Retrograde Revision 6: Order of the Cockatrice
(photography by Tarotshama on DeviantArt)
Culturally, western civilization loves a knight in shining armor, supposed paragons of honor and chivalry in all it’s forms.
The sad reality, as is often the case is that your average actual knight was the furthest thing imaginable to honorable in action or deed, and certainly unworthy of the esoteric definitions of “nobility” beyond “owns some land”.
Bullies, braggarts, and self-important blowhards that ran around brutalizing peasants because they could, their supposed greatness an excuse for these activities rather than an idea to aspire to. Such figures often acted (and within their own domains often were) above the law, with only the greater authority of a bigger fish like a lord or king actually bringing them to heel to actually do the job implied by “own horse, trained in combat”.
Now, to be perfectly fair, there absolutely were some knights that at least tried to live up to the ideals they were romanticized around, but today’s subject… is not about those. Instead, it’s about these assholes.
Now, whether these characters are actual knights or just cavalrymen or horse-trained mercenaries, the order of the cockatrice firmly believe that the only point of riding a horse and wearing a banner is to seek personal glory, recognition, and of course pay for all of their great deeds. At best, they could be pragmatic seeing their fame as a way to improve their chances of getting paid or material and social rewards for their deeds, but more commonly they are defined by selfishness, ego, and the sound of their own voices.
It’s hard to imagine this being a formal order, but it certainly is possible in lands where knight and knight-like figures are treated like a cool kids club that is always trying to outdo each other. In such cases, they probably call themselves something like the Order of the Cockerel or the Morning’s Glory, with “cockatrice” being an epithet bestowed by their detractors. Some might embrace the cockatrice imagry though, seeing it as an evolution of the glory of the rooster combined with deadly lasting punishment to those that would try and sully their grandeur.
A formal order is less likely with samurai due to the cultural assumptions of a Japanese-like society, but certainly one might hold to the tenants unofficially if they lack humility and seek only to grow their personal glory even at the expense of their loyalty to their lord.
Outside of formal orders, these cavaliers might just simply value their own personal glory above all else, to the expense of all else, including relationships with anyone that isn’t a fawning sycophant.
So let’s see what being a jerkoff with a horse gets you!
These warriors seek personal glory wherever they can, so their attacks tend to be more accurate against challenged foes that they and they alone are engaged with in melee combat.
They are also skilled performers (since that is a skill set that draws all eyes on them) as well as appraising goods (to better see if their payment and shares are up to their standard). Additionally, their egos help ward them against mundane sources of fear and intimidation, since they’ve seen such bluster before.
It should come as no surprise that these cavaliers love to boast, proudly proclaiming their deeds and greatness to intimidate all listeners, and take advantage of that fear to strike more deadly blows.
Despite their need for personal glory, members of this order have no qualms about stealing it from others. As such, they reflexively strike to finish off foes grievously injured by an ally, trying to claim the kill for their own tally.
In a tremendous display of ego, the more powerful among them loudly declare a moment of triumph on occasion, using that confidence boost to become shockingly effective for a brief time, striking down foes and avoiding harm out of sheer boldness.
While not as treacherous as the order of the asp, this order is definitely not one that makes a lot of friends despite the high charisma that cavaliers have. That being said, it is effective in its own way. From the way they are more effective when the single out a foe to fight, keeping them off the rest of the party, to them using intimidate on groups effectively, to getting bonus attacks for extra damage when an ally crits. With all that in mind, I’d build with tanking and high damage in mind, and pick for teamwork feats that mostly let allies gain benefits while doing their own thing, rather than sticking close to you.
While a lot of this order’s vibes definitely feel villainous, and you can certainly use them for some really unlikable bad guys, it is still available to player characters as well, and so that brings up the question of how to roleplay one as part of a party. Honestly? I think it all comes down to the balance of their prick-itude. Your character probably should acknowledge the skills and contributions, even if they constantly put focus on their own, and probably should have a limit to how much they insult or belittle party members. Best to talk with your fellow players to establish a comfort level, as well as be a good sport when their behavior nets them consequences. They might stay that way throughout the story, or they might grow as a person, potentially training out of this order into something more amenable.
Lord Vorin of Fiveshires is a consummate monster hunter, always seeking out beasts of all descriptions. Unfortunately, he does not discriminate between terrible menaces and benevolent forces of good, as evidenced by the androsphinx pelt he wears as a cloak. Its only a matter of time before he bites off more than he can chew, but is he truly at fault, or is some hidden power behind the throne egging him on?
The Order of the Shining Cockerel is an offshoot of the cockatrice order that demands that its members behave honorably as well as gloriously, venerating their patron, a phoenix called Morning Glory. A recent offshoot of the order, however, has taken to worshiping the fiery bird as a god, a fact that worries the phoenix greatly, as they regard its self-resurrection ability to be proof of divinity, removed from the need of reproductive legacy. However, the centennial phoenix breeding season is on the horizon. How the zealots react to female phoenixes attempting to court their god may very well tear the order apart.
There are countless stories of brave knights charging off to slay dragons, but what if the roles were reversed? Gazetiede is a young brass dragon with dreams of being a knight, slaying evil, plying courtly affairs… He even dreams of courtly love, wooing noble gents and maidens regardless of species. In order to make his dreams come true, he’ll need a group of lackeys to help frame his grandeur, and our heroes look like prime candidates.
