The Gilded Knife
The Gilded Knife is a mercenary subsect of the Free Dominion.
While most of the other factions focus on outright combating the Starlit Court, this subsect provides necessary services throughout Beacon Space, taking on contracts and being the face of the Dominion to the rest of the sector, accepting quests and consisting of more charismatic individuals than usual. They take on quests, much the same as the main force of Sihians, providing confusion about if the terrorist organization is really a terrorist organization. The Gilded Knife is also home to two fairly important Orders: The Order of the Shattered Fae, and the Order of The Umbral Forge.
Often, if the Sihian knights find members of the Gilded Knife on contract, they will pause and attempt to eradicate the opposite side, the victors continuing on the contested quest.
Origin
The Group was formed by Lady Katina Magi, a former Starlit Court Grandmaster years prior to The Dachia Crisis as a small resistance force. When the dominion members were exiled from The Starlit Court, Kitina lead a large band of soldiers and civilians in a flotilla into the larger sector, eventually finding the abandoned mining colony ripe for the taking which they called New Haven. The group struggled to survive, trading what little resources they could mine inside the asteroid’s core to trade for food and medical supplies. Many died from starvation, and lack of proper medical supplies and clean water.
This was the case until Lady Astrid McAngus-Sethdragon, Lady Elenore Von Bathory and their entourage arrived in their flotilla of vessels searching for a new base of operations a year after the crisis that had gotten them exiled. While Kitina had formed the basis of what would become The Gilded Knife, it would not fully take shape until a few years later when Astrid would slay Kitina in an honour duel to the death after she questioned Astrid’s true loyalties. While many were skeptical, a large enough group of the people had praised Astrid for freeing them from Kitina’s incompetent leadership. While she wouldn’t go on to lead the group singularly right away, the prestige she gained led to her holding a great deal of pull over the two remaining power structures, Lady Syr Sarahlee Brenner The Grandmaster of the Umbral Forge and The Grandmaster of the Order of the Shattered Fae. The three would form a council with the assistance of Countess Bathory who would later leave, returning to her base on Dachia.
The Shattered fae’s grandmaster would disappear around the same time, putting Astrid in charge of it to maintain the power balance. Eventually, an overwhelming movement in the populous would push to have Astrid as their new Queen which she accepted, donning the moniker “Queen Of The Free Dominion” It was then that she renamed the station “The Fortress Of Kamelot”.
Astrid’s Backstory
Lady Astrid was present during the Dachia Crisis alongside her mother Calypso and other members of the court, protecting Sihi from the Dominionists attempting to crash Sihi into Dachia, while her twin and her father were on The Leviathan preventing its own takeover attempt with the rest of the Mystic Dragons. When the Dominionists began to flee Sihi near the end of the crisis, she was rendered unconscious and kidnapped along with her dragon companion and her four-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, her mother and other fang members were slaughtered senselessly. She would be taken to Dachia for a short time before being hauled off-world, to another destination.
Syr Elenore von Bathory had taken Astrid under her wing and personally trained the girl in all of the dominionist ways. She focused on advanced interrogations, assassination, manipulation and covert operations. She had also spent time mastering the bleed art of Meta-Magic, and Decay, a potent and deadly combination. Between Elenore’s brainwashing and that she felt abandoned by the people of the court, she grew cold and cynical against her former Kinsmen, especially because one of them had murdered her husband. After saving her daughter's life, Bathory would offer her a chance to create another child with the DNA of her dead husband. Foolishly believing that it was her late husband’s wish for it to happen, she accepted, creating Prince Arthur. Astrid delusionally believed that Arthur through his father was destined to be the reincarnation of the High King and would bring unity to the divide between the Starlit Court and the Dominion. This was used by Countess Bathory to further the woman’s control over Astrid.
Twenty-Two years later she would find herself the leader of the thirds largest Dominion SubFaction with her two children by her side. While the other dominionist sub-factions focused on outright combating the Sihian court, The Gilded Knife provided necessary services throughout Beacon Space, taking on contracts and being the face of the Dominion to the rest of the sector, accepting quests and consisting of more charismatic individuals than usual. They would take on quests, much the same as the bulk of the Starlit Court, providing confusion about if the organization was really a terrorist organization or a benefit. It also contains the largest of the dominionist spy networks, known as the UID (Umbral Intelligence Division).
