Knights of Other Cultures | Notes About the Setting

  For the purposes of illustration, the Northern Kingdoms and the Forgewrought Empires are often considered as two monolithic regions: the Northern Kingdoms stretching from the north into the west and the Empires scattered throughout the south and the east. As ever, the truth is more complex; these regions can be better considered as concentrations of power - roughly ninety-percent of the Kingdoms' aligned forces are based in this recognised north-western area, while the remaining ten-percent are a combination of alliances and far-flung outposts. There are smaller powers scattered throughout the world who find themselves in need of a backer and the Grand Regent of the Northern Kingdoms, who has a keen interest in ongoing events throughout the world, is welcoming to those who are willing to align with the nation's policies.
  As a result, a number of honorary knight orders exist in places one might not expect, equipped with all of the gear that defines one of these warriors, but adapted to cultural and environmental factors in order to uphold the expected standards. These changes are made by local craftsmen who are recommended by the governing power, then vetted and inducted into selected secrets of the knight-armourer's craft by experienced teams - most frequently coming from the Southern Kingdom of Gaunne. The artificers of Gaunne were the first to make substantial modifications to the original design, with any previous alterations being cosmetic to the taste or status of a wearer. In would not be until years later that greater modifications were made, as part of the joint project between the Northern Kingdoms and Anvillon of the Empires to create the mark-II design following the victorious end of the Dragon War. But the armoursmiths of Gaunne would remain respected for their ingenuity, even if some of their bolder innovations bordered on controversy.

  One notable benificiary of this aid was the Desert Principality of Biyha, whose royal sentinels are recogniable despite their small numbers for their gold-plated armour, which takes on a fiery hue during patrol amidst the reddish desert sands. At the eastern edge of the Forgewrought Empires' sphere of influence, they were fully accepting of the Kingdoms' terms, in return for the means to defend themselves from the acquisition of an enforcer- or company-clan without resorting to bargaining with another faction in the surrounding area. To compensate for the difficulties of wearing heavy armour in the scorching climate, the ventilation apparatus intended for protection from toxic environments have been opened up and reworked to operate instead as cooling systems, giving a defined grille-like appearance to sections of their warplate. Another characteristic alteration is the design of the blast glaives wielded by many of the sentinel paladins, which can be viewed as a midpoint between the hammers more commonly in the north and the lances of the knight-cavaliers. The slimmer profile of these weapons leads to longer charge times between blows due to the relocation of the power block away from the head, but the additional reach is a valuable advantage when fighting on the shifting sands of the dunes.

  Closer to the knights' spiritual home is a tribe known to outsiders as the Rime Cloaked, who have made the stormwracked woods of the pole their abode for generations.