Quests and Trials

Questing is to a knight what bread and butter is to a dinner table: a staple of life. For most knights, life is not all guard duty and military drills. In fact, for those who wish to advance beyond the Order of the Crown, questing is a requirement.

Trials are also a given part of a Solamnic Knight’s life, as a Knight begins his career with the Knight’s Trial.

Throughout his career with the Knighthood, a Knight will sit in judgment for others’ trials as well.

The Knight's Trial
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The Knight’s Trial is the council of Knights that all applicants must stand before if they wish to be admitted to the Knighthood. The prospective Knight must be sponsored by a Knight in good standing, of at least Knight rank, and then submit to a lengthy examination by the council of his sponsor’s circle. The applicant is asked questions about his family, past deeds, and knowledge of
the Knighthood. In the present day, the most important factor for admittance is how the applicant has behaved in life up to the time of his Trial, though at one time the applicant’s family pedigree had a great deal of bearing on admittance. If there are no questions of the applicant’s honor and no dissent from the council, the candidate swears an oath to the honor of the Knighthood and the
causes of the Order, and he vows to live by the Oath and the Measure. He is then accepted into the Knighthood as a
squire of the Crown.

If there is a question of the candidate’s honor or a negative vote from a Knight sitting on the council, the applicant is further interrogated and there is an investigation by the council. If the question of honor is dismissed, the Knight-candidate is admitted normally. If the point of dissent or honor is found valid, the candidate is dismissed until the matter can be satisfied.
Once the squire has performed to the satisfaction of his sponsor and reached the proper age if he was previously too young, he is brought back before the council. If the council finds the squire’s deeds to be worthy, he is knighted and admitted into the Order of the Crown as a Crown Postulant.

Every once in a while a squire’s deeds will be so great that he will be admitted to the Knighthood at a higher rank. This happened with Sturm Brightblade, who was elevated from squire to Marshal of the Crown, skipping all of the ranks in between.
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Quest of Virtue
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For a Knight to be able to advance through the Orders of Knighthood, from Crown Knight to Sword Knight or Sword Knight to Rose Knight, the Measure states that he must undertake a quest to prove himself worthy of the Order to which he is trying to advance. This is known as the Quest of Virtue. During the quest, the Knight must uphold the virtues espoused by the Knights of Solamnia:
honor, loyalty, courage, and wisdom.

When a Knight wishes to advance to a higher Order, he must first present himself before a knightly council. If advancing to the Order of the Sword, the council must contain at least one Knight ranking as a Steward of the Sword or higher. If advancing to the Order of the Rose, at least one Knight holding the rank of Steward of the Rose or higher must be present. If the council does not have the proper membership, the Knight must wait until the council contains the proper representation, or he must travel to the
location of a circle with the required Knights. The knightly council reviews the candidate’s actions during his time in the Knighthood. If his actions are found acceptable, the Knight is given a quest. If the Knight feels he was misrepresented or unjustly found wanting in his actions, he may take up the matter before the council. The Knight’s quest will not be given until the matter is resolved.

The quest is the determining factor in whether or not the Knight will be advanced. According to the Measure, the quest is
a witnessed deed of heroism and valor that upholds the virtues of the Knights of Solamnia. When the Knight has completed his quest, he presents himself again in front of a knightly council and tells his tale, which must be corroborated by witnesses
or irrefutable evidence. If the quest is not witnessed or there is not evidence of the quest’s completion, the Knight is denied
advancement. Advancement will also be denied if the witnesses report the Knight not acting within the virtues of the Knighthood. As always, a Knight may make a case for himself before the council to refute any negative points that may be brought up. If the Knight completes the quest and his witnesses and evidence corroborate his tale, the ranking Knight of the Order he is trying to enter welcomes him into his new Order.

The quest itself can be a number of different things. Often the presiding knightly council will set a major goal and three minor goals. The Knight must complete the major goal to be advanced. The minor goals are not necessarily required for advancement and are rarely predetermined. It is usually left to the Knight’s judgment as to what fulfills the conditions of a minor goal. If one
or more of the minor goals are met, the Knight is usually rewarded in some way. Completion of the minor goals can also help the case of a Knight whose adherence to knightly virtues on his quest is called into question.

The major goal will always involve a journey of some kind, as Vinas Solamnus and Huma Dragonbane both traveled far and wide to find what they sought. At the end of this journey will be a challenging test, such as rescuing someone from the lair of a chromatic dragon, freeing a town from the yoke of the Dark Knights, negotiating a peace settlement between two groups who are mortal
enemies, or recovering an important artifact from the monster-infested ruins of an old city. The minor goals are things the Knight can accomplish during his journey to or from his main goal. They can include things such as assisting a farmer with his crops by procuring new seed for him to plant, defending travelers against raiding bandits, acting as an impartial judge in some type of
dispute, or facing a worthy evil opponent (one whose Challenge Rating is equal to or greater than the Knight’s character level) in single combat.
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