Zorakin - Knight
The knights of Zorakin are the archetype for knights in Ereb Altor and being a knight is both a social status, occupation and a title. Zoraki knights arent just common warriors, they are the best Zorakin can wield and as such they are in many ways a core of the Zoraki culture. Many rulers throughout the history have used knights to enhanche culture, and to be considered a real knight, knowing how to behave in court is just as important as waging war.
The fully armoured warrior charging with a lance felled against a worthy foe is the common ideal most knight try to live up to. As they are noble they are separated from the common warrior by their knowledge in the fine arts and their well behaved manners. A knight should be able to impress a lady during the feast as well as kill merciless on the field of battle.
Grundegenskapskrav: STY:14, FYS:12, PSY:12
Proffessional ability: By spending 5 temporary PSY the knight might:
- hit any bodypart without penalty to aim, or
- do maximal damage with his weapon including SB. Armour absorbes the damage.
- Up to five weapon skills,
- Speak one foreign language,
- Read and write one foreign language,
- Administration,
- Dance,
- Animal training,
- Quickdraw,
- Geography,
- Heraldry,
- History,
- Painting,
- Calculation,
- Schack and boardgames,
- Up to two musical instruments,
- Break grapple,
- Dueling,
- Fallteknik,
- Battlecry,
- Strike unconcious,
- Moiunted warfare,
- Strategy,
- Tactics,
- Vapentekniker
Career
Qualifications
Being noble by birth or making some deed which the king considers worthy enough to knight someone. Not all nobles are knights, but all knights are noble.
Career Progression
The common way to become a knight is by becoming a page around the age of 10 up to 15 years. During the page time you serve your knight and do menial stuff for him/her. At the same time the knight trains the page in weapons and arms and other knightly skills. At the 15th birthday the page is elevated to a squire and leave much of the manual labour behind to focus more on the knightly choirs. Still the main focus is to make sure your knight is able to fight and as such much of the spare time is to take care of arms and armour and the horses. But most squires see a lot of combat as well, even if it is as a rear guard. Around the age 18 to 20 the squire get considered to become worthy and are knighted in a long ritual.
Payment & Reimbursement
In theory the knight is sworn to service to a lord who make sure he is supplied and well cared for. But there are knights who do not have a lord and must earn their keep in other ways. Many of them end up as mercenaries.
Other Benefits
They are allowed to own and carry arms and armour all time. In many ways they are beyond the law which dictates the the ordinary mens lives. They are extempt from taxes if they do not own land.
Perception
Purpose
Knight are elite warriors and officers in the army. They are lords and protectors of land and defenders of the weak.
Social Status
In Zorakin the knight is highly regarded and have a very high social status. Many knight have become part of legends and are mentioned frequently in songs and stories.
Operations
Tools
In Zorakin the main tool of the knight is the sword. The sword has a nearly mythical status for knights and few knigths are ever seen without it. They are also trained in using a lance and often know how to wield other weapons as well. A knight uses a shield on which his heradric weapons are displayed. The most common armour is the chainmail with a full helmet. A knight is seldom seen without a steed trained for combat.