The Five Knights

"Defending those who cannot defend themselves. Showing compassion for all creatures of the world. Standing by your beliefs, even in the face of certain death. Striving to reach whatever goal you have, regardless of obstacle. Loving and trusting yourself, despite whatever flaws you may hold. These are the principles of the Five Knights, who all where stalwart in one but flawed in the others. Even those who write the rules do not always follow them."

"Tales of the Five Knights", Chapter 1.

Summary

The Five Knights are not confined to a single myth, but are instead characters that have grown beyond their intial creation myth. They appear in a number Titenfiscan of stories as both protagonists or supporting characters, on their own or as a collective group. Moral tales will often involve one knight trying to live up to the principles of another one of the Knights, often with amusing consequences. Collecting all these stories along with regional variations would be impossible and thus the only story to be featured here will be the most common version of the creation of the Knigts by the Mother of the Sea.

And so it was, that during the age of molding many creatures since confined to the annals of history roamed the world, posing a great danger for those who wanted to farm the land. Despite their best efforts, the walls and weapons they brought to bear against these beasts did not hold them at bay for long and so they finally turned to the godess for help. Distraught that her creations suffered so in their attempts to improve their lives, she decided to create warriors that would do good in her name.
First among equals, the Knight of the Sea was brought to life out of the ocean itself, clad in armour blue like the still ocean and a trident from the crest of a furious wave.
Next, she shaped the clay and rock of the world itself into her second guardian, the Knight of the Earth. Upon them she bestowed armour as green as the spring leaves and a bow from the strongest branches and sturdies vines in the land, with arrows as deadly and fast as the bite of a snake.
The Knight of the Sky came into being with armour as white as the highest of clouds and granted a halberd made from the sharpest of the piercing wind from the mountaintops.
Turning beyond the sky itself, the mother spun the Knight of the Stars out of the darkness beyond the sky in which the stars reside, giving them an armour as dark as the void itself and a morningstar with sharp tips made from it's namesake.
Finally the godess looked around, seeking something to mold into her final warrior. After a long wander, she came across a great forest. Suddenly, the sky thundered and a bolt of lightning struck a tree. Soon the forest was ablaze and the godess smiled, for she had found what she was looking for.
Her final knight wore armour as red as the furious flame and for his weapon she infused the ash of fallen trees with the fury of lightning and a rod of wood to channel it, creating the first gun and naming her last creation the Knight of Force.
She gathered them all together in her palace under the sea, endowing them with the principles they needed to complete their mission before sending them out in the world to protect her creations. What they where up to in the world is a story for another time, I'm afraid.

Historical Basis

The characters of the knights in these stories have no historical counterparts and are in fact not modeled on the feudal society of neighboring Cimyra, but instead connected to an older system dating to the time when Humans and Squidspawn shared the continent. In these times, the Squidspawn would maintain a small number of trained and armoured warriors in units known as Värn. Most stories are most likely based on local legends about these Värn and distinguished warriors in them who were eventually retold to fit the Knight mold as to make them more timeless.
The most glaring oddity is the inclusion of a firearm as a weapon given to one of the knight, making the knight of earth seemingly ineffective in comparison. This version of the story is likely something that has come to Titenfisca via the dye road, as Squidspawn merchants returning from abroad would likely have encountered gunpowder and firearms and subsequently introduced them into the myth even before actual firearms arrived in Titenfisca.

In Art

The most iconic symbol of the five Knights are the five arrows, which are often carved onto weapons, armour or integrated into architectural designs as symbols of protection.