Knights in Achthal

Orders
Orders are groups of knights formed around a common interest. They are either landed (made up knights with feudal land), unlanded, or hybrid.

The Knights of Aruseus
The oldest, largest, and most powerful order of knights are The Knights of Aruseus. Their history dates back to the invasion of Aruseus's land by Briskos. Large numbers of nobles were forced to flee eastwards. At the same time, Briskos had taken the vast majority of the cavalry. So in answering their nations call to arms, the nobles and their relatives bought horses, armour, and weapons and fought the Leonese.

As the Leonese were driven back and eventually routed, most returned to their lands, but those with little chance of inheritance - the brothers and younger sons - stayed on and formed the order. Their ranks would be further swelled by horsemen who had their equipment sponsored by the preachers in the east. The old guard became somewhat suspicious of these new recruits, due to their support for the idea of Arusian Godhood and their general loyalty to their churches, to the point that they would simultaneously be given a religious title by the eastern holy men.

It came to a head in 54 PA, when the leader of the order, Romuald Von Aichhalden, died and Bishop Kerekes Valentin Rajmund took his place in a move that had less than unanimous support and took place in dubious circumstances. The group then splintered, with those who opposed him leaving to become The Knights of Orion.

The new found organisation became increasingly East centric, fighting largely at the behest of the churches, against the Goblins, Byzan, Northerners, and Narlwegian, along with various passing monsters. They often fought just for money or to convert people to Aruseus worship, that they would do at sword point, growing all the while in wealth and power - which it shared with and was supported in by the churches.

It came to a head in 201 when the Narlwegians invaded a northern area claimed by the king. The Knights agreed to liberate it - but only if they had territorial control over it.

The Confederal Order of Knights
This is the largest of the landed orders. The 'confederal' in the title interestingly has nothing to do with the Achthalian Confederation, the order predating it by 116 years, instead it refers to the orders nature as a very loose grouping of branches. In 351 a group of very minor nobles just to the north of Aruseus's Land met to discuss joining the kingdom. They agreed that they'd like to do it, but they feared that if they did so they would be absorbed by the county to their immediate south. As a result, they appointed a baron, but to keep them in check they formed The Order of The Blizzard. The plan worked, the baron swore loyalty directly to the king and they were not interfered with by the count.

The next year the count backed a rebellion against the king, which his knights saw as an opportunity to take up arms against him.