The Knights of Anathaeum
| Allied with... | to the Wylds and to those who call its lands home |
| In Conflict with... | those who threaten the balance of the Wylds |
North and East of Crown’s Hold, in the wilds of the woods where the Vayd tree roots, resides a storied order. Once,the Knights of Anatheaum enjoyed patronage from noble houses and townships, who would offer not just gifts of coin, but sons and daughters eager to learn from Masters and Captains alike. Now, they are but a shadow of what they once were, past conflicts leaving a dark stain upon their record with the lords and ladies of the land. Still, they carry on, taking in those who would join them, and train them in those ways most old, so that some still stand to defend the Wylds, and all who call it home.
No strangers to conflict, be it the petty squabbles of lords or the otherworldly dealings of ghouls and geists, the Knights of Anathaeum roam the land lending their strength to the small folk, and their mercy to the wilds. Their traditions and practices are carried on from a time long past, where mortals and fae shared the same land, North and East of the Mheara and beneath the vigil off the Vayd tree.
Each Knight Captain presides over one of the two Sanctums of the Order, respectively named the Sanctums of Dusk and Dawn. Each Sanctum is composed of Knight Masters and their Knights Pursuant. All members of the order who are of Pursuant or Master rank are experts in their field of specialization, referred to as “pursuits” within the order. However, the Knight Masters are seen as leaders and hold greater authority amongst the order, answering only to the Knight Captains and Knight Commander.
Most members of the order are raised within its teachings, beginning their journey as squires from a young age. In addition to performing the most mundane of responsibilities necessary to lead fruitful lives within the monastery, squires are taught by Knights who have taken their oath, and attend special training and lectures regarding the five pursuits, put on by Knights Pursuant or Knight Masters, though this is something usually reserved for Knights Sworn.
Squires come from all walks of life, and from all manner of people. From children saved from a flood, whose parents were washed away, to minor nobleings sent to learn from the ancient order and earn honor for their house, the order rarely turns away new recruits. Out of necessity more so than charity. When a squire has been deemed ready by a Knight, they are sworn into the order.
It is important to note that within the order, Knight is more of an honorific than a true title. Not all Knights of Anathaeum wield sword and shield, just as not all sling spells and exorcise ghosts. Reading and numbers however, are common practice.
Knight Captains of Dusk and Dawn - Two in total. Heads of the Sanctums, elected by the members of their respective knights rank Sworn and above. Traditionally, Knight Captains have been chosen from the ranks of Pursuant and Master. Captains govern their sanctums, and hold say in matters of deployment and management, working together to choose the best knights for the task at hand.
Knight Masters of the Pursuits - Six in total, three per sanctum. Chosen by the Knight Commander. While each Knight Master may be learned in more than one Pursuit, they are seen as the utmost authority in their field of specialization. Currently, only the Pursuit of Life holds more than one Master, one of Dusk and one of Dawn.
Knight Pursuant - Hand selected by the Knight Masters, Captains, and Commander, the Knights pursuant are the up and coming leaders and heroes of the order. They have shown devotion, and proved their metal true.
Knight Sworn - A rank bestowed upon those squires who undergo the ceremony of the Twice-Lit Flame, and earn the right to swear their oath. The Knight Sworn are proven capable and are tasked with duties and quests that would see them far and away from the grounds of Astenvale.
Field Sworn - In terms of rank, the Field Sworn are treated the same as any Knight Sworn. The difference is that they did not take the traditional squire path to knighthood, and instead entered the Order as adults. They are considered by their peers to be capable agents, but are not as well versed in the teachings of the Order, and cannot be nominated for Pursuant. A Field Knight can their full vows at the Twice-Lit Flame ceremony, at a later time.
Squire - Prospects who have been deemed worthy to embark upon the trials of the order. At times squires will accompany the Sworn on missions and quests deemed fitting for their level. Most often, Squires reside within Astenvale and tend to their studies and training, along with the many responsibilities they may have around the Monastery.
Prospect - Those who show promise, but have yet proven worthy.
Once a Knight Sworn, the Knight is placed into one of the two Sanctums - Dawn or Dusk - chosen by the Knight Captains after delegation with the Masters and Pursuants. Members of the order take on quests, missions, and jobs as needed. One of their most strict codes, all official work must be handled by a pair of knights, one of Dusk and one of Dawn.
