Boreal Chevaliers

"I Watched her walk elegantly yet in a way that exerted her dominance over all the others in the room. She walked up to me, removed her helmet and gave me a smile."
"Good evening Max. I suppose you sure are tired after that long journey?"
"That i am Vic. That i am. I heard that you recently became the Lady Commander of the Chevaliers?"
"That i did. And i could probably eviscerate you right now on this very exact spot with the powers i have"
"Then Prove it. Prove to me that you have indeed become the Lady commander"
She then gave me a smile and showed me the badge on her shoulder. At that moment, i knew that i had to respect her. She truly has been a prodigical warrior ever since we first met."
Maximillian Christiansen, talking about Victoria Elnara Astridsson on her ascension to the position of Lady commander of the Chevaliers

Knight of the North by Yong hwan Shin

The Boreal Chevaliers is one of the most decorated and strongest legions of The Sanguine Imperiums armed forces, both in number and in the quality of their soldiers. They number approximately a hundred thousand full fledged knights and over a million other regular infantrymen who act as auxiliary forces for the knights. Being renowned for their ferocity in fighting as heavily armored hard hitting cavalry, the Chevaliers have turned the tide of many a battle and are hailed as heroes in the Imperium. Armed with destructive magically enchanted weapons and armor and riding on flesh eating warhorses which are just as armored as them, they can easily stand up to hundreds of regular infantrymen before being overwhelmed. Since their founding, become sort of legendary heroes, who ride out of the dark boreal lands of Inaria as a shining beacon of light whenever darkness enroaches on the Imperium.
As of recent however, things have been changing right in their home ground. Some senior leaders of the group have been brutally murdered and they keep facing more and more agressive attacks from the Order of Sepulchre , a group of isolated monks living high in the Dawnshadow mountains, a gigantic mountain range towards the northwest of their headquarters. The monks have always been an isolated bunch but never have they been so aggressive as to deliberately attack the knights and human settlements on such a scale. They have to be ready, for when the dark storm descends upon Elladia, their mettle will be tested with fire and they will have to fight back, lest all of Elladia fall prey to Arkanos

Structure

The organization is run by a council of Supreme Knight commanders, numbering around 15 and answering to the Lord Commander, who leads the council and is also a member of the council himself. They serve for a period of 5 years after being elected and take most of the important decisions regarding the running of the regiment. To become a lord commander, one must first however be a supreme knight commander before they are eligible to run for a post.
When it comes to making decisions, the lord commander needs at least 10 votes on his side for the decision to be taken, which is also true of others raising up petitions and such. There is a provision however that lesser ranking knights can call referendums if they think that corruption is prevailing in the higher circles.
Besides that, the Chevaliers can be roughly divided into three main parts.

Infantrymen

"We often give credit to the knight brothers and yet, we often understate the achievements and contributions our regular infantrymen have made. It sure is time to change that.'
Lady Commander Victoria Elnara Astridsson, talking about the contribution of the regular infantrymen

Boreal Infantry Captain by Gi taek Seo

The Infantrymen make up the bulk of the Chevaliers auxiliary forces, assisting the knights in their missions and acting as their guards as well as rank and file soldiers. They often follow headlong into battle just like their knight brothers and are ready to lay down their lives for the Imperium. Though not as well equipped as a full fledged knight, an infantryman is still a deadly warrior and should not be underestimated, whilst infantry captains and higher ranking soldiers are just as powerful and dangerous as regular knights.

Knights of the Brotherhood

“Earning the badge was no joke. I have literally seen some poor sods nearly die during the training”
“Well now that you’ve earnt it, take us out for a drink will ya?”
Ahh Velras, a parasitic friend as always, but a friend nonetheless. I’ll go out with you for a drink but you’ll have to repay me with one later. Okay?
Agreed! Now let’s go get drunker than an elephant rampaging ablut!
“Newly commissioned Knight Reklon Garvinal talking to his friend Janlar Velras about giving him a drink after hearing about his commissioning into the ranks of the Knights

Cavaliers of the North by artnothearts

The knights makeup the main arm of the organisation, being its namesake as well as its main warriors. To earn the knighthood is a mighty prestigious achievement indeed, as many who embark to earn it fail on the road to getting their coveted badge. To become a knight, one can directly apply for their knight training programs or one can at first join the infantry corps before working their way upwards to the order of the knights.
Armed with magically enchanted weapons and armor forged out of the highest quality materials, the knights ride to war on armored flesh eating warhorses who fight just as violently as their masters. To the ordinary people of the Imperium, they are nothing less than the Angels of the Gods themselves but there also lies a group of knights beyond them too.

