Order of Aurelius

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Order of Aurelius

First appearance Welcome to the Hellmouth
Last appearance School Hard
Created by Joss Whedon

Statistics
Name Order of Aurelius
Status Disbanded
Purpose Worship of the Old Ones
Membership
Key members
The Master
Darla
Luke
The Anointed One
Absalom
The Three

The Order of Aurelius (founded on the 12th century – disbanded in the fall of 1997) is a cult of vampires, seen mostly in the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the first episodes of the show's second season.

Contents

1 The select, the elite
2 At the Hellmouth
3 Decline
4 An alternate world
5 Members
6 Appearances
7 See also

The select, the elite

The Order of Aurelius was an ancient religious cult of vampires founded in the 12th century by The Master, using as ground the prophecies of the vampire prophet Aurelius. Aurelius was one that foretold the Rise of the Anointed One and also wrote the Pergamum Codex. Some of its most prominent members have been The Master, Darla and Luke. While part of the Master's bloodline, Angelus, Penn, Drusilla, Spike and their offspring were never members of the Order.

Under the command of The Master, the Order of Aurelius was ruled by codes of severe ritualistic beliefs and extreme obedience to the Master: failure to follow the Master's will resulted in severe punishments, mostly mutilation or even death. Examples of this were the recorded mutilation of the left hand of the vampire "Claw" and also the eye-gouging of the vampire Colin (not to be confused with Colin the Anointed One).

The rules of the Order dictate that its members must not live "among the human pestilence", instead dwelling underground and visiting the surface only to feed or sire new vampires. Their underground existence is marked by observation of vampire rituals and religion, especially the tribute of the Old Ones, the original pure-breed demons that ruled the Earth in its beginnings.

The brethren of the Order consider themselves to be the "elite" of the vampire race, destined to usher in the return of the Old Ones and the destruction of mankind, regarded by the Order as little more than animals, a "plague of boils" covering the earth.

The belief of the Aurelians that they are the "select" also comes from the fact that the vampires of the Aurelian line can be counted among the most powerful and commanding of vampires. The Order of Aurelius seems to be one of the few vampire groups in the Buffyverse that are organized on a heavily structured society, instead of the common vampire packs merely focused on hunting, feeding and protection, or the groups found as minions of other demons.

At the Hellmouth

In 1937, the Order settled in Sunnydale in an attempt to bring about the End of the World. In preparation for the opening of the Hellmouth, the Aurelians were responsible for a series of gruesome murders. The murders ceased after an earthquake that swallowed part of the town. The earthquake had interrupted the ritual that the Master was performing to open the Hellmouth, leaving the Master severely weakened and trapped in a mystical prison, which was actually the portal he wanted to open. The Order then lay low until early 1997.

In 1997 the time for The Harvest came. During the night of the Harvest, the Master would obtain strength from the souls of the victims of one of his minions, the so-called Vessel, through a mystical link between the two. The Master hoped to gain enough strength to break through his prison, and thereby open the portal that had trapped him in 1937. However, the Harvest was ruined by the interference of the Slayer, Buffy Summers.

Weeks later, some Brethren of the Order brought about the prophesied Rise of the Anointed One. The Aurelians also decoyed Buffy away from the true Anointed One by also making a vampire of the maniacal Andrew Vorba, who was in turn slain by Buffy. Meanwhile the true Anointed, a child named Collin, was taken to the Master's presence.

Due to the actions of Buffy, the Order's numbers continued to thin, and many of the Master's most appreciated acolytes ended up as dust. Fed up, the Master summoned the Three, a trio of battle-scarred vampire warriors, to hunt down the Slayer. They failed, thanks to the intervention of Angel, and laid down their lives in penance, which prompted Darla to impale them.

By May 1997, a number of portents announcing a new Apocalypse prompted the Aurelian vampires to once again perform a number of murders in preparation for the liberation of the Master and the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Pergamun Codex. The Order sired a large number of vampires to serve as the Master's army. The ancient vampire succeeded in escaping his prison, which caused the "opening of the Hellmouth": a portal to the Old Ones' universe opened and from it emerged a demon commonly referred as the Hellmouth Spawn. Buffy finally slew the Master as Rupert Giles and others fought back the Hellmouth demon, averting the end of the world. A number of other vampires were also slain and many fled.

With the Master gone, the Anointed One remained as the leader of the Order of Aurelius. However, the Master had left instructions in case of his eventual defeat.

