Mage Knight

First fielded by Westria during the growing advent of the Church of Light and cavalry’s importance on the battlefield, the Mage Knight brought both magical support and healing to the highly mobile battlefront. While originally simply an order of priest-knights, Mage Knights would eventually grow to encompass all forms of magical casting. Whether it was raining down spells or utilizing their unique training to heal mount and rider both, the Mage Knight could turn the tide of a battle with their mere presence. And while there were countless stories throughout the ages of holy knights bringing men back from the brink of death, there were none as debated as the story of Dame Madeline Benoit and Sir Owain Morgan.

As told and accepted by Westrian historians, Dame Madeline Benoit was a human Mage Knight without equal. Gentle and nurturing to her allies and able to bring her enemies low with figurative hellfire, she held a near saintly presence in the Church of Light. Debates would still sometimes crop up among the clergy as to her suitability as a Saint but her history was both ill documented and controversial, depending on who was asked. There was no dispute of her actual existence as her name was recorded as a Holy Knight of Kari, but there was a much debated feat in her history: Sir Owain Morgan and the proliferation of Great Knights into Westria’s military.

While there were many versions of the tale, the most accepted one in Westria followed a series of reasonably set in stone facts. During the many border incursions from Northi as it tried to wrest control of the Nuren Plains from their ancestral owners, it was said that Dame Madeline Benoit helped devastate a Northi skirmishing force. Not only was she instrumental in capturing many of the Northi knights, she graciously tended to their wounds with a special focus on Sir Owain Morgan. The dogfolk Great Knight had taken the brunt of the Westrian counterattack as he shielded his men and required significantly more care than the others. In fact, he traveled back to Westria for further treatment while his men were released back to Northi. It was said that, in his gratitude, he volunteered the skills of the Great Knight and allowed Westrian artisans to study his and his mount’s armor. And while there was debate on the validity of that tale for the origin of the proliferation of Great Knights into the Westrian military, they paled in comparison to the vicious arguments that revolved around the love story between Dame Madeline and Sir Owain.

The most commonly accepted telling of the great love between Madeline and Owain was that of star crossed lovers fighting destiny and the world to be together. What started as simple care for a wounded knight became tender affection as the months of Owain’s recovery ran on. Some accounts painted a picture of desperate, forbidden love with various forces working to keep them apart. Secret marriages, hidden lineages, and fantastical courtly intrigue plagued the romance novel market with few authors making any attempts to disguise their protagonists. The reality of it was much simpler and all the sweeter for it.

Neither Madeline or Owain had the heart to return to the constant fighting between their two countries and retired from their respective militaries. The legend among the Benoit household was that the pair had a private wedding in the garden of Madeline’s childhood home and then departed for destinations unknown. The rumor was that they spent time as traveling knights, wandering Lyr and helping those in need. And while those actions had never definitively been attributed to Dame Madeline and Sir Owain, what couldn’t be denied was when they both turned back up in solid historical record.

They would found Morgan Ranch in what would later become Dacquoise, near the future site of the city of Madeline. It was there that the retired knights, happily married for an unclear amount of time, had begun taking on students and ranch hands to teach the art of horsemanship, knighthood, and magic. While the ranch itself did not last into modern times, the house itself was maintained and the legacy of chivalry was upheld by the descendants of those students. Collectively, and informally, they called themselves the Knights of Morgan and dedicated themselves to helping those in need whenever and wherever they were found.