Knights of Neraka

Note:The names Knights of "Tahkisis" and "Neraka" are interchangeable. The name change occured after the gods of Krynn abandoned the planet they created, leaving man to his own fate. The Knights of Takhisis are a military Order that formed some twenty years after the downfall of Neraka in the War of the Lance. The purported son of Highlord Ariakas and the goddess Zeboim, Lord Ariakan, founded this Order of Dark Knights, and stood strong as its single guiding force. He ruled the Knights of Takhisis through his own personal magnetism, brilliant military strategy, and divine favour of the Queen of Darkness.
Ariakan maintained that the keys to victory are order, discipline, and vision. "Bring order to our followers, and they will accomplish. Discipline them, and they will achieve. Give them vision, and they will move forward toward a common goal." In accordance with this, Ariakan created the foundations of the Knights of Takhisis - the Vision, the Blood Oath, and the Code.
The Vision
The Vision is – in simple terms – a statement of the ultimate goal of the knighthood. For knights of 5th level or less, the Vision is embodied in the phrase: "One World Order." The goal is no less than the total and unquestioned domination of the entire world of Krynn. The Blood Oath and the Code are established to work toward that end.
The Blood Oath
The Blood Oath is simple: "Submit or die." When joining the knighthood, each knight dedicates body and soul utterly to the cause. All thoughts of self are submerged, sublimated. Yet this does not mean that knights may not think for themselves, which brought about the creation of the Code.
The Code
The Code is complex in the extreme, yet elegant in its detail. The strict, unyielding exactitude of the Solamnic Knights' "Oath and Measure" had caused their long fall from the Age of Might, ending in their continuing weakness. Despite the fact that the knights and other forces for good had emerged victorious, they were a long way from bringing peace and order to Ansalon.
Knowing the weaknesses of all mortal creatures, Ariakan crafted a detailed set of laws that relate principally to military situations, but that also can be extended into the lives of each member of the knighthood. Strict adherence to the Code is required, but each case is considered on its own merits, and exceptions can be made.
Ariakan established his Code so that there would be no need to argue fine points. The law was as written. Violations were obvious and dealt with summarily. However, he did recognise the need to be flexible, as occasion demanded, and so established a means by which an exception to the Code might be considered and either accepted or rejected on its own merits.
Adjudication of the Code: Exceptions to the Code are adjudicated by a single knight selected from a chosen few in command positions. Many of the higher rank are not, including most of the Knights of Thorns.) The outward, visible sign of an adjudicator is a sceptre, presented to the knight by Lord Ariakan, the head of the Knighthood.
If the adjudicator decides that the Code had been broken and that no exception to the Code may be permitted, punishment is meted out to the offender. Since a knight who violates the Code is seen to have also violated the Vision and broken the Blood Oath. The punishment is generally death.
Execution is carried out by the advocate, if the knight is present, or by the knight's commander if the advocate is not. The knights do not view death as the ultimate end, but rather as advancement to a higher rank. Takhisis is the final judge of a knight's life, and the knight is rewarded by Her Dark Majesty or punished eternally as she decides. The knight does not fear death, therefore, but could have reason to fear the wrath of the queen in the afterlife. A knight who wishes to appeal the ruling of the adjudicator may do so. Once his soul is dispatched to Takhisis, she will hear the plea.
The Dark Queen has been known to send knights wrongfully judged back to "correct the error." Such undead knights return as revenants (Monsters of Faerūn) or even death knights. Because of this, all adjudicators will want to be extremely sure of the facts and will order a knight's execution only after serious prayer and consideration.
Authority and Independence: Part of the Code deals specifically with the establishment and maintenance of lines of communication and authority. Thus, when an order is given from above, it is quickly dispatched and acted on. But Ariakan knew that the knights probably would find themselves in situations where they would be on their own, cut off from the chain of command. Therefore, major sections of the Code are devoted to acting on the Vision.
When communication with the knighthood is severed, individuals who have a clear concept of the Vision will act independently to carry out the will of the knighthood until such time as communication can be reestablished. In this way, order is maintained in times of chaos.
Even within the bounds of orders as given, the knights have broad discretion as to how these orders are carried out. As long as a knight's actions do not violate the Vision, the standing orders of their knighthood, or the specific orders that they have been given, a knight is free to act.
Divisions of the Code: The Code is divided into several basic precepts, which guide the three major orders of knighthood. These divisions of the Code lead to the natural specialisation of the knights and help define the duties of the knights in the new world that they propose to create. The basic precept of each Order is:

