 Knightly Orders |
Braggi
Seigneur
Registration Date: 2006.09.23
Posts: 287
Location: B.C. Canada
 |
|
We have a number of posts from the archive that mention the various
knightly orders for the major cities of High Rock. There are also
several orders associated with factions from TES2 that are useful as
well. So far, I have dug up the following:
City-State Knighthoods
Daggerfall: Knights of the Dragon (this one is firmly established by both Lore and the design document.)
Wayrest: Knights of the Rose (also firmly established)
Camlorn: Knights of the Silver Moon (Mod developer's creation)
Evermore: Knights of the Boar (Mod developer's creation)
Shornhelm: Knights of the Helm (Mod developer's creation)
Allegiance: To the nobility of the Kingdom of Shornhelm, the Kingdom of Shornhelm, and to the Nine Divines.
Motto: To Saint Shornhelm we give our hearts, to the Nine Divines we give our souls, to Justice we give all that we possess.
"Knightly order serving the Andorak Septims and the Kingdom of
Shornhelm, sworn to upholding the Nine Divines by the Imperial Crown,
and Imperial Law. They are restricted to bringing justice only in their
own Kingdom, but rountinely go on holy quests throughout High Rock in
search of the 'Shornhelm', legendary artifact worn by the first King of
Shornhelm, and holds the utmost significance to the Order, and for that
matter all of the Kingdom of Shornhelm."
Heraldry:
Regarding the orders not aligned with a major city, we have the following from the archives and various TES2 sources:
Miscellaneous Knighthoods
Knights of the Circle
Allegiance: Temple of Arkay
Motto: The
Knights of the Circle are the military arm of the Order of Arkay. It is
our solemn duty to protect the Order and to fight their battles. Our
devotion to the God Arkay and the Order are complete.
Knights of the Cup
Allegiance: Lord Plessington
"Protectors of the Plessington Clan. Not a very powerful or large
group, but eager to help in all the affairs of High Rock. Plessington
likes to send his knights off for no greater purpose then to right a
wrong and come back with lots of interesting stories."
Source: DFC, page 101
Knights of Iron
Allegiance: Temple of Zenithar
Motto: We
of the Knights of Iron are in charge of the military excursions of the
Resolution of Zenithar. Zenithar is not merely the God of Merchants and
Commerce, He is also a warrior god. We represent that side of Him.
Knights of the Flame
Allegiance: Anticlere
Motto: The
Knights of the Flame are the noble warriors of the Lorddom of
Anticlere. Our allegiance is unswerving to Lord and Lady Flyte, who
rescued us from the chaos following the War of Betony.
"Protectors and warriros for the town and royal family of Anticlere.
They are sworn to gurad the Flytes, though they are curious why they
are not permitted to stop highwaymen outside the Anticlere limits, but
keep their activities to the palace and town of Anticlere. Several of
the better looking, dimmer knights are members of the personal guard of
Lady Flyte and enjoy great privleges. Everyone is pretty loyal and
dedicated, as grateful as they are to the Flytes for rescuing the town
formerly known (in TES1) as Reich Gradkeep."
Source: DFC, page 100
Knights Maran
Allegiance: Temple of Mara
Motto: Mara
represents love and peace. She and Her Benevolence recognize that, as
hypocritical as it sounds, military strength is often needed to beget
this peace. The Maran Knights represent this military strength. We are
admittedly a controversial knightly order. Some misguided clerics
within the Temple would prefer that we disband, but they are in the
minority, and all respect our skill and loyalty.
Knights Mentor
Allegiance: Temple of Julianos
Motto: The
Knights Mentor are brothers and sisters to the School of Julianos.
While they do research and expand the libraries of the School, we
protect them. And, in turn, they share their expanded knowledge with
us. It is a perfect relationship and benefits us each equally.
Knights of the Owl
Allegiance: Glenpoint
Motto: We of the Knights of the Owl are responsible for protecting and fighting for the royal family of Glenpoint.
Knights of Stendar
Allegiance: Temple of Stendar
Motto: We,
the Knights of Stendarr the Merciful call ourselves the Crusaders, for
it is our sacred duty to protect the Temple and fights its battles.
While we firmly espouse the Temple's philosophy of compassion and
charity, we recognize that if the Temple is weak, it cannot
realistically survive.
Kynaren Order
Allegiance: Temple of Kynareth
Motto: We
are the strong arm of the Goddess Kynareth, an off-shoot of her temple
devoted to fighting her causes all over Tamriel. Members of the Kynaran
Order are honored for our skill and loyalty by the Temple, and given
full access to the blessings and services within. According to
individual rank in the Order, of course.
Order of the Hour
Allegiance: Temple of Akatosh
Motto: We
are the military arm of the Akatosh Chantry, the Order of the Hour,
charged with the protection of the Chantry. Our knights are devoted to
the Great Dragon, and dedicated to the promise of stability and
permanence He represents. Our duties are varied indeed, and our honors
bountiful. An initiate in our Order have the same rights and honors of
an initiate in the Chantry.
Order of the Lamp
Allegiance: Mage's Guild
Motto: We
of the Order of the Lamp are the protectors of the Mages Guild. We
follow the Palantinus, under direct orders from the Archmagister.