Knights of Dusk specialize in matters of the arcane and the eldritch, slayers of horrors and vanquishers of demons, as well as magical research and anti-magical tactics. Knights of Dawn on the other hand deal more in matters of people and politics, trained in soldiering and tactics, as well as the taming of beasts and the healing of the earth. When it comes to the Pursuits the Knights of Dusk are more prone to learn the Pursuits of the Loch and of Death, while Knights of Dawn favor the Pursuits of the Flame, and the Pursuits of the Wild. Both Sanctums hold to the Pursuit of Life, and while differing in expression, practice the arts of healing and the strength of arms.
Pursuit of the Flame: Invention and innovation spurred on by the raw power of the elements. Those who pursue the flame know how to wield the forces of the elements to not only shape the world around them, but to bring about their designs and necessities. Spellswords and elementalists, engineers and smiths, these are among those who pursue the flame.
Pursuit of the Loch: Investigation and calculation, tempered by the ever changing ripples of the lochs, and those most enchanting secrets kept behind their mirror’s edge. Those who pursue the loch know how to wield the force of the mind to not only pull from the depths of dream but to also bring those visions to reality. Summoners, illusionists, scholars and artificers are among those who pursue the loch.
Pursuit of Life: Invigoration and determination, nurtured by the will of all that draws breath and grows strong. Pursued by every member of the Order, Life is fought for and protected with mind and body alike. Paladins, healers, medics and peaceweavers are among those who pursue life.
Pursuit of Death: Inevitability and rest, where life grows strong, decay is sure to set in. Corruption and curses, while unseemly, have their uses and their role to play. Those who pursue death know how to keep the balance of darker things, repurposing rot and pestilence to bring cycles to an end. Reanimators, hexers, pact makers and mediums, all can be found amongst those who pursue death.
Pursuit of the Wild: Immense and unbreaking, not seeking to tame the beasts of the wilds but to hear them. Closest to the teachings of the first Knight Commander, those who pursue the wild can wield the raw force of nature, embodying the traits of the beasts they hunt, and gathering the boons of the forest flora. Scouts, trackers, stable masters and botanists, are among those who pursue the Wild.
Knights of Note
Knight Commander Artorias
Knight Captain of Dusk Selene
Knight Captain of Dawn Helena
Knight Masters of Dusk
Master of Life, Syr Isilius Hawken: It's time to go by Gintas Galvanauskas[/footnote]: A quiet man who once pursued Death, he found true purpose in Life. Unshakable in presence and keen with blade, he is a master of martial magic, able to weave a shield of arcane light and banish pestilence between his sword strokes. Whispers among the Squires and Sworn say he communes not just with the beasts of the wild, but so too with those spirits of the long dead.
Master of Loch, Syr Roebin Featherwind: Once a steadfast Pursuant of old, rumor has it that Master Featherwind was a companion of Artorias in his early days, before he became Knight Commander. That was a very long time ago, when he was still alive. For most of the order’s memory, Roebin has been a ghost, and the Master of Loch. The circumstances of his death and subsequent undeath have been forgotten by all but a few. Without a corporeal form, Roebin is locked off from most of the magic he wielded in life. In death, he dedicated himself to studying the arts of Loch, eventually becoming a Master and teaching newer generations the arts he can no longer practice himself.
Master of Death, Syr Tomas Grimstone: Proud and certain, his is a presence that saps the warmth out of many a room. Not fear nor dread which he inspires in the Squires he teaches or the Sworn he mentors, but alertness, cunning, and restless vigilance. A master reanimator and spirit caller, he is also known to dabble in constructs, dispelling and artificing.
Knight Masters of Dawn
Master of Life, Syr Hilling Ironsong: Half a dwarf still makes for one longer lived than most of the order. While Dorn and Galvanhad were still pups, it was Syr Hilling who saw that the impurities were pounded out of the newest batch of squires. Many think it is Syr Hawken that holds the keenest blade amongst the Masters still living. But ask the man yourself, and might be a smile cuts across his lips as he recalls the Hammer of Ironsong.
