The Oberan Travelling Knights

The Oberan Travelling Knights are one of the three Knightly Orders maintained by the Duchy of Ober's central government (as opposed to about five smaller local orders of about 20 members each across the Duchy). Made up of Knight-Errants, it is responsible for messenger duties, law enforcement, and military operations, and it's members are some of the most elite soldiers in the country, hand-selected by its ruler, Duke Lucien Ober. Notable members include Tristan Copernicus Aequimanus a personal favourite of the Duke and Champion of the Order, and Auguste Julius Clemens, Grandmaster of the Order.

Purpose

The Oberan Travelling Knights were formed for three main reasons

• To provide a quick messenger service to deliver non-urgent information around the Duchy (more urgent information is typically delivered by privately employed individuals, although the Travelling Knights are still occasionally used)
• To carry out law enforcement and other tasks
• To provide a fast-moving, powerful military force.

Structure

The central component of the Oberan Travelling Knight's command structure is through mission boards. Major settlements will usually have a mission board which can only be added to by someone with a specific license (usually a governmental official or military officer, but also often guild grandmasters and heads of certain services. Most settlements equipped with a board will also have a working horse relay point to allow Knights on messenger duty to travel more quickly, as they do not need to factor in horse fatigue.
A board is usually moderated and guarded by at least one member of that town's local militia. If a settlement has greater than 10 active missions on the board at a time, a Travelling Knight who sees it is expected to notify nearby towns they visit. This provides a system to encourage mobility among Travelling Knights either by pointing them to nearby missions or pointing them to areas where they can find them.
Most licenses only permit a certain number of missions to be posted to the board per year (often two or three), and prohibit posting missions on behalf of an accomplice. However, some licenses provide explicit permission to post missions on behalf of a paying customer, allowing a courier service to be set up able to be used by anyone with money.
Licenses are also usually linked to a specific settlement or number of settlements, restricting the boards they can post on. The royal family and major officials reserve the right to terminate any license, and can do so without warning or reason given. They also reserve the right to grant licenses of almost any level of permissions to whomever they choose.

The Order has no consistent subdivisions, but Knights can and often do band together to complete individual missions. It is not unheard of for knights who know each other well (e.g. close friends or siblings) to move and complete missions together on a permanent basis, but these groups have no formal recognition.

Assets

There are a little over 120 Travelling Knights, each with equipment, and a large number of horses shared between them. There are just under 250 Board Licenses granted across the Duchy, and about 75 boards, almost all of which are in the confines of Ober itself, with the notable exception of two within the borders of the Kingdom of Erdantia, something permitted in a diplomatic document signed and passed in 1532.

Member equipment

The weapons and armour used by Travelling Knights are an icon of Oberan strength across the country. Equipped with steel plate armour under a navy blue surcoat, complete with a sallet helmet and often decorated with ornate silver ornaments, their armour is well known both within and outside of Ober, imitated by such groups as the Drago Royal Guard, more commonly known as the New Guard. Their weaponry is no less impressive, often equipped with longswords or a combination of the arming sword and the parrying dagger, as well as often being seen with lances and glaives.

History

The Oberan Travelling Knights date back to the late 1200s, and seem to take inspiration from the elite messengers employed by the Kingdom of Elir (from which the Duchy of Ober was formed), who were well-trained and would often engage in combat when necessary.

Training Level

Professional

Veterancy Level

Experienced

Parent Organization

The Duchy of Ober

Related Ethnicities

• Cordaintines