#saintsbane

[emdashfaggot]

So with explicit invitation from @confusedlucifer to say more about the Knights from the Saintsbane setting, I'm taking an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite Swords: Desolation.

Desolation is the only Knight of the Saint's Vigil who does not carry a Sword Bent by her will. The Knight of Dawn was the first to be given his sword, and the first Calling Dawn gave him was to offer Desolation to the one he trusted most to wield this dangerous gift. Desolation took a liking to its new Knight, and the bond was struck. (Dawn and Desolation are the matched set of sorts that was mentioned in my last post.)

A lot of Knights get embellishments, or little tells. Marks on their body that indicate their Knighthood in some fashion.

Desolation gives its bearer desecrations instead, wandering red lichtenberg scars that travel across their skin as time passes. This is a warning.

Some Swords bestow unique abilities upon their Knight, while others simply enhance.

The Knight of Desolation has an ability called the boltpath, which means they can travel between one lightning strike and the next. In a great storm, especially during the rainy seasons, Desolation can cross immense distances in a few fleeting moments.

An arrival by the boltpath makes for a striking entrance.

The Saint knows some secret way to Bend a Sword to her will, and each Knight in her Vigil of the Bent (save for Desolation, her undefeated champion) bears a Sword that was assigned to them by the Saint.

The Knight of Desolation has been directly responsible in the recovery of many Swords for the Saint. Very few remain beyond her grasp. The only way to separate a Knight from their Sword is by death.

(A Sword can choose to divest itself from its Knight, stripping boons and bond away. This is called a Rivening. The Rivening alone may not be fatal, but losing the enhancements of Knighthood may make a survivable wound something more fatal.)

The Knight of Desolation brings death in their wake when they come for you.

[emdashfaggot]

so i vaguely recall seeing a post of yours about writing some 👀 OC stuff so consider this a sign to share about those characters or share a snippet of your writing!!

Hello! Thank you sm for asking!

So! There are so many characters (and a handful of AUs to go with them), because I do a lot of RP and tabletop games with friends and that inevitably turns into words. Exploring characters and themes and just showing affection to my friends by smashing our little guys into each other on a page. It took me a minute to file down what I wanted to spew about today.

There's this game called galactic. It's basically a system that, to paraphrase the author (Riley Rethal) lets you tell the kind of star wars stories you wish you'd gotten to see in the theatre. This isn't especially important to today's snippet but it will become somewhat relevant if I keep talking about the other iterations of these characters in the future.

There's also a comic, Abyss Reflections by ZC_Coffee. It's a beautiful little story about a modern future and a supposed fantasy past that one character remembers but the other does not. It got me thinking about Vex Vincent, my Scoundrel from Galactic and the ever-present temptation to make a knight au. (He/him for Vex)

Of course I don't do things the easy way! Because the art reminded me of Vex, I really needed to figure out a kind of Knighthood that made sense for a man of his personality. Additionally, 'what if Knights were Different' is a take that will always hook me.

Excerpts of my early thought sketches into the discord void.

There's no Knight School. No one knows (remembers?) how the Swords came to be here. There are many of them, some of them will offer a name, many refuse. Less people ask than you might think, anyway. You can't hear a Sword unless it's chosen you to Wield it.

There's a lot of ways to come into a Sword. Sometimes you wake up with it in your hand. Sometimes you inherit it. Sometimes you defeat the owner in combat (not always the deadly kind).

It's hard to trace if it's a consistent Per Sword thing or if it really is all about the whim of the blade.

I know more now about several of the Swords and what their conditions/motivations are, but these things aren't widely known truths of the setting.

Knights are a bit busy with the Calling to sit around and participate in research. (Also, I don't think people are doing research. Swords just Do Things. They choose their Knights, or they unchoose them.)

Vex didn't ask for his. He won't tell you how it came to him, not even Gerard—not that a Prinxe would ask such a question. (He fell down a hole and into Knighthood, kind of literally.)

Venia Gerard is the runaway heir to the Saint, the largest authority figure in this dystopian fantasy setting. (she/he/they) But their relationship with Vex is a whole several other posts.

The Calling isn't just one blanket cause the Knights speak to. A Calling exists between the Knight and the Sword. The pair don't always agree, either.

There is no cohesive Order among the Knights, or the Swords. Some Knights band together as long as they're Called on the same direction. There's at least one pair of Swords that are inseparable, for better or worse of those they choose to carry them.

Knights are rather mysterious and often solitary.

bonus lore

My friend Solace asked:

what is a band of Knights called? a Vigil?

My answer:

it is now. a pair is called a Truce.

Thank you again for asking and reading. The lore is vast and I am constitutionally incapable of brevity when trying to Explain.