The Wyvern Knights

Upon wings of death shall our enemies be defeated

The wind gently blowed through the village, as normal people led their normal lives, going to work, speaking to their friends, and other such things. The day was cloudy, with sunlight unable to pierce through the gray clouds of the sky, putting the entire village into a shade. The village elder walks amongst the houses and buildings of his village, speaking with his friends and his family, from his children down to his grand children.
Yet, someone spoke up and pointed to the sky, saying some strange silhouettes was directly above the village. As the elder looked up, all he could see was perhaps some birds traveling far up in air. He turned to the man, and spoke gentle words to reassure it was a simple bird, easing the tension in the air. Little did he know of his mistake, until it was far too late.
For one could hear a gentle nearly whistle passing through the air from above, but before one could look to see-

With a loud thunk, the elder slipped down onto the ground, his eyes frozen. Then another thunk, then another, then another, as people began to crash onto the ground suddenly. Blood began spilling onto the ground, making the soil a dark crimson Terror ran quickly through the village, as it began to rain. But it did not rain water onto the ground, it was something shiny, something sharp, something hard.

It rained knives. The Wyvern Knights had arrived.

Perhaps the most feared military unit to have ever existed, the Wyvern Knights were a infamous unit used by the Boven Empire in the latter parts of the War of the Wyverns, and were used to devastating effect as they tore through villages and armies alike. Their speed, raw power, and tactics made them a terrifying force to face against. They are literally the only airborne military unit in the entire continent, so their unique abilities make them important assets to have. Currently, only the Boven Warstate have any units, but there are rumors of the Drubian Empire attempting to tame them as well, along with Truvia.
They are most commonly used as raid units, quickly striking at key enemy locations, and then escaping before the enemy can mobilize, and while when they were in organized battle, they were used as flanking units that targeted the backs of enemy units while avoiding ranged units. Due to their power, they were very good shock troops and quickly able to demoralize enemy units and even armies. Male wyvern's are the only one's used in military combat due to their size, but that means that once a Knight lands, it must then get away from the battle so it can get to a high place and fly once more. As such, it is most vulnerable when surrounded on the ground.

Composition

Manpower

Due to difficulty of raising a tamed wyvern, there are very few Wyvern Knights overall, and those that are there were put into units of five called "Death Wings". Currently, there are four death wings in total, meaning there are about 20 wyvern knights in total

Equipment

The majority of the equipment used by Knights are on the riders, who wear light armor (as the heavy armor wouldn't allow the Wyvern to properly fly), and wield pike length thick spears that were used to kill opponents through use of momentum and wielded small knife like weapons that were weighted at the blade, as such that it would be dropped from high altitudes above the enemy and then land at such a high momentum that it could instantly kill soldiers.
The wyvern itself would wear relatively simple and light armor that would primarily be on its underside to protect it from projectiles such as that of arrows or javelins, along with wearing a saddle that a rider would be able to attach themselves to as to not fall off during flight or any other such movement. On top of this, when chosen to be in battle, they could also be equipped with spiked balls on the end of chains that would be attached to the feet of the wyvern.

Structure

A death wing would have one chosen veteran who would be the one to command the others and carry out the orders needed to be completed. The veteran would usually either be the most experienced knight or the one who's shown to be the most competent.

Tactics

There are two types of formations that the Wyvern Knights during battle, and it would depend on their orders. When tasked with dropping projectiles, the deathwing would form together into a shape to maximize their attack. Four of the riders would form a square that was close but not close enough for the wyvern's wing's to hit onto each other, with the fifth rider in the center of these. Then, they would retrieve a big bag of the previously mentioned knives, and simply begin dropping said knives down onto the enemy.
When commanded to act as shock troops, they would form into a arrow formation much like cavalry, then fly past the main battle field, swing around, then dive down and then use their equipped weapons to smash into the enemy, using the momentum to smash into enemy troops, pulverizing their bodies.

