[WORLDBUILDING] The Official Knight and Witch Thread

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A Thread for organizing various clippings of pieces developing and discussing chunks of details on the nature of major worldbuilding elements around the sphere of Knights and associated Witches.

*Pending Approval for Official Text Release by Major Guilds

Additional Editorial: As we dig through archives, feel free to suggest any subjects that feel like a priority

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Knight Origins - History Part 1


Though the first true knight-based guild is widely disputed, it's commonly agreed on that the earliest guilds were rooted in independent and locally owned courier and trade organizations. Many of these initial businesses operated on networking with both the people of the nearest towns and their neighbors of whom were trusted to aid in their services.

Many of the lords and nobles who began to take root across multiple regions found themselves with extensive powers and quickly operated to dismantle local formation of militias and financial competition.

The couriers not wishing to lose their independence, took full advantage of their networking and established goodwill with the local peoples to successfully push back with armed cavalry and sabotage of trade routes.

These days seeing knights use live animals for transport is fairly uncommon in most densely populated areas, but the association with cavalry maintains their namesake and is commonly depicted in historical fiction*.


*Additional Editorial: There's some truth to every myth and legend around knighthood, and many knights will embrace them into their image to gain the confidence of the people in their locale.

With that said, it's good form not to insist that the outliers are the normal expected standard. Not ever Knight is a superman with a sword.

Many accidents happen due to the public overestimating what the average knight is capable of, leading to backlash that can end a guild's partnership with its people.

[skinstealer]

tell me about the damn knight mounts. the goddamn animals if you will

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[Image Description: A silhouette of a teenage anthropomorphic bunny person with long ears in a environment that is polygonal and abstracted. Sharp geometry and angular aesthetics are everywhere with implied outlines for the street and buildings. In the background, stylized clouds with two pillars reaching them invasive. The rabbit holds a bat leaving a matching colored white splatter of stylish bloodstain. The entire thing is from the point of view of the bludgeoning victim. At the top, a cut off retro RPG UI says "- Redacted Uses Stargazer Omega", with the redacted text over a layer of tape and marker.}

The Disaster Child Phenomenon refers to a recurring situation where a youth of unusual nature disrupts the status quo of a world through direct, violent means. The appearance of a Disaster Child is a sign of a big shakeup, often the end of entire structural systems at a regional level.

Their entire nature is polarizing by design: A Disaster Child in a broken world often ends up vindicated by future generations, seen as a hero or folk saint. A Disaster Child in a peaceful time, although rare, is often made into a monster of myth by those who come after them. 
 
They're heavily regarded as a metaphorical glitch in reality, every hardship makes them stronger and a world that actively harms them creates its own devil eventually. Most have no malicious intent to begin with: Left to their own devices they're most likely to live a mundane, peaceful existence to the best of their conditions. As such, most cases of such individuals becoming a large scale disaster are believed to be the result of outside meddling. 

There is little known means to detect or activate their potential without the assistance of paranormal manipulations.

 
Editor's Revision:
In many cultures they are dubbed "Ferrymen" and despite the terminology of "Disaster Child" becoming increasingly common, many do not find themselves plunge into the plot til well into their adult years.The title of Ferryman is a category popularized by entity buisnessmen who exist in the void between reality. They categorize using various terms. The Ferryman is symbolized as the ultimate Pawn, expendable and easily discarded but with potential to shine if all things align.

They're the opposition of those who are more conventionally destined for greatness, people who rage against the storm of being born unlucky. All the worst things will show their face and they have just enough options to survive through such strife. 

The direct counterpart is The Champion, a chosen one blessed by the world to become one of its great heroes. The middleground between Champion and Entity is The Messiah, destined and designed to have no equal by reality. Both are natural predators of The Ferryman
 
Should the Champion and the Entity fall by a Ferryman's hand, there is little one can do to prevent their journey from coming to a conclusion.



Notable cases in Active Storylines:
Charon Judgment (Punch Clock Animal/Masa)
Romero/Despina(Refurbished)
Limbo* (Maze Trials)
*Manufactured Ferryman, not a natural example.

(The Animals Will be Discussed in a future update)

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The Judgment Family: Part 1


[Image Description: A canine member of the Judgment family with a large polearm against a forest background covered in bush and mushroom. The entire image is framed as a illustration in a old book.]


The Judgment Clan are long running Guild and Knight Family active to this day. They have the unique combination of carrying both a Arcana name and one of the Four Suites, carrying the Heart.
 
Their historical prominence is a massive topic of discussion and intrigue by those both in the field and among the general public. They operated at the humble "Judgment House" in Wonder, seemingly appeared from nowhere alongside the local neighboring village, and are the first major guild to openly carry Fiendish individuals despite their historically taboo nature. They all claim to have originated in place called Solitaire, often speculated to be a era specific naming or split territory of the current day Solitude.
 
They're also rather old fashion in their ties to Witch families, most extended branches tend to have long and healthy relationships with the witch culture of the region beyond pure business.
 
Unlike most guilds today, they still operate on the familial structure of olden days. Most of its members are descendants of earlier generations and adoptees: There have only been a handful of enrollments that exist as purely contractual in the past century.
 
Their existence has mostly been fairly quiet and humble in the knight world until more recent years.
Notables currently active in the world*:
 
Luc "Erica" Judgment: The current leader of the Judgment House, made a lot of noise during her youth operating internationally to crack the influence of Monte based gang efforts in the Luxson cluster and pushing out investor colonization in Plaza. Her adopted successor, "Geezer" Wallace, has continued her work in the latter. She holds the record for the largest number of Non-Lethal victories to Dueling under the now mostly banned '"Wax Empress" Ruleset. Her only known child, "Bucky" Judgment is notable for their status as a hand of Rein, the god of Solitude.
 
Ali Beatrix Judgment: International powerhouse knight, operates as a broker between a large number of guilds and local operations. Has invested her massive resources toward occult sciences, Ultrafaunal research, reverse engineering "Lost Tech" relics. Widely considered the face of knighthood outside the conventional guild system. Her most famous successor, Manzana Santana, is a fairly well known and divisive scrap engineer.
 
Virgil Reyes: Former knight under the guild system, now operates in aiding smaller guilds survive what many dub the "5 Year Struggle" most face on their initial formation. Karacel without fiendish heritage of a unusual morph only seemingly found in a handful of pockets in Wonder. In conjunction with his two cousins, are considered a historical trio in the knight world.

*This piece takes place within the timeframe of Punch Clock Animal

The Joined Hearts:
 

[Image Description: A cropped illustration from Punch Clock Animal. It depicts Charon Judgment, a canine furry knight in a cloak and large glasses with emphasis on his two pins: The red circle crossed out no symbol as his personal emblem, and the split red and white heart that serves as his family emblem.]

The family symbol of the entire Judgment family is The Joined Heart. In contrast to broken heart imagery, it consists of two halves of mismatched hearts joined together to form a whole. It's simple nature and to the point nature is a embodiment of the guild's philosphy of maintaining closeness, support, and long termbonds as a means of enduring great suffering and hardship.