The Crusaders are four entities that were created during the last days of human civilization in The Godless World through a combination of unearthly powers and human science. They are usually indifferent to humanity, whom they will outlive, but view The Fears as a direct threat to their existence, wandering the earth to challenge them wherever they meet.
Members[]
- The most mysterious of the four entities, The Drum is described as silvery and humanoid. It is hard to look at directly as it constantly produces a wall of force around it, often accompanied by a rhythmic pounding noise, hence its name. It is capable of obliterating most things using this force, causing them to either disintegrate or simply cease to exist. It refers to this ability as "Drumming them out".
- Surreptitious and rarely seen, The Spook prefers to lay elaborate traps or use tricks in order to get what it wants. It loathes intervening directly and often relies on tricking or persuading others to do its work and more often than not will never reveal involvement, preferring others to guess whether it was involved or not. Despite the nature of its activities, it is fiercely loyal and has deep mistrust of traitors.
- The Vale has a mysterious link with the loss of reality plaguing the world. It flickers as it moves and never keeps the same shape, it can move or alter objects seemingly on a whim and can even project a field of chaos around itself allowing it to summon unreal creatures who serve as the backbone of any large scale conflict the Crusaders participate in. It is one of the more talkative Crusaders and indulges in taunts and petty insults to goad opponents.
- The Knight is the most stable member of the Crusaders, and takes the form of an old knight with sad features, wearing a battered suit of armor. It almost never fights; instead it travels between the dwindling human settlements offering aid and comfort to those that live there. It possesses an overwhelming love of all life and can calm almost any attacker or create happiness from depression. Since it only deals with humanity, it is largely ignored by the Crusaders' enemies, but when it is attacked it will defend itself and can be exceedingly dangerous if driven into a true fury.