Master of Flame, Syr Beatrix Leclair: Swift as a wildfire, with all the force of a river come crashing over cliff, Beatrix Leclair is a woman of flashfires and torrential storms. The daughter of border lord Rolan Leclair, she was sent to train with the Order at an early age in honor of ancient treaties. When it came time to call her home, young Beatrix refused, and chose to swear her Vows as a Knight of the Order instead. A creature of propriety and decorum, some have described her as uptight, fools have even dared to call her prissy. No such remarks are ever heard from those who witness the ardent power she commands in the Pursuit of Flame, or those who witness the grace with which she weaves the flow of Loch.
Master of Wild, Syr Bar' Bara Brambleshell: An ancient soul, near as old as Artorias himself, Bar’Bara is a master of Hortomancy and wild calling, skilled in all facets of the Wild, as well as a famed healer and curse breaker. She is known for being stern and unmovable in her judgments, though keen eyed and delicate in her care.
But peace, that most fragile of green spring buds, came and went like the leaves in autumn, wilted and parched after the harsh heat of summer.
Wars ravaged the land. Orc slayed dwarf, dwarf quarreled man, and man burned the elves and their homes. Blood shed and spilled in turn, run rivers as fires licked high and smoke turned black the sky. All the while the fairy folk laughed and danced, and joined all of those violent games all the same.
When enough lives had been lost and homes destroyed, peace came anew. Fragile and tender and prone to dry out all the more. But those heroes who had seen the dread horrors of war knew that if tended, if cared for, peace could grow stronger still. Dig roots into the land. Spread and fortify all that life that would otherwise be lost if war came again to do what famine and pestilence and the biting cold could not.
Low as the worm in the dirt, was born Anathaeum. A hunter’s child, who walked those dark wilds so scorched and black come conflicts past. Yet the station of birth meant little and less to all the creatures of those woods, charmed as they were by that most lowly soul, who would stride across the forest floor like a fox, so natural and free did Anathaeum see that place they called home.
One day, Anathaeum happened upon a band of brave knights, lost in the tangle and twist of bramble and root. Great bear and wolf and eagle and crow circled to and fro, hungry and angry still as the warfire’s scent lingered there in their nostrils so flared, burned upon the memories of their mind. For fear and unknowing, the knights brandished their swords and staves, but it did naught against tooth and claw. Anathaeum saw this, and did act.
Quick as a rabbit, they darted to aid, with charms and wits they did give the beasts a slip, those hunters of men and all manner of folk, vengeful spirits of so wild a place, that gave chase to Anathaeum. Brave and bold and swift as they were, the beasts could not keep up, and bear and wolf and eagle and crow slowed their temper, anger run dry, the meadow warm and their weariness great.
Anathaeum returned, unscratched and unbloodied, the knights aghast, asked how this could be. And with their light breath, Anathaeum did pray to those gathered round. Harm not the bear nor the wolf, the eagle nor the crow, they urged. And to this and more those knights did swear. Touched steel to that young hunter, and dubbed them Knight, Commander of the order.
But famine and pestilence and the biting cold did what war could not, and turned the beasts foul, twisting their form as fire and ash had twisted the land, dark and untiring.
On a cold night, the beasts turned to hunt men once again and once again, Anathaeum rose to let them chase. Brave and bold and swift as Anathaeum was, the beasts could keep up, the meadow grown cold, setting upon the young hunter with fervor and fang. The knights saw this, and did act.
Too late, they drew their swords and cast their spells, guarding their fallen Knight Commander. We will harm not the bear nor the wolf, the eagle nor the crow, the knights echoed their oath. But Ser, these creatures are not bear nor wolf, eagle nor crow, and harm they would do. The Knights fought then with the ways of war and flame, scorch and black, and did what famine and pestilence and the biting cold could not.
Too early, Anathaeum drew themselves up to their last, and prayed a new prayer to all gathered round. Only those heroes of old heard Anathaeum’s last wish, as they bade their Knight Commander farewell, and vowed their own fresh vow, that never again would one knight journey alone. Always there would be two vigilant, the blade and the palm, the healer and the flame, one to bid the wild dawn well and one to quell that which clung to dusk.
Purpose
Bound to no king and sworn to no lord, the Knights of Anathaeum give aid to those that have none and find honor and glory not in the count of their kills, or the size of their conquest, but in what they have saved, what they have nurtured, and what they protect.No strangers to conflict, be it the petty squabbles of lords or the otherworldly dealings of ghouls and geists, the Knights of Anathaeum roam the land lending their strength to the small folk, and their mercy to the wilds. Their traditions and practices are carried on from a time long past, where mortals and fae shared the same land, North and East of the Mheara and beneath the vigil off the Vayd tree.
