Knight

You belong to an order who have sworn oaths to achieve a certain goal. The nature of this goal depends on the order you serve, but in your eyes it is without question a vital and honorable endeavor. Skyrim has a wide variety of knightly orders, all of which have a similar outlook concerning their actions and responsibilities.   Though the term "knight" conjures ideas of mounted, heavily armored warriors of noble blood, most knightly orders in Skyrim don't call themselves such or restrict their membership to such individuals. The goals and philosophies of the order are more important than the gear and fighting style of its members, and so most of these orders aren't limited to fighting types, but are open to all sorts of folk who are willing to battle and die for the order's cause.   The "Knightly Orders of Skyrim" section below details several of the orders that are active at present and is designed to help inform your decision about which group you owe allegiance to.

Features

Knightly Orders of Skyrim Many who rightfully call themselves "knight" or suchlike earn that title as part of an order in service to a deity, such as the Vigilants of Stendaar. Other knightly orders serve a government, royal family, or are the elite military of a feudal state, such as the numerous knightly orders of High Rock or the Redguard Alik'r Coterie. Other knighthoods are secular and non-governmental organizations of warriors who follow a particular philosophy, or consider themselves a kind of extended family, similar to an order of monks. Although there are organizations that use the trappings of knighthood without necessarily being warriors, most folk of Skyrim think of a warrior in armour beholden to a code beyond that of mere sellsword as a "knight". Below are a few knightly organizations.   The Companions Based in thier ancient Hall of Jorrvaskr, the Companions are the warriors guild of Skyrim. It serves a similar function to the Fighters Guild chapters of other regions of Tamriel. Working entirely in the open, often using their renowned reputation as warriors to lend themselves to solve problems, provided the client has the coin. Beyond mere sellswords though the companions are bound by a sense of brotherhood and honour, this is an informal code with the actual Oath of the Companions having long since been forgotten. Secretly though, the inner circle of the companions consists of a group of werewolves who revere Hircine's ideals of the hunt and who use thier transformations to deal with threats where mere steel will not surfice.   The Dawnguard One of the newest power groups in Skyrim, the Dawnguard arose to combat the vampire menace that began in the wake of the choas of the civil-war and the dragons return. They are a versatile organisation that will work in the shadows or in the open with a relentless focus on thier core mission to eradicate vampires wherever they find them, and though oftentimes secondarily to protect the peoples of Skyrim from the threat vampires pose. Knights of the Dawguard are often ruthless and jaded figures who fight thier eternal war-for-the-dawn with vengeful determination while the majority of Skyrim's people remain ignorant. Occasionally leading to trouble as the Dawnguard have no requirement to prove a person was a vampire to local law-enforcement before exterminating it.   The Vigil of Stendarr The Vigilants are holy warriors on a righteous quest to banish daedra and crush daedra worship, and they never hide in the shadows. Formed in the wake of the Oblivion Crisis where all Tamriel was invaded by the forces of Daedric Prince Mehrunes Dagon, Vigilants are seen widely as a pure-hearted force for good. Though thier zealous belief that "All daedra are evil" can cause conflict between them and peaceful daedra worshiping factions. Their somewhat single-minded focus on diminishing the influence of the daedric princes can also lead them to being blind to other threats. They have a diminished presence in Skyrim after thier order was persued to near extinction in the region by vampires. Vigilants tend to be proficient in Religion, and frequently seek aid from law enforcement friendly to the order's ideals, and the clergy of the order's patron god Stendarr.   The Blades In recent years, the Blades have become more visible in the world at large, as the group works to combat the persistent threats posed by the dragons return. Serving closer to their original purpose as an order of dragon-slayers, formally they had served the Empire in much the same way the Penitus Oculatus do now, but disbanded after being set aside by the Empire per the terms of the White-Gold concordant and being hunted to near extinction by the Thalmor across Tamriel. After being revived and then led by the Last Dragonborn to defeat Alduin the World-Eater, the Blades continued to serve the Last Dragonborn as an order of peacekeepers upholding the treaty of Snow-Throat. Agents of the Blades must still often work in secret however, as they remain the sworn enemies of the Thalmor.  

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Knightly Regard You receive shelter and succor from members of your knightly order and those who are sympathetic to its aims. If your order is a religious one, you can gain aid from temples and other religious communities of your deity. Knights of civic orders can get help from the community – whether a lone settlement or a great nation that they serve, and knights of philosophical orders can find help from those they have aided in pursuit of their ideals, and those who share those ideals. This help comes in the form of shelter and meals, and healing when appropriate, as well as occasionally risky assistance, such as a band of local citizens rallying to aid a sorely pressed knight in a fight, or those who support the order helping to smuggle a knight out of town when he or she is being hunted unjustly.