Inquisition of Truth

The Inquisition of Truth is a tribunal that was established by High Cleric Ostrick the Zealous and Sister Ella Holcomb. While primarily intended to maintain Truth's orthodoxy within the Kingdom of the Light, the Inquisition also serves as the Army of the Truthful's judicial and intelligence branches.

Command Structure
The primary purpose of an inquisitor is to root out corruption and correct deviance in the ranks of the Truthful, as well as see to the questioning of enemies to the Kingdom. Base torture, mutilation and killing is not the purpose of this institution.

The High Inquisitor is to be monitored by three regular inquisitors. They are chosen in three ways: One by the High Inquisitor, one by the High Cleric, and one by popular vote.

The High Inquisitor is bound by duty to monitor and, if needed, question members of the leadership. All are required to submit themselves, should the High Inquisitor feel the needs, excepting the High Cleric himself. The High Inquisitor is also charged with monitoring the spiritual health of the Inquisition.

All inquisitors are charged with ensuring the spiritual health of all members of the Kingdom of the Light, with the exception of the leadership. All members are required to submit to an inquisitor’s questioning, as refusal to do so will result in charges of treason and penalty of death for crimes against the Light.

The Seat of Justice
The Seat of Justice serves the Kingdom of the Light by overseeing law enforcement and intelligence operations both domestically and abroad.

Inquisitors may specialize in a particular area of work, where such faculties may serve to benefit one of the following bureaus:
 * Bureau of Virtue and Enforcement
 * Bureau of Inquisitorial Training
 * Bureau of Intelligence
 * Bureau of Propaganda

Trial and Punishment
Should an inquisitor find any guilt, they may assign punishments appropriate to the crime, up to mutilation, both mental and physical; if an inquisitor sentences a member to maiming and that member is later proven to be innocent of the crime they were convicted of, the inquisitor will be maimed in a similar way as well as being put on probation or facing questioning him/herself. If an inquisitor believes a crime warrants death or expulsion, they may imprison the guilty while they take their recommendation to the High Inquisitor, as she is the only one able to pass such a verdict.



The Path of Seeking
The Path of Seeking is a process of interrogation involving nine graduated steps that increase in severity both mental and physical means employed in the examination of prisoners. Inquisitors are to only adhere to or utilize the Path of Seeking for the express purpose of questioning.

Inquisitors will be expected to use good and just judgment when deciding who to launch inquiry against and deciding where on the Path of Seeking the accused falls. All inquisitors must be trained and knowledgeable on the both the necessity and protocol of each level should a particular case be escalated.

Enforcement
Members of the inquisition, while not trained in direct combat and orderly tactics, are equipped to utilize deadly force should need be. An inquisitor is expected to operate at the level of any elite combatant among the Truthful, either as a healer or an offensive asset.

Rite of Censure
Though there are many methods and skill-sets employed by the inquisition, a chief discipline of priesthood is favored and frequently utilized. Referred to officially as the Rite of Censure, it is both a culmination and apotheosis of the studies of holy magic. While it was initially designed to provide an effective offensive utility for priests and clerics against the Scourge, Grand Inquisitor Isillien fully culminated the process to allow its use against the living as well. "Indeed, the Light brings its loving warmth to those who seek it. We are its faithful servants, and it shines in us eternally. Yet there are those that fear the dawn. For them, it is blinding, and brings a harsh punishment. These bitter and spiteful souls shall find no place to hide, for we are the fire in the night, burning red against the shadows."

