Knights of the Scar of the Sun is a sworn knightly order of Ardis Vala, about twelve hundred years old, based in the citadel of Sublevel 12 of the Mega-Dungeon. Its knights bear a scar that their undead master’s blood leaves on them on contact with the sun.
| Type | Order |
| Master | Malaquita |
| Spanish entry | Caballeros de la Cicatriz del Sol |
Description
A knight carries Gothic armor that feels like clothing, “as if lit”, rigid yet “fitting perfectly”; a banner; a red copper ring set with a rod of scarlet silver; and the scar. They move lightly despite their gear.
Origins
- In the founding myth, one of seven knights of demonic race (budishba), bitten by a mind vampire, refused the change and founded the order vowing “I will never be a vampire”.
- Other accounts say the vampire master “formed an order of ancient undead knights”, and his blood scars the sworn.
Their temple, over 1,200 years old, was built by the Archontian Empire.
The citadel
In Sublevel 12 they are one of the two strongest factions. The “gigantic” citadel has an immense white monolithic tower; in the refuge cavern the knights stand on a platform fifty feet up. It is fortress, temple and necropolis (two to three hundred tombs), with rest halls, concerts, combat spaces, training robots and resident demons.
Rule
- A vow of poverty in the Templar style; the oath is periodically renewed.
- Ranks, a candidacy or rank of Barlet, and men-at-arms (barletos) who escort knights and guard the castle.
- A consistory deliberates; initiatory circles release knowledge “about truths and lies” by degrees; a collective ritual lasts “a couple of hours”.
- They are called “the best tacticians and soldiers in the whole Mega Dungeon”.
Sun, Moon and Sword
The order once split into three, each with a master: Sun (a temporary grand master), Moon (the heir of the old master’s blood) and Sword. The Moon knights expect to “walk hard paths” the Sun may question.
Standing and fall
At the Forum of Set they are a faction of weight; the trolls respected them as “a force of balance”. In the arena they defeated ogres, manticores and a chimera, and “several died at once”. They keep vaults of valuable artifacts.
The Seekers claim to have “eradicated that race which was sadly already degenerate”.
Roster
Malaquita (Sir Malakita), vampire founder, heads the list, followed by Simunet, Cálculo, Silsoro, Simunor Sixto, Mendacity, Discord, Spess, Larel, Enius, Egemon, Hacel and Ben Brasse. Also named: Captain Tottenkopf; Sir Sixto, rescued from the mind slime; and Knight Circisto, lost in a place guarded by aliens.
Conflicting accounts
- Founded against vampirism, yet ruled by a vampire; no rupture or branching is recorded.
- Numbers: two to three hundred knights in the Holy Santón; fifteen including the master, twelve left after three or four died; fifteen before a massacre, “only eight survived”; a company of six (one woman, five men); “a dozen knights” plus barletos in the castle.
Open questions
- What a Barlet is; what the ritual and consistory do; what the “tower of the pula” is.
- Whether the Knights of the Land of the Sun (who brought the egg), “Solar Scar” and a “Scar of the night and the moon” are variants, branches or other orders.
- When the Seekers’ eradication fell relative to the split.
- The year 1027, given as a reference, fits no known calendar.