We are given appropriate rights to certain services at the Mages Guild.
One's rank within the Order approximates ones rank within the Guild, in
terms of rights and privileges.
Order of the Lily
Allegiance: Temple of Dibella
Motto: The
House of Dibella is the noblest institution in Tamriel, we of the Order
of the Lily firmly are devoted to its cause. Its only fault is that the
priests and priestesses within are often too consumed with the
propagation of beauty to protect themselves adequately. That is the
sacred cause of the Order of the Lily. We protect the House and receive
the training and blessings of clerics of equal rank. I can think of no
better reason to fight than the cause of beauty.
Order of the Raven
Allegiance: Dwynnen
Motto: In
all modesty, the Order of the Raven is a legendary fighting order. We
have the honor of having led the battle against the Camoran Usurper and
freed half of Tamriel from his tyranny. We remain the vanguards of the
Barony of Dwynnen, protecting the entire region.
Foreign Knighthoods
Although the next two entries concern Hammerfell knighthoods, there is
a good reason to mention them here, since one is a renegade order which
left Hammerfell to bide its time in High Rock during the period before
the Warp. It is currently unknown if any remnant of this band still
survives or their wherabouts and High Rock allegiances (if any) should
they have done so.
First the renegades:
Knights of the True Horn
Allegiance: Lord Kain
"Followers of Lord Kain, pretender to the throne of Lainlyn. They have
no permanent home now and are not taking any more knights, though they
are happy to employ mercenaries. Some of them realize that they will
never win in their lifetimes, but their children may take up the fight.
Source: DFC, page 101
Finally, their foes:
Knights of the Horn
Allegiance: Lainliyn
Motto: The
Host of the Horn have the honor of serving his most terrible Grace, the
Baron Shrike. Our duties consist of all important activities from
straight warfare to espionage and tax collection. It may be worth
dispelling this confusion: the Baron's weak brother Lord Kain has his
own order devoted to the illegal acquisition of the throne of Lainlyn,
and he idiotically calls his piteous group, the Host of the True Horn.
"Protectors and warriors for the town and royal family of Lainlyn. The
Lord of the town is a bit of a tyrannical bully, and so are the
knights. A lot of their time is spent intimidating peasants for tax
money and trading jokes about Lord Kain's men - the Knights of the True
Horn - who are still gathering steam in High Rock.
Source: DFC, page 100
TES4 Plug-ins and TES2 Knighthoods
One note that is fairly important - The Knights of the True Horn were
covered in the last official plug-in for OB and it would appear that
their story was wrapped up. For information on the story line go here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Battle...tle_%28quest%29
and also look here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Unwanted_Tenants
As a result, we may want to exclude them altogether. I suspect the
inclusion of this knightly order in the Fighter's Stronghold plug-in
was intended to be a major nod to High Rock (which was the most
under-represented province through vanilla OB in terms of game
visibility, through rumors and such.) It may also have been an attempt
to tie up loose ends in terms of Lore since the Knights of the True
Horn were never encountered in TES2 Daggerfall, even though the hint
book mentions them.
On the other hand, if we do include this order in the manner intended
by TES2, we have a fair bit of background Lore to draw from or adapt
from the official plug-in. This includes a symbol for the True Horn
order and several magical items to use or draw inspiration from. Add to
this the fact that the Fighter's Stronghold plug-in was one of the
worst developed, having way more design bugs and errors then many of
the others (likely due to the project being shelved by Beth and then
released at the last minute) and you could also view it as an open
invitation to improve upon things. 
The heraldry in particular is important for concept art. Because of all
of the factions available in TES2, we may only be able to indicate some
of them by the clothing or shields worn by members of the order
in-game. So, if anyone can hit the Lore sources and see what they can
come up with regarding these that would be a major starting point. This post has been edited 8 time(s), it was last edited by The Old Ye Bard: 2008.11.11 01:42.
|
|
2008.08.22 21:12 |
|
|
The Old Ye Bard
Princess
Registration Date: 2006.05.25
Posts: 3,663
Location: Post-Feminism
|
|
Shornhelm: Knights of the Helm (Mod developer's creation)
Allegiance: To the nobility of the Kingdom of Shornhelm, the Kingdom of Shornhelm, and to the Nine Divines.
Motto: To Saint Shornhelm we give our hearts, to the Nine Divines we give our souls, to Justice we give all that we possess.
"Knightly order serving the Andorak Septims and the Kingdom of
Shornhelm, sworn to upholding the Nine Divines by the Imperial Crown,
and Imperial Law. They are restricted to bringing justice only in their
own Kingdom, but rountinely go on holy quests throughout High Rock in
search of the 'Shornhelm', legendary artifact worn by the first King of
Shornhelm, and holds the utmost significance to the Order, and for that
matter all of the Kingdom of Shornhelm."
Heraldry:
This post has been edited 4 time(s), it was last edited by The Old Ye Bard: 2008.10.04 23:11.
|
|
|
2008.10.04 23:08 |
|
|
Deeza
Editor
Registration Date: 2008.06.03
Posts: 1,066
Location: Procrastination
|
|
Orsinium: The Knights of the Bitter Tear
Allegiance: To King Gortwog, his realm of Nova Orsinium, and to Trinimac.