Astrid was eventually made the grandmaster of the Order of The Shattered Fae after its original grandmaster went missing. The order specialized in manipulating knights’ sheaths along with their fae to great their own twisted "shattered fae" sometimes for the good or worst of the fae involved. It was at this same time that a large enough movement within the populous, expressed a public desire for Astrid to become their sole ruler, and thus she adopted the moniker “The Queen of the Free Dominion” While the other dominionist sub-factions focused on outright combating the Sihian court, The Gilded Knife provided necessary services throughout Beacon Space, taking on contracts and being the face of the Dominion to the rest of the sector, accepting quests and consisting of more charismatic individuals than usual. They would take on quests, much the same as the bulk of the Starlit Court, providing confusion about if the organization was really a terrorist organization or a benefit.
She and the rest of her division were now operating out of an abandoned space station built into a massive asteroid inside of an abandoned mining field, She named it The Fortress of Kamelot. Here she established her small Fiefdom, setting up a base of operations to consolidate and slowly build up her forces from souls looking for adventure, formerly exiled knights and locals unhappy with the starlit court's existence. Unlike the rest of the militant free dominion, they were not preparing for attacks against the Starlit Court. Instead spending their time building a civilization thanks to the abandoned equipment left by the area's previous inhabitants. With their spy network deep within Sihi’s infrastructure, they had a steady feed of critical information about Sihi and the actions of the court, though it was not easy to maintain and spies would occasionally go missing completely like found by Sihi’s own intelligence forces.
The Fortress of Kamelot itself was not glamorous by any means, one might even call it a silly place, but the engineers had managed to rig together enough of the old tech to make it functional again. While they had means of production, they often relied on raids of nearby settlements, passing ships, black market deals with neighbouring planets, and supply drops from other dominion outposts and flotillas. Through the spy network, they were sometimes able to obtain valuable Sihian parts, tools and much-needed supplies, though these hauls were rare, they went a long way to strengthening Astrid’s new private empire and supporting the greater free dominion effort.
Their fleet consisted of a flotilla of salvaged, stolen and refurbished ships mostly all retrofitted thanks to former members of the first forge, now under the banner of The Umbral Forge. The capital ship of this new fleet was the UCS Hel's Chariot, The Captial ship was gifted to Astrid upon her promotion to Grandmaster and has been the source of many conflicts throughout the greater sector. The Scientists within the Gilded Knife aided by Elenore Bathory had managed to take DNA from Astrid’s dragon companion Whitethorne and created many clones, one such was created to be the largest of the void dragons and was given to Arthur to further his destiny of greatness.
The Fortress of Kamelot
The Fortress was an abandoned space station built into a massive asteroid inside of an abandoned mining field, it appeared to be a former mining colony. The station was large enough to house millions. Estimates put the group at around two million plus strong, most of them however are simply civilians living under the Queen’s protection. Over the years the engineers of the Umbral Forge have maintained the Spacestation as well as made massive modifications all the while, hiding everything within the giant space rock. They also have made use of derelict mining equipment to mine resources within the field to fuel their fabrication equipment and ships.
Notable Locations
- Fortress of Kamelot
- Hall of The Gilded Dragon
- Vikingagård City
- The Great Market
- The Refinery
- The Medical Center
- The Space Mining Platform(The Shipyard)
- The Pit (Pit Fiend’s Lair)
- The Core/The Generators
- The Dragon’s Roost
- The Black Hole (Underground Dominion Compound on Unknown Planet)
- Combine Spaceport
- The Shipping Tram
- The Throne Room
- Forward Scouting Base - Alpha
- Forward Scouting Base - Beta
- Forward Scouting Base - Charlie
Population
Civilians - 2,075,000
Militant Force
Gilded Military Police - 75,000
The Gilded Knights - 55,000
The Order of the Shattered Fae - 55,000
The Order of the Umbral Forge - 40,000
Total - 225,000
The Gilded Military Forces
The primary defence of the Fortress of Kamelot is handled by The Gilded Military forces. They are the largest form of military might on the station and make up both the military and civilian police forces. They are separated into two groups, The Gilded Knights, and the Gilded Military Police Force (GMPF). The Knights are led by the general, whereas the police Force is led by the Lord-Marquis. Both positions are appointed by the queen but are generally lifetime positions.
