The Skull Knight
Captain of the Unwelcome Order, God of Hopeful Monsters and Ghosts in the Shell
The Skull Knight is the undead Material God of "hopeful monsters", suppressed impulses, noble beasts and repentant villains. He is sometimes known as the Knight of the Thistle, Commander in Chief of the Unwelcome Order and Old Rattlebones. A bitter enemy of his evil cousins, the Skull Knight's portfolio carries an undeniable similarity to the Duskscape Regent Overshepherd Rom, a psychopomp god of death's sanctity and steward of lost souls.
Though this is only known by a few individuals on Materia and the Near Umbra, the Skull Knight's identity is the First Age soldier and inadvertent hero Indus Fortesque, who spent centuries as an indentured undead and arena fighter in the demonic city of Dis, then fought for a while under Overshepherd Rom's Pale Vigil before going rogue and becoming a Material God.
The Captain's alignment is Chaotic Good.Appearance & Heraldry
See also: The Skull Knight & Unwelcome Order Image Gallery (External)As his name implies, the Skull Knight takes the form of a humanoid mounted knight in full plate, whose head is a bare skull. In addition to his longsword, the Sanus Ensis, he carries a kite shield adorned with his crest: a purple thistle flower on black. His mount is a nightmare: a shadowy, bestial fae related to bandersnatches and yōkai.
The Unwelcome Order
The Skull Knight is Commander in Chief of the Unwelcome Order, also known as the Ordo Non-Grata or the Ordo Repentis. His three Captains are, in order of initiation, the Swamp Knight, the Valrav Knight and the Fossil Knight. The Order has some unknown hundreds, perhaps thousands, of members by way of worship.Worship
The Skull Knight is primarily worshipped by monstrous humanoids on the Waking side of the Veil, most commonly intelligent undead, who wish to coexist with Material civilization, suppress their malevolent urges and shun the attention of evil gods. In effect, the Skull Knight and the Unwelcome Order provide a sense of belonging for these souls, in a world where they would otherwise feel nothing but alienation. He is also sometimes worshipped by Varya, Galateids, golems and other automata, also making him a patron of sorts to "ghosts in the shell", whether unliving or construct.
The majority of the Skull Knight's worshippers are liberator paladins as opposed to clerics or oracles. They are most often known as Repentants or Knights of the Unwelcome Order. They are mostly monstrous humanoids—for example intelligent undead like ghouls or dhampir—that seek to punish those who treat innocent mortals as they were once treated. That said, he also has some mortal worshippers who are more drawn to the Unwelcome Order's methods or philosophies versus other churches of monster hunting.Domains
The Skull Knight's primary Domain is Freedom. His secondary domains are Death, Protection, Might and Knowledge.Favoured Weapon
The Skull Knight's favoured weapon is the longsword. His Relic longsword is The Sanus Ensis.History
The Skull Knight's transformation from a humble, somewhat eccentric Rozsan knight of a minor noble family to an undead demigod of freedom & vengeance is a sprawling tale of adventure and misfortune. See the full article on his mortal self: Indus Fortesque.
The Skull Knight is one of few Material Gods who regularly traverses The Veil to and from The Duskscape, which is highly unusual in that the presence of Waking gods are rarely seen in the Umbral Realms (common theory holds that their presence there disrupts an ancient balance that the Cenobites enforce zealously). How the Knight of the Thistle gets away with this is unknown; it is possible he has some manner of political immunity, or perhaps knows how to evade the attention of the Regents.
The Skull Knight
Divinity
Ascendant Alignment
CG Domains
Freedom, Death, Protection, Might, Knowledge Favoured Weapon
Longsword Relic Weapon
Sanus Ensis
Comments