THE KNIGHTS OF ACACIA

Acacia. This name has not been heard in these lands for some time; many, many centuries ago, this was the name of a proud warrior who time has since forgotten. Back then, her name was spoken with reverence, for she was considered to be almost the Patron Saint of Actavia. Nowadays, mention "Acacia" to any of the nation's inhabitants and they are just as likely to inquire as to whether it is a new brand of perfume. Her name has not been lost to all, however – there is one who has adopted this moniker for herself and, following the warrior tradition, declared a sort of war on the "unjust tyrranies" perpetrated by the Empire Corporation.

How did this come about? No one is quite certain, but what is clear is this: Almost two years ago, there begin to circulate amongst the most archaic circles of Magic Users the rumour that a clutch of dragon eggs had been discovered. This was dismissed as utter hogwash, as it was thought that dragons were either extinct or so far withdrawn as to be nonexistent. However, the rumours were true, or at least the central claim – that there was indeed a small collection of viable dragon eggs. Where it came from is a total mystery, but it has since become apparent that the eggs are in the possession of a human, an elusive figure calling herself Acacia, who is dispensing the eggs to those she feels most worthy of raising the creatures, and most capable of joining her in her fight against the Empire Corporation.

To those individuals deemed worthy she grants one egg, with the understanding that the dragon is to be raised and trained to the best of the human's abilities. Acacia plays no part in this process – the new recruit is instructed in the basics of dragon care, told to kick up their own training in magic or fighting, and left to their own devices for some period of time, generally six months. (Though some suspect that there may be, after all, someone watching over them.) At the end of this period, Acacia mysteriously appears again, and it is understood that the dragon and human will now accompany her on her journey. Only at this point do the two officially become initiated into her "order," which she has (rather vainly) dubbed the Knights of Acacia.

Each Knight is given during his "initiation ceremony" a silver medallion, upon which is the emblem of the Knights of Acacia. On the reverse of the medallion is engraved the name of the knight, his dragon, and this passage: "KNIGHT OF ACACIA, Sworn To Protect Truth, Compassion, and Honour, And Bring Justice To All ACTAVIA."

The knight is then instructed in the four Principles of the Order, as follows:

	Truth: Though Knights are hardly sworn to NEVER lie, they are not supposed to practice deceipt and are to be true to themselves and others. As such, they can not abide someone who intentionally misleads others in order to cause them harm.
	Compassion: This is a general love of their fellow men (and women). Knights, in theory, must always show nothing but reverence, charity, and affection for those they come across.
	Honour: Knights must be Noble. They must not sully the name of the Order, or of their country. They must make their countrymen proud to be served by their flag.
	Justice: And, of course, the Knight's primary objective is to stop those who would go against their ideals. Corruption, cruelty, tyranny, and selfishness are intolerable. (At least, that's the hope.)

The emblem of the Knights is a dragon, curled around in a circle, with the tip of its tail touching its nose. Clutched in its back talons is a sword; its front legs are bound together. In the center is a heart ensnared by the same rope as the dragon. The emblem serves to remind the knights that they, like their steeds, are tied to the heart of the nation they vowed to protect; the sword is a symbol of their strength. The position of the dragon is meant to symbolize the eternal nature of this promise.

Following the initiation ceremony, the new Knight is brought to the "secret headquarters," which is underneath a pub called The Raven's Beak in a very tiny, medieval-type town in the middle of nowhere known to its inhabitants (and not many beyond its borders) as Ayrton. The entire town - village may be more fair - has a population under 150. Much to the surprise of many of the newly initiated Knights, the townspeople seem utterly unfazed by the sudden appearance of dragons not only in the surrounding forests but at times walking down to the baker's - it seems at times as though the whole town is in on Acacia's "Little Secret." The smith and tanners are happy to provide any necessary armour or padding; the ferrier seems to be particularly skilled, somehow, at designing armour particularly suited to dragons.

How this town came to know of and support Acacia's scheme is unknown; equally uncertain is the amount of information possessed by most of the townsmen. As such, the Knights - who tend to be kept in the dark quite often themselves - are generally inclined not to discuss matters of "business" with anyone but their fellows.

The lifestyle of the Knights is a simple one:

Those who can work are instructed to. If you had a skill before joining, you are damn well expected to use it. With such a small population, the town welcomes any additional hands, whether they be apt at carpentry, sewing, or even just waiting tables. It's not hard to find employment in Ayrton. The locals tend to be very friendly, helpful, and seemingly openminded. In addition to working, Knights are expected to train with every available moment of their time. Of course, not all of them do this - The Raven's Beak is the only pub in town for a reason, its ale can't be beat - and those who chose to "waste" their time in such a manner are often met with a rather reproachful attitude from Acacia.

Acacia herself will participate in the training, but she does not socialize with the Knights. At all. As a matter of fact, none of them have ever really gotten a really clear look at her. She seems to wear a hooded cloak at all times, as though terrified of her true identity being leaked - if questioned about this, she will snap that if Empire Corp were to have even the smallest thing to go in in regards to her appearance or past, it would be the start of the biggest Witch Hunt in the nation. Additionally, despite her confidence in those she's chosen, she claims she can never be completely sure any of them are not Empire's spies, and acts accordingly.

As you can imagine, this isn't terribly helpful in raising the troop's morale.

Still, the gig is a pretty sweet one - free room and board at The Raven's Beak, or rather the secret rooms located underneath, a fairly nice environment, and the opportunity to kick ass and take names. Of course, some of the Knights - those who came from more "technologically-minded" locales, let's say - may be bored to tears, but them's the breaks.

Of course, they always have their dragons to look after, fly with, and generally amuse themselves with.

Knights are instructed to be extremely careful when flying, though there's a rather fair amount of forest and farmland between Ayrton and the next nearest village. As a matter of fact, there's an incredibly dense forest - the Ayruinn (air-win) - rather close to the town, which is the reason no one else has settled around there - it's not a very friendly place. However, it does make an excellent place to hide a bunch of big scaly beasts, and provides a great obstacle course for flight practice if you're foolhardy enough to even attempt taking off inside.

Acacia, as mentioned, is more absent than not, and tends to be gone for long periods of time "scouting" and finding new Knights. Very, very occassionally she will take a Knight or two with her on a "mission" of some sort, but most of these so far have resulted in small-scale attacks on Empire Corp's manufacturing plants. She says she wants to amass more Knights before attacking any major cities, since she knows at this point they're too few to be able to afford any casualties. (Not a very comforting thought.)

In any case, once she has a fair number of Knights on her side, she'll finally fill them in on The Plan - the big one, the series of carefully planned attacks which, she hopes, will bring the Empire Coropration, and Leopold Kingsley, to their knees.

In the meantime, the Knights are just hoping Ayruinn Forest doesn't run out of deer.