The Bloodborne

”The Commonfolk might think of us as heroes and angels. I wonder what they’d think of the Bloodborne though, because even we accept them as something greater than just some mere angel and such”
Lady Commander Victoria Elnara Astridsson , talking about the Bloodborne knights

The Bloodborne by RedneckSamurai1

The Bloodborne are the highest ranking and most powerful warriors in the three tiered Hierarchy of the Chevaliers. They are either children of knights themselves or groomed and trained to be knights from childhood. Trained to the point of shattering their limits, the Bloodborne are equipped with the deadliest of weapons and the most durable of armies and have the magical potential to rival several high ranking mages. Whenever a Bloodborne walks into a public space, everyone stands and salutes them, for they know that the warrior they have just beheld is no ordinary one.

Assets

Equipment

The equipment used by the members of the Chevaliers are always forged out of the best quality material, though they also differ in quality depending on branch, class and rank.

Infantry Equipment

Boreal Infantry Captain by Gi taek Seo

Infantrymen usually can have two weapons at a time. One is their general use weapon such as a broadsword, waraxe, morningstar , Mace or some other weapon and another weapon which is suited for their class. Assault infantry are equipped with Two handed weapons such as Warhammers and Greatswords whilst defenders often have a great shield and pike. For armor, the infantrymen often wear a mix of chainmail and scaleplate armor, which offers cheap but reliable protection for them.
The level of enchantment and the amount of enchantments that they have are also limited. Usually they have a low level elemental enchantment on their weapons and armour such as lighting their weapon on fire and making their armor fire resistant. When they achieve higher ranks however, they receive better weapons and enchantments

Chevalier Equipment

Cavaliers of the North by artnothearts

The Chevaliers or Knights as they are more commonly known have some of the best equipment in the entire Imperial armed forces. They can carry two general weapons at one time and have another weapon which is assigned to their class. Shock units are armed with gigantic two handed greatswords, great axes and warhammers and defenders are armed with gigantic shields and one handed versions of the weapons used by their shock unit counterparts. Berserkers use twin greataxes to wreck havoc in the enemy lines whilst pikemen form unbreakable defensive formations to stop the enemy advance. All Knights are armored in full plate armor with a layer of scalemail below it and have a personal shieldblade ( a shield which has its edges sharpened so as to act as both a shield and a blade) attached to one of their arms.
For enchantments, the knights have access to advanced versions of Elemental enchantments such as throwing bursts of flame from their weapons and manipulating the elements instead of just applying it to their weapons and armor. They also gain access to advanced enchantments which include Blood magic, chronomancy, Corrosive magic, Necromancy, Lifestealing and many more other schools of magic.

Arms and Armor of the BloodBorne

The Bloodborne by RedneckSamurai1

No one in the entire legion gets as quality equipment as the Bloodborne. Their weapons can easily cut throw even Dragon hide like butter and their armor have withstood blows from the dreaded Boreal Jotuns, who have enough strength to demolish a castle. Their magical skills rival that of high level mages , which makes them a nightmarish combination of both physical and magical fury.
They also have access to the best of enchantments and they gain access to the final level of elemental magic, which is replaced by arcane energy. Arcane flames, arcane ice and arcane lightning are the elements they can manipulate and their enchantments are provided for by the greatest of magical blacksmiths and enchanters. Riding to war on the best bred steeds who are equally as dangerous as their riders, the Bloodborne are a force to be reckoned with by any on Elladia.

Fortresses and Castles

“Oh they want to break our fortresses? Let them try. I bet on my lower hair that they won’t even get a close look at it without losing their life.” Attributed to a bunch of random Knights boasting about the strength of their fortresses

The Chevaliers have many castles dotted around Tenebria , with the largest and most strongly fortified one being Castle Tarvalas near the Temebrjan capital of Karelia . Each of these fortresses are housed by upto a hundred thousands warriors ( both knights and infantry) and often include many more non combatant personnel who are trained in the art of warfare in case they need to take up arms during invasions. These fortresses and castles are gigantic hunks of basalt rock and fortifications, and not a single one has fallen to any enemy force to this day.

