to a group with the same name. In truth, that Order and the modern one are related, but distinct organizations. As covered below, despite the lack of continuity between them, they are tied together.
The Order was, in truth, a knightly order cast out for their descent into heresy. Their cache of heretical books and artifacts still rests somewhere, in the lost Castle of the White Rose, whose location is lost to time.
The modern incarnation of the Order of the White Rose has a long-standing feud with the Red Hammers. This is common knowledge, and canny rulers sometimes use it to entice one or the other to take a conflict. “Sure, the pay isn’t the best, but you can stick it to the Red Hammers!” and the like. It often works.
In eons past, the Order of the White Rose was a noble order of knights honor-bound to the royal family of Debonsly, a small kingdom. Unfortunately, during one of the many wars of the era, the Order slew a man carrying a book and a blade.
This blade was strange, its metal tinged purple, its guard shaped to evoke a demon’s horns. The book was stranger still, containing treatises on heretical magic, powerful spells, and even the names of some foul demons. At first, these were held as curiosities in the Castle of the White Rose, but when they were brought to the field to stave off a particularly powerful elven incursion, the leaders of the White Rose were overcome by a lust for power.
Eventually, the Order abandoned their position during another campaign chasing rumors of an arcane artifact. This allowed the elves to strike deep into the Debonsly army’s lines and slay the heir to the throne, Prince Kaskan. When the Order returned to their position, carrying a skull covered in runes, they were captured by the rest of the forces of Debonsly and slain for desertion.
Their bodies were dumped in a cave in a forest, and (almost) all references to the Order of the White Rose were scrubbed from the records of Debonsly. The banners of the castle were burned to make it harder to identify, but the castle itself was simply abandoned, as none knew what arcane traps may lay inside.
Many years passed, and a small group of adventurers stumbled upon the cave with the bodies of the Order. There, they found a shield with an ornate white rose painted on it, and, not recognizing the heraldry, they claimed it as their own.
To sum up, the Order of the White Rose was an order of knights, they discovered heretical powers, they were seduced by the power, they abandoned their post to search for more heretical items, they were cast out and erased from history. A shield with their crest was found by adventurers, who took it up as their own heraldic symbol.
This section covers the major players in the Order. If you’re looking for the rank and file, you want Grunts.
Tycho Cassius, fearless leader. Tycho is a broad-shouldered, brown-haired man with a strong jaw. He is a canny tactician and a formidable warrior, but the years of constant campaigning are starting to take their toll. Specifically, an old injury to Tycho’s leg makes it hard for him to move quickly. Tycho knows the true history of the White Rose and is chasing down the cache of ancient treasures.
Lydia Sanger, warrior. Lydia is a hulking half-orc who fights with a mace. Lydia is a brutal warrior and, when in camp, can usually be found either training other mercenaries or drinking them under the table.
Kard, goblin wizard. Kart is a short, green-skinned goblin who wears a dark orange robe. He waves his hands wildly when he talks. He is a talented wizard, but only in the specific field of “making very large explosions.” They say he destroyed half of a mountain, once. The left half, specifically. When he’s not blowing things up, he can usually be found with Tk-Tk, playing dice games.
Oray’mah Soth’duun’røl, elven wizard. Oray’mah is a tall, thin elf with black hair and green eyes. She is rumored to be the last of her clan, but that’s not actually true. That clan just lives very, very far away. She carries a staff made from a tree branch, with a diamond-shaped green gem embedded in the fork at the top of the branch. It looks almost like the branch was grown around the gem. She creates various plant-monsters to do her bidding on and off the battlefield.
Tk-Tk, insectfolk fighter. Tk-Tk is an ant-like humanoid. He cannot speak Common, and the human mouth cannot make the sounds of his language, but most of the mercenaries seem to understand him, and he understands Common. He carries a double-bladed staff, a traditional weapon of his people. When not on duty, he can usually be found playing dice games with Kard.
Mia Burso, diviner. Mia is a thin woman with long, black hair and cold, blue eyes. Mia uses a tarot deck to predict the future. The deck is magical, and its contents sometimes change in appearance, name or both to reflect the current status of the world.
Chisk, lizardfolk armourer. Chisk is a broad-shouldered, muscular lizardfolk woman with red scales. She speaks with a distinct drawl, characteristic of the swamps where she learned Common. She is scathingly sarcastic, but the rest of the mercenaries put up with her because she’s the best at her job.
Qynton, human cook. Qynton is a tall, well-dressed man with wispy blond hair. He used to be the head chef for a noble family, who were all slain or captured by the Order of the White Rose. Now he works for them, cooking large meals from whatever he can scrounge up. He speaks like a nobleman, but if needed, he can fight just as well as the others.
The Order of the White Rose make excellent employers from the perspective of narrative convenience. Almost any adventure module can be prefaced with “The Order has been hired to do X” or “You have been sent to this region to search for clues about the origin of the Order.” and bam, the party has a reason for why they’re here.
The Order pays a silver a day for an average footsoldier, plus food and lodging in the camp. When deployed away from the main camp, soldiers are (usually) given a stipend to cover their food and lodging. Soldiers are also entitled to a share of whatever loot they discover or capture.
