The Order of the Broken Key

History

Origin

While many of its fellow Rothevalian Knightly Orders bear creatures from the country's myths as their sigils, the Order of the Broken Key is somewhat unique in that its sigil comes not from a creature from myth but from a historical event.

During The Reformation of Rotheval, many bloody battles were fought. No record remains of what name The Lock carried before or who lived there, so thoroughly were they destroyed. Only one story of their defeat remains. When the forces of House Cimber stormed the castle in force, they found the doors to the lady of the castle's chambers defended by one last soldier, caught in the process of locking the doors with a large bronze key. Though the attackers pierced the soldier with arrows and rushed in to strike them down with their swords, the brave soldier used their last breath to smite the key with a hammer, sundering it, rendering the lock inoperable, before falling to their knees, dead. As the story is told, this bought the lady of the castle time to escape through some hidden passage in the walls of the castle. As for the soldiers of House Cimber, they honoured the fallen soldier's sacrifice by leaving the door standing.

When the Rothevalian Knightly Orders were established following the Reformation, the ORder of the Broken Key was established in the memory of that sacrifice. Until the destruction of The Lock during the erruption of The Boxsart Hills in 447KS, it was traditional for the Lord Commander of the Order's official chambers to be behind the door, which remained locked, and for them to occupy common quarters with the other knights instead.

The Lock

The Lock served as the headquarters of the order from its inception until 447KS when the erruption of The Boxsart Hills destroyed it along with many settlements on the Western coast of The Kingdom of Rotheval.

The Escutcheon

Following the destruction of The Lock, the surviving members of the Order, including Lord Commander ser Egbert Lovell, moved to The Escutcheon.

Leader

ser Egbert Lovell

Leader Title

Lord Commander

Parent Organization

Rothevalian Knightly Orders

Subsidiary Organizations

• The Haycastle Chapter of the Order of the Broken Key

Location

The Escutcheon

Controlled Territories

• The Bit

Notable Members

• ser Annarel Redman

Knights

• ser Egbert Lovell, Lord Commander of The Order of the Broken Key and Chapter Master of The Escutcheon in Serbella in The Kingdom of Rotheval.
  • ser Annarel Redman, Chapter Master of The Haycastle Chapter of the Order of the Broken Key, operating out of The Bit in Haycastle in The Kingdom of Somercrag.