The Order of the Black Knights

## Creation

> *Jon: Make no mistake, In this order we help each other but at the end of the day, our main interest is our own personal benefit.*
>
>

> *Goren: And you've been planning this all year?*
>
>

> *Aegon: all year? Jon has planned this longer then that.*
>
>

Given our main source of the Order's creation is Goren Harlaw, we cant be certain of when the order was truly formed as Goren merely joined it and according to him he was never given a straight answer as to when it came about. Still he did join relatively early and before the Order reached a great deal of power, which is how he became a Senior Knight in the order. What we do know is that Jon Black had formed it to do his bidding, though given he was an agent for Haywin Darkspear it can be inferred that they were mostly an arm of Haywin's power especially since they gained there financial backing from House Darkspear which allowed them to be well paid and supplied, at the height of there power they were essentially a private army, skilled in guerilla warfare and played there role as the ones who carried out the legwork of Haywin's plans on the Mainlands.

## Plan 1: Operation Downfall

> *Aegon: You know I trust you but I have to know...why not just attack the King's forces from behind*
>
>

> *Jon: Cause then it can pin point it to us or at least that there is a traitor, tact is where we win. Focus on the Crown's supply lines and leave no one alive let the King rely on the land and see how much he likes Dorne.*
>
>

Jon had apparently done many things with his order that he mostly planned as 'training' for any real tasks, they had set up bases and pushed out regular bandits with there superior training and tactics. Finally Jon had brought his men in and made it clear his plan, he had been ordered to derail the Dornish campaign lead by King Daeron Brightflame and assure the capital didnt surrender, it was obvious why as Haywin had made no small matter of his love for his home given how he had done a lot to get into contact with the Dornish during his time as King but as for what his plan overall was Goren couldnt say, though Zelos Wilder, long time enemy of the order and Haywin himself, had offered a potential plan that he had hoped to force Daeron off so that Haywin acting as a bridge between the two Kingdoms could step in and arrange a peaceful bond like the one before with a promise of marriage maybe and Haywin himself setting things up so he's seen in a positive light in the aftermath who marries into one of the two families himself, with his ideal pick being a marriage to Rhaenys Brightflame who he had long earned for. If true it made sense he would need the campaign to fail to make daeron consider other options and for him to not be the one to do it directly as Daeron would just assume he could beat both the dornish and the Stepstones to assure victory. Though it was his plan Jon set out his idea and used his position in the City watch as a commander, which according to Goren gave them access to the city when needed as well as a good idea of the trading network of the town thanks to merchants that entered and exited the city, Jon had ramped up his crime in the city taking what he could and making sure everything that went wrong under the city walls was done by him and making the city fall. King's Landing was the heart of the 7 Kingdoms and it falling would hurt the morale of the Kingdom not to mention the campaign. Daeron would be a fool to try and keep going through the city if that happened, meanwhile Jon's men were attacking supply lines to try and starve out the campaign, while Daeron and men like James Lail could keep morale up with low supplies that and the fall of the city would be the one-two punch that put the war to an end in failure.

Aegon lead the raids while Jon kept some of his men in the city to do his bidding directly as though he raided some areas he couldnt be at all of them while still acting as the commander of the Gate. So instead he kept to himself and even staged a few attacks that he 'stopped' to maintain popularity in the city, as the trust in the Gold Cloaks went down, Jon soon became the only one treated favorably while the Commander of the entire City Watch Zelos was seen with the most disdain for his failure to do anything

## Plan 2: Operation Shattered Crown

> *Aegon: I'm the Grandmaster of the Order now, and it seems our employer already has something for us to do until our next big order.*
>
>

> *Ser Bard: Whats the Boss man want from us?*
>
>

> *Aegon: Simple...We kill Zelos Wilder*
>
>

## Aegon goes Rouge

> *Timmet: I..Im sorry your grace, we didnt know what his plan was until it was too late. We thought he was acting in your interest...*
>
>

> *Haywin: You thought him helping the man I specifically ordered to be killed 'in my interest'?*
>
>

## Darkspear Rebellion

> *Goren: Attacking supply lines and villages was easy, dont think attacking parties and armies will be anything like that.*
>
>

