The Knights of Terith
More than just an adventurers' guild
"Once a long time ago, you asked me if I really believed there was such thing as fighting to make the world a better place. Well, not only is it what I believe, it's what I believe in. We're not fighting for power, we're fighting for people. So that the people of the Warlands can have a real place to call home again. It's like you said-- we all deserve a better place to live than a battlefield." -Ton Bhorison, co-founder and leader of the Knights of Terith.
The Knights of Terith are an organization founded by Tondall (Ton) Bhorison and Yemi Asaju seven years ago. On the surface it appears to be merely an adventurer/mercenary guild, but at its core it's actually a revolutionary group. Nearly a hundred years ago, the region now known as the Warlands wasn't called such; it was a place home to many varied and storied people who lived their lives in peace, before all the invading and conquering and pillaging and war began. These days, hardly anyone remembers what the lands were called before. Because of the power-obsessed lords locked in their ceaseless struggle against each other for territory, resources and control, dragging all the rest of the poor common folk down with them, the Warlands is hardly even livable anymore. many believe it's too late to make things better again, but not the Knights of Terith.
Origins
Terith was the name of one of the larger lands among the many that were chewed up and spat back out unrecognizable by invading warlords decades ago. Most of the names of those lands and peoples are forgotten entirely, but some do remember Terith, thanks mostly in part to the Terithan's strong oral history that they stubbornly continued to pass on even after the invasion. Rune's mother told him about Terith, who learned of it from her mother, whose mother remembered it from when she was a little girl. Ton learned of Terith from Rune, and it was the memory if his friend and that story that later inspired him to form the Knights of Terith. The 'knights' part of the name is meant to invoke an air of honour and valour. There aren't any true knights anywhere in the Warlands, there are no kingdoms and no kings to knight anybody, but tales of noble knights from the northeast kingdom of Solril are very popular in the Warlands and embody a fantastical ideal of what it means to be an honourable warrior, rather than just a brutish thug like the soldiers of the Warlands are. Those kinds of stories were ones Rune favoured and he spoke of them often to Ton when they were younger. The symbol of the amber lily, too, was chosen because it reminded Ton of Rune.
They were best friends for years, long ago. They were both servants in a lord's castle, though Ton was the attendant of one of the lord's generals and expected to become a soldier himself by the time he was an adult, and Rune was just a regular servant, doing laundry and cleaning and always on his mother's heels. They were extremely different, but there were only so many kids of the same age around, so they became friends. Rune was a couple years younger than Ton, smaller, timid, always was the sort of person most people in the Warlands looked down on: sensitive, weak... different. Ton had always been strong and according to the supposed 'natural order' of things, that should have meant he would pick on people like Rune, but Ton never believed in that. The strong should protect the weak, he thought, so he was very protective of Rune, thinking of him as a younger brother. There was plenty to protect him from, after all, since he was constantly the target of harassment and ridicule, but as they got older it became harder, as the dangers got bigger. Then, Ton did become a soldier, and Rune caught the lord's eye and became his bedwarmer at only seventeen, and Ton couldn't protect him from that, and then a year later the lord's territory was invaded, his castle fell, Ton was gravely wounded in the battle and, laying there bleeding and losing consciousness, could do nothing but watch as Rune was assaulted by the enemy soldiers. He couldn't protect him from that. Ton survived, but once the dust had cleared Rune was nowhere to be found and they never saw each other again after that, so Ton feared the worst. He didn't join another lord's army, instead finding work for a few years as a hired sword around the Warlands, all the while haunted by his memories of that battle and the aftermath. He never wanted anyone to suffer like that ever again, not as long as he could do something about it.
Ton met Yemi, a fellow mercenary, when they were both hired for a job protecting some farmers from a group of raiders. The farmers had struggled to find anyone to help them because they had little with which to compensate them, but Ton, Yemi, and a few others had been willing to take on the job regardless. Not only did they share similar values, but like Ton, Yemi was also born in the Warlands-- most mercenaries and adventurers were from outside the Warlands, anyone from there who could fight became soldiers in a lord's army instead. Together, they decided to form the Knights of Terith. Someone had to remember the forgotten people, the people of the Warlands who just wanted to live in peace, who were beaten down and taken advantage of by warlords, soldiers, and foreign adventurers and mercenaries alike. People who couldn't fight for themselves, but still deserved to be fought for. People like Rune, for whom Ton always wished he could have done more.
Operations
On the surface, the Knights of Terith do actually function as a legitimate adventurers' guild. Somewhere between a half and two thirds of the adventurers and mercenaries who travel the Warlands are members of the guild, and with membership comes access to important resources and connections, so it's technically not just a front for the rebel aspect. Not all the active adventurers who are guild members know about the plans for revolution. The goal of the Knights of Terith is to overthrow the warlords terrorizing the warlands and establish a legitimate state built on trust and cooperation in their place, or a coalition of allied states working towards that principle, depending on how the long term struggle goes.
They are preparing to first target lord Arnvald, one of the most powerful and long established lords in the Warlands, whose territory includes the city of Boldershore, where the Knights of Terith are based out of. They believe that if they can successfully seize Arnvald's fortress, which is probably the most naturally defensible castle in the Warlands, then that will give them the best shot at survival and longevity once all hell inevitably breaks loose after they make their true mission known, as well as sending a message to all the other warlords that this is what the Knights of Terith are capable of, and if lord Arnvald fell to them then so will they.
Currently most of their active projects revolve around preparing for that eventual siege, but they have a few other ongoing operations that are a bit more well known, like the Boldershore Knightguards, as well as their Flight Teams. The Flight Teams are small adventuring parties that help escort people safely out of the Warlands who wish to leave. For various reasons, from the dangers of travel to a lack of funds, many who wish for a better life away from the Warlands aren't able to leave. The Knights of Terith help provide those people with supplies and funds and protection so that they are able to reach and cross the borders, and guide them where they need to go in various neighbouring countries, like Sidusimpere, Wicksfroth, and Lynghyll, the latter of which where they have established allies. The Knights are also in talks with the city's builders' and masonry guilds about potential partnerships for improving infrastructure in the Warlands, and planting the seeds of allyship for future alliances there to be sown once their plans are put into motion.
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