======K====== ===Kandarian=== The Valiant Warrior. God of duty, obedience, valour, honour, chivalry, guardians, righteousness, just causes. The twin brother of Tarastia. He stands at the side of his Mother, defending Her against all enemies. Kandarian is always depicted as a young knight, a paragon of chivalry, with silver armour and carrying a shining, often flaming sword in one hand and a shield in the other. His helmet is usually without a visor, and his face is honest and open. Kandarian has a strong following among the nobility and members of military orders. The standard commoner, however, has little to do with him. He has staffed chapels in most castles and often has temples built near places of evil and former battlefields. Many nobles and more than a few knights have a personal Kandarite chaplain. The Valiant Warrior is primarily a Fendal deity - there was no great following in the Empire, for instance, before Montese priests brought the faith to it. Even now, the faith is small in imperial lands. Castrovians, having fewer delusions about the grim and grittiness of war, favour Hadur with their victory prayers. The clergy of the Valiant Warrior are almost exclusively male. While there is nothing in the tenets of Faith that demands this, those women who have indicated a desire to join the clergy are resisted by the other priests. Higher ranks in this church include Masters (bishop-equivalents) and High Masters (archbishop-equivalents), and the Patriarch in Montour, who is also the spiritual head of the overall faith (though other kingdoms have their own Patriarchs, Montour is primus inter pares). The Patriarch does not directly serve the High Matriarchs of the Mother, but he does pay them a great amount of heed. Several foundations of the Mother's worshippers constructed in dangerous areas have small chapels of Kandarites to help protect the place. ===Karakiraz=== A Kingdom located west of Montour, centred upon several cities lining the shore of The Sea of Ghor, but also claiming authority over many nomads living in the surrounding semi-arid plains. The Kingdom was created in the aftermath of the Orcwar, when the combined cities' generalissimo declared himself king. Karakiraz grew prosperous as a trading nation, lying as it did at the crossroads of several trade routes. Formerly an equal with Montour and on friendly terms with it, Karakiraz has in recent years been conquered and occupied by Gel barbarians. The Gel noyan, in turn, was assassinated and his throne usurped by one of his mercenary commanders, Yum Kax, who rules with a iron fist through his army. Several members of the old royal house escaped the conquest by fleeing to Montour or Valliore ===Kavkaz=== ===Khorkamagath=== Legendary southern city. About 300 years after the founding of the Empire of Castrovia, the residents of this town awoke one morning to find the walls surrounded by a deep, dark forest several miles thick. Nobody understood what had happened, and the people fled the town and did not return. Misfired magic is considered by modern scholars to have been the cause of the event. The ruins are now lost. ===Kialton, Dame Javia=== (b.310) Minor noblewoman of Bonfol, in Breakingdale. Dame Javia is a stocky, crass swordswoman of some skill. Rumoured to be a berserk, Dame Javia is not often at her home but rather travels around war zones seeking worthy fights. ===King Arturo=== A near-legendary Fendal King, who is said to have in ancient days ruled over a great realm which, in the songs, apparently covered the lands of modern Montour, Valliore, Voorland and Karakiraz. Many songs and poems have been written about his reign, and it is seen as a Golden Age of Fendal history, with knights in shining armour and many deeds of valour, heroism and chivalry. His seat is named Vesoul the Golden, and his reign was said to have lasted over one hundred years before his kingdom fell through the treachery of a jealous baron named Emeric the Foul, who was encouraged in his treachery by the Old Man. ===King's Champion=== ===King's Peace, the=== The King's Peace is one of the creations of Queen Florence, instituted in response to the conditions Montese settlers found in the newly settled borderlands such as Breakingdale. Those lands and tribes, human and non-human, which recognise the King are said to be under the King's Peace. This does not mean that these peoples must accept the rule of the King, but they must acknowledge his legitimacy and that of his Kingdom. In return they too are recognised and relations between them and the Kingdom are raised to an official level. What this means, on a practical level, is that those who accept the King's Peace have certain basic rights in its dealings with the Kingdom, just like the subjects of another civilised realm would have. In theory, at least, subjects of the King are not prevented from raiding and sacking a village of Pesties who have not accepted the King's