THE RED BOOK

[3andD 1722]

 

The Red Book
13th Sun’s Smile, 1712
✝

 

 

 

“One unbreakable shield against the coming darkness
One last blade, forged in defiance of fate
Let them be my legacy to the Empire I rule
And my final gift to the species I protect”

 

- An inscription upon the Red Book, attributed to Emperor Antonius I

 

 

The Order of the Red Dragon is a knightly organization that exists outside the standard administrative hierarchy of the Imperium of Man. The Red Dragons act as the personal guards of the Emperor and as the secret police of the Imperium, hunting down any and all of the myriad threats to the stability of the Emperor's realm, from bandits, to heretics, and rebels, to assaults from enemies of the Imperium.

 

The Dragon Knights are an elite group of six knights (excluding the Grand Knight), supposedly the greatest and most skilled warriors in all of the Imperium, who serve as the royal bodyguard of the Emperor of Man. Their duty is to protect the Emperor and the Imperial family from harm at all times. The Dragon Knights swear the most holy of vows to fulfill their sacred duty, and - in theory - are meant to be the living exemplars of the pinnacle of knightly virtues. The Dragon Knights wear signature all-red armor. For this reason, they are sometimes colloquially called the "Red Dragon". 

 

The deeds of every knight who serves in the Order of the Red Dragon are kept in this very book. The Grand Knight is entrusted with maintaining the record.

 

 

“We protect the Emperor and His family, we kill his enemies, and lead his armies. We give him council when asked and keep his secrets when not. We swore our lives in eternal service.”

-Dame Sophia Halcourt, 1698

 

 

 

 

SERVING KNIGHTS

 

Grand Knight

✠

 

Ser Darius
of House Ault
Known as ‘the Butcher’
Grey Hair and Blue Eyes

 

In his early years, Darius served in various mercenary companies across Atlas. He soon came into contract under Duke Ratibor of Adria and became his personal guard. Within a couple of years, he became the Maer of Belvitz, and briefly as the Maer-Commandant; eventually rising to Adrian nobility and Knighthood, recognised by the Order of the Red Dragon, after his retirement from Maer. During this period, he defended Belvitz from countless bandit attacks and Orc raiding parties; acting as the Duchy’s champion.

 

During the Carolustadt tournament of 1696, he earned his moniker as ‘the Butcher’ through his ruthless and bloody jousting participation in which all of his opponents, excusing Ser Jan Sigmar as the finalist, faced a gruesome fate at the hand of the Knight. Winning such with supposed ease, he would be crowned as the victor of the tournament.

 

Leading countless battles, including his participation in multiple captures of foreign, and rebel, leadership, he would embrace his moniker and claim the lives of many - proving his worth and prowess in battle, finding himself to eventually be given the title of Grand Knight of the Imperial Realm by Antonius I Horen in which he rolled out, and enforced multiple reforms.

 

 

Dragon Knights

✠

Ser Karl
of House Jrent
Known as ‘the Grand Magus’
Golden Hair and Grey Eyes

 

 

Unknown birthdate. Before his knighthood, Karl roamed the lands of Atlas as a sellsword, spending time in many of the armies of man. He served as Chancellor Basarab’s personal guard for a number of years, defending Belvitz alongside Ser Darius and Dame Sophia during Augustus’s reign.

 

It was in the Gentleman’s War when he was offered a hefty sum of 50,000 minas to fight in the personal guard of the Duchess of Curon against Adria. During the battle, he led a small division of Curonian soldiers in a flank squad, and personally wiped out hundreds of Adrians.

 

Earning the favor of then Crown-Prince Antonius after defending Carolostadt from a Reiver raid, he served first in the Nauzica then as a knight and was oft known as the Hand of the Emperor, His Imperial Majesty’s most trusted knight.

 

Thought to be lost after the migration to Arcas, Karl returned to Renatus in 1711 and bested Ser Calculus de Sola in an honor duel, taking the honor as Hand of the Emperor.

 

 

Prince Martinus
of House Horen
Brown Hair and Grey Eyes

 

 

 

First son of Martius and cousin to Emperor Antonius I. Although youthful in nature, Ser Marton quickly became one of the greatest swordsmen in the Realm upon his arrival. Having spent his childhood squiring under various famed knights in Aeldin, it was no wonder that the Prince would soon become the youngest to be knighted by the Emperor.

