The Blue Order
Andals have a love-hate relationship with magic and nowhere is that more clear then the Blue Knights, knights sworn to not only protect and watch over Hastigi's Children, but to kill and hunt them.
This duel purpose is shown in their training where they study magic and its uses, spells and their incantations, and how to break and disarm enchantments. They also study the effects of Spearmetal tattoos on the mind and the signs of descending insanity that often comes on Druids.
But to assume that the Blue Order's only training is academic is to be sadly mistake because when a Druid goes rogue the only solution is a shift and timely death and as such a Blue Knight receives practical training in fighting techniques to disable spellcasters.
Blue Knights are rather respected as they gain their honor through tracking down people that the common folk really wasn't okay with. Main are recruited to live with Barons and Dukes to watch over the local hedge mage and so live a live of luxury, even though their lives tend to be short and brutal most of the time. They're also capable fighters on their own simply because of their quick, on their feet thinking style.
The Order of Blue favors no weapons in particular but most prefer a smaller, quicker weapon, like a shortsword. The more benevolent ones train in hand to hand combat to disarm, rather then kill, Druids, but its uncommon. Their training, however, sees that they sacrifice some of the other 'knightly' skills for those more adapted to their Order, such as Arcane Lore.
Order of the Ant (a.k.a. Sappers)
Ant Knights are rough, uncouth warriors that specialize in siege warfare, including the building of siege engines, erecting a proper encampment, and logistics.
They tend to be mercenary about their allegiances and its rare to find one in the employ of the noble, though several have hired on with the crown. Indeed, Sappers seem to care little for the court politics that others knights choose to play. As such, other Orders tend to dismiss them until they need a catapult built or a town torn down but with the added benefit of not having to worry about soft noble skills, like Diplomacy or Persuasion.
Because of their ability to direct and control large groups of men, its not uncommon for an Ant to find temporary employment with merchants wish to move and shift cargo as well, giving them work during the Spring and Fall seasons.
The Order doesn't favor any weapon, concentrating instead on skill work and creative thinking, however they are one of the only knightly orders to adopt the crossbow almost exclusively, which may have something to do with their military training that espouses group ambush tactics and a love of the mechanical.
Order of the Viper (a.k.a. the Myrmidons)
Hailing from the Gayim Basin, the Order of the Viper was founded by the Myrmidous Exiles, a group that fled the city of Xajat during the Mazadarani Conquest of their homeland. Traveling north across the mountain passes of the Xesperian Mountains, they found a new home in the lowlands of Wesswern. There they sold their swords to their new rulers in return for their freedom and a place to live.
Centuries have past and little is left of the tribe except a few darker skinned Andals and their exceptionally aggressive fighting techniques. Where other fighters would choose to have a quicker, lighter weapon in their off-hand for parrying, the Order of the Viper sees this as silly, Strike fast and hard and you won't have to worry about parrying anything. As such the Myrmidons specialize in fighting with two weapons of the same size and attacking with both.
To say that this order is a rough band of thugs would be unfair. They're proud of their graceful dance of death, the whirling of the blades and the sing of iron. But while they see beauty in their foreign fighting style, others see a whirl of blades and unkempt aggression, inviting, perhaps unfairly, a comparison between them and the Swans and Stags.
This is perhaps added to the fact that Vipers tend to be cavalier in their loyalty and often make their fame as champions, much like the Rose, who they seem to be in direct competition with.
The Order of the Viper prefer larger weapons, the most common being the scimitar, for its balance between the Long and Short swords. Myrmidons focus on Attack and Damage more then anything though there are some that choose to focus on Attack and Speed. Still, they are rather Falcon in their desire to make a strong first blow more then they are the Dragon.
Order of Winter
Perhaps the most selective with their recruitment process the Order of Winter is unique among the Orders as Knights do not pick their squires. Those that enter the Order are chosen by the Daughters of Winter for a specific purpose or geas that binds the knight to their service. Sometimes
its temporary but more often then not it is a role they fulfill til their death.
White Knights are called to protect a person, place, or thing most commonly but some are called on quests to retrieve items or preform a specific task. These can be holy relics or a common person with a divine fate. In one notable example, a White Knight was called to watch a certain hill. He later died of old age with an uneventful life because nothing happened. Nobody is sure if it was a cruel joke but most don't bother asking the motivations of witches.
The training of the Winter Order is secret and sacred, with the person called spirited away, it is told, to training with the spirits of the heroes of ages past until they are ready to fulfill their charge. Knights of Winter don't seem to have any particular theme in their weapons of choice or in their
fighting styles but they are all known to be capable warriors. Some even have the ability to elicit divine aid in combat.
All that is known about this training is that it causes the Knight to be struck mute, unable to speak and only able to communicate through hand gestures and expressive eye movement. This vow of silence may be a token of their divine mandate but who knows?
Order of the Stag
True to their name, the Knights of the Stag love one thing: charging and pushing people around. This Order controls the battlefield by getting their enemies to move and keeping them off balance.
It is not simply enough to do damage to your enemy because, as anyone that's tried that tactic on a Swan will tell you, simply doing the most damage won't win the battle. It is better to throw off your opponent and then keep them stumbling over their own feet. This is the reason that Stags favor heavier weapons and charges. It is also why they use aggressive attacks: not to hit but to move their enemy where they will.
Knowing this about how they approach battle should make the comparison to Swans and Vipers unfair as Stags carefully think about why and how they do battle where the other two apparently don't.
Stags favor large weapons, most often the two handed warhammer but many also choose to use longswords for their versatility, often coming in with two handed attacks and then transitioning to sword and board. It is not uncommon for them to also be proficient in a sidearm, such as a shortsword to press their advantage when they've backed their opponent up against a wall.
They also tend to favor a balance between the heavier and light armors, often training hard so that they have keep their speed and agility while encumbered.
In terms of specializations, the Stag run the gambit, with those believing in hitting and hitting hard while others believe in speed and defense. As such, Stags tend to win their battles by pure skill in attacking, defense, speed, or damage, but more in the ability to use the terrain to their advantage. Because of their training, when a Stag Knight scores a knock-back, he may always roll for which direction his target gets moved. If this doesn't seem like a huge benefit just remember that you may spend Honor on any dice you roll.
The left over bones are often ground up into a paste and mixed with milk and barley which is given to the horses. It is considered an ill omen for any part of the meat to be left over when the birds fly away and so they are often coaxed to eat by ritual dance and the burning of Steppe grass.
