Knight of the Iridium...backstory

[yamsi3467]

Greetings,

As a Beta, I got the Knight of the Iridium Throne card. I am thinking of generating a character from my planet (Durguu). I was just wondering, in terms of my character, how would one be granted a Knight of the Iridium Throne? I want him to actually have the title. According to the world stats, the government of Durguu is Captive. Ideas?

Yamsi

 

[Hal]

Greetings,

As a Beta, I got the Knight of the Iridium Throne card. I am thinking of generating a character from my planet (Durguu). I was just wondering, in terms of my character, how would one be granted a Knight of the Iridium Throne? I want him to actually have the title. According to the world stats, the government of Durguu is Captive. Ideas?

Yamsi

<taking a deep breath>

Well, let us start with the idea that the character started out as a naval officer, and through dint of hard work and lucky breaks, found himself nominated for Knighthood. Maybe it was the fact that he came from the kind of background (gentleman) that enhanced his chances of notice - ie ate at the right places, bought his clothes at the right places, and was invited to all the right parties. After a while, he developed a reputation within the navy as being the person whom one could depend upon to get the job done and done right. One for whom solving problems came naturally to him. Then came the day when he was granted an actual fief of land - much to his surprise. How did he get on the Emperor's list? Who feels that he's worth a grant of land? Why was he granted that land? More importantly, what is expected of him in this far away land that is now a captive government? Is he there to observe that the government that holds the world in captive state, observes the rules of the Imperium? Perhaps some megacorporation has been pulling strings in an effort to get better advantages for when they start to exploit a given world. Maybe there is a ring of slavers kidnapping people and quietly selling them throughout the scattered worlds of the Imperium.

The sky (cough cough) is truly the limit here.

 

[Reban]

A Knighthood in the Order of the Iridium Throne is probably given for quite a wide range of "services to the Emperor/Imperium".

The citation on the back of the card says: [you are] "held in high confidence and esteem by His Majesty".

High confidence implies you are a loyal subject, possibly capable of holding an Imperial office or function. There's probably nothing in your background that could embarrass the Emperor or his government.

Esteem is a great catch all. It doesn't necessarily mean you are friends with the Emperor or that He owes you one. The Emperor might esteem a heroic officer for his deeds in combat, a great artist or poet for their work, a sports person for their sporting achievement, or a charitable person for their good works with the needy.

Somewhere in the Imperial civil service there is a committee that receives nominations for appointments to the Order of the Iridium Throne. Nominations might come from Imperial Officials, Military commanders or maybe from a petition signed by numbers of Imperial Citizens. Additionally the Emperor can just proclaim it and it happens with no red tape.

These civil servants will probably request a background check by MoJ agents, they'll review the citation detailing why the knighthood should be awarded and finally they'll check that the candidate meets the criteria for joining the order.

Actually there's the bones of a campaign there. The PCs are MoJ agents and local Imperial officials looking into a candidate for a KIT. Maybe something doesn't add up, maybe all the witnesses and referees have different stories. Journalist PCs might be investigating from the other side of the story. Is this businessman really a KIT? Some minor functionary recieved a KIT but no one knows why, perhaps it has something to do with that explosion that left an Ine Givar cell dead?

Courage Under Fire with Denzel Washington is a film that shows the processes behind the awarding of a major decoration and the reasons (real and political) why they are awarded.

 

[Bloo]

The citation on the back of the card says: [you are] "held in high confidence and esteem by His Majesty".

It says that for all noble patents.

 

[Murdoc]

I just think that its one of the many orders of knighthood, distinguished somehow by the fact the Emperor is involved. I think of the knighthoods received by the characters in the Traveller's Digest adventures, which (IIRC) they received in the S.M., but had to travel to core to get knighted good and proper by the Emperor himself (although I can't imagine this happening too often though). I can't remember the adventure enough to recall what they did to earn it, but it was this situation that makes me think of this order, if you care to look it up (my Early Adventures book is missing at the moment.)

There's probably nothing in your background that could embarrass the Emperor or his government.

If I'm right, that sure wasn't true for Aybee! :rofl:

 

[Reban]

Aybee travels to Capital to receive a Knighthood in the Honorable Order of the Emperor's Guard the citation for which goes: For service to the Imperium and to the Emperor.

There's a Traveller Wiki entry here: http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Honorable_Order_of_the_Emperor's_Guard

It's listed as the most common order. The characters are IIRC knighted by the Duke of Deneb before setting out for Capital and the Emperor usually dubs a hologram or one of those smart recordings rather than having candidates attend in person.

I won't do a spoiler for why Aybee might not have passed a background check, but this is one of those times when the Emperor hands out a knighthood in return for a favor

And as Bloo notes it does say "held in high confidence and esteem by His Majesty" on all patents, but since Knights of the Iridium Throne are new we have to start somewhere for background.

Something else that might be unique is that KITs are associated with particular worlds?

 

[Murdoc]

Ok, thanks Reban. I guess it's been quite a while since I've read those adventures (and never got to play them ). Thanks for correcting me.

Ok, so maybe KITs are far more "elite" than the OEGs? After all, there's only about 2000 of us...

 

[aramis]

The KIT will be, IMTU, the basic "The Emperor has order you up a fief" knighthood. As a fiefholder, you're a direct vassal of the Imperial Throne, and share directly in the rulership aspects of the Irridium Throne.

 

[Reban]

Well I feel Elite, don't you

The Wiki has some rankings for the various orders.

Things I think we know about the order of the Iridium Throne:

• KITS are Travellers
• There are about 2000 of us
• KITs are associated with an Imperial World

There are Imperial Orders that have ranks and Orders where every member, including the Emperor, is equal. I propose the latter (purely to prevent major flame wars :rofl

All KITs are Beta testers right? So you could say we've done the Imperium some service (technically in secret or at least behind the scenes), so maybe thats a good theme to hang a back story on.

 

[pendragonman]

Well I feel Elite, don't you

The Wiki has some rankings for the various orders.

Things I think we know about the order of the Iridium Throne:

• KITS are Travellers
• There are about 2000 of us
• KITs are associated with an Imperial World

There are Imperial Orders that have ranks and Orders where every member, including the Emperor, is equal. I propose the latter (purely to prevent major flame wars :rofl

All KITs are Beta testers right? So you could say we've done the Imperium some service (technically in secret or at least behind the scenes), so maybe thats a good theme to hang a back story on.

A Secret Society, which is actually running things. You know, as opposed to the ones the regular people think are running the show?

 

[Dragoner]

The Imperial order of Fixers, and those who should remain out of the Light.

Mine the Solomani have nicknamed him "Vurrich the Vampire" for what he did during the Rim War; and why he is still alive, no one knows. He stays on his lonely Estate, Raven's Wood, on Roska. Anagathics? Rumored Ghost in a Shell of a prototype TL17 AI? Or maybe being of Mmarislusant descent has given him the noted Vilani longevity ...

 

[rancke]

And as Bloo notes it does say "held in high confidence and esteem by His Majesty" on all patents, but since Knights of the Iridium Throne are new we have to start somewhere for background.

Something else that might be unique is that KITs are associated with particular worlds?

Perhaps Marc is going to keep the KITs as a meta-feature and not retcon the order into the official game universe.


Hans

 

[Reban]

Probably. It would be hard to retcon in so I'm really just thinking IMTU.


From the way this thread is going we now need a song* and a funny hat.


*Song must be from the back catalogue of David Hasselhoff....get it? :rofl: