Five Orders of Knighthood

The Five Orders of Knighthood are a component of the military forces of the Kingdom of Guardia. Specifically, they serve as an elite officers corps for the Guardian Defense Force. Knights of the Orders are usually drawn from the noble houses of Guardia, but on occasion non-nobles are admitted to the Orders as well. While there are many who aspire to Knighthood in Guardia, few are chosen, and fewer still earn their armor and sword.

Knights of the Five Orders are magically-enhanced through a secret Spekkian ritual. They are also equipped with an enchanted suit of dreamstone plate mail, and a spirit-imbued dreamstone sword, forged by Melchior the Guru of Life. Because the Guru of Life produced only so much in the way of blades and mail for the Kingdom's knights, the Orders' numbers are necessarily limited. What that limit is, however, is not known, and the Orders are not especially given to making such information public.

While Guardia has always had a knighthood, what we know of as the Five Orders only came into being at the dawn of the Kingdom's second millenium.

Origins of the Orders

1005 AD – The Porrean War and the Sack of Truce

The year 1000 AD was initially believed to be the dawning of a golden age for Guardia. It saw the Milennial Fair – a year-long celebration of the Kingdom's one-thousandth birthday – and the betrothal of Princess Nadia to the young hero Crono Penders, the renowned pilot of the amazing flying machine called Epoch (itself the forerunner and inspiration for the Kingdom's later lines of air and aerospace fighter craft). Following this, in the year 1002 AD, the Kingdom celebrated the marriage of Nadia and Crono. On the eve of this wedding, Nadia's father, King Aloisius Guardus VII, Guardia XXXIII, declared that he would abdicate the throne after the one-hundredth day of his daughter's marriage. Further, in contravention of tradition, Aloisius altered the Succession to the Guardian Throne, enabling Nadia to be named the kingdom's first "heiress apparent." Before Aloisius did this, as he was a widower with neither male issue nor obvious prospects for remarriage, it was expected that his eldest nephew, Nadia's cousin Peradur, would become Peradur Guardus I, King Guardia XXXIV, on death or abdication of the King. The sudden shift, allowing the King's daughter to be named heiress to the throne, caused a schism among Guardia's nobility (and, notably, neither Peradur nor any of his branch of the royal family attended Nadia and Crono's wedding as a result), but because of the broad popularity of the Princess and her fiance, the consequences of this action were not immediately apparent.

Thus it was that 1002 AD saw a wedding, and the historic ascension of Queen Nadia Guardus I, Guardia XXXIV. Her husband, now King Crono, accepted with dignity his role as figurehead and lord-consort, while Nadia set about the family business of ruling the realm.

It wasn't until 1005 AD that the enemies King Aloisius had made within his own family made their move.

Under the leadership of its militarist leader, General Dalton, the Republic of Porre threw off the yoke of Guardian rulership and sparked the Porrean War. The Kingdom was caught flat-footed, and as Queen Nadia struggled to respond, she was betrayed from within: a contingent loyal to the Porrean cause (and backed by Lord Peradur and his supporters) attacked Guardia Castle. The Sack of Truce had begun.

The Porreans and their treacherous allies sought to capture or kill the Queen and her King, but due to the intercession of the adventuring inventor Lucca Ashtear, the royal couple was able to escape unharmed. However, they did not evade their pursuers entirely without cost. In the course of the melee, the abdicated King Aloisius was slain by Peradur himself, and one of the national treasures of the Kingdom – the sacred sword Masamune – was stolen by Porrean agents and smuggled down south.