History

Beginnings of a Legion

“Our ancestors fought just like us but with far poorer equipment and numbers and didn’t even train much. And yet they were the most feared tribes out of them all in the Northlands. I’m truly happy to be a daughter of the Northlands, descended from the first men who lead mankind to their first victories”
Attributed to Victoria Elnara Astridsson

Northmen Cavalry by Noah Williams

The Chevaliers have their origin in one of the tribes that used to roam the vast stretches of Northern Inaria . These horsemen were ferocious fighters, riding the same carnivorous horses that their descendants would go on to ride but wore equipment that was of far poorer quality than the ones worn by the modern day Chevaliers. When Mathias Christiansen embarked on the great unification war, these tribes alongside the other northern tribes were the first ones to swear loyalty to him and proved to be a decisive factor in several battles throughout the war. After the war ended, the tribesmen who had survived were officially inducted into a new legion known as the Boreal Chevaliers and to this day, these northern warriors have kept up their honour and glory and protected the Imperium and mankind from all threats.

Battle of the Sanguine Valley

“Sanguine Valley is what earnt the Chevaliers their moniker of the “Horsmen of Death” and even today, they have lived upto that moniker. I suppose your skills will result in them earning an even more glorious moniker” Maximillian Christiansen , talking to Victoria Elnara Astridsson

Warriors by dcwj

The battle of the Sanguine Valley was an engagement between the Chevaliers and elements of some other legions and a gigantic Argonite force amounting to half a million soldiers. The Chevaliers were hopelessly outnumbered with barely twenty thousand knights and around thirty thousand infantrymen but they still managed to annihilate the Argonites using a complex web of deception, attrition warfare and double envelopement tactics. The destruction of such a large Argonite army had catapulted them into the halls of legends and they became heroes overnight. To this day, Sanguine Valley has served as a grim reminder to the Argonites about the bitter fruit of overconfidence and underestimating your adversary.

A storm approaches

“God. I didn’t think I’d ever see such a sight in my life. A dead Bloodborne and that too in full battle gear. If the reports of the Sephuclurites being involved in the recent string of assassinations hold true, then I am afraid. Only the divines know what sort of twisted power those damned recluses have gained so suddenly.”
Lady Commander Victoria, after witnessing an assassination of a high ranking Chevalier

Full Moon by Ruksutakarn studio

The last few years have been grim for the Chevaliers, just like it has been for the rest of Elladia. Not only have a number of their commanders been mysteriously assassinated, there have been attacks on villages and even some smaller Chevalier outposts have been attacked and all of these can be blamed on one group. They are none other than the Order of Sepulchre, a mysterious group of reclusive monks who are fiercely isolationist and refuse any contact with the outside world. Reports have been surfacing that these monks have started corrupting the Jotuns roaming the area and are readying for their “prophecy of Ragnarok”. All of this has been taking its toll on the knights, and they are in a rather gloomy mood.
Commander Victoria and her subordinates must be ready to fight for the very future of Elladia, as the dark storm of Arkanos”s return looms on Elladia. Mountains will crack and the sky will turn black as nightmarish creatures from a realm beyond their understanding will ravage them mercilessly. They have to hold onto their bravery and pray to the gods that they don’t fall in battle and can keep their wits about them.
For they are about to face and witness true horror and evil for the first time in their lives. And it will be merciless

Consurgam Ex Tenebris

Life for a Common Infantryman in the legion

Life for a common infantryman in the legion is often not as bad as is often reported on media. They receive salaries on time and usually are not discriminated against by the knights. A usual day starts with them waking up, taking a shower , having breakfast and then going into the work for the day. They usually have a few breaks here and there before the day ends and they hangout with their friends or enjoy some solitude before resting for the night. This routine is common amongst both infantrymen and Knights as well as the Bloodborne.

Life for a Knight

The life of a knight is often tiring because their daily routine contains a lot of excercise. Many knights have complained about the monotony in their daily routines and as a result, their free time has been increased slightly. Whenever they go outside into a public space, Commonfolk make way for them and sometimes salute them after seeing the Knighthood badge on their shoulders.

Life for a Bloodborne Knight

For a Bloodborne knight, life is also tiring as they constantly have to keep up with the standards and expectations of the Commonfolk and the lower ranking knights. They are however, the most respected of the lot and people often bow down in the presence of one ( this heavily irritates most of them as they are taught the value of humility and often take that as a gesture only to be shown to the divines). They spend most of their time training themselves or others and issuing orders and writing letters but also take part in the fun and games of the lower ranking classes too if they have the time to spare

Founding Date

Around 10000 AI

Type

Military, Army Regiment

Training Level

Elite

Veterancy Level

Decorated/Honored

Demonym

Chevaliers

Parent Organization

The Sanguine Imperium

Location

Karelia

Notable Members

• Victoria Elnara Astridsson