Structure
They are governed by their Knight Commander, Artorias, an ancient dragon who presents as a golden scaled dragon kin. He has kept his oath since first he pledged his life to the order, as he and his sworn-kin stood in wake over Anathaeum’s last breaths. Beneath the Knight Commander in the chain of rank are the Knight Captains of Dusk and Dawn, Selene and Helena.Each Knight Captain presides over one of the two Sanctums of the Order, respectively named the Sanctums of Dusk and Dawn. Each Sanctum is composed of Knight Masters and their Knights Pursuant. All members of the order who are of Pursuant or Master rank are experts in their field of specialization, referred to as “pursuits” within the order. However, the Knight Masters are seen as leaders and hold greater authority amongst the order, answering only to the Knight Captains and Knight Commander.
Most members of the order are raised within its teachings, beginning their journey as squires from a young age. In addition to performing the most mundane of responsibilities necessary to lead fruitful lives within the monastery, squires are taught by Knights who have taken their oath, and attend special training and lectures regarding the five pursuits, put on by Knights Pursuant or Knight Masters, though this is something usually reserved for Knights Sworn.
Squires come from all walks of life, and from all manner of people. From children saved from a flood, whose parents were washed away, to minor nobleings sent to learn from the ancient order and earn honor for their house, the order rarely turns away new recruits. Out of necessity more so than charity. When a squire has been deemed ready by a Knight, they are sworn into the order.
It is important to note that within the order, Knight is more of an honorific than a true title. Not all Knights of Anathaeum wield sword and shield, just as not all sling spells and exorcise ghosts. Reading and numbers however, are common practice.
Hierarchy
Knight Commander - Head of the Order, elected by all knights of rank Pursuant and above. Traditionally, this station is held for life, however, if deemed necessary by unanimous decision, a tribunal can be held to remove the Knight Commander from their seat.Knight Captains of Dusk and Dawn - Two in total. Heads of the Sanctums, elected by the members of their respective knights rank Sworn and above. Traditionally, Knight Captains have been chosen from the ranks of Pursuant and Master. Captains govern their sanctums, and hold say in matters of deployment and management, working together to choose the best knights for the task at hand.
Knight Masters of the Pursuits - Six in total, three per sanctum. Chosen by the Knight Commander. While each Knight Master may be learned in more than one Pursuit, they are seen as the utmost authority in their field of specialization. Currently, only the Pursuit of Life holds more than one Master, one of Dusk and one of Dawn.
Knight Pursuant - Hand selected by the Knight Masters, Captains, and Commander, the Knights pursuant are the up and coming leaders and heroes of the order. They have shown devotion, and proved their metal true.
Knight Sworn - A rank bestowed upon those squires who undergo the ceremony of the Twice-Lit Flame, and earn the right to swear their oath. The Knight Sworn are proven capable and are tasked with duties and quests that would see them far and away from the grounds of Astenvale.
Field Sworn - In terms of rank, the Field Sworn are treated the same as any Knight Sworn. The difference is that they did not take the traditional squire path to knighthood, and instead entered the Order as adults. They are considered by their peers to be capable agents, but are not as well versed in the teachings of the Order, and cannot be nominated for Pursuant. A Field Knight can their full vows at the Twice-Lit Flame ceremony, at a later time.
Squire - Prospects who have been deemed worthy to embark upon the trials of the order. At times squires will accompany the Sworn on missions and quests deemed fitting for their level. Most often, Squires reside within Astenvale and tend to their studies and training, along with the many responsibilities they may have around the Monastery.
Prospect - Those who show promise, but have yet proven worthy.
The Sanctums
Knights of Dusk specialize in matters of the arcane and the eldritch, slayers of horrors and vanquishers of demons, as well as magical research and anti-magical tactics. Knights of Dawn on the other hand deal more in matters of people and politics, trained in soldiering and tactics, as well as the taming of beasts and the healing of the earth. When it comes to the Pursuits the Knights of Dusk are more prone to learn the Pursuits of the Loch and of Death, while Knights of Dawn favor the Pursuits of the Flame, and the Pursuits of the Wild. Both Sanctums hold to the Pursuit of Life, and while differing in expression, practice the arts of healing and the strength of arms.