There are many reasons you might want to join up with a mercenary company. If you’re at a loss for a motivation, here are six! You’ll note that “Because I’m a well-adjusted person with a good life who makes good choices” is absent from this table.
| Roll 1d6 |
|---|
| 1. Youthful Lust for Adventure. Swordfights! Saving maidens! Glorious riches! These are the dreams of a naive young man or woman, the sort that makes up the bulk of the Order’s recruits. You share these dreams, regardless of your actual age, and have joined up searching for excitement and wealth. Best of luck to you. |
| 2. Orphan with No Better Alternative. You grew up in an orphanage, on the streets, or alternating between the two. You may be malnourished, but you’re still young, and the Order of the White Rose provides stability, comradery, and most importantly: Money. |
| 3. Quest for Vengeance. Ninjas kidnapped your family. A rich noble killed your father and kidnapped your mother. Your sister was one of the victims of poisoned sweets made by an evil chocolatier who fled after dispensing their tainted goods. Whatever it was, there’s someone out there you want to kill, and you’re hoping to find them. |
| 4. Recruited from the Losing Side. You served a noble family who ended up in the crosshairs of the Order. You were a footsoldier who saw the writing on the wall and surrendered. You were the perfect replacement for the quartermaster who was slain in the last battle. Regardless of the exact circumstances, you were offered the chance to join the Order of the White Rose, and you took it. |
| 5. Supporting Family Back Home. You’ve got five brothers, three sisters, two moms, and an aunt with a bad back, and the harvests have been poor. Your family is part of a persecuted minority and can’t get enough work to support themselves. Your younger brother is in an asylum somewhere, and you’re the only one who can pay for his care. People back home are relying on you to send them money, and for someone with more courage than trade skills, this is the only way to make enough. |
| 6. Running from the Past. You’re an infamous burglar who escaped a kingdom’s most notorious prison. You slept with a noble family’s most precious son. You’re the last member of a royal family whose throne was usurped. Somebody wants you dead and as long as you’re working with the Order of the White Rose, you’re out of their reach. You hope, at least. |
The Order of the White Rose has two major motivations that make for great adventure hooks: Money, and the search for the Castle of the White Rose. Below are some adventure hooks inspired by the search for the Castle:
The Grand Library of Parab, in a distant desert kingdom, is said to contain translations of every book that has passed through the city’s walls. By some coincidence, the Kingdom of Parab is in dire need of some mercenaries, and are willing to open the Library to Tycho Cassius as part of his payment.
A small farm on the fringes of a kingdom, selling its flour in bags bearing the name “WHITE ROSE FARMS.” The farmers are unfamiliar with the Order in either of its incarnations, but they are directly descended from members of the original order who escaped the purge and settled down here. A trunk in the cellar bears the mark of the Order of the White Rose. The trunk is locked, but easy to pick. It contains a few swords, some armor, a White Rose banner and a handwritten note that reads “RIGHT after Black Stone Bridge.”
The Arch-Wizard Galgafarius has developed a method to see into the past, or so the rumors say. Unfortunately, Galgafarius’s tower sits on the border of two kingdoms currently at war. Can the Order of the White Rose reach his tower without getting embroiled in the war? Or, even better, can they get paid to conquer the area his tower is in?
The Order of the White Rose are tough opponents. Lydia’s training is brutal, but it results in strong, well-drilled troops. Kard is also there, blowing up anything that stands in the group’s way.
Of course, they’re not invincible, and at the end of the day, they are a mercenary force. If the tide of the battle turns substantially, or if a better offer comes in, they’re likely to turn on their employers.
For every hour spent in an area controlled by the Order of the White Rose, roll on the encounter chart below.
| Roll 1d6 |
|---|
| 1. Three footsoldiers out searching for firewood. They’re easy to surprise, or avoid. |
| 2. Animal Handler on patrol with two war dogs. The dogs are trained to follow scents and may pick up on the presence of the party. |
| 3. Tk-Tk, carrying his staff and searching for intruders. |
| 4. Oray’mah Soth’duun’røl, a summoned plant monster and two footsoldiers. The footsoldiers are unsettled by the plant monster, and not as alert as they should be. |
| 5. Roll twice and combine the results. If you roll this a second time, roll two more times and combine the results. If you roll this result 64 times in a row, stop and inspect your dice. |
| 6. Nothing. Maybe the party is slipping in between patrols, or maybe whoever’s on patrol is slacking. |
Hi there folks! Hope you’re having a great day, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this faction spotlight slash adventure primer. Mercenary companies, in my opinion, make a great framing device for adventure stories. As mentioned above, many questions can be answered with “because you’re getting paid to do it.”
Fight alongside them, fight against them, pit them against the Red Hammers!
-Garm
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Garmbreak1
Former esports wannabe, current TTRPG streamer and TTRPG creator interviewer. I like science fiction and I have a soft spot for licensed tabletop RPGs. You can find all the campaigns I’m in and interviews I’ve done over on YouTube.
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