[WORLDBUILDING] - KNIGHTS

[A_Mi_Manera]

KNIGHTS





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BASICS
  

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What are they?

• Champions and heroes of the meek and defenders the common folk from divine wrath, otherworldly abominations, and those whom actively bring harm to others. They’re among the oldest of armed protectors around.
  

• Commonly dedicate their work toward one master or a town who’s taken them in. They bare an emblem on their person that represents their name, heritage, and those they fight for.
  
• Can be of an existing line (blood or adopted alike) or a self made warrior. 
  
• Their status is dependent on location, and the title of knight can bring admiration, scorn, or indifference. 
  
• Typically carry a specialization permit, allowing certain types of gear and arms to be carried within the legal limits of the region.
  
• Often form in guilds.
  
  
  

Aesthetics

• Very distinct from person to person, long sleeved protective wear common to avoid infection from fighting creatures with sharp claws and fangs.
  
• Tends to carry a rotation of domestic attire, work attire, and “siege” attire. The former for public settings, the second for slightly more
  
• Crests and Emblems should find themselves worn on person day to day while on shift. Pins, patches, and patterns on outfits are common for the emblem mentioned. Siege attire is purely oriented around conflict and is often heavily protective. Not as common among younger knights who may not have it within their budget or found jobs that require it as of yet.
  
  
  
  
• Chokers and protective collars are popular and common, although not required.
  
• Must refrain from concealed weapons off duty. Any crucial tools capable of being used in combat must be at least partially exposed. Protective wear is allowed to be concealed.
  
• Many modern Knights may lean into the aesthetics of long coats, fur accents, and tinted or colored eye wear in modern day. This is the result of influence from scrap sensitives, paranormal enthusiasts, and witches on the trade.
  
• Classically trained Knights will lean into a signature tool and will carry it almost everywhere.  They also tend to travel much lighter and wear less protection, which often leads to the common misconception that knights don't wear armor on the job. It's a massive point of disdain for many.
  
• Non-Combative knights(Doctors, Sensitives who do not fight, Technicians and Engineers,) must have registered the title on their licenses. They are not allowed to fight without public declaration and should wear the local region’s mark to show they are not a combatant. Depending on the location, they are protected and assaulting one is a major crime. 
  
  
  
  

Guilds

• Many Knights use a Guild system to find job opportunities until they find themselves a long term/lifelong employer or master. 
  
• Guilds take a finder’s fee and offer shelter, emergency supplies, and a safe haven should things sour.
  
• Guilds often have strong rules of peer to peer respect. Breaking these will massively drop your standing among other knights
  
• Guilds are often run by veterans in the job who no longer serve a master or are settled into a town and have accommodated the resources, often as a gift to future generations.
  
• Many guilds end up not lasting long after a founder’s retirement or passing. Successors often have conflicting interests, many attempts to turn the guild into a massive business result. These often fall apart and end in revolt. Trying to capitalize and bank on many self righteous people with swords is a bad idea. 
  

 
Weapon Classes



    These may vary from region to region. Your class specialization is on your permit and will decide what you can carry without requesting extra permission from local regulators.  Common ones are:

• Swordsmen: A very classical weapon class, often overlaps bludgeoning and cutting tools. Finds itself a lot of usage due to many common dangerous creatures only being sludge based. The face of Knighthood.
  
• Powdersmith: Based on explosive and chemical weapons. Somewhat distrusted by many due to carrying arms that are either massively destructive or more effective against flesh and blood than angels and horrors. 
  
• Arcane:  Magic or scrapped based weapon. Increasingly popular due to influence from witches. Sensitives and witches with familiars or proxies often fall into these and tend to request a dual license. Outright not given out in some regions.
  
• Unorthodox: A legal nightmare and often treated as a secondary license. Proves you’re capable of defeating anyone with anything in the right situation. The right gods may nudge things in your favor in a fight.
  
• Organic: Living weapons and tools made from an organic mass, or part of the knight’s body. Commonly seen when the region has native species that have natural protective traits beyond teeth and claws.
  
• Animal Handling: Allows handling of a creature for protection. 
  
• Pending: A secondary license, for tools that the local region hasn’t registered among any local or general subclass. Sometimes unusual tools local to a specific region may require this when exporting them due to their lack of widespread nature.
  
  
  

Heritage

• While most knights these days are newcomers without direct predecessors to their line, a handful of knights may choose to carry the weight of those before.
  
• Carrying a title from a previous relative tends to get extra attention from certain employers but also demands a higher standard to avoid issues of underqualified staff due to nepotism.
  
• Lines that have run long tend to pass down blueprints and archives with generations worth of vital knowledge. Though sharing between peers is not uncommon, some have formally established libraries and museums with what they’ve been handed.
  
• When multiple active members of a line co-exist, this may lead to rivalries among the same line. There also have been recorded cases of hurt morale for those who are constantly compared to more successful knights baring the same crest.
  
• Adopting into the line has become popular as a means to give brave young folks a chance at a better future should candidates within bloodline seem uninterested in carrying the title
  
• Knights who carry a passed down emblem will find themselves challenged by other knights more often, as felling a veteran family is seen as a massive boost in status.
  
  
  

Specialization


   There are various forms of specialization that a knight may choose to focus on. Primary examples are but not limited to:

• Dueling: Knights who exist to duel other knights, demons, or gods in order to aid in acquiring power for a master.
  
• Classical: A dying archetype due to the difficult and physical/emotional strain. These knights speak in flowery and formal patterns. They’re crowd pleasers and play well to an audience. They may also play a character or role for the sake of their employer. In the most dedicated of cases, they may serve roles such as body doubles or pose as a partner to their employer. Classical knights seek employment from someone who will give them a close and mutual trust.
  
• Dark Knights: Like the Classical Knights above, they lean toward less public affairs and more purging things that are not meant to exist. Many of these knights are mutated or descendants of monsters and have a tolerance to the extreme.
  
• Non-Combatant: Though broad and misleading as all knights are trained to be able to fight should it be required, knights who specialize in care or maintenance jobs are akin to elite doctors or engineers who can tackle dangerous jobs civilians can’t and are very much valued in the modern day.
  
• Revolutionists: Folk hero types, find places in need of change and empower the people against those who control them but do not have their best interests in heart. They don’t live long when a god comes into play.
  

Knight - Master Relationships

• Many Knights may commit long term to a master for a very unique form of companionship that’s said to go beyond normal understanding.
  
• Knights who have committed to this idea are typically a good number of years into their career. The Knight offers loyalty and protection in the promise of a potentially life long home, care, and perhaps a genuine emotional understanding. This is often prompted by the knight and not the master. For those hiring a knight for the long run, it’s important to consider that this may come up at some point.
  

• For a knight, this is often on the same level as marriage between a couple. Rejection will probably not sit well and without proper communication it will end in a very sad bastard.
  
• These relationships are often non-romantic in nature but very close and personal despite this. The master will be the first one to know when the Knight is thinking about making an important life changing decision and will be asked to be there for most major personal events.
  
• In the rare situation this dynamic becomes romantic, a third person should be brought in to mediate and assist. 
  
• These behaviors are mainly seen in classical knights, most modern knights have their life together in this regard. 
  
  Ongoing, ask away and it will update overtime.