The Pursuits
Within the order, squires and young knights are trained in the art of five different Pursuits: Flame, Loch, Life, Death and the Wild. Each Pursuit is led by a single Knight Master, who guides those in that Pursuit and is considered the authority of its teachings. Underneath the masters are Knights Pursuant, those that have dedicated themselves to a specific Pursuit and mastered its teachings. While many Knights practice multiple Pursuits, only a few earn the title of Pursuant in more than one art over their lifetime.Pursuit of the Flame: Invention and innovation spurred on by the raw power of the elements. Those who pursue the flame know how to wield the forces of the elements to not only shape the world around them, but to bring about their designs and necessities. Spellswords and elementalists, engineers and smiths, these are among those who pursue the flame.
Pursuit of the Loch: Investigation and calculation, tempered by the ever changing ripples of the lochs, and those most enchanting secrets kept behind their mirror’s edge. Those who pursue the loch know how to wield the force of the mind to not only pull from the depths of dream but to also bring those visions to reality. Summoners, illusionists, scholars and artificers are among those who pursue the loch.
Pursuit of Life: Invigoration and determination, nurtured by the will of all that draws breath and grows strong. Pursued by every member of the Order, Life is fought for and protected with mind and body alike. Paladins, healers, medics and peaceweavers are among those who pursue life.
Pursuit of Death: Inevitability and rest, where life grows strong, decay is sure to set in. Corruption and curses, while unseemly, have their uses and their role to play. Those who pursue death know how to keep the balance of darker things, repurposing rot and pestilence to bring cycles to an end. Reanimators, hexers, pact makers and mediums, all can be found amongst those who pursue death.
Pursuit of the Wild: Immense and unbreaking, not seeking to tame the beasts of the wilds but to hear them. Closest to the teachings of the first Knight Commander, those who pursue the wild can wield the raw force of nature, embodying the traits of the beasts they hunt, and gathering the boons of the forest flora. Scouts, trackers, stable masters and botanists, are among those who pursue the Wild.
Knights of Note
Knight Commander Artorias
Knight Captain of Dusk Selene
Knight Captain of Dawn Helena
Knight Masters of Dusk
Master of Life, Syr Isilius Hawken: It's time to go by Gintas Galvanauskas[/footnote]: A quiet man who once pursued Death, he found true purpose in Life. Unshakable in presence and keen with blade, he is a master of martial magic, able to weave a shield of arcane light and banish pestilence between his sword strokes. Whispers among the Squires and Sworn say he communes not just with the beasts of the wild, but so too with those spirits of the long dead.
Master of Loch, Syr Roebin Featherwind: Once a steadfast Pursuant of old, rumor has it that Master Featherwind was a companion of Artorias in his early days, before he became Knight Commander. That was a very long time ago, when he was still alive. For most of the order’s memory, Roebin has been a ghost, and the Master of Loch. The circumstances of his death and subsequent undeath have been forgotten by all but a few. Without a corporeal form, Roebin is locked off from most of the magic he wielded in life. In death, he dedicated himself to studying the arts of Loch, eventually becoming a Master and teaching newer generations the arts he can no longer practice himself.
Master of Death, Syr Tomas Grimstone: Proud and certain, his is a presence that saps the warmth out of many a room. Not fear nor dread which he inspires in the Squires he teaches or the Sworn he mentors, but alertness, cunning, and restless vigilance. A master reanimator and spirit caller, he is also known to dabble in constructs, dispelling and artificing.
Knight Masters of Dawn
Master of Life, Syr Hilling Ironsong: Half a dwarf still makes for one longer lived than most of the order. While Dorn and Galvanhad were still pups, it was Syr Hilling who saw that the impurities were pounded out of the newest batch of squires. Many think it is Syr Hawken that holds the keenest blade amongst the Masters still living. But ask the man yourself, and might be a smile cuts across his lips as he recalls the Hammer of Ironsong.
