Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Order of the Scarlet Knight

Marlin, Keeper of the Lore
The Order of the Scarlet Knight isn't like the Masons or Shriners or Elks or anything like that.  There are no lodge meetings, no keggers, no softball leagues, and no parades.  In fact at any given time there are only two members of the Order:  the current Scarlet Knight and the Keeper of the Lore, Marlin.  And since Marlin is a ghost, there's not a lot of fun stuff the Order can do.

But the Order isn't about having fun.  It's about protecting the world from the evil Black Dragoon.  The formation of the Order dates back from the 13th Century (AD), though it informally existed for about three thousand years before that.  It was during that time that the figure known until then as the Scarlet Warrior became the Scarlet Knight as the armor was redesigned as plate armor similar to what knights of the day wore into battle.  Since knights of the day also had groups like the Templars, the Order of the Scarlet Knight was born.  The name continued to be used even after knights left the battlefields and the armor has remained largely unchanged because the symbolic value of knights is still part of popular culture thanks to the Arthurian legends and so forth.

As each incarnation of the Scarlet Knight rises, it's the job of the Keeper of the Lore to instruct the new recruit on the armor's capabilities and also to educate him on the history of the Order and its fight against the Black Dragoon.  It's a job that's gotten tougher as public education and literacy causes newer recruits to be far more skeptical of things like ghosts and magic armor than those in the past.

Some incarnations of the Order have lasted decades while others have lasted only hours, just long enough for the current Scarlet Knight to kill the evil Dragoon.  There can also be decades between incarnations of the Order, as "the Call" for a new Scarlet Knight only goes out when a new Black Dragoon rises.  And while the first members of the Order were noble knights who heard the Call, over the centuries the Order has recruited many ordinary people:  butchers, fishermen, bakers, tailors, and even a lingerie salesman.

One constant is that all of these Scarlet Knights were male, but that's about to change...

P is for Plaine Museum:  A Legacy of Learning

12 comments:

Rusty Carl said...

Awesome.

Tina Moss said...

Very cool. :)

Briane said...

I remember reading superhero comics where the heroes would all have a party, and someone like Spider-Man would be there drinking hot chocolate with Reed Richards but he'd keep his mask on and just pull it up a bit. So I'm disappointed to learn that the Scarlet Knight will not be pulling together a community softball team. Remember how that Vampire-Baseball scene really brought "Twilight" to a new level of sophistication?

As usual, my lighthearted mockery covers a deep vein of jealousy for how well you've plotted this out. Is "Marlin" a version of "Merlin?"

stephen Hayes said...

If females can crash into the all-male order of Scarlet Knights, can "The Masters" be far behind?

PT Dilloway said...

Marlin was the assistant to Merlin long ago. After he died, Marlin was offered by his master the choice to become a ghost and help train future Scarlet Warriors (Knights) or take his chances on finding out what lay in the Great Beyond. Being not the bravest individual, Marlin chose to stay on as a ghost.

There was a joke in one version of the story where Emma sees him for the first time and asks, "Are you Merlin?" and he says, "No, I'm MARLIN." I think that got cut at some point--sometimes it gets hard to keep track of all the changes.

Also I should have put: (Fun Fact: Marlin is based on Rincewind of the "Discworld" novels by Terry Pratchett.)

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Does the order have a symbol associated with it? If so...what is it?

PT Dilloway said...

They probably should have some coat of arms or something, but I never thought of anything.

M Pax said...

Intriguing idea for an order.

klahanie said...

Aha, so the Scarlet Knights are about to become Scarlet Knightlets. Oh by the way, Terry Pratchett is fascinated by my tales of the magical 'wee folks'. Oh well, whatever....
Happy writing, I'm outta' here.....

Andrew Leon said...

I was hoping the Black Dragon was a real dragon... darn...

PT Dilloway said...

It's DRAGOON, not DRAGON.

Andrew Leon said...

My bad... that's what I get for being in a hurry because I'm behind.

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