The Order of St. George

Origin

The Order of St George takes their name from the Golden Legend of St. George. According to legend, a town was forced to feed its children to a dragon to stop it from attacking them. St. George captured the beast and made the town swear an oath to God. Once they did, he killed the beast and built a church on that very spot. In reality, the church was the original headquarters of The Order of St. George, and the oath was to keep the existence of monsters a secret.

Creation

The first appearance of a single member of The Order of St. George was in Something is Killing the Children #1 by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell'Edera. More members, specifically from the House of Slaughter chapter house, would eventually debut in issue #5

Structure

Hierarchy

• The Dragon King: The spiritual leader of The Order of St. George and the keeper of St. George's history. His will is law within The Order, and his decisions decide the direction of their deepest traditions. He is selected by The Congregation of Houses upon the death of the previous Dragon King.
  • Violet Masks: Emissaries of the Dragon King, the head of the Order. They oversee the transition of Dragons (heads of houses), resolve territorial disputes between houses, and to revoke house charters.
  • Chapter House Dragons: Traditionally, they were former Emerald Masks, however, the rules have loosened in the modern era. After the death of a house's leader, the Violet Masks approve a new leader and bestow a Gold Mask.
    • The Council: The Chapter House Council is made up of the superior members of each branch within the House to ensure no internal conflicts among branches.
      • The House: Each House is assigned a geographic location by The Great House for which they are responsible for hunting monsters and keeping the secret of their existence.

Division of Responsibilities

• Azure Masks: The Blacksmiths, they build all the monster hunting weapons and moderate the tests of skill.
• Black Masks: One of four types of hunters, they are hunters that work alone in the field.
• Emerald Masks: One of four types of hunters, they are considered the most dangerous. They hunt literal dragons.
• Scarlet Masks: The Bookkeepers, who track the lives of hunters. However, they often double as servants, caring for the chapter houses.
• Silver Masks: One of four types of hunters, they are specialists. They hunt monsters with established rules, like vampires or werewolves, and are more prevalent at chapter houses in countries with more culturally ingrained folklore.
• White Masks: One of four types of hunters, they are pack hunters. They are trained to take on big game as a team.

Initiation

In the old days, young people who survived an attack would be tested against the monster that traumatized them. They would face off in a shared dreamscape, where they get a chance to tame the monster and lock it in their totem: an item, usually a toy, of great meaning to the hunter. Due to the survival rate being relatively low, the Order largely changed the initiation test, except for certain circumstances, like Erica Slaughter. They would profile orphans and test them against random monsters, as opposed to the monster that attacked them.

If they pass the test, they receive the Mark of St. George, a tattoo of a dragon with spears through it. They also receive a solid color bandana to wear in their chapter house. They are trained in the ways to kill monsters. Once they get their first kill, they receive a new bandana with teeth on it, making them a full-fledged monster hunter.

Before they leave their teenage years, the initiates must pass one more test so that they can perform the Rite of Trepanation, which will allow the monster hunter to continue seeing monsters into adulthood, since only children could see them. During the ritual, a gold nail is inserted into one of their temples. On rare occasions, a monster might gain enough power to be visible to humans. The principal goal of the Order is stopping that from occurring.

Congregation of Houses

North America

• Chicago, USA - House of Slaughter
• New Orleans, USA - La Maison du Boucher
• New York City, USA, currently defunct

South and Central America

• Panama City, Panama
• Lima, Peru
• Buenos Aires, Argentina

Europe

• London, England - House of Cutter
• Galway, Ireland
• Paris, France - La Maison de Carnage
• Madrid, Spain
• Rome, Italy
• Istanbul, Turkey
• St. Petersburg, Russia

Africa

• The Great House, original chapter house and home of the Dragon King
• Cairo, Egypt
• Capetown, South Africa

Oceania

• Sydney, Australia

Asia

• Nagasaki, Japan
• Hong Kong, China
• Mumbai, India
• Kolkata, India
• Singapore

Notable Members

Erica Slaughter: Erica Slaughter was the most recent Black Mask for the House of Slaughter (the Chicago Branch). She had a rebellious spirit and often butted heads with the administration of her House. After her hunt in Archer's Peak went south, she quit the Order and continued to hunt freelance.

