The Ancient and Honorable Order of the Knights of The Black Forrest have long been a mystery to the very people they are sworn to defend. In these later days, without the charisma of our original leadership to rely on, we have determined that this may be an error. To begin the process of rectifying this situation, we now present to any and all intersted parties, a short table explaining the basic rank structure of the Order, and roughly what it entails.
First and foremost of these is the Rank of: Grand Master There has only been a single Grand Master in the Order's nearly nine hundred year history. Gerrod deRacinechilde, one of the Order's co-founders, was, and technically still is, the only person to hold that title. While prestigeous, the title was known to be a burden to Gerrod, who often referred to himself, in this context, as "The end of the Road." No Order within Council could overturn the Grand Master's decisions during war time. So any failure of the Order was the ultimate responsibility of the man in charge. Great titles tend to be that way though, weighty in the saying, but weightier to live up to.
Next in Order of precedence, but not on the battle field, is the rank of: Seneschal The Seneschal is an administrative post, primarily, but because of the beloved and revered nature of the two women who have held the post, the late Michelle Monti-deRacinechilde, and her twin sister Meredith Monti, it has become thought of as the primary rank within the Order since the time of Gerrod's "death".
At the top of the present military structure of the Order is the rank of: Knight Commander There are only two of these presently, although once there were three. The rank of Knight Commander carries with it the Command, at least technically, of a Chapter House of the Order. This technicality is the thorn upon which Lord Rothman von Delkair, the Order's other co-founder, has been impaled all these many years since the Grand Master's death. Caely Fallini, the then Michelle Monti's cousin, was the Field Marshall of the immense Clan Rouge Squadron which came into the Order in it's entirety at the time of the marriage of the Grand Master of the Order with Michelle, the Lady of the Clan. Some position had to be made for Caely, and to be honest it was highly deserved, as she was a genius as a Tactician. Thus, Caely Fallini became the Commander of Chateaux D'Arbor Noir, the main Chapter House of the Order, although Rothman was technically Master of the Chapter House itself. To add to the weakening of his positon was the fact that Gerrod and Michelle were dwelling within the Chapter House full time at that point. The other present Knight Commander of the Order, is Lord Prince Dionus Benere Zenes, Gerrod's eldest son, who has been the Master of the Irongate Keep Chapter House for over eight hundred years. Distance, conditions, the almost continuos war that Dionus has been waging in the northern mountains where the Irongate Keep is located, and a strong sense of antipathy towards the Monti's has kept this part of the Order, almost half of the total forces, all but independant of central Command for the whole of the period since his father's death. It is said that he does not recognize the legal Orders of the Lady Meredith as binding as she was nominated to her position on the death of her sister without a quarum approval by the Knight Commanders. His technical point allows him to remain free of central control, ie: the Lady Meredith, while still remaining a part of the Order. He states that when the Grand Master rules it otherwise, he will obey, but not until then. The last of the original trio, the Duke 8 of 11, the Grand Master's closest friend and confidant, was the master of the Chapter House at the Citadel of Morning, now the Citadel of Mourning, the primary seat of Clan Abominatus. His would have been the deciding vote in the issue of Meredith's ascension to the position of Seneschal, but he had already disappeared by then, and has not been seen since. Next in precedence is: Lore Master a rank and position that has been, and technically is still, filled by Lared Thornfinger, better known to history as Smile. This peaceful and enigmatic man has been completely secluded from the Order and it's present chaos for the entire period from the disappearance of his friend, 8 of 11, onward. Next is the position of: Knight sub-Commander There have been several of these over the intervening centuries, but there are presently only sixteen. They all hold command of four legions of troops, except for Count Patrick Monti-deRacinechilde, who holds his rank as an honorarium to his late father, the Lord Osterhase, who's actual rank is as Archivist General, and Baron Marcadas Venturi, who is a recent appointee to the rank, and is having his Legions assembled.
Next come the ranks of the Officers of the Order. The greater officer ranks are singular, and hold equivalent power and prestige. The first of these is the rank of: Seige Master the next is : Admiral of the Fleet then we have the: General of Cavalry and finally, the: General of Infantry These four ranks are usually held in tandem with the rank of Knight sub_Commander, but the way the charter of the Order is written, it need not be so. Indeed, Allmei, the late Seige Master, who held the post for almost nine hundred years, was never fully an officer, as he refused any patent of nobility and maintained his freeman status his whole life. And last are the ranks of the lesser officers, as follows in rough Order of precedence, although within each triad of Cavalry, Infantry, Navy, they are of uniform precedence amongst themselves. They are: Knight Captain of Cavalry, Knight Captain of Infantry, and Commodore These three ranks carry the command of an entire Legion of Cavalry, eight of these; or Infantry, four of these; while the rank of Commodore is the command of one of the three squadrons, each of four ships, of the small naval wing of the Order. Lastly, amongst the true Officer ranks, those held by immortals, we have the ranks of
: Knight Lieutenant of Cavalry, Knight Lieutenant of Infantry, and Captain of the Ship "..." The first two carry the command of one cohort of troops, each cohort comprised of one thousand troopers and their mortal officers, while the rank of Captain of the Ship "..." carries the command of an individual vessel; normally a carrack, although there are three frigates in service to the Order. Finally a word about the size of the military organization, for those unfamiliar with the ancient Legionaire system. A Legion is comprised of four thousand troopers, and their officers, both mortal and immortal. Each being comprised of four cohorts, of one thousand troopers each, which is comprised of ten Centuries of one hundred troopers each. A Century is commanded by a mortal man or woman who's rank is Centurian. These are almost always Knights, but need not be. Each Century is made up of ten Section's each comprised of ten troopers and their Ensign. Ensigns may be either mortal or immortal. Each and every new Knight of the Order, be he mortal or immortal, serves at least one year as an Ensign. Even the Legendary "Iron Duke", 8of11, did so. Those who lead, must learn first how to follow. Unlike other military organizations, there are no offices of non belligerent nature that are not held by a soldier. Each and every person within the military structure of the Order is a soldier first, and whatever else second. For instance, a man might be Ensign "..." Master Armourer of the Second Cohort of the Fifth Cavalry Legion. There are thus no "safe" positions in the Order. Everybody fights, the Chaplains included. In all the long history of the Order, there has only ever been ONE exception to this rule. Lord Lared Thornfinger, Smile, the Lore Master of the Order was granted special dispensation by Gerrod himself. I have only recently met the gentleman, here in Castle Arborium, where I reside when not fulfilling my other duties to the Order, and I must say, that although I never understood our immortal founder's reasoning before hand, now that I have met Smile; I understand completely why Gerrod did as he did in this one very singular case. Baron Sir Claudius Trevon, Knight Lieutenant of Infantry, First Cohort of the First Legion, Assisant to Lord van Osterhase, Knight Sub-Commander and Archivist General of the Order.
