"The code and law are nothing more than chains. My only crime is rid myself of these burdens and to truly live free. So swing, slave of the truest tyrant, I have already won" (Last words of Knight of the Ram before being beheaded)
Knight of the Raven became the bandit king of the the Midland steppes before finally being brought down by a crusade 23 years after defecting.
Honorless riders are rogue members of the Armored Rider warrior class of Broken Kingdom nobility. They forsake their vows and often leave the lands of their birth in order to escape the King's justice.
It is not uncommon for dishonored riders of the Broken Kingdom that defect become rather successful bandits, often amassing small armies to their side and taking control of regions or roadways.
These rogues often defect due to having very few prospects for advancement outside of blind luck or impossible to reach standards of skill and strength.
- Rogue Riders are know to turn mercenary for less than reputable forces
- Some of these warriors will resort to any underhanded tactic to gain an advantage
World activities[]
"The bandits have gotten bolder, more organized, and worse of all traders tell tales of an armored demon leading them that can decapitate a horse in a single blow and has no fear" (Unclaimed farmer)
Honorless riders often times settle in lands far away from the easy reach of the Broken Kingdom to form small kingdoms of their own, often having no qualms conquering small villages or townships and dominating them by force. In some cases, these riders were invited to the area by the locals that needed assistance displacing a marauder lord or settling an inter township war. To this end when the conflict has been resolved, the Armored rider instead of taking the tales of victory and spoils back to their land, decide to stay and declare it theirs.
Each Honorless Rider is their own man and their reasons and behavior as varied as the men themselves are. What remains is that they are highly trained, dangerous men; some benign, some malevolent. The worst among them ploy their deadly skills to spread dread and subjugate others to their will without regard for the well being of their people.
Response from the Broken Kingdom and Truest King[]
- The Truest King often puts bounties on rogue riders. The standard bounty being that any Armored Rider returning with their head and armor earns a knighthood, with additional rewards in granted in the form of money or goods.
- Exceptionally dangerous rogues who have raised armies can earn multiple Riders their knighthood simply by working together to raise the forces necessary to deal with the outlaw.
- The occasional rogue who becomes dangerous enough and remains close enough to the kingdom may find themselves dealing with the Truest King himself, or rogues who have done something to earn a more personal enmity from the immortal (such as preaching against his godhood).
- Rogues who somehow manage to set themselves up a distance from the Kingdom, avoid earning the Truest's personal ire, avoid banditry, and in general live up to the Kingdom's ideals of leadership find themselves generally ignored and free to carry on.
Noteworthy Honorless Riders[]
The Knight of the Ram after a rather successful tenure as a brigand, drew together a number of roving bands into a moderately deadly army which heavily favored ambush tactics. Taking Woag into his numbers, he occupied a small island in the inland sea just north of the Broken Kingdom and wreaked havoc on trade in the area. Inspiring a number of Woag as well as Inisfallian warriors, he managed to eventually sneak his force into the heavily wooded independent kingdom to his north, effectively sieging the small capital city. His favored tactic to hide in the woods and massacre any natives he found, displaying their flayed corpses along the road as warnings against trying to leave. The atrocities grew so great that when word of it finally reached the Truest King a year later, he lead his personal guard north to deal with the problem himself.