> *Yohn: I better be a landed knight for what were doing.*
>
>

## Official Members

* Jon Black: Founder of the Order and initial planner, preferred acting in the shadows. Executed on orders of Lord Privat Kalukho after his capture in King's Landing
* Aegon Jadefyre: The Dragon and second Grandmaster of the Order, he was the leader when the Order was first officially discovered as while he was Jon's equal as far as tactical skill he was less concerned with being a man of the shadows. Captured and later died in prison in Wild's Den.
* Ser Bard: The Banshee. Senior Knight in the order who became the Third Grandmaster after Aegon went rouge. He was the last Grandmaster who was killed in the Order's last stand killed by Rickard Greywinde.
* Ser Timmet: Ear-Eater. crazed Senior Knight who was known to be a brutal fighter. Killed by Zelos Wilder during the Darkspear Rebellion.
* Goren Harlaw: Bloody Scythe: Senior Knight and the sole survivor of the Order captured in the Rebellion and agreed to a lighter sentence for information on the Order and various other things.
* Yohn Redsteel: Razor. A Knight in the order who was alter made a senior Knight, a tactical man and skilled fighter who injured Lord Mallery, killed by Jory Redwater in single combat.
* Ser Jack: One Eye Knight in the Order, he was killed when the Order attacked the Wilder convoy when he was surprised by a knife by Seles Wilder and bled out in the aftermath.
* Ser Jason: Maiden's Woe. A Knight in the Order, known for his love of women. killed by an angered Redstar soldier who apparently pulled him off a women.
* Ser Hamilton: Yellowfish. A Knight of the Order and the youngest of the knights as well as the newest to the order. Killed by Marq Mallery while fleeing from a battle during the Rebellion

## Culture and Military

> *Code of Black: To always look out for one's own gain. To take what you want by any means. To never give mercy as youwill not be afforded any. Treat Children and Women as you would a man. To battle is a great pride even agaisnt the weak. Acheive all goals by any means*
>
>

Ser Goren's accounts of the bandit and there work match up with a lot f the assumptions and knowledge lords and knights of House Brightflame had learned in there hunt for them. Jon Black valued quality soldiers over quantity of numbers and thus while they weren't afraid to employ more men for certain jobs they maintained there best gear for there actual men. This allowed there forces to be well trained in warfare and capable of following orders, they were harder to break in battle then most men and understood the secrecy of there jobs to the point that they didnt give out information even when caught with Goren being the only noticeable exception, and by how own admission he only did so because there were 'few secrets left to protect'. The peak numbers came during the Rebellion when They had used there stolen money to attract a number of disgruntled broken men, bandits, sellswords and Hedge knights to fight for them and carry out Haywin's orders best, though this number only reached 3,500. Still it was an impressive number especially since they were capable of splitting off that number for other tasks and hitting an enemy that didnt expect such a tough opponent there and then scurrying off to one of there camps before they could struck in return. There skill and numbers meant that Jory Redwater spent the entire Rebellion hunting them down and thus keeping him from taking action against the Darkspears directly costing Bloodstone a vital strategist and army to the bloody battle that ensued.

From what we know of there culture the Order was a mix of anything the main knights believed in, it was difficult for any man to reach the cream of the crop but when they did 'you were treated like a lord' as the brothers in arm were given anything they required from King Darkspear and allowed to operate on there own schedule so long as they met a certain deadline by his demand, he didnt car how they did it either giving them plenty of wiggle room so long as nothing they did got back to him, which the fact that nothing did until they were betrayed speaks volumes for there efficiency. Under Jon Black there cultural dominance was mostly Dornish and the Code of Black was made, a rather crude code that embraced selfishness, brutal talent, and doing all you could to win, though when it came to each other the Selfish aspects seemed to have gone ignored as Goren admits he never flet closer to any man then when he was with them, it didnt stop him from selling them out in the end but he called it honoring his code one more time and he personally buried the bodies of his fallen brothers. When Aegon took control the group became more open and seemed to have accepted a more Valyrian tradition, seeing as by all accounts Aegon felt his forced marriage to many women to be legit and that his rape of them was merely his bedding rights, with no indication of mockery of said rights and true belief it was legal. And under Bard they took a middle approach, where in his mind everything was permitted so long as it didnt interrupt there mission.