Hello, and good morning to you all. I see Master Ela is driving you hard? Good; good work Ser. Many of you know me already as Ser Romanos, Grandmaster of the Order of the Violet. From this day until your training is completed, I am to be your chief trainer alongside Master Ela here.

Here's how we start. I take it you're all fans of jousting, of charging at your opponent with lance in hand atop your steed? Yes?

Well, forget it. You won't be learning how to joust here.

Yes, I know jousting is seen as a knight's sport and an honourable pastime. No, you will not be learning to joust over the course of your education. You will practice charges with your comrades, but you will not be jousting. Times are changing, and across most of the world knights have been unwilling to change with them. Not here. You'll learn to fight, to kill, and to win. You will learn to do so honourably where possible, but you will learn to kill nonetheless.

Of course, there are other aspects to your education. Your other tutors will see to them. In my classes, your mind should be focused on nothing more and nothing less than learning how to kill the man who's trying to kill you and your comrades. The increase in numbers and versatility in battle for the armsmen as a fighting force across these last few decades means that now, more than ever before, we need to prove that there is still worth in being a knight.

See, when the Black Grave first rolled around in eight-hundred and twenty, it killed off a goodly number of knights across the continent since they were gathered in large war camps in preparation for a crusade against the Al-Alema. When they died en-masse, lords and kings needed a way to regrow the ranks of professionals in their armies. They turned to the previously small detachments known as armsmen.

When the kings and lords realised how effective they could be it was the first time people like us had any competition. We hadn't changed in nine centuries, but we will now. That's why I'm not going to be teaching you about courtly love and chivalry, nor will I teach you how to sit pretty in a saddle and ride at your friends until one of you falls off your horse. I'm going to teach you how to be a soldier. I'm going to teach you discipline without stifling your free thought. I'm going to teach you how to follow orders whilst still being able to act in the moment and respond to developing situations. I'm going to teach you to fight not for glory or for gold, but because that is what is expected of you. I'm going to mould you into the greatest force of heavy cavalry this world has ever seen, because despite the prowess of the armsmen on foot it is the knight who rules the field from horseback. That is what you will become.

You will learn to emulate the stamina of Ser Titos, the Enduring. You will strive to reach the same prowess with your sword as Ser Dimitrios, the Ashen Lion. Most of all, you will learn to give yourself fully over to your duty, just as the Wandering Fox did centuries ago. Ser Akakios is the most important of our forebearers that you must learn from, for when the Wandering Fox heard duty's call he would never leave it unanswered. That is the most important part of being a knight.

Such tasks and standards may seem daunting, and they are. Luckily, the knight has a series of tools to help him throughout his endeavours. Your arms and armour will be your truest allies across your decades of fighting, so make sure you treat them well; you will clean them and see to their maintenance just as a priest might see to his flock, or a healer might see to the sick. You will do this because, as you may have guessed, when they falter so to will you. A knight must ensure that the tools with which he plies his trade are always kept in pristine quality; weapons, armour, barding, shields, your horse, all of it must be maintained to a high standard of quality.

By the time you are initiated into our ranks you'll understand that fact very well.

Let's start with armour. The armour you squires are wearing as of right now will consist of a gambeson and a full suit of mail. I know some of you will be disappointed that you won't be given a full set of plate right away, but this is an important intermediary step. You need to learn to keep your mail and gambeson well maintained before the task of doing the same for plate is thrust upon you. Besides, the mail you'll be wearing is already better protection than the vast majority of men fighting on the battlefield will have.

As squire bands it will be your job to act as both a reserve for your seniors and also a solid group of light cavalry. You will be expected to ride down the fleeing foe and give chase to withdrawing sections of the enemy force. Mail armour will be more than enough for that.

First of all, let's talk about the most simple part of your armour: the gambeson. The gambeson is, strangely enough, one of the most important parts of your armour. It won't stop arrows or a sword in the hands of a skilled opponent, no, but what it will do is dampen any blows you take. Getting hit with a weapon bloody hurts, and whilst most of you probably think that's obvious you don't realise just what that entails; your body might freeze up, you might find yourself paralysed for a moment, vulnerable to further attacks. A solid blow might even mean that you're permanently unable to fight, be that through death or grievous injury. The gambeson helps stop that. With a gambeson on, the impact you feel will be heavily dulled. It'll still be there, and it'll still hurt like hell, but it should help you keep yourself on your feet. It should stop you from freezing up, or from crying out. A good gambeson is a good start to keeping yourself alive in battle.

