Fighters and Knights

First and foremost the knight is a warrior, a professional and accomplished soldier. The behaviour expected of a knight is that of loyalty to and respect for superiors and the preservation of one’s personal honour. This is the starting point for the Codex of the knights. They are the minimum acceptable standards.

Loyalty is faithfulness, firmness in allegiance, and devotion.

Honour is the display of respect to others; it is having integrity; it is a fine and scrupulous sense of what is right. It is the keeping of one’s word and the performance of acts to one’s credit. To expand further, honour is about being upright, honest and pure. Honour can be lost within a moment’s hesitation; it is being true to oneself.

As you consider whether you are willing to follow the path of Knighthood consider the expectations of these first two personal qualities.

The role of the Knight of the Light Path is to spread goodwill among others, to encourage others to behave with decency towards each other and actively, by example, to resist the spread of darkness and evil. The qualities in the Knight that will enable him to achieve this goal follow. I have already stated that honour is one of the cornerstones of knightly behaviour. Being true to oneself needs further explanation. To help in this respect these qualities demonstrate the manner in which a Knight should be true. His choices should lead him along this course. The Knight of the Light Path should not be making choices that lead him away from this code.

Courtesy. This is a natural progression from respect and means behaving with common decency towards all folk, even those you may despise or be at war with. It is politeness, consideration and respectfulness.

Generosity. The Knight can help others and in doing so spread goodwill. The recognition that one has been helped can lead to the willingness to help others and therefore the Knight must be prepared to demonstrate this quality. Showering another fellow with gifts is not always generosity and can often hinder by encouraging reliance on such gifts. It is judicious aid, or a surprise present.

Humility. This means unpretentious activity, modesty. There is no need for the Knight of the Light Path to make a noise or a fuss and such activity is to be avoided. Actions speak louder than words and the Knight will behave accordingly.

Compassion. This is the understanding of the suffering of another together with sorrow and pity for it, and the desire to alleviate it.

Justice. Human nature means that we judge the acts of others. The Knight of the Light Path should refrain from passing judgment as a matter of course, yet it will be necessary in his daily dealings with others. When doing so the Knight of the Light Path must ensure that such judgments are fair, well-grounded and right.

Courage. For the Knight of the Light Path this is as much about courage in battle as it is for standing alone for the ones values and defending them to the end. If you cannot be true in the face of death or worse how can you expect others to follow your lead?

Spirituality. By this I mean the desire to attain and improve upon the personal goals you set yourself in your path. The desire to explore the fullest meanings of the qualities I have laid out.

Scribed by Sir Arlinn, Paladin of Indus, and Sir Hunthor, Paladin of Indus
Approved by Fighters' Guild Mistress Honest Chel in the year 181