The Gilded Council
The council is made up of several high-ranking members of the Government. The Lord-Marquis, The Frogemaster and the Foreman of the Mines of the Umbral Forge, the Grandmaster and Fleet Commander of the Shattered Fae, the Fleet Captain, and the General of the Gilded Knights. These seven are tasked with advising the Queen in all matters relating to Kamelot’s Infrastructure, Military, Security and Health.
Current Leadership
Queen: Astrid Revna McAngus-Sethdragon - The Dominionist Queen
Alter Ego: Syr Lady Signe Morgana Marbeck - Special Royal Envoy for her Majesty's Gilded Knife.
Prince: Syr Arthur McAngus-Sethdragon I - True High King of Sihi
Princess: Lady Madisyn McAngus-Sethdragon - The Dragon's Voice
Director of the UID: Director Markus Elentos (Former Assistant Director of OSI)
Lord-Marquis: Syr Axion Maxwell - The Dragon’s Fist
General of The Gilded Military: Lady Terra Nyx - The Worldeater
Master at Arms: Syr Lothar Barristen - The Elderdragon (The Old Dragon)
Fleet Captain: Syr Andros Stonehammer - The Iron Wolf
Jarl (Mayor) of Vikingagård City: Syr Arielle Kovalchuk - The Wolfmother
Notable Agents
- Assassin Seras Nyx - The Twisted Viper
- Duke Francois Monet
- Duke Silas Kirian
- Lady Viktoria Thompson
- Lord Commander Edvard Quinn
- Syr Sarahlee Brenner (Grandmaster Of The Umbral Forge)
- Syr Craig Gregson (Ambassador to the Dark Triad)
- Lady Carmen Black (Ambassador to The Swords Of Ancelot)
- Syr Nimbra Rock (Ambassador to the Umbral Throne)
Notable Spies
- Syr Lady Blair Azrael - Dusk Knight - TOotMD-TVG
- Syr Conner Brass - Wyvern Knight - TOotMD
- Syr Lady Breanne Darcy - Engineer - TFF
- Syr Lady Erin O’brian - Medic Knight - TOoV
- Syr Fredric Staffson - Engineer - TFF
- Syr Lady Kaniya Moon - Grandmaster Of The Lunar Arrows - TOotLA
- Syr Lucas Hunter - Second In Comand - TOotLA
- Syr Nicole Harris - Captain - TOotP
- Syr Duncan Peterson - Torjin Knight - TOotF
Notable Collaborators
- Cheshire Man
- Doctor Alexis
- Dr. Thayla Rosemary Quinsea - The Blood Raven
- The Dark Triad (Countess Elenore Von Bathory)
- The Swords of Ancelot (Syr Benedict, Starlit Scourge)
- The Umbral Throne (Iago of the Shadow Blade)
Other Members
Geriant William, a failed member of the Order of the Red Dragon. He was deemed incompatible by a Sidhe before he could be given a fae and washed out as a competent man-at-arms, but desperately wanted to be a Knight.
UID (Umbral Intelligence Division)
The UID is the primary spy network operated by The Gilded Knife aka The Dragon’s Maw.
They are spread out across the sector, including on Sihi, The Leviathan and Crucible. They funnel information, supplies and personnel back to the Fortress of Kamelot. The spies mostly operate solo, blending in with the locals of their assigned locations. On rare occasions, the UID will send lances of spies to investigate possible leads or high-value targets, usually, they will usually acquire disguises to blend into whatever local police force or military a planet might have in the event a planetary government is protecting a highly valued target.
Director Of The UID
This position is awarded to the Director of the UID, who controls the entirety of The Gilded Knife’s spy network. It is only given to people who Queen Astrid trusts without faltering. A failure in this position is a death sentence, for it could spell the end of the entirety of the Fortress of Kamelot.
Known Orders
The Gilded Knife maintains two active knightly orders within its power structure
The Order of the Shattered Fae
The Order of the Shattered Fae’s focus is to disrupt, manipulate and corrupt the fae of the starlit court into their own hybrid fae that they will use against them,. They also specialize in maintaining and upgrading Dominion Fae infrastructure The Order contracts themselves out for a number of services to the great sector.
Order of The Umbral Forge
The Order of The Umbral Forge is in charge of The Gilded Knife’s primary manufacturing, mining, and fleet maintenance. Founded by a failed successor of Grandmaster Reginald, of The Starlit Court’s First Forge Order. They will also contract themselves out for mining, salvage and other such operations of the greater sector for a huge cut.