Chivalry is to have Honour. Act with open intention, advance no cause by subterfuge, accept readily the consequence of one's acts.

Chivalry is to uphold Duty. Forsake no oath once given, persevere through hardship, do not justify one's lapses.

Chivalry is to seek martial prowess, civil service, and fair contest. Respect the Gods and show courtesy to foes.

The Guild of Knights preserves Seleucarian Chivalry, which has passed from its single origin to chivalric orders across the land, who practice it through the lens of their nation and mission. And so the Guild is not a monolith, it is a federation of Knights of different cultures. All Knights agree on the tenets of Honour, Duty, and Chivalry, but how each chivalric order interprets these ideals, and where they draw their lines in the sand, varies by nuance.

I shall not post here the thirteen points of the Asterian Code, or the nine Eastern Sacraments, or the four Cornerstones of the Thurisaz Ethos, or the other codes of other orders. That would exhaust an athenaeum's ink, and Sapience wishes to learn of an order's own code they should approach that order. But if a scholar of Chivalry were to collect them all, they would see that they are not identical, nor could they be. Would a Knight in Sartan's service shall swear the same oaths as a Knight that guards the Cyrenian Senate? Surely not. It is no great scandal when two orders disagree on details, nor is it hypocrisy when a Knight of Mhaldor embodies brutality while a Knight of Cyrene embodies mercy. That is the unique nature of the Guild of Knights as an international institution, with a diverse membership of several creeds.

HELP KNIGHTS tells of the Guild and its Council, one Councilor from every chivalric order. Just as Regents of Hashan define Progress, and the Hierophants chart the course of Eleusis, so does the Council of Knighthood rule on what is "excessive", "dishonourable", or "unknightly". Perhaps three Knights against one is clearly unchivalrous, but perhaps three Knights against one Death Knight Commander is a fair fight. A Knight should offer his foes honourable challenges, but in formal Raids and Conquests some chivalric courtesies may be set aside. A Knight slaying any novice that wanders into a Conquest would be unacceptable, but I find no fault in a Knight issuing standing warning to those who know better than meddle in his nation's battles. It is not a difficult concept that a Guild governs its own ideals, yet there are always those who would lecture a Dawnlord on what is Good.

If a great controversy arises, or a Knight offends all the Guild with their conduct, the Council may step in, but the Guild does exist to settle every petty dispute. The Degradation of a Knight is the Ethian Option, a path not taken until all others are exhausted. Councilors avoid meddling in the affairs of other orders, for fear that they may be meddled with in turn. This, perhaps, is what Sapience sees as inaction by the Guild: the mutual reluctance of knightly orders to wield the Guild as a weapon, lest it be turned back upon them. Indeed, we see that every nation calls upon the Guild to police the Knights of their enemies, but no nation eagerly accepts it when their own Knights are thusly policed.

The Guild grants no special exemptions to any God or creed, a Knight must balance their cause with the Chivalrous spirit. Every Knight may recall a time they were obligated by Duty to some act they disdained, but it is the act of a cruel liege to command a Knight so. If a Knight's liege commands them violate their Code in egregious fashion, indeed that could cost them their knightly title. It is a challenge to balance Honour with Duty, oaths to nation with oaths to Chivalry. Sapience wishes simple explanations for these quandaries; black and white answers to a world that lives in Erisian hues. I do not offer simple answers to complex reality.

What I do offer are men and women of principle, who wish the Realm to be more Honourable, and who sacrifce to make it so. The Code calls us down the path of Kephry and Shea, Isildur and the Sinistar, Kaelin and the Iron Lion. Knights shall stumble in the footsteps of these legends, but I shall take a dozen Knights who strive and falter before I settle for one who is perfect. That is the purpose of the Guild, not merely jury and executioner, but a place of camaraderie that encourages each other to the righteous path when we fall short.

If you find that you have strong opinions on what a Knight should be, if the beacons of Honour do not burn bright enough for you, then I issue a knightly challenge to you:

Take up Oath and Code with us, and lead us by example. Any soul may be reforged in Seleucarian fire; we shall hail you as brethren and tell of you in our legends.

Penned by my hand on the 24th of Chronos, in the year 966 AF.