Knighthood

"And what do knights swear to do? Protect the weak and uphold the good." ―Margaery of Grace.
A knight is a member of a warrior tradition that is heavily interwoven in the feudal culture of the lands, and influenced majorly by the Faith of the Six. Knighthood is a rank and honor given to warriors who perform exemplary service for a lord or the realm in the Land from Stern Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and all the way to the Southern Ocean. Knights occupy a social standing between that of lords and commoners. In contrast to nobility, this rank is not hereditary. Knights are referred to with the title "Ser" (if male) or "Dame" (if female, though very rare) though they may be superseded by other titles such as "lord", "prince" or "king".
Knights are religiously influenced by a "Code of Chivalry and Honor". This code states that knights must defend the weak and the innocent, must protect women and children, must fight fairly and honorably, and obey their lieges. How closely a knight follows this code varies immensely from individual to individual. It is difficult to obey one law while trying to uphold the other.
== Origins ==
: "Ah, a knight. They strut around like roosters down here. Even the ones who have never seen an arrow coming their way."
: ―Sirius Rampant, a Roman, criticizing knights.
Knighthood originated in Old Talmerian and Andal culture, and was introduced to the Balkan States, Sternlands, Summer Islands, Iron Islands, Gulf States, etc, all that lies between the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Stern Ocean. During the First Talmerian Invasion three thousand years ago, followed by the Andal Invasion six hundred years ago, knighthood became intimately tied first to the Old Testament and later the Faith of the Six, and the ideal of knighthood is to be not only an honorable warrior but a devout follower of the Six. And with any knight, honorable conduct and level of piety varies from person to person.
The Faith of the Six is the dominant religion in all but three of the kingdoms of Sternlands: the Northland (whose inhabitants still worships the Old Gods of the Forest and the Descendants of Nero), the Iron Islands (who follow their God of Old, the Drowned God), and the Southern States (who worship the Supreme Gods and Goddesses of Isildur). There are some who practice yet another God of Old, and guided by His High Priests and Priestesses, popularly called the "Descendants of Isildur". The institution of knighthood is therefore not heavily practiced in these three regions, and very few inhabitants of the regions ever choose to become knights, even if they are renowned warriors. For example, Lord Cerwyn himself was not a knight, because he proudly continued to worship the Old Gods of his ancestors, yet he was still a great warrior. Sometimes, however, a soldier who does not follow the Faith of the Six may nonetheless be rewarded for exemplary service with the title of knighthood by a lord who does worship the Six. Examples are Ser Donothor of Grace and Ser Jason Mallister, both of the Northland.
Because it is tied to the Faith of the Six, knighthood does not exist in other cultures outside of the Sternlands and Balkan States, either among the Southerners, nor across the Blue Seas beside the Balkan States, in other continents such as the Summer Islands or the Gulf States, (though of course, a knight from the Nine Kingdoms may travel to the regions. In rare cases, men are exiled to the Summer Islands, a land of wine, pleasure, and freedom).
== Becoming A Knight ==
: "Honor, glory...lies to make idiot boys want knighthood and idiot girls spread their legs for it. Let me tell you what makes a knight: killing. Either enough men, or the right man."
: ―Allister Crowe.
Typically, young men must undergo many years of extensive and expensive training to become a knight. A young knight-in-training is known as a "squire".
Pursuing a knighthood is one of the few ways for a member of the commoners to achieve rank and standing amongst the nobility. However, such a task usually involves the expenditure of significant sums of money on armor and weaponry which puts it out of the reach of most commoners. Two of the known lesser kingdoms, such as Westernlands and Greenlands is notable for its military and naval academies of warfare, which offer scholarship and companionship for lesser nobility, knightly families, and the commoners to earn a place in society. The rank of knighthood is not hereditary, and thus a knight's sons must go through the whole process of becoming knights themselves. Of course, a commoner who has been knighted will have greater opportunity to gain the wealth needed to put his sons through training as knights.
It is not unheard of, however, for commoners to be knighted after significantly distinguishing themselves in combat. This skips the typically large costs of training to be a knight, though it happens more often in wartime. During the Royal Rebellions, various sailors, ship captains, merchants, sellswords, pirates, and sellsails, etc. have been rewarded for saving notable lives, helping in maritime or land warfare, aiding in siege campaigns, etc. One's cleverness can also find themselves in knighthood as our few among various notable statesmen, Allister Crowe, Albus Seaborn, Morgan of Fork, and Yann Fleetway.
Even a common sellsword that has fought valiantly in combat may be rewarded by being dubbed a knight, though this occurs infrequently. For example, Ser Franco of Yellowbrook was knighted after the Battle of the Yellowbrook for his vital role he played in fleeing the invading mercenary army to their attack on Page, and saving the life of Lord of Page's daughter.
== Type of Knights ==
In theory, all knights hold an equal rank, but in practice knights who own their own lands or who serve major lords are much more highly respected than a landless commoner who happened to be knighted after fighting valiantly in a battle. It is also seen as more prestigious to be knighted by a king, a major lord, a Crownsguard, or another highly respected knight. Any knight can theoretically make another man a knight if he is willing to say the vows, though respectable knights would not hand out the title lightly. A sellsword might get knighted for fighting well in a battle, and he might dishonorably knight all of his drinking companions who did nothing to earn it. They would technically hold the title of "knight", but no one would take their title seriously due to the low prestige of how they became knighted.
Most often, young men who have finished their training and just recently been knighted are landless and not in the service of any lord. There are three stages of service that knights hope to work their way up through:
* Hedge Knights are typically commoners who have risen to knighthood. They have no fixed abode and wander the lands looking for a cause to fight for. They are disparagingly called "hedge" knights because it is said that they are so poor that they just sleep under hedges by the side of the road as they wander from one prospective employer to the next. They frequently travel around to different tourneys to show off their prowess, in the hope that a lord in attendance will then hire them; many lords do use tourneys as recruiting grounds, though how well an individual hedge knight performs is up to him. Many consider hedge knights to be not much better than sellswords.
* Sworn Swords are knights sworn to a particular lord. Sometimes this is permanent as payment of debt, but mainly it is temporary, with hedge knights joining a lord for a particular purpose and then being released from his service afterwards.
* Landed Knights are knights who have been rewarded for their service by a lord or by the crown with land, typically a small-holding, a large farm or a small manor with servants. They can go on to form knightly nobility and page houses of the Nine Kingdoms. Successful landed knights who expand their holdings or continue to perform exemplary service for their liege may be raised to the rank of "Lord" in time, gaining the right to dispense justice on his lands (including executions) without consulting a higher lord.
== Practices ==
Knights often formally swear fealty to lords by exchanging formulaic vows. In one commonly used formula, the knight kneels before a lord in supplication while holding up his sword in offering, and they give the following exchange:
: Knight: "I offer my services [Lord's name]. I will shield your back and keep your counsel and give my life for yours if need be. I swear it by the Old Gods and the New."
: Lord: "And I vow that you shall always have a place by my hearth, and meat and mead at my table. And I pledge to ask no service of you that might bring you dishonor. I swear it by the Old Gods and the New. Arise."
Men who have been knighted, even those not originally from noble Houses, gain the legal right to display their own personal heraldry.
Words spoken during knighthood by a knight, lord, or king:
"Kneel, [name]. In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just. In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the innocent. Arise, [name], a knight of the Six Kingdoms."