The Lily: Independence breeds chaos. Submit and be strong.
The Skull: Death is patient. If flows both from without and from within. Be vigilant in all and sceptical of all.
The Thorn: One who follows the heart finds it will bleed. Feel nothing but victory.

Knights of the Lily

Independence breeds chaos. Submit and be strong.
The Knights of the Lily are the military might of the knighthood and the center of political power as well. The Order of the Skull and the Order of the Thorn are separate, with their won particular skills and areas of responsibility. While it may look to an outsider as if the Knights of the Lily are the dominant force in the knighthood, all three orders provide the necessary functions and are considered equal in power and authority, differing only in jurisdiction and function.
All Knights of Takhisis remain under the Order of the Lily until they attain 5th level and are ready to advance to 6th level. At this level, knights may choose entry into either Skull or Thorn, or remain with the Lilies. It has been known for a Knight to progress through all three Orders, but this is extremely rare.
Characteristics: Dark Knights are trained to become intelligent warriors, skilled horsemen, and educated scholars. Although their Code outlines in detail the requirements of obedience and quick response to authority, Knights of Takhisis are able to call upon the Vision for guidance when acting independently. Knights of Takhisis refuse to strike down an enemy by treachery or deception; only honourable combat is acceptable.
Alignment: Knights of Takhisis must follow the Code of Ariakan, which requires that they be of lawful alignment. Furthermore, as they worship a dark goddess, the philosophies of the Order prevent any Knight from being good. Although their ethical code is not quite as unyielding as the Knights of Solamnia, Knights of Takhisis lose some of their abilities if they deviate from the alignments of lawful evil or lawful neutral.
Religion: All Knights of Takhisis are dedicated to the Queen of Darkness above all other deities. Most Dark Knights respect Zeboim, the Mistress of Tempests and daughter of Takhisis, but none worship the chaotic sea goddess.
Background: As with the Knights of Solamnia, any who would enter into the Knights of Takhisis must begin as a 1st-level Knight in the Order of the Lily. Only someone who might be considered a suitable candidate for recruitment is ever approached by the knights, and then only after a long period of secret surveillance and evaluation. Such a recruit who decides to join would simply drop out of sight, vanish forever to the knowledge of friends and family. Either no recruit has ever turned down such an honour, or they have not survived to speak of it.
Both men and women may enter any order without restriction and may rise as high as their own abilities take them. All candidates must undergo a program of rigorous physical training and indoctrination, devoting his life to training for about three years. Most start this training at the age of twelve, and no candidates are acepted after the age of fourteen.
Races: Most Knights of Takhisis are human, although half-elves and minotaurs are also accepted into the Orders. The very few dwarves and elves in the Knights of Takhisis are considered renegades and outcasts by their own kind. It is almost inconceivable that a kender or gnome would be accepted as an aspirant, let alone survive the training and Test.