Peace, but a village of Pesties which has accepted the Peace are a legally recognised entity. Were such a village raided the survivors could, in theory, appeal to the local Montese sheriff and have the raiders outlawed as brigands or even, in an extreme case, declare war upon the Kingdom for this border raid. Peoples which have accepted the King's Peace are permitted to settle in the Kingdom, provided they then undertake to obey the King's Law. It is reputed that a dragon has accepted the King's Peace and now lives in a great cave under the capital itself. ===Kingswood=== ===Knighthood=== Those who have demonstrated a high level of skill at arms, along with general loyalty towards the crown and a valorous and honourable mode of life, are normally knighted by the King. Some are noticed by the king personally (often in battle), but most are recommended for knighthood by Great Lords or other influential individuals. The new knight swears an oath of fealty to the crown, and thereafter is theoretically the King's man (or woman) in every sense. They have the right to bear arms at all times, even in the King's presence, and have their own armorial device. They are called Sir or Dame by others (Kyr and Midame in Thestria). Knights are accorded respect from the bulk of the population. Any Knight accused of a crime can only be tried before a panel of three of Knight rank or higher. Knights can have an armed retinue of up to 12 individuals. Members of this retinue are allowed to wear their master's badge on their own persons. Knights cannot, on their own authority, raise bodies of troops. Knights are not obliged to act as heavy cavalrymen, but most do so. While knights are officially loyal to the crown above all, they receive no lands or cash along with their title, and must find the means of living elsewhere. Some do this by serving the crown in minor martial or official positions, but more find employment in the retinues of, especially, Great Lords. This is especially common for those knights who owe their title to a magnate's recommendation. The loyalties of these knights more often lean towards their patron than the king. In both Vandrad's rebellion and Erling's Restitution, many knights served against the reigning king. A minority of knights live by serving foreign rulers, or becoming mercenaries, adventurers, or occasionally pirates or bandits. Knighthood is non-hereditary. As a mark of respect, the siblings and offspring of the Great Lords are treated with the courtesy given to knights, but have none of the knightly privileges. These they must earn like anyone else. ===Knights Protector=== Those Knights who, as well as military prowess, demonstrate a very high level of loyalty to the King and the Crown can be invited to join the Order of the Knights Protector. These individuals serve the King directly, and perform a number of roles, including personal protection of the sovereign and his family, critical missions on behalf of the crown involving bodily risk, or extraordinary army commands in time of war. They are at all times at the command of the monarch, and can owe no sworn loyalty to any other. There are usually fewer than a dozen of these Knights, but each is deemed a master of arms. Noble and commoner alike accord them great respect. Knights Protector, who once wore a white cape as their symbol of status, now wear blood-red capes, as a mark of shame for the blood of King Gregory, abandoned by his bodyguard of Knights Protector when facing a huge force of trolls and demons during the Orcwar. For this reason they are also called Bloodknights. In 352 Erling, Prince Regent, ordered the Knights Protector to seek out the sword Thesuril, lost when King Gregory was slain. They have since scattered and stories of their deeds have become popular, though hard to determine if accurate. ===Konnradin, Count of Raracas=== (b.c.325) A Vallioran nobleman of Tabitian extraction, Konnradin is one of the supporters of Prince Erling, who followed the prince across the mountains from Urle and into the civil conflict with Duke Simon of Montour. For his aid he was granted the lands and title of the county of Raracas, in the upper Raracas river, south and east of Breakingdale. Rumour has it that Konnradin, Monsieur Le Comte", actually obtained this boon from Erling because he is brother to the prince's mistress, Trikesia, rather than through any of his own inherent qualities. He appears dashing and extravagantly courteous in his dealings, dressing in the most avant garde of fashion and always surrounding himself with outrageous display, such as having an honour guard made up exclusively of attractive women of aristocratic blood, and owning a display of exotic beasts, such as his Jaegera, Hennritch. Konnradin is in his early 30s, tall and lean with black Tabitian skin and a shock of golden hair, but wearing no beard. ===Krothering=== An incorporated town in North Breakingdale. ===Kutarmish===