 

Known as a romantic and poet, when not in the field of battle or serving by the Emperor’s side he can be found in the palaces across the Empire courting Princesses. Credited with numerous victories against Reivers and is said to have defeated an entire bandit regiment by himself. 

 

 

Ser Carlovac
of House Kovachev
Known as ‘the Inventor’

Gold Hair and Blue Eyes

 

 

 

 

Ser Carlovac is among the senior knights of the Order, having served with distinction and receiving numerous battle honors since the inception of the Kingdom of Renatus. Beginning as a lowly hedge knight, he rose to and held the position of Grand Knight during the reign of Aurelius, and eventually Chief Justiciar.

 

A staunch Renatian patriot, Ser Carlovac has always been a firm advocate for Priorist policies. Carlovac made his debut in service of the Empire during the Confederation War, he served as one of Aurelius’s chief enforcers, laying waste to numerous Czena settlements beyond Renatus’s borders and dispensing justice in his name. Shrewd and tactful, he often preferred a cautious approach to politics and combat, as opposed to his often brazen comrades. Sometime after this, he and other distinguished Renatian knights would found the Knights Panther knightley circle.

 

Having beared witness to the price of war, he would earn his moniker, ‘the Inventor’ through several contributions to the Renatian war machine such as the development of the ‘Ard’Arrav Arbalest’ and the Renatian traction trebuchet, utilized to great effect in the Crown’s ceaseless conflicts. During the Third Atlas Coalition War, he and Prince Tiberius directed the siege efforts. Carlovac’s keen eye for siegecraft created the breach that was desperately sought to storm the Dwarven stronghold of Kal’Tarak.

 

He would take a back seat in the waning years of his age, dedicating the remainder of his life in service of the Emperor.

 

 

Ser Jan Sigmar 
of House von Alstreim
Known as ‘the Bloodraven’
White Hair and Brown Eyes

 

 

Possibly the oldest living knight in service of the Crown, an exemplar of loyalty and devotion, Ser Jan’s military career spans well over a century - having narrowly avoided death at the cursed forest of Elba as a fourteen-year-old Haensetic pikeman, the Waldenian went on to take up mercenary service in Lorraine. He miraculously recovered from crippling injuries in 1614 to take up the Orenian, Renatian, and Imperial banner in succession, becoming one of the first Renatian knights and the second Dragon Knight to be admitted into the Order. The last King of Waldenia and former Imperial Grand Knight, Ser Frederick Pius Horen, thus bestowed upon him the honor of bearing Waldenian knightly titles, placing him in charge of the Waldenian knight circle, the Ritterkorps.

 

Thrice Crusader and defender of the Faith, veteran of countless victorious campaigns in Renatian service against humans, non-humans, and arcane creatures alike, amongst Ser Jan’s most notable heroic deeds are his successful command of the 1641 Siege of Sutica, having reclaimed the city from its occupying undead hordes; crushing the Waldenian rebellion amidst the Confederation War alongside Antonius, Prince of Aeldin - their forces having been outnumbered three-to-one; slaughtering dozens of Stauntonite rats at the fields of Red Peak, thus enacting revenge for the disaster at Elba; claiming and seizing the Sutican Crown in a daring assault at Lich-Queen Cyrene and her lackeys; uncovering and executing serial killers operating in Adelburg and Senntisten, with the assistance of his wife, Adelheid; ending numerous Vaeyl Magi and subduing the former Arch-Chancellor’s captors.  

 

 

 

Sir Randy
Known as ‘the Rat of the Messhall’
Black hair, and brown eyes.

 

 

 

Much of the information regarding Sir Randy's youth is scattered, or missing as a result of his estranged relationship with his father. It's assumed he spent his early days wandering the roads of Helena climbing cofrom building to building. During one of his more adventurous bouts, he was seen swinging from a vine in small alleyway. He fell shortly thereafter, fracturing his sword arm -- an injury that would ail him from now, until the end of his days. His natural talent in the art of swordplay now needlessly hindered, along with his hairline receding, things were looking rather grim.

