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Ordinator headcanons Part 3

Part 3. A few notes on Indoril armour

Originally, Part 3 of my Ordinator headcanons was supposed to not only describe Indoril armour, but also contain historical notes on the Orders. In the end, I decided to work on the historical notes as a separate article. Part 4, most likely.

The first and second part of Ordinator headcanons can be found:

here (Part 1. Recruitment and training)

and here (Part 2. Ranks and armour markings).

Technical Matters

1. Indoril armour comes in three basic variants: light, medium and heavy. Light armour is mostly worn by the Order of Doctrine and Ordination members, as well as scouts and couriers of other Orders. Heavy armour is a trademark of High Ordinators, but the Order of War and the Order of Inquisition rely on it while facing the most demanding of opponents. Medium armour is standard for the members of these Orders as it balances flexibility with durability. This variant is also considered the “traditional” Indoril armour.

2. Light armour does not utilise chainmail in order to reduce noise. The padding worn under bonemold (or chitin) plating is made of kagouti leather, specifically the back portion of the hide where the scales are thickest and offer most protection. The helm often does not have a crest as it may hinder moving quickly and silently in difficult terrain.

3. Heavy armour plating is made of adamantium; in case of medium armour, the standard material is bonemold.

4. The process of making the armour (especially medium and heavy) is known only to trusted Indoril smiths, which lends itself to the Ordinators’ protectiveness of any and all armour elements, should they make their way into the wrong hands (although the main reason for this lies elsewhere, as mentioned later). Both medium and heavy variants are considered one of the best in their weight category.

5. Light and medium Indoril armour does not offer much throat protection. While the wearer's neck is protected by pleating (attached to the back of the Mask) and neck guards, the bonemold and chainmail elements of armour only reach as far as the collarbone. Ordinators are aware of that weakness and are taught during advanced armour training to anticipate and deflect attacks aimed there. Heavy Indoril armour does not have that weakness, thanks to additional coif length.

As a sort of sidenote: if your Nerevarine or OC wants to dispose of an Ordinator or is forced to face them, they should still go for the throat. Firstly, they might simply get lucky and surprise the Ordinator. Secondly, even if they don't manage to kill them outright, they might render the Ordinator unable to cast a spell or call for backup - and that is very important. An Ordinator is still capable of maiming you with hand-to-hand skills, but... Ordinators are not Buoyant Armigers - they are taught to think and fight as a part of a unit and will rely on backup instead of seeking personal glory. The more Ordinators are aware of the altercation, the less likely your OC will get out of the situation on their own terms. Ordinators are like bees in that respect…

The Symbol

1. Indoril armour serves as so much more than a means of protection. An Ordinator in full armour is no longer a member of their family, or even House of Indoril, but a representative and enforcer of Tribunal Justice and Law. This sets them apart from other servants of the Temple, whose main duties are to teach and heal. An Ordinator is fully authorized to use force at their discretion in order to maintain Temple authority while they are wearing their helm, which is also called the Mask of Saint Nerevar.

2. The moment they don the Mask of Saint Nerevar, an Ordinator sheds their individual goals and needs. What is left is servitude to Almsivi and Almsivi's goals and needs. At least in theory. In fact it is a very difficult state of mind to achieve - to be a perfect tool of the Tribunal - and most of Ordinators struggle with it. Even on duty, as Almsivi's representatives, they are still only mer and the emotion that is their most common answer to other people or situations is usually the one they struggle the most with. It is not only pride that stands in their way, which is the most common trait attributed to Ordinators, but also anger, or kindness, sympathy... a whole plethora of very human emotions and motivations. The Mask of Saint Nerevar is not just a source of power and authority, but also an obligation and burden.

Questions of Law

1. The Orders hold exclusive rights to wear the armour. Higher ranking members of the Temple may be in possession of pieces of armour (which happens rarely), but are not allowed to don them.

2. Wearing the Indoril armour without authorization is punishable by death. If caught, the life of the offending party is already forfeit - but the execution is usually preceeded by brutal interrogation at the hands of the Order of Inquisition, until all details of acquiring such an item are established. What often follows is a widespread manhunt, since the usual opportunity for coming into possession of the armour is an Ordinator’s death.

3. Being in unauthorized possession of even a single piece of armour is forbidden by law and the offending party is hunted down, imprisoned and prosecuted. Usually it leads to the same results as being caught wearing the armour, but the accused is allowed to make a defence plea and the Archives of the Orders do contain records of instances when the accused were absolved of the crime.

4. A piece of Indoril armour fetches a kingly price in the black market. There are very few willing to procure such an item and keep it in their possession for long enough to finalize an exchange. Usually a potential buyer is forced to go through months of dropping hints in a seedier kind of society. If they are deemed trustworthy enough, a correspondence starts using dead drops to determine the transaction’s conditions, which are always more favourable for the provider than the buyer, and always involve a considerable up front payment. Only then does the provider (usually a group of people) search for a potential target. When and if they manage to kill an Ordinator (or find one already dead), they get rid of the armour as quickly as possible, take the rest of the payment and scatter to the four winds. And if the buyer is not willing to pay up, an anonymous tip is likely to make its way to the Ordinators.

5. Ordinators actively performing their duties are subject to protection by Temple law. In the first part of my Ordinator headcanons I said that an Ordinator's belt (specifically, the buckle) is considered their badge of service. It is worn with the rest of the armour, but may also be used outside of active service, for example during House or familial gatherings and ceremonies, as a symbol of status. Should your OC disagree with an Ordinator or insult them on such occasions, the consequences will depend on your interlocutor’s personality. Eventual further disputes would be observed by House Indoril law, and you may be challenged or even killed, but you will have no quarrel with the Temple. However, the situation changes drastically should you offend an Ordinator on duty, i.e. wearing the Mask of Saint Nerevar. In such instance, you offend what they represent, that is, the Temple and Almsivi.

6. That's also why calling an Ordinator "goldface" or "plateface" is considered particulary insulting and may be considered blasphemous not only by servants of the Temple; after all, the insult manages to target not only an officer on duty, but also the Tribunal whose will they represent and the Saint whose face they wear.

Footnotes:

The Ordinators the Nerevarine meets in Ald Daedroth are members of the Order of the Inquisition (it is not outright stated, but when asked about their class, they identify themselves as Inquisitors) and my take is that most of them are protected by heavy armour for that particular raid. A shrine full of daedra and mad cultists with sharp implements (and possibly imaginary claws in one specific case) is not a good place to wind up in light armour.

Since I do believe the process of smithing Indoril armour is a secret, the Militant Ordinator Style (ESO crafting motif) by Vermethys Indoril never happened. Also, to stay on the topic of Vermethys Indoril's publications, I have very strong feelings about A Guide to Liturgical Vestments (another one of them ESO books), none of them positive.

Also, I must admit that I find Mysterious killings in Vivec (in TES III: Morrowind) unsatisfactory as a quest. I think the presentation of Ordinators in this particular quest is inconsistent with the rest of the game, where they are austere, unyielding and terryfing. Here we find them incompetent and... lazy? Let's say that in my opinion the whole story went very differently.

Next: A few notes on the history of the Orders

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