Iron Brother Mace

Order of the Iron Brotherhood

The Iron Brotherhood’s origins can be traced back to the First Macedonian War, around 212 BC, but information is spotty because source materials are sparse, and either largely based on hearsay or are adversarial in nature. What’s more, much of those materials were in turn destroyed when the Mongols overran Ochuroma Sidiros, the Iron Brotherhood’s former headquarters on Mt. Nairamdal in 1217 AD. Still, there are documents extant concerning the cult’s first Grandmaster, Iron Makhaira.

A passionate devotee of Pankration, Iron Makhaira was well-liked throughout Macedonian, Thrace, and the western parts of Pergamon by other practitioners of the martial arts, which led to a number of people becoming his followers. Using his fame and popularity, Iron Makhaira founded the Order of the Iron Brotherhood. While his motives for founding this order are ultimately unknown, it was said to be for his own political and personal gain, and to also exact vengeance on his enemies. When the first Macedonian War happened, unrest broke out across the land. Iron Makhaira found himself not only fighting for power with other City States, but also with the invading Roman forces.

Not long after creating the Order, Makhaira headed east and searched for a location that would be fit for a sturdy headquarters, and decided on the fortress at Mt. Nairamdal, in what is now western Mongolia. It is still disputed whether Iron Makhaira built the fortress himself, or if it was already built at the time of his arrival. In either case, Iron Makhaira adapted the fortress to suit his needs of indoctrinating his followers, and also defense from hostile forces. After laying claim to the fortress at Mt. Nairamdal, Iron Makhaira began expanding his influence outward to nearby towns and districts, using his agents to gain political favor and intimidate the local populations. The fortress became known by the local populace as “The Temple of Iron”, he called it simply Ochuroma Sidiros.

Spending most of his days at Ochuroma Sidiros, Iron Makhaira created religious works and doctrines for his Order. Makhaira was never to leave his fortress again in his lifetime. In the order he had established a secret society of deadly assassins, which was built in a hierarchical format.
Below is a diagram of the hierarchy of the Order of the Iron Brotherhood

Grandmaster: Iron Makhaira
Triarch: A group of three leaders who would run the fortress’s day to day operations.
Brothers: 33 groups of three brothers form “triangles of death”
Apostles: 99 apostles or brothers in training, study, waiting for a spot so that they can become a full brother.
Collected: children too young to start training, taken from those that they have been assassinated

It is the groups of three Brothers (or as they were called, Triangles of Death), who are some of the most feared assassins in the known world. It is, however, unknown how Iron Makhaira was able to get his Triangles of Death to perform with such fervent loyalty.

One theory, possibly the best known but also the most criticized, comes from the observations from Marco Polo during his travels to the East. He describes how the “Iron Man in the Mountain” (Iron Makhaira) would drug his young followers with leaves of the bodshov tree, lead them to a “paradise”, and then claim that only he had the means to allow for their return. Perceiving that Iron Makhaira was either a prophet or some kind of magic man, his disciples, believing that only he could return them to “paradise”, were fully committed to his cause and willing to carry out his every request.**

With his new triangles of death, Iron Makhaira began to order assassinations, ranging from politicians to great generals. Brothers rarely would attack ordinary citizens though, and tended not to be hostile towards them. If their targets had any offspring under the age of four they were “collected” and raised to become members of the order. All Brothers are trained in both the art of combat, and in the study of religion from the age of 4, believing that they are on a mission of the goddess and are religious warriors.

Although the Brothers were few in Iron Makhaira’s order and only used as expendable pawns to do the Grandmasters bidding, much time and many resources were put into training them.

The Assassins were generally young in age giving them the physical strength and stamina which would be required to carry out these murders. However, physical prowess was not the only trait that was required to be a “Brother”. To get to their targets, they had to be patient, cold, and calculating. They were generally intelligent and well read because they were required to possess not only knowledge about their enemy, but his or her culture and their native language. They were trained by their masters to disguise themselves, sneak into enemy territory and perform assassinations, instead of simply attacking their target outright, unless they were making an example of their power.

The Order of the Iron Brotherhood, aka The Mother Church of Iron, is an offshoot of the ancient polytheistic Greek religion (Hellenismos). The members worship the earth (Gaia) as mother and giver of all, and revere Iron in particular as it is believed to be her heart. Most of the inner workings of the order are unknown to outsiders and no one has left and lived long enough to divulge its secrets.

In 1217 the Order was almost destroyed by the Mongols. The fortress was razed and the surviving members fled deeper into the mountains. During this time of doubt a young maiden who worked as a scribe for the Triarch rallied the survivors to rebuild in a new location. The hierarchy was changed forevermore, in what became known as “The Second Formation”. The title of Grand Master was abolished, and the Triarch would no longer be three equals ruling together. The order would now be led by the one known as the Iron Maiden. The other two would be called the ‘seconds’, and would be forever known as Father Dexios and Father Scaevus.

Iron Maiden
Seconds: Father Dexios and Father Scaevus
Brothers: 33 groups of three brothers form “triangles of death”
Apostles: 99 apostles or brothers in training, study, waiting for a spot so that they can become a full brother.
Collected: children too young to start training, taken from those that they have been assassinated

Starting with The Second Formation, titles are passed down when one is killed in battle or promoted to the Triarch. No one retires from the Brotherhood. Under each Brother are three apostles. When a brother dies, one of the apostles will take his place, after the ritual of keyswallowing. Each apostle will swallow a key, and then be placed in a round chamber with one door and three locks to match each of the keys. The apostle who emerges from the chamber shall be elevated to the status of brother. If others survive they will be placed in the servitude of the order with no hope of promotion. The newly anointed Brother will then choose three from the collected to be his apostles.

Promotion to the triarch is chosen by election. The 99 will gather for what they call “The Synod”, a regular gathering of the order. They will discuss the matter for seven days without food or rest, and on the 8th day they will vote. If someone receives 66% or more of the vote he will be elevated. If no one gets 66% of the vote they have a great feast and start the process over again the next day. The Choice of the Iron Maiden is cloaked in secrecy. The only thing known is that all females collected are trained from an early age to rule. How they are chosen remains a mystery.

This report was written by Prof. James A. Wunoski. It is based on real historical documents and third party accounts. Prof Wunoski was hit by a runaway Mail truck while vacationing in London soon after it was published in a local historical newsletter.

(This story is disputed due to the fact that Iron Makhaira died in 124 B.C.E. and Grandmaster Iron Scythe, who is frequently known as the “Iron Man in the Mountain”, died in 992 C.E. Marco Polo wasn’t born until 1254 C.E.)