Order of the Dragon (NBC Dracula)

The Order of the Dragon is a secret society that features in NBC's Dracula.

History
The Order had been noted to had existed for five hundred years where they had made use of murder as well as torture as standard practice. During the life of Dracula, the group asserted their will more directly through the cross and sword. This led to them slaughtering entire villages and branding people heretics that were burnt alive. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) In medieval times, one of the heads of the Order was Vlad Tepes who was a warrior prince renown for his savagery and ruthlessness. He was excommunicated for defying the Ordo Draco and found guilty of heresy by the Church. His acts were considered so great that they believed simple death was not enough and instead the occult was used to transform him into the Fell One, Nosferatu, Primo Master Vampire and as Dracula. (Episode: Come to Die) Among those villages struck in this manner was that occupied by Dracula who's wife was burnt at the stake. He was noted to had seen such people dying and calling for a God that never saved them. This led to him vowing vengeance to destroy the Order and everything they stood for in the world. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) After his capture, Vlad Tepes was brought before the Ordo Draco and killed for his defiance against the God they worshipped. Using their godly power, they decided to curse the dead Tepes by resurrecting him as an undead monster thus becoming a vampire. He managed to free himself from his imprisonment within the Order and began his quest for vengeance. (Episode: Goblin Merchant Men) This saw them also hunt down various members of the undead beings known as Nosferatu. (Episode: From Darkness to Light) In time, they changed their overt action's into behind the scene activities where they operated through private clubs and boardrooms. By the Victorian era, they made use of businesses and politics as a means of securing themselves. Their chief tool was the control over oil that they believed would fuel the next century thus securing their power. (Episode: The Blood is the Life)

Over the last decade, the group was responsible for scheming and building an empire of lies that operated in the shadows. At some point around eight years ago, a vampire was responsible for the Whitechapel murders that the Order eliminated. They later went through painstaking acts to dress them as the work of the serial killer called Jack the Ripper where they mutilated the bodies to hide the signs of vampiric feeding. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) The Ordo Draco was noted to had been at the peak of their power in this era. (Episode: From Darkness to Light) During the life of Professor Van Helsing, he defied the Ordo and the society decided to punish him for his disobedience by killing his wife along with children though left him alive. (Episode: Goblin Merchant Men) As a result, Professor Van Helsing embarked on a quest of vengeance by reviving their ancient enemy Dracula. During the Victorian era, an American businessman by the name of Alexander Grayson threatened their powerbase by showcasing geomagnetic technology. In reality, Grayson was the undead vampire known as Dracula who intended to shatter the power structure of the Order by removing the reliance on oil as fuel. With this resource gone, he believed that the Order would be destroyed as they lost their money, power as well as influence. Grayson later was responsible for killing the skilled huntsman Kruger that led to the Order being aware of the presence of a vampire within the city. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) During this time, they claimed that the biggest threat to God's will was an ancient enemy now known as the Ottoman's. (Episode: Servant of Two Masters)

Agents from the Order were unable to uncover any further activity from the mysterious vampire leading to them determining that the undead creature had gone into hiding. They later used the seers to track down the vampire but the mirror they used shattered and they could only determine that their enemy was a powerful vampire that had lived several centuries to repel the divination. (Episode: A Whiff of Sulphur) A threat to the Order's oil monopoly when Lord Laurent was blackmailed to sell his shares in British Imperial Lubricant and Coolant to Alexander Grayson. For his actions, Lord Laurent was brought before his comrades and judged guilty where he was killed. During the attempt to track the vampire, the seers were discovered and killed by Van Helsing in order to ensure that Dracula continued unimpeded. (Episode: Goblin Merchant Men) The death of the seers saw more vampires arrive in the streets of London. At the same time, they were concerned by the financial influence of Alexander Grayson. Lady Jayne Weatherby later killed a vampire that sought to kill her and it was believed by the Order that the threat had been eliminated. (Episode: From Darkness to Light) Various members of the Ordo were invited to the engagement party of Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray. (Episode: The Devil's Waltz) Through indirect means, Jonathan Harker managed to leak the fact that General Shaw of the British Army intended to provoke hostilities with the Ottoman empire in order to claim their oil reserves. This was actually the secret goal of the Order who had control over Shaw and had him achieve their objectives. However, the fact that this story was published in the newspapers meant that General Shaw was not useless for the Ordo Draco. (Episode: Of Monsters and Men)

