I’ve always wanted to be a knight. I’ve been playing for a couple years now and I’d like to try to become a squire. How do I get started on that path and find a knight to squire me?
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This is a challenging question for a number of reasons. The foremost being that different knighthoods have different methods of taking squires; some squires are squired to the knighthood as a whole, some squires as squired to individual knights. Some knights have several squires, some try not to take any. Some knights expect the squire to approach them and ask to be a squire. Some knights find that insulting, or presumptuous.
See, it's a mess.
My recommendation would be to decide what you stand for as a character, and then to find a knight or knighthood that also stands for that. Hang out with them, talk to them, ask them about their order. Be effective towards your own goals in whatever you may be doing. Be patient. Focus on other things, but have the conversation. Take your time in choosing, in my opinion joining a knighthood can kind of be like getting a tattoo. It's different, in that it doesn't take expensive surgery to make it go away, but it can have a lasting effect if you make the wrong choice.
Keith “Saegan” Cronyn
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An excellent question, friend! Firstly, I would ask you if you had a particular Knighthood in mind. If not, do some research and figure out the tenets of the different orders. Do any mesh well with the type of character you aspire to be? If so, approach them and ask them questions about their process. Like Keith explained, different Orders and Knighthoods have different methods of taking on Squires. Nobody is going to get mad if you ask questions for informational purposes; plus it can help you to build a better rapport with the members. If you aren’t sure whether or not a Knight would be open to you flat out asking about Squireship, you can always approach the conversation in a different way such as “What do you look for in a potential Squire?” etc. It sounds less presumptuous to people I would think. For more information on some of the Orders you can check out the Library of Ivory or talk to various Knights or Knight Commanders in person. ( http://library.cityofivory.org/1453/Knighthoods---Knightly-Orders)
Renee “Kindrianna” Booke
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First step is finding a knighthood that you would like to be a part of. Saying “I want to be a knight” can be really vague in our game, as there are a lot of different knighthoods with different in character and out of character meaning. What kind of knight do you want to be? Why do you want to be a knight? What does being a knight mean to you? Are you looking for in character or out of character context? From there, express your interest. Ask about the knighthood, ask members how they became a knight, ask advice for joining. Also, follow up! Make sure you’re at events where the knighthood is present, hang out with them, follow up about squiring.
Hannah “Nhadala/Salt Queen” Blood
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I too have asked pretty much exactly this same question. In general, the Realms takes the concept of Knighthood pretty seriously, so it can be intimidating to seek a starting point. My fellow editors have made some great suggestions about researching orders and getting to know people, and I won’t disagree with any of the things they’ve said. But if you are like me, you may feel the need to take a more… direct approach.
Personally, I was more interested in the lessons I could learn as a squire than the tenets I would embody as a knight. I straight-up asked my first knight to take me as her squire because she had already been my mentor since I started playing and I really liked the dynamic that she had with her knight when she was a squire. She was happy to formalize the mentor-mentee relationship and we worked together for several years. If you have someone in mind who you would like to squire to, it could be worth asking them about it explicitly. If you already like them as a person, then you probably will also like what they stand for as a knight. Remember that being a squire is in equal parts 1) a way for knightly order to see if you are a right fit for them and 2) a way for you to see if you are a right fit for the order. It’s also perfectly ok to change your mind about joining an order as you grow during your squireship. Your knight may be disappointed to see you go, but in the end, they want what’s best for you--even if that means letting you move on to other things.
Finally, consider how much energy you are willing to put into a squireship. Some knights will be looking for a large commitments, while others want to have a more low-key relationship with their squire. Make sure that you and your potential knight understand each other’s expectations.
Ryan “Orion” Welch
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First and foremost this is a community of people who work together to make this game happen and in a lot of ways becoming a squire is like making a commitment to taking a greater personal role in that task. So the first think you need to ask yourself is how you want to make your impact upon the community. Do you want to do it through combat, through role playing, through crafting, through marshaling, through holding events… or any combination of those or other ways to grow personally and help the community grow as well. Once you have a more solid idea of the way you want to add to the game, you’ve already started to answer the question about which order you should seek to squire to. Take the time to ask around and learn which knightly orders and which individuals have strengths and goals that align with your own.
After you’ve narrowed down which orders you think you’d be interested in, the best thing to do is just start talking! If you know someone in that knighthood, you can ask for more information. If you don’t, see if someone you know can introduce you. Most knights are happy to talk about their orders with people who have a genuine interest. If you’re intimidated by the idea of striking up a conversation with someone from a knightly order that you don’t know, then you can ask a friend or mentor more established in the community to make an introduction for you. The most important advice is this: don’t just think about it. Go out there and start asking questions and start talking to people. The community relies of those who are willing to step up and do more and you’re surrounded by people who want to teach and pass on what they know. There’s no reason to hesitate!
Jen “Areni” DeNardis-Rosa
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