History
At the close of the war that concluded the Time of Thunder, the ancient order known as the Holy Warriors was used as the basis by the Church and The Crown for the six orders that evolved directly into the Crusaders. It was felt that this would give the Light a better hold in the world and prevent another incursion of Daemons into the Realm. Among the ranks of the nobility, however, there was dissent. During the long years of war there had been several incidents where the Crown and Church had clashed over the best course to adopt, and a small section of the nobles felt that placing all the armoured might under the dominion of the Church could ultimately lead to a clash between Crown and Church that the former could lose.
It was thus that this group of nobles decided to offer their swords directly to the Crown and ask the King to allow them to serve the Crown rather than the Gods.
King Lionel was hesitant since he did not want to come into conflict with the Church establishment so soon after the devastation of the Time of Thunder, but on reflection and seeing that the numbers of this foetal order were small, he felt that a cadre of warriors dedicated to service to the Crown was worth taking a risk over. The debate between the Throne and Church was bitter but not long, and a compromise was reached: the new order would be allowed to come into being, but only if it was small in number.
King Lionel appointed Baron Stryker as the first Lord Commander of the order and set him the task of setting the structure and name, as well as the mission of the Order. Baron Stryker pondered long and hard to find firstly a name that would best encompass the needs of the time and the future, and secondly a structure would give the appropriate flexibility. At last, despairing of ever having the inspiration he so badly needed, he fell to his knees and asked the gods for guidance. His pleas appeared to fall on stony ground. Despairing once more he sought aid from more earthly sources, and travelled far and wide seeking Enchanters to guide him. At last he came home accompanied by 21 wizards of power; 11 enchanters and 10 Necromancers that had agreed to help in the hope that the Daemons could kept from the Realm forever.
He locked himself away in a forge with the circle of Wizards, and for long nights and days the sound of hammering echoed around the Palace and enquiries of food were met with curt dismissal. At last, looking haggard and drawn, they emerged bearing a fist-sized piece of sculpture that took the breath from the assembled observers. It was a Rose crafted from Mithril and lacquered with seven petals, each cunningly carved from a different precious stone - blue, red, green, brown, yellow, white and grey - each colour representing a Codex of the new Order. Holding it aloft, he cried out that this was the symbol of the new order, henceforth to be called the White Tower, home of The Order of the Knights of the Rose. Lowering it, he explained that the Rose was a symbol of the beauty that the knights would strive to preserve, and show that even though this was a Militant Order, peace was its goal.
Still, despite the best efforts of the wizards and Baron Stryker the Rose remained an inert lump of beautiful sculpture. Something must have changed however, for no sooner had Stryker set it on the table of his Great Hall than a miracle occurred. The assembled onlookers gasped in awe as a great light sprang up surrounding the Mages and the Baron, growing in intensity until it almost blinded them. Finally it leapt from the 22 men and women and struck the Rose. The Great Rose was now blessed of the Gods as well as imbued with more human mystical energy, and perhaps the order had the blessing - if not the direct power - of the Gods. In honour of the efforts of the Mages each of the Codexes of the Order was allowed to have 3 mages associated with it as advisors and mentors, representing the 21 original users of magic through the ages.
For many years the Order prospered and established its base in a home known as The White Tower. The Knights rode for the Crown on many occasions and distinguished themselves as warriors, judges, healers, scholars and mediators. Then rumours began to circulate of atrocities committed in outlying provinces by members of the Order; judgements given in return for money and conflicts fostered rather than resolved. The then Lord Commander sought to resolve whether there was truth in these stories, and slowly established that there was rot at the heart of the order: a new Codex, The Black, dedicated to chaos and destruction, worshippers of Daemons. Conflict erupted within the White Tower with friend and brother slaying one another. Finally the Seven Codexes triumphed, but not before their brothers of the Black had stolen the Great Rose.
The King dissolved the Order to prevent such trouble ever occurring again, and wiped much of the history of the Order from the annals of the Crown. For ages the Knights were largely forgotten except in the hearts and records of the Stryker family who dreamt of restarting the Tower. Finally a son was born to the house who grew into a warrior of note, Baron Ephraim Stryker. He was schooled in the history of the Order and the need now abroad in the land for men of chivalry and honour again pledged in service of the Crown. Baron Stryker travelled far and wide recontacting descendants of the original knights and hunting for the original White Tower. At last he found it, or at least its footings, buried in the Courtyard of the dungeon known as the Swinderlog Hole. It now served as a support for the roof and there were no signs of it above the ground, nor was it habitable at present.
There was still much work to be done, but at last Baron Stryker felt ready to reapproach the Crown to pledge the allegiance of the Knights.