Next we have your chain. You'll be looking to maintain a hauberk as well as a chain coif, not to mention the mitons on your hands and chausses on your legs. That's the majority of mail anyway. It won't stop repeated impacts with high force, nor one particularly skilful stab with a sharp weapon, but it will certainly give you a much greater chance of survival where fighting relatively untrained levies is concerned, since many of their weapons will be improvised things or family heirlooms, usually iron instead of steel. Since most of the men and women you'll be fighting will be bandits and outlaws armed with such weapons you shouldn't need to worry about lacking plate too much.

There's a misconception that plate is heavy and constricting, but that couldn't be more wrong. See, a good coat of plate armour shouldn't obstruct your movement at all. A lot of people see how big and bulky it looks and assume that such armour must be unwieldy or overly heavy, but that couldn't be further from the truth! In reality a well-made suit of plate armour should feel as natural to wear as your underclothes, and should never weigh any more than twenty-five kilograms, and that's at the very most. It's not perfect and there certainly are things that can penetrate it, but as far as armour goes plate is the best of the best.

So, when you're going in to battle you'll be wearing a gambeson, a suit of mail, and a coat of plate. If there's anything that'll keep you alive, it'll be that. Not every suit of plate is the same however, and there is one that I know is so different from regular plate it may as well be counted as its own thing. I'm talking, of course, about the armour worn by the Order of the Bloody Cross.

The armour worn by this order is the exception to the rule where plate is concerned. It's big, it's bulky, and it's bloody heavy. This is because it's ridiculously thick when compared to standard plate. The protectiveness it affords in battle is second to none, but as you might imagine this comes with a few major downsides: chiefly, you're going to struggle with any attempt to ford rivers or fight in sodden fields. I know that goes for all plate armour, but it's especially true with their dark plate. Second, there's the weather to worry about. Wearing all that armour is damn stifling at times, so if and when they go on crusade they're more likely to be cooked in their armour than they are to die in battle. The scorching summer sun in Ibaenea look upon men in such garb and smiles wickedly, for it knows that soon they will either have to abandon their armour or fall prey to it's gaze.

This also means, as you might guess, that they're incapable of fighting on horseback. Even the mightiest draft horse would struggle to support a man and his armour that weighs that much, especially since the horse would likely have to be barded as well since the knight would be riding it into battle.

There are other types of armour to take note of as well, though admittedly you'll not be using them yourselves. Boiled leather is one such type, more common than chain and commonly used by sellswords who can't afford anything better. Town watches and local militia garrisons usually have a few of these as well, but it's still generally above what common levies can afford. Still, it's lightweight and relatively tough, so there's good reason that it's one of the most common forms of armour amongst the lower classes.

Apart from boiled leather there's also scale armour and heavy chain. Scale armour consists of many small metal disks sewn over cloth or leather in an overlapping pattern, having a hypothetically similar rate of protection to mail. Still, the fact that it tends to see use in the conscripted armies of Dathan means that there's little chance of you facing against them. We'd need to have marched the length of the continent for that.

Finally there's heavy chain. Heavy chain bears similarity to both mail and scale armour, consisting of either thicker mail ringlets or multiple layers of ringlets instead of the one layer like we wear. On top of that some suits of heavy chain even have small scales laid over the top of the outermost layer of mail, meaning the wearer is effectively wearing three layers of thin armour in some cases. They tend to be surprisingly well made for Scelopyrene craftsmen, made all the more surprising for the fact that the northmen aren't exactly renowned for their smiths. That's about the only place in the world I know of that makes and dons such armour, and even then it is only for their warrior elites. It's too expensive for anyone outside of their huscarls to afford it.

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Then again these are northmen we're talking about; it's more likely they get their hands on a suit by killing the last owner and taking it as the spoils of war.

That's about all you'll need to know about the types of armour you'll come into contact with, at least for the moment. You'll get far more intimate with some of the types mentioned above over the coming years, but for now that's all I'll need to tell you.

Next I'm going to talk about your shield. Yes, I know, some of you won't be using a shield. I'm still going to go over it just in case, and for the benefit of those who will be using one. There are two main types of shield in Klironomea: the first is the roundshield, and the second the kiteshield.

The roundshield is what many of you will practice using until you get a feel for the weight of it on your arm, for how it can obstruct your movements and slow you down. When you've got the hang of that, then you'll move on to using the kiteshield. The roundshield is probably the most common, being used by levies and sellswords all across Klironomea. It is, as the name implies, just a common round shield consisting of a wooden body with a metal rim and boss, which are usually made of iron. You might find some that have been made with steel, but those are few and far between. These shields are normally made in military camps and in village smithies or carpenter's shops, so they're a relatively cheap bit of kit that will help the common levy keep himself alive a little bit longer. You're all made of sterner stuff than that, though. You'll be wanting kiteshields.

