The Knights of Takhisis

The Knights of Takhisis are a military Order that formed some twenty years after the downfall of Neraka in the War of the Lance. The purported son of Highlord Ariakas and the goddess Zeboim, Lord Ariakan, founded this Order of Dark Knights, and stood strong as its single guiding force. He ruled the Knights of Takhisis through his own personal magnetism, brilliant military strategy, and divine favour of the Queen of Darkness.

  Ariakan maintained that the keys to victory are order, discipline, and vision. “Bring order to our followers, and the will accomplish. Discipline them, and they will achieve. Give them vision, and they will move forward toward a common goal.” In accordance with this, Ariakan created the foundations of the Knights of Takhisis – the Vision, the Blood Oath, and the Code.

The Vision

  The Vision is – in simple terms – a statement of the ultimate goal of the knighthood. For knights of 5th level or less, the Vision is embodied in the phrase: “One World Order.” The goal is no less than the total and unquestioned domination of the entire world of Krynn. The Blood Oath and the Code are established to work toward that end.

The Blood Oath

  The Blood Oath is simple: “Submit or die.” When joining the knighthood, each knight dedicates body and soul utterly to the cause. All thoughts of self are submerged, sublimated. Yet this does not mean that knights may not think for themselves, which brought about the creation of the Code.

The Code

  The Code is complex in the extreme, yet elegant in its detail. The strict, unyielding exactitude of the Solamnic Knights’ “Oath and Measure” had caused their long fall from the Age of Might, ending in their continuing weakness. Despite the fact that the knights and other forces for good had emerged victorious, they were a long way from bringing peace and order to Ansalon.
  Knowing the weaknesses of all mortal creatures, Ariakan crafted a detailed set of laws that relate principally to military situations, but that also can be extended into the lives of each member of the knighthood. Strict adherence to the Code is required, but each case is considered on its own merits, and exceptions can be made.
  Ariakan established his Code so that there would be no need to argue fine points. The law was as written. Violations were obvious and dealt with summarily. However, he did recognise the need to be flexible, as occasion demanded, and so established a means by which an exception to the Code might be considered and either accepted or rejected on its own merits.

  Adjudication of the Code: Exceptions to the Code are adjudicated by a single knight selected from a chosen few in command positions. The role of adjudicator is generally reserved for knights of 12th level or higher. (Occasionally those of less than 12th level are granted the right, chosen by the head of the Knighthood. Many of the higher rank are not, including most of the Knights of Thorns.) The outward, visible sign of an adjudicator is a sceptre, presented to the knight by Lord Ariakan, the head of the Knighthood.
  If the adjudicator decides that the Code had been broken and that no exception to the Code may be permitted, punishment is meted out to the offender. Since a knight who violates the Code is seen to have also violated the Vision and broken the Blood Oath. The punishment is generally death.
  Execution is carried out by the advocate, if the knight is present, or by the knight’s commander if the advocate is not. The knights do not view death as the ultimate end, but rather as advancement to a higher rank. Takhisis is the final judge of a knight’s life, and the knight is rewarded by Her Dark Majesty or punished eternally as she decides. The knight does not fear death, therefore, but could have reason to fear the wrath of the queen in the afterlife. A knight who wishes to appeal the ruling of the adjudicator may do so. Once his soul is dispatched to Takhisis, she will hear the plea.
  The Dark Queen has been known to send knights wrongfully judged back to “correct the error.” Such undead knights return as bodaks (Monster Manual, page 27) or even death knights. Because of this, all adjudicators will want to be extremely sure of the facts and will order a knight’s execution only after serious prayer and consideration.

  Authority and Independence: Part of the Code deals specifically with the establishment and maintenance of lines of communication and authority. Thus, when an order is given from above, it is quickly dispatched and acted on. But Ariakan knew that the knights probably would find themselves in situations where they would be on their own, cut off from the chain of command. Therefore, major sections of the Code are devoted to acting on the Vision.
  When communication with the knighthood is severed, individuals who have a clear concept of the Vision will act independently to carry out the will of the knighthood until such time as communication can be reestablished. In this way, order is maintained in times of chaos.
  Even within the bounds of orders as given, the knights have broad discretion as to how these orders are carried out. As long as a knight’s actions do not violate the Vision, the standing orders of their knighthood, or the specific orders that they have been given, a knight is free to act.