Knights of the Skull

Death is patient, flowing from without and within. Be vigilant in all and skeptical of all.
These Knights form the clerical order of the knighthood, and their higher-ranking members serve as Adjudicators of the Code. They practice the healing arts and are also in charge of both external intelligence and internal security. Skull Knights work their art by stealth and subtlety rather than by force, leaving that to the other two orders.
Knights of the Skull are multiclassed clerics, and possess all of the abilities of that class as described in the Player's Handbook. Knights of the Skull may choose from the domains of Evil, Healing, Trickery, and War; their favoured weapon is the heavy mace. Knights of the Skull can rebuke undead.
Knights of the Skull are dedicated solely to the Queen of Darkness, to the exclusion of all other gods and goddesses (including other dark deities). Her Dark Majesty rewards such loyalty by allowing them to prepare spells on a daily basis, in a manner similar to other clerics. This is unlike the Solamnic Knights of the Sword, who must fast and pray once per week to attain their spells.
Although it is well known that the sea goddess Zeboim favours the Knighthood (in honour of her son, Ariakan), the Skull Knights do not pray to her. Ariakan set aside one day a year in honour to his mother. It is also considered a matter of courtesy for all knights to ask Zeboim's blessing during a sea voyage.

Knights of Thorn

One who follows the heart finds it will bleed. Feel nothing but victory.

Knights of the Thorn are an order of wizards. The Grey Robe Knights, as they are known, operate completely outside the Towers of High Sorcery on Ansalon, refuse to swear any allegiance to any of the three robes, including black, and are therefore considered renegade wizards by all members of the conclave.
The sorcerer Knights of the Thorn have their own colleges of magic. They wear grey or black robes and have no relationship to the Black Robes of the Towers of High Sorcery. Instead, the Grey Robe Knights work with dark clerics – Knights of the Skull – in maintaining order both in conquering lands and their own home territories. The head of the Order of the Thorn is titled the Lord of Night, and is advised by seven Lords of the Thorn.
All Knights of the Thorn are encouraged to learn spells of the Divination school of arcane magic. With the importance of accurate assessments of events around Ansalon, the Knights employ these spells on a regular basis. For the good of the Knighthood, the Order insists that all Knights of the Thorn hone their power of divination to its finest edge.
Unlike the orders of the towers, the Thorn Knights draw on the power of all three of Krynn's moons as the source of their magic, rather than from one moon. This grants a far more powerful magical edge to Thorn Knights. Just how they have accomplished this feat remains unknown to the Conclave. It is not surprising that the robed wizards of Ansalon are extremely disturbed by the appearance of this new and powerful order of sorcery in the world. They view it as a distinct threat to themselves, and wizards of all robes are exerting all their efforts to both study it and eradicate it.

Dark Knights in the Fifth Age
When subcommander Mirielle Abrena attended the Council of the Last heroes in 1 SC, she prevented the Knighthood from sliding into oblivion after the Chaos War by demanding land for surviving Knights in recognition for their role in the defeat of Chaos. After spending several years gathering the scattered wings of the Knighthood, Abrena declared the Order's new homeland in Neraka and named herself Governor-General of the region.
Since Mirielle Abrena's spies learned the secrets of Mysticism from Goldmoon in 15 SC, the Order of the Skull was revitalised as an order of dark mystics. Similarly, the Thorn Knights mastered the new sorcery after Theo Drawde witnessed the Last Conclave's battle with Berrylinthranox and was taught the principles of sorcery by the Shadow Sorcerer. The Knights of the Skull and Thorn now comprise characters of the Mystic and revised Sorcerer classes respectively.
In the Fifth Age, the Knights of Takhisis have come to control almost all of the northern Khalkist Mountains (except for the city of Sanction), and the southeastern plains and the coastal plains to the northeast of Throt. They operate openly in almost all dragon-controlled lands, providing troops and security to overlords such as Khellendros and Beryllinthranox, and maintaining constant dialogue with Malystryx. They are also allied with the dwarves of Thoradin, and hope to rely on their assistance in the planned invasion of Blöde.
More than thirty years after the Chaos War, the Skull Knight Lord Morgham Targonne succeeded Abrena as the head of the Order. Under his administration, the Knighthood underwent a change of purpose. Targonne renamed the Order the Knights of Neraka, and began to focus more on wordly concerns. See the War of Souls novels for more details on Targonne's leadership in this period.
*Most Notable Knights of the Order : Lord Ariakan, Steel Brightblade, subcommander Mirielle Abrena, Lord Morgham Targonne, and Mina.
Information provided by James O'Rance

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