Decline

Months later, under the orders of the Anointed One and his right-hand man, Absalom, the Order put in motion a plan to resurrect the Master. The Master's bones were dug up and those around the Master at the time of his demise — Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg, Cordelia Chase and Jenny Calendar — were kidnapped to be sacrificed in the ritual. However, Buffy Summers, Angel and Xander Harris interrupted the ritual and slew most of the vampires. The Slayer smashed the Master's bones to dust, destroying the Order's last hope of resurrecting the Master. The decline of the Order had begun.

Weeks later, the Aurelian vampires resolved that whoever could kill the Slayer should take the Master's place and rule the Order. They chose the Night of Saint Vigeous, the vampiric Holy Night of Attack, for the contest. The plan was derailed when Spike, a vampire newly arrived in Sunnydale, impetuously led a mass assault against the Slayer a few nights early. The assault was a failure and many vampires were killed. The Order's rules demanded that Spike offer his life in penance, but Spike instead killed the Anointed One, took the remaining vampires as his own minions and announced that they would have "a little less ritual and little more fun". The Order of Aurelius was now gone.

An alternate world

In the alternate reality of The Wish, created when Cordelia accidentally wished Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, we see that the Order of Aurelius rules Sunnydale with an iron fang. The Master rules the town from his headquarters located in The Bronze and Willow and Xander are his two most prized acolytes. Humans live in terror, hiding in their homes from dusk to dawn while the vampires run unchecked. The Master's consideration of humans as mere animals is made explicit by the blood extraction factory, in which humans are trapped like cattle awaiting to be have their blood drained by a machine and their bodies disposed.

Though merely speculation, it could be argued that the Master was released during the Harvest, leaving only Angel and Giles to face the Order, each one doing so separately. The fact that vampires such as Luke or Darla are never seen or mentioned might indicate that at some point they were slain.

It should also be noted that the Hellmouth did not open when The Master rose, prompting some speculation as to whether or not it was drinking the blood of The Slayer that allowed him to open the Hellmouth.

Members

The Master
Darla
Luke
Collin the Anointed One
Absalom (When She Was Bad)
Thomas (Welcome to the Hellmouth)
Colin: seen in The Harvest; the Master drives a finger through his eye after learning that Xander and Buffy escaped the Order's lair
Zachary: only mentioned by the Master in the episode Angel
The Three (Angel)
Jesse McNally
Claw: former member, seen in Teacher's Pet
Andrew Vorba: the decoy used to keep Buffy away from the true Anointed in Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
Bob: the fat hairy vampire with mustache seen in When She Was Bad
Jane: the female vampire at the resurrection ritual seen in When She Was Bad
Ned: the bearded, short-haired vampire seen in When She Was Bad
Walt: the dark-haired vampire at the resurrection ritual in When She Was Bad
Tara: the female dark-haired vampire seen at the Bronze in When She Was Bad
"Big Ugly": the large, muscular vampire who claims having witnessed the Crucifixion, and proposes that the assassin of the Slayer should take the Master's place, in School Hard
"Lean Boy": the bearded vampire at the Anointed One's side, who reprimands Spike for his failure to kill Buffy, in School Hard
Willow Rosenberg (alternate reality, The Wish and Doppelgängland)
Xander Harris (alternate reality, The Wish)

As well as the above, there were many other unknown, unnamed vampires seen from season 1 to the death of the Anointed One and even beyond (as Spike made the rest his minions). Vampires such as Julia, Dalton and the unseen Lucius are possible examples of ex-Aurelians made into Spike and Dru's lackeys.

Appearances

Welcome to the Hellmouth: The Master, Darla, Luke, Thomas, unnamed vampires.
The Harvest: The Master, Darla, Luke, Colin, Jesse, unnamed vampires.
Teacher's Pet: Claw.
Never Kill a Boy on the First Date: The Master, Collin the Anointed One, Andrew Vorba, unnamed vampires.
Angel: The Master, Darla, Collin the Anointed One, the Three.
Nightmares: The Master, Collin the Anointed One.
Prophecy Girl: The Master, Collin the Anointed One, unnamed vampires.
When She Was Bad: Collin the Anointed One, Absalom, Ned, Bob, Walt, Jane, Tara, unnamed vampires.
School Hard: Collin the Anointed One, "Big Ugly", "Lean Boy", unnamed vampires.
The Wish: The Master, Willow, Xander, unnamed vampires.
Darla: The Master, Darla, unnamed vampires.