(Lady of Strategy, Grandmaster of the Lanceboard)
Demipower of the Prime Material Plane, LN
PORTFOLIO: Strategy, planning
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Toril/Faerûn
SUPERIOR: Tempus
ALLIES: Tempus, Torm, Valkur the Mighty
FOES: Cyric, Garagos
SYMBOL: A red knight chess piece with stars for eyes
WOR. ALIGN.: LG, NG, LN, N, LE, NE
The Red Knight serves Tempus, the Lord of War, as the goddess of planning and strategy. She is portrayed as a dark-haired woman in blood-red armor, with a map of the Realms tightly clasped in her hands. The Red Knight keeps her true name secret from all but the Lord of Battles, as she realizes that if any power, mortal or divine, were to gain any measure of control over her, they would be privy to all the plots and stratagems of rulers throughout the Realms and the powers throughout the planes.
The Red Knight is venerated by the Foehammer's followers in a secondary position to the Lord of Battles. Only since the Time of Troubles has a small priesthood distinct from that of the Foehammer arisen in her name. This small priesthood, owing its existence in part to the increasingly complex nature of war, is grudgingly tolerated by Tempurans and apparently encouraged by the Lord of Battles himself. Some sages speculate that Tempus has sponsored the Red Knight to the rank of demipower and encouraged her worship as a natural counterbalance to Garagos the Reaver, his mortal enemy.
The Lady of Strategy is calm and logical in demeanor, but displays a great wealth of compassion, though she is unafraid to send her worshipers to their deaths when necessary to secure the objective of a plan. She rarely raises her voice and is said to love a good joke and have a throaty laugh. She dislikes flighty behavior, and looks unfavorably upon those who switch alliances often or capriciously.
The Red Knight sees Tempus as a father figure, and the two spend a great deal of time together. They sometimes hunt together or exchange tales in his feasting hall, but most often they are busy visiting the numerous fields of battle in Faerûn or reviewing battles of times past. The Red Knight sees Valkur as her best ally in the disposition of naval conflicts, though her expectations of him sometimes exceed his demonstrated level of commitment to all but the protection of sailors. The Red Knight and Torm are similar in disposition, and their interests in battle and the duties of warriors coincide well. She is known to be fond of him, but whether they are in love or merely close friends is a matter they have kept very private. The Lady of Strategy dislikes Garagos from what she has been told of his behavior by Tempus, though she personally has not come to blows with him. Her animosity is reserved for Cyric, who she despies as the utmost of traitors and liars and a poor planner besides.
During the Time of Troubles, the Red Knight was active in Tethyr defending the strife-torn nation against an army of monsters that threatened to surge forth from the Forest of Tethir. Her military genius was decisive in numerous battles where the small, but determined, Company of the Red Falcon overwhelmed numerically superior armies of beasts and humanoids.
Red Knight's Avatar (Crusader 25, Fighter 21)
The Red Knight always appears in blood-red full plate armor. Her long, dark braids stream out behind her, and her eyes sparkle like ruby stars. Her presence commands attention and respect. She often rides a red phantom charger of twice normal size and sometimes is accompanied by a red war hound of twice normal size. The Red Knight's standard is a plain white field adorned with her symbol. She favors spells from the spheres of combat, divination, travelers, and war, but she can cast spells from any sphere.
AC -3; MV 15; HP 179; THAC0 0; #AT 2/1 (heavy horse lance) or 5/2 (broad sword)
Dmg 1d8+13 (heavy horse lance +5, +7 STR) or 2d4+11 (broad sword +3, +7 STR, +2 spec. bonus in broad sword)
MR 60%; SZ L (10 feet)
STR 19, DEX 16, CON 19, INT 23, WIS 23, CHR 22
Spells P: 13/12/12/12/11/9/4
Saves PPDM 2, RSW 5, PP 4, BW 4, Sp 6
Special Attacks/Defenses: In combat, the Red Knight wields a lance +5 or a broad sword +3, as appropriate. She is specialized in broad sword and proficient in all other weapons. Her shield, carved from a single glassteeled ruby, acts as a ring of spell turning should her magic resistance fail. Once per round, the Red Knight can utter a shout (as the 4th-level wizard spell), and five times per day, a great shout (similiar to the 8th-level wizard spell found in Pages from the Mages, but never having any detrimental effect on the Knight). Her touch can heal any allies who fight in common cause with her once per day. She can rally any forces she has sided with within 5 miles of her (as long as she is aware of their morale breaking) up to three days a day.