Motto: Pariahs no longer, we strive to forge our people's rightful place at the Emperor's right hand.
"Determined to be seen as an equal by the other Kings, Gortwog has
recently created all the trappings of High Rock royalty for himself,
including founding his own order of Knights. Strangely, they are named
not after any orcish symbol, but an ancient and obscure Altmeri rune.
But despite the strange name, the Knights of the Bitter Tear are
fighters, not mystics, and they defend Gortwog and his holdings with
ferocity." |
|
|
2008.10.06 12:21 |
|
|
The Old Ye Bard
Princess
Registration Date: 2006.05.25
Posts: 3,663
Location: Post-Feminism
|
|
| quote: |
Originally posted by Deeza
Orsinium: The Knights of the Bitter Tear
Allegiance: To King Gortwog, his realm of Nova Orsinium, and to Trinimac.
Motto: Pariahs no longer, we strive to forge our people's rightful place at the Emperor's right hand.
"Determined to be seen as an equal by the other Kings, Gortwog has
recently created all the trappings of High Rock royalty for himself,
including founding his own order of Knights. Strangely, they are named
not after any orcish symbol, but an ancient and obscure Altmeri rune.
But despite the strange name, the Knights of the Bitter Tear are
fighters, not mystics, and they defend Gortwog and his holdings with
ferocity." |
Prehaps these are the same 'knights' as the Orc adventurers in Oblivion
who say they are out looking for treasures for Orsinuim? Not a proper
order as such, but an attempt at one, with these 'knights' charged with
seeking out glory and artifacts across Tamriel, so that the order can
have a name for itself, and in doing so create glory for Orsinium
aswell (and even if they don't succede in getting riches and artifacts
to improve Orsinuims wealth, they are atleast gaining the stories of
their adventures, battling monsters, etc).
|
|
|
2008.10.06 13:27 |
|
|
Deeza
Editor
Registration Date: 2008.06.03
Posts: 1,066
Location: Procrastination
|
|
The idea had occurred to me already, but I didn't know much about the
ones in Oblivion, so I didn't include it. But they almost certainly are
the same. Do the orc travellers in Oblivion talk much? Come to think of
it, where can I find them? |
|
|
2008.10.06 13:35 |
|
|
The Old Ye Bard
Princess
Registration Date: 2006.05.25
Posts: 3,663
Location: Post-Feminism
|
|
In regards to the ranks of Knightly orders, after a conversation MSN I
had with Tyler, we came to the conclusion that we should shorten the
amount of ranks avaliable to 3-4 from the 9 that were posible in
Daggerfall, and while you may think 3 ranks is quite low, keep in mind
that's all the KotN's Knight's of the Nine faction had only that and that was an awesome
faction; also by lessening the amount of ranks it enables us to be able
to make more of these Knightly factions avaliable to the player to join.
In my opinion, we should aim for 4; Squire, Knight Sister/Brother, Knight Commander and Paladin.
Grandmaster would also be a rank, but unattainable to the player,
because it wouldn't make sense if the player were to become Grandmaster
of every Knightly faction, and even in stock Oblivion (with expansions)
the player could only attain the highest rank in the KotN faction.
Squire would be an entry rank, and the player could be tasked by any
Knight Sister/Brother (and onwards in rank) to do anything, be it
escorting a Knight in a quest, or simply getting food for the horses,
etc, you're basically the Orders bitch, until you gain enough
experience to become a Knight.
At the rank of Knight Sister/Brother and onwards, the player would be
granted (per a similar Daggerfall perk) free stay at any Inn in the
local Kingdom, and the ablity to command one squire to follow them
around (though they aren't the best fighters, they are good as personal
storage).
At the rank of Knight Commander the player can get a squire to follow
them, aswell as Knight Sister/Brother to accompany them (or two
squires).
At the rank of Paladin the player is able to get anyone in the order to
follow them (except the Grandmaster and other Paladins) to a limit of
three (because of Fps this is generally the limit of followers, anymore
you can notice a significant drop in Fps during battles, aswell as
other bugs that pop up).
In relation to how many orders can be joined, I don't think we should
include the Temple's Knights, which basically cuts the amount of
Joinable factions in half, but the half remaining are a whole lot more
unique than the Temple's Orders, however that doesn't mean we have to
exclude the others from the mod, and indeed we can still have them, and
even misc quests, or other factions relating them.
|
|
|
2008.11.11 02:17 |
|
|
Deeza
Editor
Registration Date: 2008.06.03
Posts: 1,066
Location: Procrastination
|
|
I agree.
To me, not all of the Temple orders seemed interesting enough to merit a questline of their own.
But misc. quests, and so on for ambient factions, would add to the diversity of the game.
|
|
|
2008.11.11 10:03 |
|
|
Deeza
Editor
Registration Date: 2008.06.03
Posts: 1,066
Location: Procrastination
|
|
|
|
2008.11.11 10:15 |
|
|
|
|
Knightly Orders
