#ordinators

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.