1005-1020 AD – King Peradur the Pretender and the Queen of Winter

After the Sack of Truce, Peradur assumed the Guardian Throne. While at his coronation he laid claim to the title "King Peradur Guardus I, Guardia XXXV," historians would not allow him to retain this naming and instead would label him Peradur the Usurper, or Peradur the Pretender. (the latter being slightly more favored due to its appealing alliteration)

The Porrean War was not yet over. While the Porreans had initially made common cause with Peradur and his cohort of displeased nobles, Guardian and Porrean military elements were still actively fighting each other in Zenan as King Peradur was making himself comfortable on his cousin's throne. In an attempt to bring a stop to the fighting, Peradur took prisoners from among the Porreans who had helped him win his throne, but this seemed only to make things worse for Peradur and failed to ingratiate him to General Dalton – who, it seemed, would be satisfied by nothing less than total domination of both the Zenan and Guardian continents.

Meanwhile, Nadia would eventually resurface late in the year 1006, reaching out to her people by pirate radio broadcast (from an "undisclosed location," which would later turn out to be Coast Town, Medina) and encouraging them to resist both the Porreans and the Pretender King. After her re-emergence, rebel elements loyal to the deposed Queen staged several daring guerilla assaults on the Porreans, ultimately helping the Guardian Defense Force to reclaim lost ground in the fight for Zenan. Because Nadia's rebels joined the fight against Porre just as the snows had begun to fall in northern Zenan, and because it was said the Queen-in-exile possessed magical power over the element of ice, she earned notoreity during this period as the Queen of Winter. Her popularity as the Guardians began to turn the tide against Porre frustrated Peradur's own efforts to curry the public's favor. He did himself no favors by declaring Nadia a traitor and enemy of the crown, and offering a bounty on her head – a curious thing to most Guardian citizens of the time, to brand as a traitor the woman who appeared to be single-handedly holding the line against Porre.

Even with the Queen of Winter on their side, the Guardians fighting the Porrean army could do little better than halt Dalton's persistent march northward. But while Nadia focused her efforts on the war, her heroic husband pursued a different agenda.

The Sky King and the Knights of the Square Table

Apocryphal legend holds that while the Queen of Winter fought to defend a Kingdom whose throne she no longer sat, her husband King Crono took to the skies on his Epoch and undertook a grand quest. If some of the more fanciful tales about Crono Penders are to be believed, before his wedding both he and his Queen were part of a band of time-travelling adventurers, the Heroes of Time, that worked to avert an apocalyptic future for all humankind in the Gate Dimension.

Following his own example, Crono is said to have believed that his Kingdom and people could best be saved from their plight by gathering together a company of heroes and undertaking a series of quests, which would inevitably culminate in defeating both the Porrean menace and the Pretender King – twin endbosses to culminate a legendary adventure!

The details of these adventures, as popularized in the telling thereafter, strain credulity. What facts are known are as follows: Crono did set out from his exile in Medina and travel the world seeking allies. He found five warriors, and with the aid of Melchior, outfitted them with magical armor and swords. Crono and his five also travelled south, to the El Nido islands, and there recovered the sword Masamune. When all was said and done, Crono the Sky King found himself in the company of five knights, girded in magical mail and each wielding enchanted and spirit-infused dreamstone blades.

Invoking his authority as King, and calling back to antiquated customs, Crono knighted each of his companions, and named them as follows:

• Sir Ajantis the Sword Knight
• Sir Anomen the Wind Knight
• Sir Alistair the Dragon Knight
• Sir Vhailor the Shield Knight
• Sir Keldorn the Frog Knight

Together, recalling the ancient table that still sat in the lower levels of Guardia Castle, he declared these five his Knights of the Square Table.

As mentioned, each of these knights bore an enchanted sword. Four of them were forged by Melchior specifically for King Crono's quest, while the fifth, Masamune, had to be recovered (for it was stolen during the Sack of Truce). These swords would become symbols of each of the Five Orders, passed down to each successive Order Patron. The blades, still in use today, are as follows:

