"A warrior's burden is not the weight of the steel they carry, but the will
to summon it when demanded of them."
- Korinne Locke, Grandmaster of the Armigers
The origins of the Armigers lie in the ancient order known as the
Justicar-Knights of The Ashen Crown. Their history, their techniques, and
even their traditions are shrouded in mystery and secrecy. What is known, is
that from their founding they served the imperial family of the great
citadel of Cinderhold. Their word was law across the vast Empire of The
Ashen Crown, within which lay countless isolated settlements under constant
threat from the perilous creatures that plagued the largely untamed
wilderness.
These itinerant knights went from village to village, keeping order and
settling matters of law, judging the guilty, and where necessary, doling out
punishment. As per tradition and born of the need to travel light and avoid
attracting too much attention from creatures of the wilds, they journeyed
alone with only those things they could carry on their backs.
It was a dangerous life, but one that was made possible with techniques now
known as Armiger Arts. The knights could keep items within the ebb and flow
of the Aether for retrieval later, which enabled them to remain unburdened
until the exact moment a weapon was needed. And to take enemies by surprise,
should the guilty not accept the knight's judgement.
This tradition was a closely guarded secret, bestowed only to the most loyal
of the empire's servants. Many whispered theories about fallen gods and
Artifacts. But no one, not even the knights themselves, knew the true source
of their power; that mystery was controlled solely by the royal family. The
justicar-knights, it is said, learned to attune themselves to the very
Aetheric threads that made up their weapons, developing a deep and
unshakeable bond with their blades. There are many stories that allude to
the astounding sight of a knight commanding an entire arsenal of weapons to
fight at their side, a truly fearsome feat in many a tale.
When the Blight consumed Cinderhold and its imperial lands, the knights
fought valiantly, calling upon the very Weave itself in an attempt to pull
the entire citadel into the folds of the Aether. But this monumental feat
was something even the great sender-mages had not been able to accomplish,
and the knights could not do it while simultaneously holding back the
Blight. In a catastrophic wrenching of the Weave, the city was torn from the
world. Themselves thrown into the Aetheric Flow, somehow a handful of
knights were cast upon the weavewinds toward Altheria.
Stripped of their powers and terribly injured in both body and spirit, none
were able to recall any objects they had bound, nor were they able to sense
the Aether. It was as if a part of them had perished alongside their
homeland. The secrets they had held so dear and the traditions they had kept
to themselves for so long were gone, utterly and completely.
But all was not lost. In the bastion's most desperate battle, when all
thought Altheria too would fall, the miracle of the Barrier re-awakened the
knights' powers. Whether by divine will or some ancient magic of Sigilkeep,
none truly know. But weapons and items they had thought forever lost to the
Aether returned to their hands, their connection restored, albeit much
weaker than before.
The most senior remaining member of their fallen order, Korrine Locke, was
little more than a journeyman at the time. But she rallied together the
remaining forces of Cinderhold, forming a new order from their shattered
power. The Justicar-Knights of The Ashen Crown, now without home or
sovereign, gave their oath to the Council of Altheria. And they took on a
new name and purpose as The Armigers.
Inspired by the people around them and the hope that the Barrier brought,
they built a Chapterhouse in the ruins of an ancient garrison. Believing
that the knighthood's code of secrecy had been their undoing, they sought to
teach new members, leaving behind the strict tenets of their former order.
The Armigers quickly established relations with the city watch and the
Knights of the Vanguard, using their renewed skills to help secure the
city's walls and hunt the Beasts that threaten the bastion. While a mere
shadow of what they once had been, their formidable skills became
indispensable to the city's defense, and the Armigers soon earned sanction
from the Council as a guild.