When Grayson Energy Company began a public demonstration of the electrical resonator technology, the Order of the Dragon became tired of being on the defensive and decided to enlist the aid of Scotland Yard for a shadowy offensive against the seemingly American businessman. This was by getting the police to remove the spectators from the demonstration by claiming that the resonator was a risk to public safety after numerous people nearby the machine were secretly poisoned by the Order. They also brought Jonathan Harker before themselves leading to him being aware of this secret society. This was to induct him into the Ordo where they claimed that they served God's will and intended to strike against the Ottoman's by taking their reserves of oil for England and the West. (Episode: Servant of Two Masters) Further deaths around London led to the Ordo believing that another elder vampire that arrived in the city with Lady Weatherby being the task of hunting it. During the hunt of one of them, the huntswomen determined that the vampires were swarming to the call of Dracula. (Episode: Come to Die) After an attack on Mina Murray, Dracula decided to take retribution on the Ordo Draco for their actions which saw Rothcroft along with other Order members killed by vampires who decimated half the London Council. During this time, huntsmen from every chapter in Europe converged on London in order to begin the hunt for the Fell One Dracula whilst they formally welcomed Jonathan Harker into their ranks. With his aid, they gained the schematics for the Grayson Resonator device and intended to sabotage it in order to bring about a public failure of the technology. (Episode: Four Roses) These chain of events saw a gathering of huntsman that used the power of a seer to locate vampire nests with two or three hunters being dispatched to eliminate them. This also saw the seer determine that Alexander Grayson himself was the Fell One Dracula. At the same time, Order agents secretly sabotaged the Resonator device of Grayson Energy which exploded during its malfunction killing a large crowd of civilians that were witnessing the demonstration. (Episode: Let There Be Light)

Overview
According to Dracula, it had always been the case that the Order's corrupted and hubris were unbridled. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) Though they themselves considered themselves to be servants of God. (Episode: Four Roses) It was claimed that they were readily identified by their overtly grotesque sense of entitlement. The stock and trade of the group was held to be murder, torture, rape as well as whole sale slaughter. During ancient times, they made use overt use of their power through the Church but in later years became a more hidden cabal that operated from behind the scenes to control the world. They would also go through attempts to ensure society remained unaware of the truth's of the world such as going through painstaking acts to prevent people from learning of the existence of vampires. This included mutilating the bodies of those bitten by vampires in order to make them appear as the work's of a serial killer. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) It was claimed that there was no place beyond the Ordo's reach. (Episode: Goblin Merchant Men) Dracula believed that cowardly tactics such as the targeting of the wives and children of their enemies was a common tactic of the secret society. (Episode: Four Roses)

The Order Draco was said to be akin to a hydra in that cutting off a head meant that two more replaced it. In this sense, it was believed that a war of attrition had no means of securing its demise. Instead, it was held that the only way of crushing them was by wiping out the very source of their power and vast wealth. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) One of the bodies within the society was the high council that controlled their operations and met in special chambers. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) The latter era Order made use of a pair of seers that were able to use mystical abilities to divine the location of others through mirrors. These individuals were often activated by the organization to seek out threats to their schemes. (Episode: A Whiff of Sulphur) Ranks within the secret society included the Dragon's Heads, their Chief Huntsman, and the Master Huntsmen who were the most skilled warriors in certain lands. (Episode: Come to Die) They made use of vampire hunters that were known as huntsman. In the Victorian era, the Ordo had allowed women to assume the position of a huntresses. (Episode: From Darkness to Light) Coordinated hunts for large infestations saw command and support being provided by a seer who tracked down the creatures locations. Huntsmen were then dispatched in teams of two or three who systematically eliminated the vampire presence and used flares to signal one another of kills that were relayed back to their headquarters. (Episode: Let There Be Light) Divisions within the Order were known as Chapters with hundreds of such bodies being present in the world. (Episode: Four Roses)