• Muranage, the blade of the Order of the Sword. A plain, basket-pommeled claymore, Muranage appears dull and tarnished when inactive, but glows faintly and shines like polished silver on the eve of battle. Muranage houses the spirit of Sir Zerin, an ancient Guardian Knight-Captain.
• Marasama, the blade of the Order of the Wind. A single-edged, slightly-curved sword, it houses the twin spirits Mara and Sama – sister-spirits of Masa and Mune.
• Dragonrender, the blade of the Order of the Dragon. A straight, single-edged serrated blade, designed after the style of traditional dragonslaying blades once made popular in the South. Houses the spirit of Dora, an ancient and kind-hearted dragon who befriended humanity and devoted herself to protecting the innocent from her rampaging kin.
• Stingblade, the blade of the Order of the Shield. An elegant, thin fencing foil with two sword-catcher prongs above the crossbars (each of which conceals spring-loaded scissors-action swordbreaker blades activated by a hidden trigger), and enchanted so that its blade is always poisoned. The spirit housed within this sword is called Suchinga. Its history is not known, but it manifests as a giant black scorpion with two tails.
• Masamune, the blade of the Order of the Frog. A legendary sword, that far pre-dates King Crono's assembly of knights, and has traditionally been the sword of the Kingdom's greatest champion. Masamune is a massive, double-edged broadsword housing the twin spirits Masa and Mune, said to be the children of Spekkio himself.

The Fall of the Pretender, and the Expansion of the Knighthood

The exact order of events that lead to the fall of Peradur the Pretender is the subject of some debate among serious historians. As with many pivotal events in Web History, the challenge presented to King Peradur by Crono and his Knights of the Square Table is so replete with fantastical elements that the true story is hard to pin down.

What is known, is that sometime in the year 1020 AD, King Crono and his five Knights assaulted Guardia Castle, met King Peradur and his followers, and dispatched them after a lengthy boss battle. Some accounts claim that, while Crono was out questing, Peradur was making deals with either demon lords, eldritch alien entities or Dark Gods, all in order to match the Sky King and his Knights with supernatural powers and minions of his own. Other accounts say that Peradur had built himself a giant robot suit, which was so advanced that it matched the magic and swords of Crono's party and made for a suitably satisfying boss battle.

However it happened, Crono is known to have slain Peradur with his Rainbow Sword and ended the Pretender's reign, reclaiming the Guardian Throne for Queen Nadia and restoring the Kingdom.

Following Peradur's death, Guardia's full might was focused on beating back the Porreans (who had come away from their attempt to conquer El Nido somewhat depleted). They were aided by a sudden expansion of the Guardian Knighthood that King Crono had established in his adventures. Establishing five distinct Orders of Knighthood modeled after the magic and powers of his first five companions, Crono and his Knights of the Square Table set about recruiting, from the nobility and the ranks of the GDF, new knights to fill out the Orders.

Each new knight, Crono decided, would need three things:

• A dreamstone blade, forged by Melchior.
• Dreamstone plate armor, also forged by Melchior.
• Elemental magic, provided by Spekkio.

When sought by Crono to arm and armor his new cadre of knights, the Guru of Life initially refused. Again, here we find historians unable to authenticate and agree upon how the Sky King persuaded Melchior to ascede to the request; there are some who say King Crono made a secret concession to the Guru – a price which he is even still, centuries after his death, paying off. Other tales say that Crono pared down his request to but a single sword and suit of plate... which he then used temporal paradoxes to replicate multiple times. And there is yet another version of the story that says that Crono searched for a parallel timeline where Melchior agreed to fulfill the order for weapons and armor – and then stole the finished arms from that timeline.

Perhaps none of these things happened, and Melchior simply reconsidered his answer.

Again, however it happened, we know that the thing that ultimately won the war against Porre – that broke the Porrean advance, ended Porre's brief flirtation with independence and defeated General Dalton – was the appearance on the field of Guardia's first crop of Knights of the Five Orders.

The Five Orders

Each of the Five Orders of Knighthood is associated with a different color of dreamstone plate armor, and a certain suite of elemental magic powers. A knight also possesses a dreamstone sword – usually a one-handed broadsword, though larger two-handed and half-handed blades are also seen among the knights – inhabited by a lesser spirit. The spirits that empower the lesser knights' blades don't always have names or strong personas like the Table Knights' swords do, but they nevertheless grant their wielders impressive magical powers that, combined with the strength of the knights' dreamstone armor, allow a Guardian knight to remain a viable combatant, even on a modern battlefield.