Master of Flame, Syr Beatrix Leclair: Swift as a wildfire, with all the force of a river come crashing over cliff, Beatrix Leclair is a woman of flashfires and torrential storms. The daughter of border lord Rolan Leclair, she was sent to train with the Order at an early age in honor of ancient treaties. When it came time to call her home, young Beatrix refused, and chose to swear her Vows as a Knight of the Order instead. A creature of propriety and decorum, some have described her as uptight, fools have even dared to call her prissy. No such remarks are ever heard from those who witness the ardent power she commands in the Pursuit of Flame, or those who witness the grace with which she weaves the flow of Loch.
Master of Wild, Syr Bar' Bara Brambleshell: An ancient soul, near as old as Artorias himself, Bar’Bara is a master of Hortomancy and wild calling, skilled in all facets of the Wild, as well as a famed healer and curse breaker. She is known for being stern and unmovable in her judgments, though keen eyed and delicate in her care.
Lore
Once upon a time, whence the gods roamed the wilds, in a land North and East of Altalusia and beyond the Mheara, all manner of folk lived alongside the natural world. They grew within its cycles. They kept to the order of the seasons and to the will of the land. In that most ancient forest where the gods did walk, beneath the great boughs of the Vayd tree, in its cool shade, there was peace.But peace, that most fragile of green spring buds, came and went like the leaves in autumn, wilted and parched after the harsh heat of summer.
Wars ravaged the land. Orc slayed dwarf, dwarf quarreled man, and man burned the elves and their homes. Blood shed and spilled in turn, run rivers as fires licked high and smoke turned black the sky. All the while the fairy folk laughed and danced, and joined all of those violent games all the same.
When enough lives had been lost and homes destroyed, peace came anew. Fragile and tender and prone to dry out all the more. But those heroes who had seen the dread horrors of war knew that if tended, if cared for, peace could grow stronger still. Dig roots into the land. Spread and fortify all that life that would otherwise be lost if war came again to do what famine and pestilence and the biting cold could not.
Low as the worm in the dirt, was born Anathaeum. A hunter’s child, who walked those dark wilds so scorched and black come conflicts past. Yet the station of birth meant little and less to all the creatures of those woods, charmed as they were by that most lowly soul, who would stride across the forest floor like a fox, so natural and free did Anathaeum see that place they called home.
One day, Anathaeum happened upon a band of brave knights, lost in the tangle and twist of bramble and root. Great bear and wolf and eagle and crow circled to and fro, hungry and angry still as the warfire’s scent lingered there in their nostrils so flared, burned upon the memories of their mind. For fear and unknowing, the knights brandished their swords and staves, but it did naught against tooth and claw. Anathaeum saw this, and did act.
Quick as a rabbit, they darted to aid, with charms and wits they did give the beasts a slip, those hunters of men and all manner of folk, vengeful spirits of so wild a place, that gave chase to Anathaeum. Brave and bold and swift as they were, the beasts could not keep up, and bear and wolf and eagle and crow slowed their temper, anger run dry, the meadow warm and their weariness great.
Anathaeum returned, unscratched and unbloodied, the knights aghast, asked how this could be. And with their light breath, Anathaeum did pray to those gathered round. Harm not the bear nor the wolf, the eagle nor the crow, they urged. And to this and more those knights did swear. Touched steel to that young hunter, and dubbed them Knight, Commander of the order.
But famine and pestilence and the biting cold did what war could not, and turned the beasts foul, twisting their form as fire and ash had twisted the land, dark and untiring.
On a cold night, the beasts turned to hunt men once again and once again, Anathaeum rose to let them chase. Brave and bold and swift as Anathaeum was, the beasts could keep up, the meadow grown cold, setting upon the young hunter with fervor and fang. The knights saw this, and did act.
Too late, they drew their swords and cast their spells, guarding their fallen Knight Commander. We will harm not the bear nor the wolf, the eagle nor the crow, the knights echoed their oath. But Ser, these creatures are not bear nor wolf, eagle nor crow, and harm they would do. The Knights fought then with the ways of war and flame, scorch and black, and did what famine and pestilence and the biting cold could not.
Too early, Anathaeum drew themselves up to their last, and prayed a new prayer to all gathered round. Only those heroes of old heard Anathaeum’s last wish, as they bade their Knight Commander farewell, and vowed their own fresh vow, that never again would one knight journey alone. Always there would be two vigilant, the blade and the palm, the healer and the flame, one to bid the wild dawn well and one to quell that which clung to dusk.
Contributors: bees?, Roadrunner
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