Knight of the Realm

*"I shall protect this land until my last breath. It is my solemn duty, and I shall not fail."*

## Advanced

(KotG) Knights of the Realm are the backbone of the Bretonnian army and the most common members of its ruling elite. They have distinguished themselves in errantry and received a fief or a position in some other noble’s household. They are expected to honor and defend their lord, as well as the Realm. The knights described in Chapter Eight of Knights of the Grail are primarily Knights of the Realm.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Academic Knowledge (Genealogy/Heraldry or Religion), Academic Knowledge (Strategy/Tactics), Command, Dodge Blow, Perception, Ride, Secret Language (Battle Tongue), Speak Language (any two)

**Talents:** Specialist Weapon Group (Cavalry), Specialist Weapon Group (Two-handed), Strike Mighty Blow, Virtue of Knighthood (any one)

**Trappings:** Lance, Heavy Armour (Full Plate Armour), Shield, icon of the Lady of the Lake, Destrier with Saddle and Harness, Household Position with a Bretonnian Noble or Bretonnian Fief

### **Career Exits**

Captain, Courtier, Explorer, Faceless, Noble Lord, Politician, Questing Knight

**Note:** Characters who are not male Bretonnian nobles must pretend to be so in order to become Knights of the Realm.

## Arms and Armour of a Knight of the Realm

The knight wears a mail coat as his main defence, though solid schynbalds protect the shins and poleyns guard the knees. The elbow is protected by a simple couter, the disk design used here is primitive even by the standards of Bretonnian armour and, together with the studded leather vambraces worn on the forearm, suggests a poor knight. The coat extends to just above the knees and down the arms where it forms mail mittens. Beneath the mail is worn a vertically quilted padded coat.

A brigandine is worn over the mail. This is a canvas jacket lined with plates of metal or whalebone secured by rivets. The helm is attached by a chain to the mail coif beneath, to prevent loss in battle and, unusually for a Bretonnian knight, bears no crest. This man does not bear any aillettes, small shield-shaped bits of parchment or wood bearing his heraldry. Instead he wears many badges pinned to the ends of his belt or to the straps attached to the edge of his coif.

The knight carries a sword and a small flanged mace he might employ in preference against heavily armoured opponents. A boar commonly appears on the heraldries of knights from Artois in memory of Morthanok, a dangerous beast slain by a Lord of Artois to make the centrepiece of a feast for the Companions of Gilles the Uniter.

## Accusations Regarding the Anachronistic Quality of Bretonnian Wargear

Military experts in the Empire often remark on the fact that the Bretonnians persist in utilising wargear that other armed forces of the Old World relegated to museums centuries ago. Their armour is (by varying degrees) cumbersome, expensive, difficult to repair, and slow to produce in comparison to modern designs.

Many theories are proposed for this. Some remark on Bretonnia’s isolation from the dwarf holds of the World’s Edge Mountains (whose help was invaluable in developing the intricate plate armour and gunpowder weapons famously employed by the Empire’s armies), whilst others blame it on a complacent attitude that is supposedly intrinsic to the inhabitants of the kingdom. When pressed on the subject most Bretonnians are dismissive, claiming piety protects better than steel.