Chivalric Order

Chivalric Orders are a type of corporate entity within Bastonia, established by royal charter, almost always in conjunction with the Bastonian Church or one of the various religious orders of the Great Saints. In comparison to those religious orders, a Chivalric Order is necessarily a paramilitary organization, usually beholden either directly to the Bastonian Monarch or to another royal or noble patron. Such orders necessarily have a headquarters from which they organize themselves and are in direct service The Almighty or one of the Great Saints, though the extent to which the religious component is empathized in the performance of their duties varies. These orders organize as standing paramilitary forces professionally, supplementing militia levees in times of war.

As military and chartered organizations, all Chivalric Orders have an associated blazon, and members of those orders are entitled to the use of that blazon if they have no proper arms of their own.

Some orders in the frontier are known collectively as Blackguards and serve, illegally and in rebellion, the Enemy or, more often, San Meteo. These orders are rare, weak, fractuous, and rely heavily on subterfuge to escape notice.

Some of the most noteworthy orders are:

• The Martial Order of San Lukas, known colloquially as the Knights of the Breach, are a highly martial order making up the core of those troops loyal to the Bastonian Monarch, who is often the leader of their order in accordance with the tradition that the Monarch can trace their heritage back to San Lukas. This order has a strong chaplaincy at its core and is home to a greater number of paladins by proportion to other classes of men-at-arms than any other order in the Kingdom. They are unsurprisingly headquartered in Whiterock.
• The Order of San Lauren is the principle of all worshipful companies of San Lauren and are a specialist organization of prairie and temperate-forest rangers in the southwest. Of all the chivalric orders they have the most mixed approval in Whiterock; while they are loyal to the monarch they rarely take direct orders and instead tend to act as they see fit.
• The Bavonian Order is one of many worshipful companies of San Lauren and are specialist alpine rangers headquartered in Highfall Lodge overlooking Boischateau in The North. They are more loyal than the Order of San Lauren, but their fealty is to the Duke of the North rather than the monarch.
• Though not meeting the stereotype for formality and operating in highly different conditions, the Companions of San Marino the Arcwhaler are a chivalric order operating from their charterhouse in Coldwater.