THE ORDER OF THE TWELVE

(a summary of the known history of this secretive class)

Thousands of years ago, farther back than anyone’s records go, there were twelve men dedicated to preserving a dying heritage of honor, loyalty, valor and prestige.  These twelve men committed their lives to this preservation, and through self-sacrifice and extreme discipline, formed an organization known simply as The Order of the Twelve.  Each adopted a color guard for his own, and through this union they established a community of close-knit fellowship and watch care.  These men and their chosen color guard were Alabar (Maroon), Constant (Grey), Tharnala (Black), d’Nucian (White), Scarphon (Forest), Eklestre (Navy), Arccogh (Violet), Druskat (Auburn), Khalh (Silver), Zhentarim (Gold), Klavinaugh (Maize), and Kruusta (Sienna).

Through dedicated training and a strict adherence to all things lawful and orderly, these twelve men were able to develop unique extraordinary and supernatural abilities.  Under the supervision of an arch-wizard (this part is presumed; some have also theorized that a demigod was involved; speculation yet abounds), they also crafted heirloom swords of amazing quality and containing power approaching that of an artifact.  They called themselves Darknights, and began what has become the longest-lived tradition of the rarest of monkish orders, the most feared and respected order of men who ever walked the lands of Oerth.  By combining the strength and battle prowess of warriors (with specialization in martial arts), the agility and disciplined dedication of monks, and the cunning craftiness and infiltration skills of rogues, they became twelve rulers of their lands, and eventually spread to influence nearly the entire known world.

In time, their power grew great, and as they advanced in years, they trained their posterity to follow after them.  Each man had a son who met the stringent qualifications of the Order, and the heirloom sword was passed on to the heir when his father had died.  Died is used in the loosest sense, for by the end of their lives, each of the twelve men had attained a form of immortality in their person through their arduous training and self-discipline.  It is said that as they passed into the afterlife, they each in their turn received a mountainous parcel of land somewhere on the cogs of Mechanus and were granted the status of demigod.  From their own land, they watched on as their progeny continued the tradition of the darknights.

There are always twelve darknights.  Three times in history (that we know of), one of the descendents of the original twelve has despised the Code of his Order and come under an ultimatum from his Over-father.  Over 700 years ago, Trudella, a young woman of the Maroon Order became fascinated with torture, and succumbed to the gruesome practice of skinning her captives alive.  She was approached by the darknights of the Navy and Grey Orders, who delivered the ultimatum in person: forsake all your past wrongs, making them wholly right, or forsake your entire lineage.  She pulled her katana, and the first Ancestral Battle began.  Summoning all the power of a hundred generations of Maroon ancestors, Trudella grew in height and stature to a fearsome size, and would have destroyed the other two had they not also immediately called upon their ancestors for support.  In a nearly instant cataclysmic display of raw power and energy, the battle was over and Trudella lay broken in pieces where she had once stood.  The mountain land of Alabar crumbled to dust as the other Eleven judged his progeny’s entire lineage.  Alabar appeared on the spot and took up the sword she had wielded, commanding the two victors to return to their homeland immediately.  Days later, another descendent son of Alabar was chosen for training, and within six months he received the Maroon katana and began anew the mountain land of his patron Over-father.

Approximately 300 years later, this scene closely repeated when Attahla, the darknight of the Navy Order, began assassinating dignitaries in a neighboring country under the ruse of rooting out persons unfriendly to his Order.  In like manner, he was approached by the Maize darknight and destroyed when he refused to amend his ways.  Now recently, Aizhan, a darknight of the Black Order infiltrated a city to establish himself the supreme ruler there, forming compacts with demons and killing off hundreds of innocent people.  He received his challenge from Malachi of the Auburn Order, and was destroyed.  In each case, the entire ancestral mountain, hundreds or thousands of generations’ worth of lineage, and a part of the spirit of the Order was destroyed along with the offender.  But as it must be, there are always twelve.  Though the Black Order is now nearly impotent, Tharnala has already chosen another of his descendents--Scion of Sunndi--to replace Aizhan, beginning anew his sacred mountain and preserving the Black Order’s place among the Twelve.

The twelve living darknights are scattered across the globe, but are often called upon to help each other in a particular cause.  Sometimes their paths will cross “coincidentally,” but more often they are given a charge from their Order.  The Darknight acts independently according to his understanding of his Order, but also interacts with the others, aiding their progress toward ascension, or checking a path gone astray.  To be approached by a fellow darknight is always an omen, either for good or for ill.