On the Order- Knights of the Red Branch

What is your Knighthood?

Photo by Jesse Gifford

The Order of the Red Branch

What year was your Knighthood formed?

First player knighted was on Oct. 18th, 2003 at the Black & White Masquerade

The result of a “one year” plot, that started at the Black & White in 1998, designed and developed to create a new knightly order within the game.

What does your knighthood stand for?

Promoting each individual to form their own opinion and act on it accordingly.

What are your tenants?

"To always do what YOU deem is right, regardless of what anyone else says or thinks."

What is your symbol?

A red rowan branch of 15 leaves on a black field.

Did you have a traditional Knightly power, if so what was it?

Not from the olden days, but we do have a recognized power when the Chimeronian "Trappings of Civilization" are in effect. It is called "Force of Will", and as the name sounds, it allows us to exert our will upon our surroundings to allow us to accomplish feats that might not otherwise be possible.

What do you look for when selecting squires?

Photo by Angela Gray

Each knight looks for something different, but it boils down to:

Having a good positive attitude towards the game and meshing well with at least one knight’s way of doing things.

What is your squiring process like? 

1. If a knight identifies someone they would like to squire, they talk to them about the order and about the possibility of working together.

If as potential squire approaches the order, the knights hold a meeting to discuss whether the candidate would be a good fit with one of them.

2. They are then either squired to the Order itself or to a specific knight and given a red belt with a black rowan branch on it.  Either way, as a squire of the Order, they can expect to be charged with tasks by any of the Knights.

3. The Squire will then spend years working with their Knight or other members of the Order growing and developing as an individual until one day they are recognized by the order as a whole.

Who is your current  Knight Commander?

Dame Brynn Colteor McKrye - Princess of Chimeron

Who are your currently active Knights?

Photo by Jesse Gifford

Dame Brynn Colteor McKrye

Sir Magnus Heavyhammer

Sir Rorin Akanar

Sir Laurante D'Rhian

Dame Makela DarkWillow

Sir Chan Ottokar

Away with the Fae Court:

Sir Ged

Duke Zula of the Fae Courts

King Owen ap Cuchulain of the Fae Courts

Leave of absence:

Sir BrightHammer IceBreaker

Do you have any interesting stories from your Knighthoods past?

Photo by Angela Gray

I think the single best knighting I have ever been to or done was the knighting of Sir BrightHammer.  It was when my character Owen was still a PC and he was leading a Realms wide war effort to re-take Fae from the false King Oberon.  BrightHammer had always been a great asset and friend to Owen in this and I had named him one of my lieutenants; however, he had decided to throw his lot in with Robin the Duke of Monstrosity who was leader of a third faction in the war.  I called him out on this in the middle of court at a Feast of Chimeron and took back the badge I’d given him as a lieutenant.  Bud (who played BrightHammer) was so dumbstruck and with shock/anger/frustration he couldn’t say anything….which was good in that it prevented him from interrupting when I then pulled out a knightly belt of our order and offered it to him in replacement.  Meanwhile, as this happened, the other Knights who of course knew what was going on had quietly come up from behind to be ready to welcome him into the Order.  To see the look on his face as his emotions did a complete 180…transitioned from shock of anger…all the way to stunned with joy…priceless.

Anything else?

Additional factoids:

Another name for the Order is “the Order of the Raven”.  This is due to a plot mis-que at the first event which launched the quest to found the new order.

The quest started at a Black & White Masquerade Ball in 1998 and as such the event holds a particular importance to the Order.  We now attempt to hold and annual meeting there each year IC & OOC.

The first person knighted to the Order was Owen Colteor McKrye, who later became known as Owen ap Cuchulain (aka Cuchulain).  He was knighted in silence by the spirit of the previous Knight Commander after finally being put to rest.

The “youngest” (ie. newest) squire of the Order is given the lineage squire belt, which bares the names of all the squires before them, until such time as another squire is taken in the order or they are knighted.  In each case they’re knight is responsible for providing their new belt.