The Knight

The Knight

This god concerns itself with the achievement and sustenance of mortal ideals. Honor, Justice, Protection, Fairness, Chivalry, Courage, Discipline, Loyalty, and Rule of Law. The Knight serves as principle by which ethical mortals chart their own worth and morality. In pursuing these ideals, the Knight also does not yield to peace, and Knightly Adherents spend as much time training for conflict as they do in studying ethics, morality, and leadership. The Knight is the embodiment of Illumitas’s aspect of principles.

The Knight has no other names to its followers, as only “The Knight” is the proper title for this deity. The Knight is typically regarded as masculine, though there is a feminine version in some Knightly cults. Knightly abbeys are part meeting hall, part library, and part public armory. Oftentimes, they may be mistaken for a bailey rather than a temple, as they are often adorned with functional battlements. These abbeys are always defensible, public, and are common in civilized lands.

Adherents to the Knight are the rarest of the Sept’s worshippers, due to the extreme self-awareness and strict moral paths they must walk. To serve the Knight, one must embody the Knight’s virtues. Chivalric orders dedicated to the Knight typically devote their knighthood to the pursuit of these Knightly Virtues: Faith, Prudence, Hope, Temperance, Charity, Justice, and Fortitude. Adherents to the Knight typically lead from the front, and do not proselytize, choosing instead to exemplify. Successful Adherents are typically the best and shortest-lived heroes of any bard’s tale. Paladins of the Knight, the best court barristers and advocates, philosophers pondering ethics and law, and moral Inquisitors are all examples of those who serve the Knight.

Idealism, in the Knight’s paradigm, is to be the best that mortal-kind may be. Order is understood to be the Rule of Laws, fairly made, to both protect and represent the citizens of a culture or country equally. Adherents to the Knight struggle with the fact that the Knight places equal worth on both Order and Idealism. A corrupt kingdom that cares for its citizens embodies Order, and yet violates Idealism. A rebel army that revolts against its rulers may champion Idealism but destroys Order to do so. The Knight’s view is codified in terms of absolutes, and can get lost in the murky moral shades of grey. Each Adherent must find his or her own balance between these two responsibilities.

Worshipping the Knight is most often done by deed, rather than words. Raising up the impoverished, defending the weak, punishing the evil, and sacrificing for the greater good are all considered to be more meaningful to the Knight than spoken prayers or ritual.

Of all the Sept, the Knight usually stands alone. He leads the Sept in their missions, and provides the moral compass for his brothers and sisters, who follow him into battle. While all fight with him, only the Stranger speaks with him socially, as her strength of principles is a mirror for his own. While the most highly regarded of the Sept, the Knight’s endless quest to be the best in all things sometimes isolates him from his kin; leaving him a lonely deity.

The Knight stands opposed to Grak, in all cases. Violence must have purpose, not be merely contest. The Knight stands opposed to Nox, in every way -- life must be protected, for the preservation of hope. But the true enemy of the Knight is Darkness Itself, who, as the leader of the Dark Three is responsible for all the ills of the world. To fail the Knight, an Adherent need only abandon the cause of Idealism or Order. Redemption that is found through deed and experience may allow the fallen Adherent back into the Knight’s auspices. Often, these redeemed Adherents return to the narrow path of Virtue with more understanding and power than they had in innocence, for while the Knight may lose a battle, he has never lost a war.

Categories: Game Setting | Religion | Gods