Rethinking the knightly orders
Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 6:30 pm
The knightly orders, as they are present in design documents and planning up until now, need some rethinking. The current knightly orders are based on two sources: the old Daggerfall lore which had an order per Divine with its own quests and progression, and the Oblivion knightly orders like the Knights of the White Stallion etc. Implementing the Daggerfall knights was, in hindsight, maybe not such great idea: this concept of knighthood is very much based in the Breton/medieval Europe setting which we wish to move away from, and has little relevance for Cyrodiil. The Oblivion knights draw from the same inspiration, and were (in my opinion) not the most relevant addition to the game. If possible, I would like to scrap these factions in favor of more culture-specific groups.
There are a couple of other mentions of Cyrodiilic knights, like the upper ranks of the Legion, the Blades, and the Red Templars. These have a more military identity, and in the case of the Blades adhere more to a far eastern/samurai aesthetic - no problems with these.
My proposal would be to cut any ties with the knights as depicted in Daggerfall, and retool the knightly orders as circles/lodges of nobility dedicated to a saint or multiple saints. This would give these groups a more overt Imperial identity, focus on fleshing out the Saints of Cyrod, and (if we add them mostly in Colovia) counterbalance the weird Nibenese totem-spirits with a typical western type of religiosity.
Opinions?
There are a couple of other mentions of Cyrodiilic knights, like the upper ranks of the Legion, the Blades, and the Red Templars. These have a more military identity, and in the case of the Blades adhere more to a far eastern/samurai aesthetic - no problems with these.
My proposal would be to cut any ties with the knights as depicted in Daggerfall, and retool the knightly orders as circles/lodges of nobility dedicated to a saint or multiple saints. This would give these groups a more overt Imperial identity, focus on fleshing out the Saints of Cyrod, and (if we add them mostly in Colovia) counterbalance the weird Nibenese totem-spirits with a typical western type of religiosity.
Opinions?