Gravenknights

"It is always possible the records are incomplete."

- Proverb of the Azurejays, Scholar-Knights of San Sylvester

This article is incomplete and will require additional work.

The Gravenknights are a type of large, undead aberrations, of middling intelligence which can be found in Graven Keep. As one of the Gravenlings, they are a species believed to have been created at, and exclusively found within, Graven Keep, during a disasterous experiment by Kerr Ultwin in the early first century of the Age of the Summer of Mortals. As their name implies, the Gravenknights can be thought of as the combatant-elites of the keep, and are rarely seen outside of it, owing to their impressive bulk and relative lack of mobility. They serve chiefly as a form of biological counter-siege engine.

Appearance

Unlike the more varied Graven Wardens, Gravenknights have remarkably similar body-plans to one another, and show little to no variation over time. They have a body that can be thought of in two parts: a rotund, radially symmetrical "base" with seven stocky legs, and a corpulent upper body, vaguely humanoid, with two muscular arms. This "torso" has a front plane, defined by the position of a heavy-lidded eye on either "shoulder", and is topped with a round mouth of sorts. The arms are terminated in large, three-segmented claws, which can be used for bludgeoning or gripping. The lower body and arms are protected with plates of dark-blue chitin; the "torso" of the creature is a fleshy pink mass of soft tissue, protected chiefly by its bulk.

Ecology

Graven Knights are thoroughly unintelligent, much like most Graven Wardens and Keeprats, and are thoroughly dependent on orders from Judges of the Change. Left to their own devices, unless attacked, they will settle in a single place and become dormant, sometimes appearing even as though they are dead, since they have no respiratory process (and no conception of personal hygiene). A Gravenknight without a cause can survive resting in place in this fashion for decades or centuries at a time.

In spite of their apparent lack of a need for food or drink, they also appear to be carrion creatures. After battles, they can be observed to pick through the wreckage, consuming the dead and dying of their enemies and former comrades alike, and in this state they can reach up to double their original volume and many times their original weight. In spite of their destructive potential (and clear presence of some ability to reproduce them) there are rarely more than a half-dozen in existence at any one time.

"It is neither wise nor desirable to attempt to know everything."

- Excerpt of the Handbook of the Angharite Janissaries

This article contains optional lore or worldbuilding that may or may not be true at the discretion of your Dungeon Master.

While the original six Gravenknights were destroyed, Kerr Ultwin and the Judges of the Change are able to use their dark magics and other creations in the bowels of Graven Keep to create more from Graven Warden Captains. While this process takes years to undergo the isolated nature of the Keep and the limited interest in outsiders in attempting to take it means there are almost always six such creatures mature and ready for usage as needed.

Origins

The original six Gravenknights were the contingent sworn to the service of then-Lord Kerr Ultwin, all of whom were present at Graven Keep in 50 ASM when he conducted the thaumaturgic ritual that resulted in the Keep's present state. Like the Graven Wardens, Gravenknights were twisted by thaumaturgy into undead charicatures of true knights, and further twisted by later magics into mindless servants of their fallen master's surviving will.

Abilities

Gravenknights possess little to no capability to reason beyond that needed to navigate a battlefield, and will invariably target the largest, nearest opponent first. They are capable of following the direct orders of a Judge of the Change, and are usually doing so when encountered. Their abilities are entirely physical, and mostly have to do with using their great bulk to their advantage.

In Relation To Others

Gravenknights are hostility incarnate, but lazy. This combined nature means they are rarely seen, and even more rarely believed in, outside of Graven Keep. Typically, they are only called upon to leave the Keep if the keep has recently been attacked by mortal adventurers and the Judges of the Change are making themselves felt.