The kiteshield is larger than the roundshield, and takes the shape of... well, a kite. An almost oval-like shape of good, treated wood, backed with leather and with a steel rim and boss. I don't use one personally, but it's an excellent bit of kit for a knight to use. Armsmen don't go in much for shields, since they tend towards using polearms instead, but if you're using a greatsword then there's little harm in taking one of these alongside it.

Speaking of the armsmen, let's talk about one of their weapons; the billhook is a very deadly weapon, and woe betide any of you foolish enough to deride it for looking like a farming implement. It's a dangerous thing, a blade of sharp edges and points set at the end of a good oaken pole the height of a man, it can outreach most weapons they come up against, and have methods for fighting a man armed with any other kind of melee weapon you can think of. They're good weapons, and I want to put to rest any rumours or jokes about them being ineffective or 'peasant-like'. Those jokes all too quickly turn to disdain, and disdain to carelessness. They can still kill you, and you need to remember it.

Why? Because they're some of the only weapons that will be forged as good as yours are, and wielded by some of the only men who will have trained as long as you have. It's as simple as that.

Now, the main weapon's in a knights arsenal are the greatsword and the longsword. The greatsword is an excellent weapon, able to be wielded in one or both hands, and with a versatile number of styles at the user's beck and call. The handle tends to be about twenty-five centimetres long, and a blade that rests at eighty. Larger than that are the longswords, who's handles tend to rest at forty centimetres long and their blades at somewhere around a hundred and twenty. The longsword tends to be wielded two-handed, for obvious reasons, but there are those who can wield such mighty weapons in one hand. Lord Drytos Brathaxe for a start, as well as his ward the young Prince Lykourgos. Marshal Crowe is also able to fight one-handed with such a great weapon, though you can see what I mean by it normally being two-handed; these people are the exception, not the rule. Most of those who can wield such large weapons in one hand have been training to do so since they could walk. By all means, attempt to learn swordplay with such a weapon in one hand as much as you'd like! If you succeed, you'll be a damned fine soldier indeed.

There is one other weapon that will be of use for you. It isn't a sword, no. It's a greatpike.

The greatpike is the senior weapon amongst the order. Its use is reserved for those true violet knights who have proven themselves to be both loyal and capable both in combat and in peace. It is a weapon that will seem unwieldy at first, especially to those amongst your number who have only ever held a sword in your hands, but rest assured that once you learn your way around it there's little it can't do. Standing at around eighteen tenths of a metre long it dwarfs even the longsword in terms of size, and is designed for use both in the saddle and on foot in formation. In truth it resembles a halberd more than a pike, having both a point and longer bladed edge along the side, but one thing that tends to be forgotten is the spike on the base, perfect for a return stroke after you've swung the weapon around.

Now, to move on to a point of much confusion, most of the world measures their swords the other way around. No, I don't mean they measure from tip to point instead of point to tip, I mean they call our Greatswords 'Long Swords' and our Longswords 'Great Swords'. It can be rather confusing, but you can't expect the entire world to call something by the same name. If it's said as one word, it uses the Klironomean classifications. If it's said as two words, it uses the non-Klironomean classification system. Relatively simple, right?

Tildans are also fond of what they call the 'Bastard Swords', so named for being halfway between the length of Long Sword and a Great Sword. They're good weapons, especially for battle, but I find them a little too... I'm uncertain as to the right word, but 'showy' is as close as I can think of. They're usually for fighters that want to stand out and seem different, though without going to the lengths of abandoning their beloved swords.

Speaking of swords, I'll quickly bring up a few other blades you may be facing in the field. Those of you who have grown up in the countryside and outside of castles- I see a few snickering faces, and I'll be the first to tell you not to laugh. The status of a man's birth doesn't matter, not when he's got a sword to your throat. Sorry, where was I? Yes, thank you, the other blades. Those of you who grew up in the countryside and outside of a castle will no doubt recognise the name of the longseaxe. It's a good weapon, if often poorly made, and they can be found in the hands of levies from Anaria all the way to the Drakefyre Wastes. It's basically a short sword, made more for stabbing than slashing. Less common are the seaxe and the greatseaxe.