Jace Boucher: Jace grew up in the New Orleans branch, La Maison du Boucher. Jace's parents died in an attack on their chapter house orchestrated by The Old Dragon of Chicago. Late, Jace conned his way into the House of Slaughter so he could get his revenge. It failed, and Jace was marked a traitor. Aaron Slaughter was sent to kill him, but Aaron had romantic feelings for Jace, so he was spared.

Cutter: Cutter was a black mask from the House of Cutter in London. She was brought to America by the House of Slaughter to hunt down Erica after she quit and dropped off the grid. However, the House of Slaughter was not prepared for the violent lengths Cutter would go to track and take Erica out.

Edwin Slaughter: Edwin is a red mask from the House of Slaughter. He made a deal with a monster when he was a boy to get him membership with the Order if the monster could have the safety of being his totem. While on assignment, Edwin has an encounter with a dragon, a monster species believed to be extinct.

Maxine Slaughter: Maxine was one of the White Masks in the House of Slaughter. She had a low opinion of Erica Slaughter and a high opinion of Aaron Slaughter. As one of the more prominent White Masks, she was offered the role of Black Mask after Erica left. Since she was the only black mask at the House of Slaughter, she was sent to La Maison du Boucher to be trained.

Monstrum

Monstrum are manifested by the imagination of humans. Like fear, they are influenced by cultural difference and environmental factors

Taxonomy

• Type: Generic classification
• Class: Specific classification, all but Oscuratypes have one
• Letter: Estimated point in life cycle, given A - F grade, A being eldest
• Number: Estimated Kill Count
• Example: Duplictype Doppelganger F1 = Doppelganger Newborn with 1 estimated kill

Classifications

Oscuratypes: Most generic and populous monsters. They have no classes

Animatype: Monsters manifested from the fear of real animals

• Multiple classes based on the animal they most resemble (Alligator Animatype, Giant Wasp Animatype, etc)
• They assume all characteristics of their respective animal including how best to kill them

Duplicitype: Monsters manifested from the fear of humans.

• Oculus Class - The most common class, takes the form of a known abuser or infamous criminal
• Doppelganger Class - Manifests from the fear of self, taking their creator's image
• Changeling Class - Manifests from the fear from new parents. They replace a newborn to feed off said parents. An exceptional class that can be seen by adults.

Phantasmatype: Monsters manifested from a loss love or a great tragedy

• Commonly referred to as ghosts or spirits, if they possess another monster they take on that monsters traits
• They can be anchored to totems to be used by hunters for guidance and monstrous knowledge.

Chimeratype: Monsters manifested from paranoia, they borrow traits from both Animatypes and Duplictypes.

• Were-Beast Class: Human-animal hybrid, which could be any animal
  • Were-Wolf: The most populous of werebeasts, its popularity in pop culture has standardized silver bullets and blades as a weakness, across all werebeasts
• Deviant Class: Rare Chimeratype that can transform into any human, animal, or potentially monster.

Nosferatype: Monsters manifested from the fear of disease and infection

• Common Vampire Class: The monster most influenced by pop culture, once a bloodthirsty beast, now an attractive seducer. Feeds on blood exclusively
• Succubus/Incubus Class: Feeds on sexual energies and fluids
• Psychic Class: Feeds on human emotions

Necrotype: Monsters manifested from the fear of death

• Common Necrotype: An undead humanoid
• Phantasma-Necrotype: A Phantasmatype possessing a dead organism, classified with necrotypes instead of phantasmatypes due to method of slaying

Mythotype:Monsters manifested by specific folklore

• Far too many classes to name. Mythotypes are hyper-specific to locations, time periods, and cultures
• Chimeratypes and Nosferatypes were once classified as Mythotypes until their lore gained worldwide prominence

Dracotype: Monsters manifested from a civilization's collective horror

• Modern (or Common) Dragon Class: Generic with very little cultural characteristics. One theory is they are an Oscuratype at full maturity.
• Medieval Class: Dragons that resemble those from European cultures
• Eastern Class: Dragons that resemble those of Asian cultures.

Byproducts

Records of the Order of St. George are kept hidden by using monster byproduct to create them. These books are bound in leather and parchment derived from monster skin and written in the blood of monsters. This hides the books from any adult who has not taken the Rite of Trepanation.

Teeth, horns, and claws can be collected for weaponry and other trinkets. The meat was once thought to have magical properties, but those customs have been lost to time.

La Maison de Boucher is the number one producer and exporter of these byproducts in the western hemisphere.