No sir, you don't understand, you did not have to face those beasts. We were ambushed, I barely escaped with my life to even tell you! We were marching down the lonely road when we were attacked, the enemy had dug themselves underground and wait for us the whole time! I thank the great dragons for my reflexes just in time managing to block an arrow aiming straight for my neck! I quickly turned to my comrades, shouting to stick together.
Thats when I saw it. I was looking to one of my brothers in my unit, his name was Welkar, and then, before I was able to shout to him to join up, he was gone. By the dragons, his head exploded! One second he was there, I could see his eyes and then the next second was just a blood splatter as his corpse flopped violently onto the ground! I could see the blood spurt out of his still corpse on the ground! It was one of them Wyvern Knights from the rumors! I saw it! I saw some Draken riding a Wyvern! People were dying left and right!
Everything else is so muddled, all else I remember is retreating and escaping into the forest. I never ever want to face those things as long as I live! You can't make me!
-Clansmen Rodgar, member of the Drubian second warband, fourth march, tenth clan of the sevemth gathering, speaking about his experience in the ambush at the lonely road. He would end up attempting to desert the warband after the account, and was thus tried and executed.

Training

It takes a very long time to train a Wyvern Knight, and it comes in three stages. First one must steal a wyvern egg, and raise it to adulthood, which has many risks and is very time consuming. Then one must train a soldier to a high degree so he is mentally and physically able to take on the task. Finally, the two parties must join together and train for a period of time so that both can work together, fly together, and become partners in war.

Logistics

Logistical Support

All Wyvern Knights carry bags that carry whichever amount of days of rations and equipment they need. They need to of course carry as little as necessary, due to the wyvern can't be too weighed down by the baggage, thus Knight's only carried what was needed for the mission.

Upkeep

The biggest cost of the Knight is the maintenance of the Wyverns, which meant feeding it, taking care of it, dealing with its excrements and other such things. Along with this, Knights would be paid a lot both for their training and the money they naturally earned for their position in the army.

Recruitment

Usually, the common way to recruit for the Knights is to recruit the most experienced of soldiers in the normal army, who are then put through a serious of mental and physical tests to see if they have the potential to handle it. On top of this however, they usually aim to recruit smaller and lighter soldiers, to lessen the loads on the wyverns when they fly.

History

The idea of a someone riding a Wyvern was very much fiction for the longest time. It would be something told in stories about some great villain or evil person, for only someone of great power but also of evil would dare to tame such a wild beast! Wyverns are nothing else but a pale imitation of dragons, they are after all forsaken beasts.
But in this case, it no longer remained fiction. Rumors had spread close to the end of the War of the Wyverns that Boven had somehow tamed wyverns and created a whole squad of wyvern riders, called the Wyvern Knights. Few of course chose to believe such things, whether out of skepticism, or out of fear and wishing that it wasn't true. But it was true, as would be found out in the Great battle of Beasts, fought between Boven and Neralik. Neralik had fielded a large army of tamed beasts that they brought out into battle, which helped turned the battle to the favor of Neralik, as they disrupted Boven's formations and caused terror in their ranks.
That favor would quickly change sides, as shapes began approaching the battlefield in the sky. The beasts that Neralik used to their advantage would quickly end up being dispatched and routed by five soldiers, the first Wyvern Knights. As they joined the battle, more and more soldiers would have their morale shattered and began to run away, and so the Boven army became victorious.
The Knights would quickly grew infamous throughout the entire continent, as they ended up being used more openly and effectively by the Boven closer to the end of the war, used for hit and run missions against enemy supply caravans and key strategic positions, and even be used to destroy entire villages that produced the food of their enemies. Such was their brutality, that they also earned the moniker of "The Wings of Death", hence where the squad name of Wyvern Knights came from.
As the war turned to stalemate, the Knights would end up in a role primarily scouting and patrolling the borders, having made them a terror to many bandits as well. Since then, their numbers have grown from a single Deathwing, to four of them, numbering 20 Knights in total, and truly making them a force to be reckoned with, and why few would dare to question the might of the Boven Warstate.

Type

Airborne

Founding

21 AG

Overall training Level

Elite

Assumed Veterancy

Veteran

Used by

• The Boven Warstate