The seaxe is the weapon from which the longseaxe was born. Traditionally it was worn by the Skraelings as a dagger at the belt, though when the Klironomoi came back to Klironomea they found it wasn't long enough to best the knights they were fighting, and so the longseaxe has sort of replaced it as the sword of the Skraelings and Low-Klironomeans. The greatseaxe on the other hand is in its peak at the moment, being the principle sword of sellsword companies and outlaw bands the world over. Being about the same size as the weapon you'll be learning to use as squires, the knightly sword, it's somewhat shorter than the greatsword, but still longer than the longseaxe. Yes, there's a lot of weapons to try and remember. Don't worry, by the time you face them in the field for real you'll know them all off by heart, as well as how best to combat their use.

Greatseaxes are excellent weapons, though admittedly novice sellswords don't tend to be the best at maintenance leading to them growing dull or rusty. Now, don't take that to mean sellswords are easy to beat in a fight, because believe me, they're not. Most sellswords aren't much good and as such die early in their careers, but once they've seen a battle or two they'll have learned more than you will in a year of these classes. They'll keep their equipment well maintained, they'll drill in fighting techniques every day, they'll practice battle drills with their comrades constantly. They'll do all of this, but they'll still lack honour when you fight them. Why?

Because they can make themselves be ruthless. They don't care about honour, or fighting fair. At the end of the day a sellsword fights for coin, but more than that they're fighting for their life. If you fought one of them now you'd probably have your head full of faetale nonsense, like the idea that he'll stop what he's doing if you yield and take you prisoner with your honour and dignity intact.

The sellsword will not.

The best sellswords see every fight as a fight to the death, because in this age that's what they are. If you try and surrender, try and yield, then he'll take that opportunity to strike you down wherever you kneel so that he can move on to the next opponent. This is because the sellsword fights on the battlefield, not the tourney ground. There will be no bell rang to signal the end of a bout, no-one rushing over to make sure both of the fighters are okay. The battlefield is a cruel place, and unless you can make yourself be just as cruel then you'll be fighting a lost battle.

You'll probably come across a variety of axes in your time as a soldier. As a knight. Most common will be just a standard one-handed axe and the two-handed greataxe, both typically used by sellswords once more. They're good weapons, especially against those wearing light armour, but so long as you keep your mail maintained and your gambeson stitched up you should be alright. Try not to get hit if you can help it though; they're still bladed weapons, and bladed weapons damn well hurt.

The only other weapon that sees a lot of use in Klironomea is the hammer. These might range in size from a builder's hammer wielded by a fanatical church-militiaman, all the way up to a mighty warhammer hefted by one of your knightly brothers. These weapons are some of the most dangerous to a knight, for they're specialised in killing despite armour. This is where your chain and gambeson really come in handy, for though they will not render you untouched by such weapons they will, at the very least, see the shock of the impact mostly absorbed and dispersed. It'll still hurt, don't mistake my words, but it'll at least not be debilitating. I believe I mentioned this, or something similar, earlier whilst talking to you about your amour.

Now, for the final weapons you need to be wary and take note of. Ranged weapons.

To this day the most common ranged weapon amongst all Klironomeans, and most of the people of the world for that matter, is the javelin. Most levies carry a couple with them into combat, for they provide an excellent bit of stopping power and the capability to soften up enemy lines before a charge, or to soften up a charging enemy before they get amongst you for that matter. Javelins aren't something you need to worry too much about; keep yourself moving fast on your horse and, if you've got a shield, make sure to keep it ready. Javelins may not seem scary to a man in full plate on horseback, and if you were fighting one man with such a weapon then I would agree, it wouldn't be scary.

But you won't ever be fighting just one levy.

Any man that calls a javelin a useless or outdated weapon has never had to charge across a field where hundreds are being thrown. They're still dangerous, no matter what those of you whose fathers and mothers were lords and ladies may have told you; peasant weapons can kill just as easily as knightly ones.

Now as knights you won't be seeing much, if any, ranged combat. Shortbows are used by poachers and peasants, longbows by armsmen and sellswords, and crossbows are used by... well, anyone who can get their hands on one, mostly Tildans and Dathanians. The knights of the Order of the Hanged Martyr do use bows extensively however, their mighty huntsbows felling the foe from a great distance with great power. Seeing as none of you are applying for that... strange order, you don't need to worry about all of them. You'll be mostly protected in your armour from shortbows, but longbows and crossbows will still give you some trouble. Use your shield if you have one, and keep your wits about you where bowmen are concerned regardless of whether you have one or not. There's no honour in death by arrow or bolt.

That's enough talking for now. Master Ela, please show our prospective new squires to the training grounds. I want to see what they're all made of.