Knights of Andrath
"Blessed Andrath, give me what you have left;
Give me what no one ever requests.
I am not asking for rest,
Nor tranquility;
Neither that of the soul or of the body.
I am not asking for wealth
Nor Success, or even health.
You are asked for all of these so often
That you must have none left.
Give me, Holy Andrath, what you do have left.
Give me what no one wants.
I seek insecurity and disquiet.
I seek torment and combat.
And, Divine Andrath, give them to me indefinitely;
That I am sure to have them always
Because I won't always have the courage to ask You.
Give me, O Light in the Darkness, what you have left.
Give me what others don't want;
BUT, also give me courage, strength and faith."
~Prayer of Initiation for the Knights of Andrath
Structure
The Knights of Andrath is a militant monastic organization with a very concrete hierarchical structure. At the top, appointed for life by the Council of the Chosen who constitute the leadership of the Church of the Holy Light, is the Grand Master of the Order. The Grand Master has unfettered authority to appoint, remove, punish, or otherwise deal with any member of the Knights.
Below him are his specially appointed representatives known as "Visitors-General" they function as the personal representatives of the Grand Master and are dispatched to the varying areas in which the Knights operate to root out perceived trouble or corruption, issue his orders, and in certain cases take command. The visitors-general were empowered to remove any knight from the order and generally function as if they were the Grand Master themselves. Their use has varied from Grand Master to Grand Master and it is not always a guarantee that this position exists.
Each area in which the Knights of Andrath is operating is headed by a Master of the Order who controls all aspects of the Order's operations in the designated geographic area. On occasion, a Master of the Order may be appointed to accomplish a specific task rather than be assigned to a specific geographic area.
Underneath the Masters there were generally three large "types" of members. The first, and smallest group, were the actual Knights. While they tended to be the most visible members of the order as they served, primarily, as the leadership and spokespeople they were, in fact, the smallest group. The Knights of Andrath do not knight their membership so anyone at this rank was otherwise made a knight or member of the nobility. In rare circumstances, the Church of the Holy Light would perform knighting ceremonies to bolster the ranks of the Knights. The Knights follow a simple hierarchical structure with the senior most members being Knight-Commanders in charge of particular settlements or large groups of Knights, under them were Knight-Captains, followed by the general population of Knights themselves.
Since many people involved with the Knights were not themselves knighted they belong to a separate group within the order known collectively as Sergeants. They are by far the largest body of membership within the Knights. They serve as tradesmen, infantry, support personnel, and other odd jobs that the actual Knights are incapable or unwilling to do themselves. Despite the relatively ordinary roles, they are well-respected within the order and to the average person would not appear substantially different from the Knights themselves.
The final group are the chaplains. They are the ordained clergy that work within the Knights themselves. They are highly respected and serve as healers, preachers, and educators within the order. The also will occasionally perform administrative work but will typically head the churches and chapels set up by the order and ensure compliance with religious doctrine both within the order and within the territory that the Order controls.
Public Agenda
The main focus of the Knights is to defend the Church of the Holy Light and spread the word of Andrath. They attempt to do this through what they view as good works. This generally comes in the form of providing security to a troubled area, protecting pilgrims, proselytizing, and providing supplies to troubled people and areas. They also make the hunting down of magic users a top priority when they think there are any in the area.
Assets
Their wealth far outsizes the size of their organization. The Knights coffers have swelled throughout the years due to war spoils and business ventures that they engage in to support their military work and other outreach.
History
The Knights were founded, ostensibly, by one of the original "Chosen" in Luminist theology known as St. Theobald. Whether this is accurate or not is a matter of historical debate, but what is known officially is that the Knights organization is referenced in the oldest surviving documents which relate to the founding of the Church of the Holy Light. The Knights have been involved, for good or ill, in most of the major conflicts to span their nearly 3,000 year history. In fact, many historians credit the Knight's military involvement as one of the primary reasons that the Church of the Holy Light continues to exist due to the generally positive opinion the average person tends to have of the Knights themselves.
Most recently, the Knights deployed during the Great Northern War and were seen by many, but especially Northern Faladrions, as saviors who helped to stall the advance of the Freelander invasion long enough that many people were able to flee further south and the armies of Faladrion and Hithlinde were allowed more time to organize and respond. This good reputation has continued despite their zealous enforcement of Luminist doctrine and while they are currently at a low membership count due to the significant number of deaths during the Great Northern War the continue to remain active in many areas of Aelliver.
Tenets of Faith
The Knights of Andrath follow and are governed by their own specific code of conduct called the Rule of the Light.
Suffer not the heretic
Founding Date
Circa S.A. 2000
Type
Religious, Monastic Order
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Experienced
Leader
Parent Organization
Deities
Location
Controlled Territories