Every member of the Order had sworn an oath to serve God's will. (Episode: Servant of Two Masters) Their was no protection for any member of the Order that violated their principle oath. Those that did not have a valid reason for breaking the oath were brought guilty before their brothers who proscribed a suitable punishment. This can include stabbing a sword into the heart of the guilty person in a ceremony before his peers. Before they were killed, the words "So it is written.." were said with the attendees saying "And so it shall be done." (Episode: Goblin Merchant Men) Members had to observe complete obedience to the Primary Oath. New members were brought before a circle of Ordo members with the leader dipping their hand into a chalice whilst chants were sung in the background. This culminated in the leader asking whether the receipient was ready to take the Primary Oath before the Order of the Dragon and God whilst they knelt with a knife to their throat. These inductees needed to swear on their lives and those of their lives that they would never put their needs before that of the sacred order. Upon completion, the dagger was used to draw cut the hand and draw blood from the new member as well as the leader who clasped their respective wounds together whilst the inductee had a sash placed on them. Rogue actions were not tolerated within their ranks which was especially the case when it ran counter to their objectives. (Episode: Four Roses) The texts of Dracula's existence and his position within the organization was forbidden to all but the Dragon's Heads along with their Chief Huntsman. (Episode: Come to Die)

Their knowledge of magic allowed them to call upon the power of God and in the past cursed mortals with vampirism. (Episode: Goblin Merchant Men) Their knowledge of the occult allowed them to transform a person into a living demon in the form of a vampire. (Episode: Come to Die) They also made use of special drugs that were provided to their seers to aid in their visions. (Episode: Goblin Merchant Men) The Ordo Draco had extensive pull in society where they were able to enlist the aid of Scotland Yard for their goals. (Episode: Servant of Two Masters) They had influence over Scotland Yard and ties to the Vatican to the point that they could request from that chapter access to sacred relics such as the sanguinem sanctorum. (Episode: Four Roses) They had access to the Sangue de Christo namely the Blood of Christ which was the most sacred relic of Christiandom. Potent seers were able to use it as a divination tool in order to locate vampire nests through the blood within it. In addition, the Papal Armory provided them access to a wide range of holy weaponry for use against supernatural threats. (Episode: Let There Be Light)

Members

 * Sir Clive Dawson : was a high ranking businessman who witnessed Grayson's electrical demonstration and after threatening to stop his business he was killed at the hands of Alexander who was actually Dracula in disguise. The severed head was brought back to the Order to confirm whether there were signs of vampiric infection. (Episode: The Blood is the Life)
 * Lord William Browning : a male Lord who served as the head of the London chapter who was responsible for killing Abraham Van Helsing's family. He was ultimately led into a trap by Van Helsing and killed by his children who had been turned into vampires. (Episode: Let There Be Light)
 * Lord Davenport : Dracula believed he was a member of the Order's high council. (Episode: The Blood is the Life)
 * Lord Laurent : Dracula believed he was a member of the Order's high council. (Episode: The Blood is the Life)
 * Hermann Kruger : a German warrior that accompanied Lady Jayne Weatherby and attacked Dracula only to be killed in the battle. (Episode: The Blood is the Life)
 * McLaughlin : a huntsman from Glasgow who was considered a replacement for Kruger. (Episode: A Whiff of Sulphur)
 * Jayne Wetherby : a high ranking female member of the Order who seeks out the vampire plaguing the organization and was attracted to the mysterious American business man known as Alexander Grayson. (Episode: The Blood is the Life) After learning Grayson was Dracula, she confronted him but was unable to defeat him where she was killed in the struggle. (Episode: Let There Be Light)
 * Lord Laurent : a male member who sat on parliament and headed British Imperial Lubricant and Cooling Company. Though married, he was actually gay and had a romantic relationship with Daniel Davenport that they kept in secret. He opposed Grayson's bid to buy the company but relented when he was blackmailed when Alexander discovered his secret relationship with Lord Davenport's son. (Episode: A Whiff of Sulphur)
 * Kaha Ruma : a male leading huntsman descended from Maori warriors that came to London to aid in the hunt for the Fell One Dracula. (Episode: Four Roses)
 * Loiza Scaverra : known as the Scillian who was the greatest seer within the organization. (Episode: Four Roses) He used his powers to divine the location of vampire nests in London and determine the identity of Dracula who was the seemingly American businessman Alexander Grayson. (Episode: Let There Be Light)
 * Lord Rothcroft : a male member who was in one of their clubs when Alexander Grayson revealed his true nature and had vampires eliminate Rothcroft with his comrades. (Episode: Four Roses)

Appearances

 * Dracula: "The Blood is the Life" (2013)
 * Dracula: "A Whiff of Sulphur" (2013)
 * Dracula: "Goblin Merchant Men" (2013)