The first generation of Inquisitors was recruited amongst the veterans of the Civil war. They came mostly from the first batch of draftees who, through some combination of good fortune, stubbornness, and ferocity, survived long enough to see the conflict to its very end.

These men and women are, for the most part, of gentle birth, and draw upon the benefits of their classical education to be both natural born leaders, as well as unwavering supporters of their faith and Emperor. As such, and despite being rightly seen as loners, they have never forgotten the many years they spent in their homes, being taught how to lead and fight alongside men of lower birth. Even the most hardened criminals, or cynical unbelievers have reportedly been galvanized into frenzied acts of self-sacrifice, patriotism, and redemption by the words and actions of an Inquisitor, and the sight of a penal legion following with renowned vigor a cloaked Inquisitor into certain death has been ingrained into the memory of many old soldiers.

The nature of an Inquisitor’s work means that they will often operate alone, and isolation is as much a tool of survival as it is a coping mechanism.  Having seen the worst both the war and the Darkness had to offer, without ever having been prepared for it, the first generation of Inquisitors shows many signs of trauma, and battle fatigue, which in the world of Psarosoupa is often treated either by dismissal or outright disdain, often by the patient himself.

The first Inquisitors were as unprepared to take on their new-found responsibilities as they had been to join the ranks of the imperial army. Having no predecessors which to emulate, and nothing but their wits and state-issued weaponry to go up against some of the worst horrors magic had to throw at them, countless Inquisitors perished in order for the rest to get a semblance of what they could call “tried and tested tactics”. Every single death brought new-found knowledge to the fledgling Inquisition and before long they had evolved from a glorified Forlorn Hope to a solid core of veterans, drawing upon the experience of their dead to counter the ungodly foes of their faith with pike and shot. As such, with no state-funded training behind them, every Inquisitor fights in the way that suits him or her best.

Today the men and women of the Inquisition are few and far between, but their reputation is at its highest and their skills remain as sharp as ever. Most of them have been caught up by the years, but the lord’s work is never done, and only in death does duty end. They remain, to this day, the undisputed masters in the fight against the Darkness, and will often stand as the first and last line of defense of Psarosoupa in its eternal fight. Treated with fear and respect in equal measure, the Inquisitors as seen both as heroes and as a threat by the people of Psarosoupa who know that whenever an Inquisitor goes, the Darkness soon follows.

 With the end of the war there aren’t many new recruits worthy enough to take up the mantle, but the more sociable inquisitors have been known to scour the countless branches of the Empire for young men and women possessing the right combination of zeal and brawn for them to be recruited into the Inquisitor’s personal retinue. Should these rare individuals survive next to their patron, they stand a good chance to be made an Inquisitor themselves, and despite their young age the nature of their training means that they will always consider themselves to belong to the First Generation, and defend that statement vigorously against anyone who would dispute it.

The civil war has left ruin and destruction across the empire, as well as an endless supply of orphans. If Psarosoupa is ever to recover from the conflict then it must make certain that this new generation is not abandoned to be the last casualties of an ended war.

As such, the church of Psarosoupa declared the creation of the Schola Progena, to tend to the offspring of the dead. Unlike many other imperial Institutions keen on treating the families of the defeated rebels with open hostility, the Scola Progena welcomes the children of both sides of the conflict, and many separatist families, who lost their titles and fortunes at the end of the war, see the Scholea as one of the only ways to redeem their family’s honor. As such, a great many of the youngsters in the Schools come from rebel households, and work ever so hard to prove their loyalty to the Emperor and, most of all, the Holy Father who gave them the chance to wash away the shame.

The children of the Scholea live a life of opportunity, but harshness. The Schools do indeed open the doors to most posts in the newly revitalized Empire, by making sure that their wards are undisputedly the best candidates available. They achieve this by rigorous training, and an iron discipline. From the moment a child enters a Schola he is a child no longer, and his body belongs to the Church. Every single moment of his life will be spent following the orders of the abbot-sergeants tasked with their upbringing. These harsh task-masters are veterans of the civil war who have decided to offer the rest of their days in service to the Church. Their strictness and disciplinary actions are legendary, and few men can stare down these old soldiers. They make sure that the children are not wasted to the callousness of youth, and every weakness or excess is ruthlessly stamped out to be replaced by an implacable will and sense of duty.

The orphans are introduced early on to a militarized life-style, with early waking hours, curfews, strict duties and of course, weapon training. Their education however, is given just as much importance as their martial upbringing, as the Church is keen on producing erudite men and women, taught in the ways they deem most excellent. An offspring of the Scholea Progena could rightly boast to be among the cultivated elite of the Empire, if boasting had not been beaten out of him by his drill-abbot.

At age 16, the children will leave their schools to be used as the Empire and the Church see fit. Most often they will be selected to serve as officers in the Imperial Army, or the police of a given city. Yet not all of the Progena will be selected for military duties: the most sophisticated and learned will join the clergy or fill any of the numerous administrative roles vital to the survival of the Empire, those with an affinity for helping others will be inducted into the many hospitals built by the Church, while those who combine a strong sword-hand with a tender heart will be given the honor of joining the Hospitallers. The needs of the Empire are never-ending and as such the Progena can be found everywhere, fulfilling the most diverse roles across the entire span of the state, as no employer has so far ever refused a Progena.

Yet for all the paths offered by the schools, the one that stands above all the others is that of Inquisitor. The second generation of Inquisitors has been a project that has evolved over the spans of many years in the heart of the Schola Progena. With the end of the war, the needs of the Empire have changed and a new breed of witch-hunters is needed to deal with the threats. After the success of the First Generation Inquisitors, the Church is keen on building on their achievements. By using all the added knowledge of the existing hunters, the drill-abbots select only the very best of their charges, to become the Second Generation of heroes the Empire needs. These men and women will be a strictly trained fighting force instead of the ad’hoc brawlers their forebears had been. Moreover, the introduction of an official training course would mean that their numbers will always be replenished, keeping the newest generation from succumbing to the same attrition as the first timers.

The new Inquisitors have only just begun to appear in the field, and while many old men looked down on them and would have gladly betted their fortunes on the old timers with which they themselves had served during the war, the fruits of the Schola’s training cannot be denied, as these young men and women have taken to their new duties with frightening speed and ease.

It is also said however that the Progena care far less about the means with which they go about their aim, and disturbing tales have emerged, of dead-eyed Inquisitors, completely uncaring about the suffering they leave in their wake, and while the First Generation was far from saintly, they were always seen as heroes. These new hunters however, act more the part of the enforcer, a fact directly supported by the Church who would never let the Empire fall once again into the Darkness.