From Carl Cardossi all the way to Lethina Weltmar, the linage of Knight Commander is as impressive as that of the organization itself. Rarely has a title been hold by so many extraordinary people, a testament to how the Royal Knights of Weltmar was a cut above the rest. Its with great sorrow we reflect upon this legacy, knowing nobody can hold the title ever again.— Queen Magdalena of Melfic upon learning the news that her sister kingdom and its protectors had fallen.
A knight commander must be of noble blood, albeit not royal one. They need to have served as a Royal Knight for atleast 5 years and seen as many battles. Furthermore, they need to the approval of their peers.
The King will appoint the new Knight Commander when the old one dies or retires. In the case of retirement, they confer with former Commander over a few days in what be very heated discussions.
The Knight Commander leads the Royal Knights in the absence of the king. They are also overseeing the training of the knights and the day-to-day administrative duties.
Being Knight Commander means you are one of the most powerful military figures in the Kingdom, and your influence upon all matter military is second only to the king.
The Knight Commander wield the Sword of Weltmar, the very first sword that was made for the order. Its highly symbolic, but also of exellent make. A masterwork sword that seems to never dull.
A knight commander can be stripped of his title by the crown, otherwise they remain until death or retirement.
Carl Cardossi: The First.
The first Knight Commander was Carl Cardossi, a Melfician noble who uprooted his entire household, took what he could and sold the rest in order to help the Weltmarian people in their struggles to settle the wildplains. He became a close confidant to the Queen and helped train those willing into fine warriors and knights. During this time, Weltmar was embroiled with wars on multiple fronts as Grey Elves in the area opposed the human settlement by equipping and supporting varius tribes. Chief among these were the Centaurs, who had been a thorn in the human populace side even before arriving.
The brazen and quick raiders had long made a sport of riding down caravans that passed into the wild plains, and even attacked Melfician settlement on the border. That the would have a problem with humans building a settlement in the middle of their heartlands was not unexpected. But when the nobles that sworn themselves to the Queen failed to produce results, is what Carl Cardossi who took the reigns. On risk of alienating the powerful nobles who had failed before him, he allowed commoners to join the cavalry, and of those that made his ranks, he made knights. Carl Cardossi had an ideal that would shape the Order of Weltmars Royal Knights until its end.
Riches did not matter, result and character did. Carl managed to forge an elite unit of cavaliers and knights, who ferouciusly met the Centaur in battle after battle. Upon finally vanquishing the centaurs at the battle Weltmar Crossing, where Carl managed to not flank the mobile Centaur and ride them down almost to the man, he was given the Title of Knight Commander. He would serve as Knight Commander for 21 more years before dying in Blood Lounge.
A time of heroes
After that, The title past between various confidants and established commanders as the City of Weltmar crew to a full on kingdom, encompassing most of the wild Plains. It was here the trouble with the Grey Elves escalated in earnest. The grey elves enclave of Aith Hanir saw the humans as aggressors for how quickly they spread across the plains. Especially since the Weltmar Army was so agressively persuing the beast folk tribes in the area. Tribes they had originally set upon the humans in hope to dissuade their settlements. 105 BY, a regiment of Weltmar foot men found themselves guarding one of the biggest river crossings of the Welt River, due to reports of beastmen coming their way. What attacked them was instead a small army of Grey Elves.
They were slaughtered to the man but a single Survivor, who was sent back with a message. His name was Alnan Crosswind, and his name would become legendary. Alnan was not a simple soldier. He had been there as part of his training. He was a squire of the Weltmarian Royal Knights. And he now had a single purpose in life. To push these elves out of his country and to make sure they never tried anything like it again.
He achieved his goal at the battle of Aith Geni, when he led a cadre of knights into the highly trained and deadly Silver Shields, the Grey Elves most priced troops. Having caught them by suprise, they engaged in a heated and deadly battle that left Alnan severely wounded but alive. More importantly, the attack had managed to shatter the Grey Elves offensive as they managed to capture the leader of the Entire elven enclave. For his bravery, Alnan would go on to become the next Knight Commander when his predecessor retired.
The Last of the Knight Commanders.
The title passed hands twice after that before it fell upon the head of one young, driven princess. And the first royal member to hold the title in over two hundred years. And the first ever woman to hold the rank of Knight Commander. Lethina Weltmar. A brilliant soul, who fought into the very last to try and save her beloved city from the undead hordes.
The rank of Knight Commander was held in highest regard, and was often seen as the golden standard for knights.
- Carl Cardoss: The First Knight Commander.
- Alnan Crosswind: Hero at the battle of Aith Geni and only nonhuman to hold the title.
- Lethina Weltmar: Last person to ever hold the title of Knight Commander.
A great article! I just wish that some of the earlier sections had a little more information, the short snippets give the information, but because of the repeating sentence length, it can be a little dry. There's lots of information here that makes me want to know more, like what the Blood Lounge is! It sounds mysterious... Maybe some tooltips or placeholder articles could work to fill in some gaps?