(From a manifesto discovered nailed to the door of Laurence's Cathedral. All Word-Bound are reminded to report discoveries of complete copies, or any individual distributing it, to the appropriate agency of the Inquisition AT ONCE.)

This group is currently the topic for hot debate within the Host. They are comprised of an unknown number of angels, Saints and Soldiers who have decided (for whatever reason) that the Seraphim Council can not be counted on to save Gabriel from her ongoing madness. Thus, they must take matters into their own hands. Not quite a terrorist group, but certainly not condoned, the New Crusade has sympathizers and hidden assets everywhere: it's even rumored that a major Archangel secretly heads the organization. Whether or not this is true, the Crusade certainly seems to have access to a lot of resources.

The goal is the eventual destruction of Belial, Demon Prince of Fire. At the moment, the current strategy seems to be to eliminate as much of his earthly infrastructure as possible, while simultaneously enlisting at least the tacit aid of the rest of the Host. Once Infernal Fire is crippled on the corporeal plane, Belial will have two, equally unpleasant options: the first would be to abandon Earth and stay in Sheol (which would cause his personal power and reputation to plummet, not to mention cripple his hold on the Word of Fire).

The second option would be to spend more time on the corporeal plane, attempting to promote Infernal Fire directly. If this happens (and it is deemed the more likely scenario), the combined forces of the New Crusade will gather and attack Belial directly. Normally, a mere angel would have no chance against a Superior. A thousand or so, attacking with no hope of survival and with nothing held back … that might just be a different story. Most of the inner circle (see below) has reportedly come to the conclusion that their lives are worth Belial's, and will calmly throw theirs away if it means causing the Demon of Fire damage. Even if they do not succeed in killing him outright, the disturbance should be enough for Gabriel herself to take notice (and no doubt the Crusade has a method of insuring this), and investigate personally. This match, between an Archangel fueled with rage and frustration, and a Demon Prince battered and wounded from a thousand cuts, should be quite interesting to see, albeit quite short.

The New Crusade is only a semi-legal organization: advocating the death of Belial is hardly a crime in Heaven, but the Council does not look kindly on groups that have publicly declared that they will not submit to higher authorities on this matter. As a result, there are two levels to the Crusade. The outer group consists of celestials and mortals that are known to sympathetic to the Crusade's aims, but have not been known to commit any acts of rebellion against the Council. They work within the system, trying to promote attacks on known Servitors and Tethers of Infernal Fire. More than a few are no doubt full Crusaders, but short of hauling everyone in and interrogating them to a fare-thee-well, there's no way to determine precisely who. The other Archangels have so far, prevented Dominic from doing exactly that: after all, no one can trust the Inquisition to restrain their interrogations to issues involving the New Crusade. The amount of persecution inflicted on known sympathizers to the Crusade's aims vary by Superior: Servitors of War or the Wind aren't really affected at all, while those of the Sword had best keep a low profile (and Dominic cracks down heavily on possible fellow-travelers within his ranks).

The inner circle is much more shadowy. They keep themselves well hidden (the Inquisition has been trying to track them down for years, without success), but are presumed to be high up in their respective hierarchies. Part of the inner circle seems to act as an source for resources and information: they will appropriate data, artifacts, and equipment for their own use, and funnel them down to Crusaders working in the corporeal plane. The Crusade apparently collectively believes that, because their cause is right, that any surplus resources out there are fair game.

On Earth (and to a lesser extent, the Marches), full agents of the New Crusade wage a quiet war against Infernal Fire. Attempting to crack down on these assaults are complicated by the fact that Belial's organization is, in point of fact, a legitimate target: most angels know someone that they suspect to have ties to the Crusade, but they don't have any proof (and often, less inclination to find any). Many full agents don't even know who their benefactors are; they just know that, at certain places and at certain times, equipment, information and orders appear. So far, the Inquisition has not yet been able to backtrack and thus discover the ringleaders of the Crusade.