Candidates for knighthood are sorted into their orders based on their elemental affinity – hewing to the somewhat archaic Gatian belief that everyone is born with an affinity to one of the primal elemental forces of the planet. Each of the orders, and their associated magics and powers, are described below.

The Order of the Frog

Founded by Sir Keldorn, with symbology intended by King Crono to honor his erstwhile companion (again, according to the tales that tell us of the exploits of the Heroes of Time), Sir Glenn of Guardia. The Frog Knights are sometimes seen as leaders among the other Orders, if only because their patron is usually accorded the rank of Knight-Captain of the Square Table and wields the Masamune. The shining gold-colored armor they wear only enhances this perception.

A Frog Knight's attire is typically rounded out with a signature forest green cloak. Frog Knights are attuned to the element of water, through which they have both attack and healing magics. Knights of this Order are known to be able to accomplish magic-assisted leaps, not unlike the dragoons of other nations.

The Order of the Wind

Founded by Sir Anomen, the Wind Knights traditionally serve in the way of military scouts. They practice horsemanship, even to this day, and are also known to train and ride flying dactyls – though because their mounts are more vulnerable than they are (as the mounts are not clad in stupidly magical plate mail), they only rarely engage in mounted combat.

As might be expected, Wind Knights are attuned to the element of wind, which they employ to both enhance their speed and violently buffet their foes. Some few Wind Knights are also able to throw bolts of lightning, but it's unknown how common a power this is among their Order. Wind Knights' armor is cobalt blue, and their cloaks are gold.

The Order of the Sword

Founded by Sir Ajantis, Sword Knights are, in terms of their powers, as near a thing to a paladin as the Guardians natively possess. Unlike the other Orders, Sword Knights are known to wield a variety of blades, and to sometimes pair their signature dreamstone swords with an off-hand weapon (also magical, and always acquired by the knight during the regular course of questing).

The Knights of the Sword are master duelists, whose training and focus emphasizes swordplay above nearly any other skill. Still, these knights do possess some magic: they are attuned to the element of light, which grants them both offensive and healing magics (and is the reason they are sometimes likened to paladins). Sword Knights' armor is silver, and their cloaks are red.

The Order of the Dragon

Founded by Sir Alistair, Dragon Knights are said to be trained in the way of the ancient dragon slayers who once guarded the south from the depredations of rogue dragons during the early 400s AD. Their focus is in combat against single enemies, including and especially enemy heroes or elite units – historically dragons fit this mold, but Dragon Knights have adapted with the times (and the extinction of their namesake nemeses).

Many knights of this Order are known to carry a ranged weapon in addition to their dreamstone sword; traditionally, this weapon is either a bow or a javelin, also boasting of an enchantment, but Dragon Knights will occasionally use modern firearms or energy weapons as well. Dragon Knights are attuned to the element of fire, but offensive fire magic seems only a secondary thing to the knights' apparent total immunity to damage from heat and flame as a result. Dragon Knights' armor is red, and their cloaks are sky-blue.

The Order of the Shield

Founded by Sir Vhailor, the Shield Knights are the edgy dark knights of the Orders. Secretive and, at times, decidedly un-chivalric, Shield Knights are likened to plate-wearing rogues and spies. In King Crono's original cohort, Sir Vhailor and his new Order were tasked with carrying out espionage and sabotage operations against the Porreans. Some stories that come out of this era attribute decidedly un-heroic acts to the Shield Knights – including assassinations and casualties among Porrean civilians.

Shield Knights are attuned to the element of shadow, and are said variously to either be able to walk between areas of shadow, or else render themselves magically invisible. They generally have fewer scruples or pretenses to honor as the other Orders. Shield Knights' armor is black, and their cloaks are dark purple.