The Lady of Strategy can never be unseated from her steed involuntarily. Farra (Fortitude), as her horse is known, can attack up to twice per round using either her fore or rear hooves for 2d8 points of damage per hoof, but can only attack a single target per set of hooves. If she attacks with her front hooves, she can also bite for 2d8 points of damage. She cannot be struck except by another deity while the Red Knight is conscious and present; at other times she is AC 2. She has 8+8 Hit Dice. Farra is very intelligent (INT 11), moves at MV 21, and can also sprout shadowy pegasus wings at will and fly at MV Fl 30 (B) with a rider. She allows others to ride her only if ordered to do so by her mistress or if the Lady is in distress and she believes someone will aid her. Paysar (Perseverance), the Red Knight's war hound, is a war dog of double normal size and Hit Dice who inflicts twice normal damage with her attacks and has an Armor Class of 4. She is of average intelligence (INT 9) and is said to be able to track any who have fled a battle or betrayed a commander's trust.
The Red Knight always knows of a foe's plans ahead of time and so she is both never surprised and able to counter most plans used against her. She has an uncanny knowledge of how to use terrain to her advantage, and unfailingly is able to discern places or items camouflaged or hidden from common view and people disguised or altered in appearance from their natural form in any way. She is immune to all enchantment/charm spells and spell-like effects that she does not wish to be affected by and to all nondivine illusion/phantasm effects.
Other Manifestations
The Red Knight commonly manifests as a chess board on which various pieces are positioned. By discerning the most appropriate next move on the board, worshipers blessed with such a vision can intuit an appropriate strategy for the future for their current situation.
The Red Knight shows her favor by the discovery of small, red chess pieces carved from priceless rubies. She shows her displeasure by the discovery of similar pieces carved from crumbly white quartz. She also has been known to enable trained battle animals to perform feats of strength or intellect normally beyond their capacities in order to aid their owners. The Red Knight is served by einheriar, maruts, pers, and stone golems and stone guardians shaped in the form of chess pieces. More common creatures said to manifest her presence or interest include owls, eagles, falcons, elephants, pegasi, horses, and domestic dogs and cats, especially those trained for battle; most such creatures are of a ruddy hue.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, monks
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: LG, LN, LE
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, if good or neutral, SP: No, Cru: No, Mon: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: Yes, if evil, SP: No, Cru: No, Mon: No
All clerics, crusaders, monks, and specialty priests of the Red Knight receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Only in recent memory has the Red Knight emerged as a demipower in her own right, distinct from Tempus. Most folks still view her as a follower or aspect of Tempus, similar to Veiros and Deiros, the Foehammer's twin steeds. Although the Red Knight serves all sides in battle, villagers and city dwellers perceive her as an ally of civilization who enables small numbers of brave defenders to triumph through superior intelligence and foresight against ravening hordes of rapidly breeding humanoids.
The Red Knight has but a few shrines dedicated to her name, and all but one are found within temples of Tempus. Chapels of the Red Knight are dominated by images of chess pieces and the floor is inlaid with a chess board (also known as a lanceboard) of black and white or red and white marble. Typically they are guarded by numerous stone guardians of blood red and bone white hue, carved in the shape of various chess pieces.
The clergy of the Red Knight, known as the Red Fellowship, is an offshoot of a monastic order within the hierarchy of the church of Tempus that concentrated on planning and strategy. Evenly divided into clerics, crusaders, monks, and specialty priests (known as holy strategists), this relatively small priesthood has only organized into a distinct faith since the Time of Troubles and has been most active since after the end of the great crusade against the Tuigan Horde in the Year of the Turret (1361 DR). Regardless of class, priests of the Red Knight are regimented in a strict hierarchy with corresponding titles. In ascending order, these titles include: Page, Squire, Knight, Knight Quartermaster, Knight Commander, Knight Captain, Lord Knight, Lord Knight Commandant, and Lord Knight of the Red Standard. Higher-ranking priests precede their titles with their relative rank within the clergy (for example, the eighth-highest ranking priest of the Red Knight's faith is known as the Eighth Lord Knight of the Red Standard), although this practice may be abandoned as the clergy grows in size.