- from Precepts: A Peace with Cruelty Purported origins dictate that the practice derived its roots from the the Libram of Retribution and Libram of Justice, extrapolated upon by Scarlet Crusade founders Isillien, Fairbanks, Ferren Marcus, and Alexandros Mograine. The clerical members of the nascent order had begun to collaborate among the paladin commanders in order to sufficiently prepare the men and women of the cloth for direct confrontation with the enemy upon the battlefield. The magically inclined were provided further potency for their spells, as well as a far more rigid, military discipline. These acolytes among the church were gradually shifting into a soldierly regiment during their doctrinal studies, with the minds at the behest of the Crusade's prelacy becoming warlike and driven by conquest. Isillien, now fully ensconced in his role as Grand Inquisitor, began thinking of the future of the burgeoning Scarlet Crusade. Though dedicated to his cause in eradicating the undead, he was aware of the Alliance’s actions in the far west--specifically, of their joining with the Horde and the Night Elves to face down the Burning Legion. Further, it had been whispered that the Forsaken squatting in the Ruins of Lordaeron had broken from the Lich King, providing another foe to face. While Isillien had been successful in drawing the living remnants of humanity into the Crusade, there were many who had turned away from the zealots, and the Grand Inquisitor knew that they would take word of his ravings far and wide. He fell into the trap of overthinking, anticipating that those who had not embraced the Scarlet Crusade would only speak poorly of it, and with such negative attention, fewer would seek to cleanse Lordaeron, perhaps even driving out current crusaders who would, in turn, spread the ill tidings further. Such circular thinking began to wear on the inquisitor, driving him to the inevitable conclusion that the Crusade's living foes would prove to be as equally pernicious as the dead, and that their maligned intent would be a threat tantamount to the Scourg itself. Additionally, the fact that the Horde were still a force--even half a world away--redoubled Isillien’s commitment to finding a way to turn the Holy Light into a universal weapon, invoked with the same potency and conviction that it had been used against its direct anathema, with an even greater power than ever before. Gathering his most learned scholars and priests, Isillien began working on what was to be called the Rite of Censure. The concept was far divorced from the prior notions proscribed by humans where-in a paladin must be sanctioned their Light-invested powers. The Rite of Censure was a way to spur the sense of vindication during one’s summoning of the Holy Light, fueled by emotions both positive and negative, the invoked magic reflecting this inner state with scathing fire. A common tenet of the Holy Light stated that all beings were connected by the Light and that the universe was reciprocal, mirrored more-over:  If one felt good, they would spread good; if one spread good, they would feel good. However, the direct inverse was equally applicable. Isillien used his own feelings of hatred and paranoia, turning them inward, seeding further hatred and molding the pure magics of the Light into a destructive force.

The experimentation driving the Rite of Censure continued the Grand Inquisitor’s downward spiral, amplifying those negative emotions with each passing day. Soon, Isillien began to see enemies even within the ranks of the Crusade--those who thought as Maxwell Tyrosus did--and feared that despite theirs manifest victories, more and more people would seek the path of appeasement with the enemy--something expressly forbidden by the Grand Crusader, Saidan Dathrohan. While the Grand Crusader was locked in the Scarlet Bastion, Isillien having High General Abbendis’ full confidence, the Grand Inquisitor began eroding the protections provided to holy warriors by the church as well as implementing new rules for what would become the Scarlet Inquisition proper, greatly expanding the powers of individual inquisitors and slowly allowing the group to control the thoughts and minds of those who wore the flame. Eventually, Isillien’s researches, teachings, and regulations stepped away from those of the Church of the Holy Light, but by the time anyone who was not already a devotee of the inquisition knew, Isillien had already put into place the perfect machine for controlling the Crusade and ensuring that it continued to survive, no matter what opponents confronted it--from abroad or within. Despite what could be considered a resounding success in mitigating the threats that he had foreseen, Isillien continued his spiral into madness and vehemence. With no more temporal methods to adopt, the Grand Crusader put his full attention into completing the Rite of Censure and spreading its use to all inquisitors of the Scarlet Crusade.

The particular discipline required by the Rite of Censure lead many to proscribe its methods, chiefly due to many religious teachings regarding the Holy Light being rooted in far more magnanimous sentiments. Detractors cite the use of its power to be a direct corruption of its original intent, blurring the line between what is considered pure, and what is evil, believing it to be a direct threat to the sacrosanct.

Notable Inquisitors
High Inquisitor Ella Holcomb