 

"The darkest night comes before the brightest day," is what his father would've told him if he had one. And lo and behold, as prophesied, just as rapidly as his situation was spiraling downward things quickly took a turn for the better. He found solace in hard work, and offered his service as an indentured servant to none other than Vitus, of the House of Horen. Vitus, taking pity upon the man's apparent misfortune instead offered him a squireship.

 

Rising through the ranks of the Order of the Red Dragon as quickly as any man could, before much time had passed Randy became a Dragon Knight.

 

 

Red Knights

✠

 

Ser Jon
of House Ballard

Black hair and Brown Eyes

 

 

Little is known of this knight. Serving in the Nauzica and Legion before being knighted. 

 

 

Ser Uthred 
of House Gromach
Orange Hair and Green Eyes

 

 

 

 

Ser Uthred started his career as a soldier under the Margrave of Lorraine, but soon thereafter joined the Imperial Legion, when Cassius Horen was Marshal. He served in countless battles and skirmishes, reaching the rank of Captain. 

Eventually, he was inducted into the Chapter of the Amber Wolf, alongside Ser Konyves Ivanovich, Ser Darius Ault, and Dame Sophia Halcourt, and knighted. 

 

Among his achievements is winning the Haense Joust, saving Imperial forces from the brink of defeat by slaying five orcs during a battle in Curon, and saving the Arch-Chancellor, Edward Morris, from hostage takers, and again after he was shot at the Coronation of the king of Curon by a would-be assassin.

 

Ser Rozmeo 
of House Kastrovat
Known as ‘the Steadfast’
Brown Hair and Blue Eyes

 

 

 

 

Adopted to the Kastrovat name, his forlorn life as an orphan quickly turned to a life for adventure; exploring the realm of Atlas with his guardian Paxton Kastrovat, he’d acquire many trades along the journey. The untimely death of the old man forced Rozmeo to settle in Senntisten, where he enlisted into the King’s Renatian Legion at age fifteen.

 

Over the years he participated in numerous campaigns, his deeds brought him the distinguished title of Imperial Marshal. His most notable feats took place during the onslaught on the Red Vaeyl. Commanding the Carolus Brigade through the Yatl Wasteland and the Canyons of Serrimor, the Legion played crucial parts in the victories of the Siege of Lasthope and the Battle of Caer Baddyn, as well as obtaining key information in regards to the passage through the ice wall.

 

Alongside Ser Aldis Chase and an unknown White Vaeyl, he managed to slay Avendal, the Smoke Drake, in Caer Caedris -- dauntless bravery shown as he slid under the beast and slashed through its stomach.

 

A battle-hardened veteran, a witness to the emergence of the great Empire of Man, his remarkable years of service to the Crown manifests him as one with unwavering loyalty. 

 

 

Prince Vitus
of House Horen
Known as ‘the Trapper’

Black Hair and Grey Eyes

 

 

Little is known of Ser Vitus’s youth. Though in his late teenage years, he returned to the Empire and squired to Emperor Antonius. The squire soon became a knight and distinguished himself as one of the most clever men in the Empire, favored by the Emperor for his skill in deception and diplomacy.

 

It was not until the Sacking of Ves that the true ingenuity of Ser Vitus was shown. Rigging the entire Imperial Palace with traps, which allowed the Red Dragon’s to win a 15v40 without losing a single knight.

 

Ser Theobald 
of House d’Anpalais
Brown Hair and Grey Eyes

 

 

 

 

The second son of famed mercenary and Imperial Treasurer Henry Frederick, Theobald spent his formative years within the ranks of the Black Reiter Company where he acquired a talent for the hunting of wild beasts and outlaws. Returned to imperial service by the absence of his brother and his inheritance of the title of Prince of Beaufort, the Prince proved himself as an adept scribe and historian. A squire to the eccentric Ser Carlovac, Theobald collected three-dozen Orcish tusks, the pelt of a Kharajyr, and recited the history of the House of Horen to poetic metre to prove himself.

 

An Imperial partisan, the knight has repeatedly undertaken tasks in the service of the Emperor from hunting down dissident Horens to aiding with the capture of enemy leaders. He oversaw the execution of the Ithelanen captives taken in the raid on Alderyn which prefaced the city’s destruction and is a well-known lyrist.

 

 

“Weigh the fist that strikes men down And salutes the battle won.”

-Unknown Red Knight