  Divisions of the Code: The Code is divided into several basic precepts, which guide the three major orders of knighthood. These divisions of the Code lead to the natural specialisation of the knights and help define the duties of the knights in the new world that they propose to create. The basic precept of each Order is:

• The Lily: Independence breeds chaos. Submit and be strong.
• The Skull: Death is patient. If flows both from without and from within. Be vigilant in all and sceptical of all.
• The Thorn: One who follows the heart finds it will bleed. Feel nothing but victory.

The Test of Takhisis
  Characters who wish to advance past 5th level as a Knight of Takhisis are required to pass a test of loyalty. Just as the wizards on Krynn must pass the dread Test of the Towers of High Sorcery, so too must all the Knights of the Lily pass a similar test in order to advance. Failure in this test results in death. There has never been a case where a failed knight has survived. Even if a knight manages to escape, the members of all three orders use their powers to track the knight down.
  The test for the Knights of the Lily generally centers around the three themes of Vision, Order, and Obedience. The test is every bit as difficult as the Test in the Tower of High Sorcery. Typical problems posed are: Will the knight sacrifice whatever is necessary – power, fortune, a loved companion, life itself – in order to fulfil the Vision? Will order and obedience win out over sentiment and the heart? Will the knight obey an order at the sacrifice of the knight’s own life or the lives of kin or loved ones?
  As in the tower, the test may be an illusion, though the tested knights truly believe that what they are undergoing is real. Or, in some instances, the knights may be sent on missions or quests designed to prove their worthiness. The test is dangerous and often cruel in the extreme, but those who pass are as strong as steel forged in the fires of Neraka. The nature of the test is determined by the knight’s advocate – the one person who knows the knight best. The advocate understands and appreciates the fact that a knight must be strong in order to fulfil the Vision.
  There can be no weak links in the chain. Therefore, the test is never made easy for the supplicant. Quite the contrary, no advocate wants to be known as the sponsor of a weak and ineffective knight, and, therefore, the test is designed to be as difficult as possible. Thus, the Test contains at least three encounters of CR 5, which the Knight must face alone.
  Knights who pass the test are free to choose the order they wish to enter. Often this is the order of their advocate, but this need not strictly be the case. The ascension of the knight into the next order takes place in a solemn ceremony at the knighthood’s headquarters, in the hidden northern fortress known as Storm’s Keep.
  The knight is kept in seclusion in the Temple of Takhisis, fasting and praying, for four days prior to the ceremony. At the end of this period, during which the knight receives the Deep Vision, the knight is blessed by dark clerics and sent forth. The knight comes before the rank and file of knights (all those currently in residence), including Lord Ariakan himself. The Procession of Knights is enacted. The knight is formally presented by his advocate. The advancement in rank is bestowed upon the knight by the Lord of Night, and the knight is officially accepted into the order of choice.
  The knight then undergoes a period of training of about six months. This gruelling instruction generally takes place in Storm’s Keep, but occasionally extends into other regions if the training specifically requires. Only after this training is the knight considered a full member of the order.

Knights of the Skull

Death is patient, flowing from without and within. Be vigilant in all and skeptical of all.

  These Knights form the clerical order of the knighthood, and their higher-ranking members serve as Adjudicators of the Code. They practice the healing arts and are also in charge of both external intelligence and internal security. Skull Knights work their art by stealth and subtlety rather than by force, leaving that to the other two orders.

  Skull Knights of at least 14th character level are referred to by the title of Skull Champion. The head of the Order of the Skull is titled the Lord of Night, and is advised by seven Lords of the Skull.

  Knights of the Skull are multiclassed clerics, and possess all of the abilities of that class as described in the Player's Handbook. Knights of the Skull may choose from the domains of Evil, Healing, Trickery, and War; their favoured weapon is the heavy mace. Knights of the Skull can rebuke undead.
  Knights of the Skull are dedicated solely to the Queen of Darkness, to the exclusion of all other gods and goddesses (including other dark deities). Her Dark Majesty rewards such loyalty by allowing them to prepare spells on a daily basis, in a manner similar to other clerics. This is unlike the Solamnic Knights of the Sword, who must fast and pray once per week to attain their spells.
  Although it is well known that the sea goddess Zeboim favours the Knighthood (in honour of her son, Ariakan), the Skull Knights do not pray to her. Ariakan set aside one day a year in honour to his mother. It is also considered a matter of courtesy for all knights to ask Zeboim’s blessing during a sea voyage.

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