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The Vhalurian Knights

It is widely considered a fact that the Vhalurian Knights embody the best in us all. They are arguably the clearest example of what we all should strive to emulate. I am Nathaniel Horus, a scribe and scholar of the Vhaluran City Library, and in this tome I shall endeavor to shed even more light on the already shining visage of the Knights of Vhaluran.

The Knights of Vhaluran are arguably one of the oldest establishments of this city. They are able to trace their origins well beyond even the birth of King Gareth. Although we cannot completely isolate the year, it is clear that the Knights were solidly established by the time the first King fathered the Kingdom we enjoy today.

While there is no surviving documentation, it is passed down among the Knights themselves that the Knights of those early times served much the same purpose as they do presently. The only difference was that the Army that they commanded then was more of a militia. The Knights were not nobles, per se, in those times. They were simply exemplary individuals among the militia. However, it is likely that they were members of the most prominent families of the day, as they are mostly members of the Houses today.

King Gareth himself was trained to Knighthood during his youth. This is the most solid evidence that were Knights primarily comprised of members of the prominent families, as King Gareth’s family was one of these powerful families. He quickly rose to command the Knights as well as the rest of the militia and as history will tell, later fathered this great nation and took his place as its first King. This marked not only the beginning of our modern age, but an important transition for the Knights.

While some of the Knights were killed during King Gareth’s rise to power, most of them swore fealty to the new King, along with their families. This ensured the tradition that  Knights be primarily made up of members of the nobility. The Vhalurian Knights no longer just served the city as a whole, as they now served Gareth, the new King. This period also marked the beginning of a time where the Knights commanded a truly formidable army, as King Gareth turned the citizen-warrior militia into a professional army. This transformed the subordinates of the Knights into a truly well-trained, full time army.

The Vhalurian Knights are held to the highest standards of our society. Even though it is not mandated by their code, they are generally expected to be among the most devout in the city to the Church of Vhaluran’s teachings. When the clergy requires soldiers to assist in some task or another, the Vhalurian Knights are usually the first among the troops to volunteer.

Despite their piety and extreme loyalty to our great King, the Vhalurian Knights follow the Code above all else. The Code is a system of basic principals by which the Knights live. I find, curiously, that the Code is rather vague in its wording, making it quite flexible. The Code goes as follows:

By Elysia and the Gods, this I swear:
I will never speak untruth under the eyes of the Gods.
I shall not strike down the unarmed foeman, but show him mercy.
I will always serve my lord, as he serves the city and its people.
I shall look evil and savagery in the eye, and I shall not turn from it in terror.
I will never lose my shield in battle, for it is not mine, but the people’s.
Always will my wounded brothers in arms find sanctuary in the shadow of my shield, without regard for my own life.

The Knights have performed their duties under this Code long before King Gareth sired this great kingdom. Curiously, the Vhalurian Knights put more emphasis on the shield than the weapon. This is because they believe that a warrior’s shield is not his, but the people’s. They believe this because a shield in battle preserves not only his flesh, but the survival of his people. A man whose weapon is torn from his grasp in battle is not punished, while a man who rises from battle without a shield has his back striped with the whip. The Knights are the only group within the Vhalurian Army that still practices corporal punishment. They believe that receiving painful punishments for mistakes in peace will help prevent mistakes in battle that will place one’s brothers at risk.

When either a nobleman or an exceptional commoner is granted permission by the King to become a squire, they are immediately put into rigorous training and tedious service. Squires spend all their time either in drill or maintaining armour and weapons. Later, squires are eventually taken on field exercises. On their own time, squires are expected to learn the Code, verbatim. In addition, squires are expected to learn the shield prayer. This prayer was specially composed for the Knights by an ancient Vhalurian bard named Flavius Aureus, and is the only fragment left of his otherwise extensive work. It emphasizes the importance of the shield to the Vhalurian Knights and goes as follows:

Fair Elysia and Gods that watch us from above,
Deliver me from fear of holding forth this shield,
Not for my personal well-being and benefit,
But for my brethren that fight beside me today.
The only way I’ll ever let this shield fall down
Will be to meet you, Gods that watch us from above.

The shield prayer is the most commonly spoken prayer among the Vhalurian Knights. During their initiation, squires are expected to recite the Code without error. They are then knighted and given a shield. This shield, they raise to the heavens, and speak the shield prayer. Once a squire becomes a knight and receives his shield, he takes his place of honour among his brothers in the Vhalurian Knights, the flower of this great kingdom’s military power.