“ We, the Riverside Templars, have taken up the cause of protecting the innocent while the United States of America is in the process of deciding whether or not it still exists. - Col. Andrew Bartholomew Rhodes”
The Riverside Templars are a paramilitary faction that appears in Tom Clancy's The Division: Broken Dawn. Operating in northern Manhattan, they are a self-styled monastic order of warrior-monks dedicated to protecting innocent civilians and helping them escape the island's quarantine zone.
Overview[]
The Riverside Templars were formed by Andrew Bartholomew Rhodes, a retired United States Marine Colonel and scholar of medieval European history. They maintain order in the areas of upper Manhattan north of the George Washington Bridge-- areas beyond the influence of the Joint Task Force.
Members dress in handmade tunics, each bearing a medieval cross, and refer to one another as 'brother' or 'sister' and Rhodes as simply, 'the Master'. Headquartered in the Cloisters, a former museum of medieval art and architecture, they build fortifications, conduct combat drills, and send out patrols to protect civilians inside their territory. The Templars hold certain places, such as Fort Tryon Park, to be sacred and off-limits to visitors.
While they are not explicitly hostile to the JTF, Rhodes does believe the JTF causes undue hardship for innocent people by keeping them confined inside the violent and lawless Manhattan quarantine zone. To this end, the Templars also help smuggle people across the Hudson River, past JTF river patrols, to seek loved ones beyond New York.
History[]
Tom Clancy's The Division: Broken Dawn []
After April Kelleher tracked down Roger Koopman inside the Manhattan Dark Zone, Koopman informed her that her late husband's research into broad-spectrum antivirals had led to a possible cure for the Green Poison. Dr. Jessica Kandel had sent her design for a vaccine to Ann Arbor, Michigan, which housed one of few surviving labs capable of producing the cure. Kelleher immediately resolved to travel to Ann Arbor; failing to dissuade her, Koopman reluctantly directed her to seek out the Riverside Templars and wrote her a letter of introduction to give to their leader, his friend Andrew Bartholomew Rhodes.
The next morning, Kelleher traveled north to Fort Tryon Park, where she was approached by a trio of Templars, led by Brother Michael. They escorted her to the Cloisters to meet Rhodes, who explained their mission and agreed to help her cross the Hudson River out of Manhattan. After nightfall, Brother Michael helped Kelleher climb along the side the Henry Hudson Bridge, avoiding motion sensors and a JTF patrol boat below.
On the other side, he directed her towards the Riverdale Yacht Club and gave her a jade Buddha to barter with, as a gift from Rhodes and the Templars. He then returned across the bridge, while Kelleher set off towards Michigan.