The Etrian Knights

Description
The Knights are the king’s royal guard. They are picked from a young age through a variety of tests to attend the Academy. They are then trained in academics, the arts, and combat to be the pinnacle of honor and duty. Junior Knights fulfill various mundane tasks such as castle security but more senior knights conduct individual missions for the Crown. However, their primary function is as the king’s royal guard. They protect the king and the royal family and are his most trusted agents. They therefore have a high degree of authority. The Lord of the Lantern is the commander of the Knights and sits on the Royal Council of Lords. The symbol of the Etrian Knights is a sword and wreath. The sword represents strength and honor while the wreath is from the leaves of the lantern plant and represents loyalty. The lantern plant is rare and indigenous to the southeast region of Etria. The plant has a distinctive leave pattern and the flower bulb resemble a lantern. The plant has an unusual property. If a branch is broken from the central stalk, it will continue to flower for one full season after it has been torn off. This aspect of the plant has caused it to be the symbol of loyalty and fealty: To be loyal even after death. Each Knight is given a runeblade, so called because of the mystic runes inscribed on the blade. The sword is made from eatheryl and has a dark blue Etrian sapphire inlaid in the butt of the handle. The sword is bound to the Knight during a knighting ceremony. The runeblade is presented to the Knight and the ritual is presided over by the Lord of the Lantern and the the First Council. During this ceremony the Knight receives a brand of an interwoven circle, meant to depict the lantern plant wreath, on his chest over his heart.

Knights are also given an enchanted ring that resembles the interwoven leaves of the lantern plant. The Knights’ history has as much myth as fact. Legend has it that the Knights were started a thousand years ago by a foreigner from across the Great Sea even farther east than Shamir. In gratitude for some act of kindness from the king of that time this foreigner agreed to teach some of the mysterious ways of the eastern kingdoms to the king’s guard and thus was born the Etrian Knights. Currently, the Knights are led by Talyn Anarion, the Lord of the Lantern.

"Loyalty above all else, save honor." That is the code of the Etrian Knights; to be loyal to the king and the Crown above all other things but to always be honorable in thought and deed. It is a pledge meant to remind themselves that that the Knights serve the ideals of the Crown as much as the man that wears it.

Appearance
The knights typically wear a midnight blue tabard over fine black leather and chain armor. The tabard bears the sword and wreath emblem on the chest making them easily recognizable even at a distance when in uniform.