Dogma: War is won by those with the best planning, strategy, and tactics, regardless of the apparent odds. Any fool can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with fortune's aid. Only a master strategist can ensure victory and that it will last.
War is a series of battles. Losing a battle does not necessarily indicate the war is lost. Seek out your opponent's weaknesses and recognize your own; avoid an opponent's strengths and play to your own. Only by focusing one's own strengths on one's opponent's vulnerabilities can triumph be ensured.
In times of war prepare for peace; in times of peace prepare for war. Seek out your enemy's enemies as allies, and be prepared to compromise. Life is an endless series of skirmishes with occasional outbreaks of war. Be ready—and have a contingency plan.
Day to Day Activities: Members of the Red Fellowship serve in armies throughout the Realms. Many are high-ranking commanders, often of elite squads. Others are well-respected instructors in war colleges in kingdoms throughout the Realms. A few are quartermasters skilled at obtaining and managing supppplies or establishing and maintaining supply lines over hostile territory. Quite a few priests of the Red Knight have authored tomes on military strategy.
When not on duty, priest of the Red Fellowship are known for their love of gaming. Although they avoid games of chance that require the smile of Lady Luck more than the brilliance of the Red Knight, priests of the faith strive to constantly improve their skills in abstract games of all sorts to further challenge their development of parallel lines of thought and new stratagems and to sharpen their ability to read an opponent's intenions.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: In addition to observing the holy days and important ceremonies of the church of Tempus, the clergy of the Red Knight observe two important holy days themselves.
The Retreat is an annual event held every Midwinter's day. During this solemn cermony, the clergy of the Red Knight assemble for a day-long retrospective on the previous year's campaigns. Strategies are discussed, battles are analyzed, and the accumulated lore is intergrated into the church's teachings.
The Queen's Gambit is celebrated on the first day of Tarsakh. During this festival, the clergy of the Red Knight unwind with a day of feasting and gamesmanship. Day-long tournments of chess and go (a game imported from Kara-Tur) are held, with tournament victors receiving recognition, titles of merit, promotions, and sometimes, a precious gift from the temple armory.
Major Centers of Worship: The Citadel of Strategic Militancy has arisen as the center of the Red Knight's faith outside of the aegis of the church of Tempus. Located at the juncture of the Coast Way and Thundar's Ride, approximately 40 miles northeast of Baldur's Gate, this small castle was the hold of the Bloodhawk clan, part of the minor, self-styled nobility scattered throughout the region encompassing the Fields of the Dead. The castle was built by Taric Bloodhawk over a century ago with money he plundered from an orc chieftain's secret horde during the battles of the Year of the Lost Lady (1241 DR).
During the night of the Fall of the Gods, Lady Kaitlin Tindall Bloodhawk, sole heir of Lord Ronlar Bloodhawk, was exploring the ruins enveloping the village of Tempus's Tears with the rest of her adventuring band, the Company of the Red Falcon. During the night, she was possessed by the Lady of Strategy to serve as her avatar host. The Red Knight forged the Company of the Red Falcon into a small, but powerful, mercenary company. She led the band south where the group was single-handedly responible for eradicating an army of monsters that swarmed out of the Forest of Tethir and threatened to overrun the northeastern quarter of beleaguered Tethyr. The strategic genius of the Red Knight enabled the Company to triumph against overwhelming odds and forever earned them a place in Tethyr's history.
When Lady Kaitlin returned to her ancestral home at the conclusion of the Godswar, however, she found the lands pillaged, the castle a smoking ruin, and all of the inhabitants put to the sword. Broken-hearted, she vowed revenge, but she could never discover the perpetrators of the foul deed. In her family's memory, she rebuilt the castle and dedicated it as a temple to the Red Knight.
Today the Citadel of Strategic Militancy is a bastion of military might and serves as the home of the newly founded Red War College. This school caters to military officers throughout the Realms who are sponsored by their lieges to study strategy and planning. The Citadel's walls are checkered with red and white marble, and a blood red dome tops the central keep. The central chapel is a giant lanceboard on which the priesthood engages in strategic battles during religious ceremonies. Farmlands in a 20-mile radius are worked by peasants who gladly embrace the Citadel's expanding hegemony. The havrested land serves as a training field in the cold winter months. High Lady Bloodhawk admnisters the burgeoning complex in the name of her liege, the Red Knight, and serves as First Lady Knight of the Red Standard (high priestess) of the faith.
Affiliated Orders: The Order of the Red Falcon is a fellowship of crusaders, warriors, and a few paladins who serve the Red Knight and Lady Bloodhawk. Small in number, the elite knights of this order are dangerous opponents who have triumphed in the face of overwhelming odds on numerous occasions. Based in the Citadel of Strategic Militancy, many of the knights serve as instructors in the Red War College. Others serve stints in various armies throughout the Realms training the officers in military history. On rare occasions they are all summoned back to the Citadel and led into combat by Lady Bloodhawk herself.
Priestly Vestments: Clergy of the Red Knight wear blood-hued suits of plate armor or plate mail for ceremonial functions over which is worn a white tabard embroidered with the Red Knight's symbol. They are not forbidden to cover their faces with their helms like Tempuran clergy are, however, and so they often sport full helms when visibility is not a concern and they wish to convey a grand impression. When not armored, their clerical robes are red, although the shading varies slightly from darker to lighter with increasing rank. They wear the symbol of the Red Knight carved from a red-hued gemstone on a chain around their necks.
Adventuring Garb: Adventuring garb for priests of the Red Knight is the best armor they can obtain. Although their armor can be battleworn, most priests strive to keep it polished and unmarred, as befits a commander seeking to inspire both his followers and the bards. All clergy of the Red Knight have a battle standard, paint their heraldic symbols (if entitled to one) on their shields, or display the symbol of the Lady of Strategy on banner or shield to form a rallying point for troops when they are going into organized battle. Covering or concealing such a standard generates no disapproval from the church however, if a strategem should require it.
Specialty Priests (Holy Strategists)
REQUIREMENTS: Intelligence 13, Wisdom 13, Charisma 10
PRIME REQ.: Intelligence, Wisdom
ALIGNMENT: LN
WEAPONS: Any
ARMOR: Any (plate mail, field plate, or full plate preferred)
MAJOR SPHERES: All, charm, combat, divination, healing, law, protection, travelers, war
MINOR SPHERES: Creation, guardian, necromantic, thought, wards
MAGICAL ITEMS: Same as cleric
REQ. PROFS: Etiquette, heraldry, land-based riding (horse)
BONUS PROFS: Engineering, gaming, hunting
1st Level
Analyze Opponent (Pr 1; Divination)
Sphere: Divination
Range: 10 yards/level
Components: S, M
Duration:1 round
Casting Time: 4
Area of Effect: One creature/level
Saving Throw: Neg.
This spell facilitates the quick analysis of a single opponent by the spellcaster. At 1st level, the priest can divine one salient weakness or strength of a single opponent. At 3rd level and every two levels thereafter up to 9th, the spellcaster can determine an additional strength or weakness. The target of this spell is entitled to a saving throw vs. spell. If the saving throw is successful, the spell is wasted and nothing is learned.
For example, if this spell was cast by a 5th-level priest on a troll, he might learn that trolls can regenerate (a strength), that they are particularly susceptible to fire (a weakness), and that this particular troll was partially blind in his left eye. The last nugget of information might translate into a +I bonus to hit, at the DMs discretion, if the priest attacked so as to exploit the troll's weakness.
According to legend, one of the earliest priests of Tempus to win the Red Knight's favor employed this spell prior to battling a rakshasa. With it he divined that diabolical race's weakness to blessed crossbow bolts, a fact that is now known by many adventurers throughout the Realms.
The material component of this spell is the priest's holy symbol, which needs simply to be touched to cast the spell.
3rd Level
Knight's Move (Pr 3; Alteration)
Sphere: Combat
Range: 0
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 round/level
Casting Time: 6
Area of Effect: The caster
Saving Throw: None
This spell is similar to the 3rd-level wizard spell blink. In a fashion reminiscent of the chess piece of the same name, the spellcaster employing a knight's move can cause his or her material form to blink directly from one point to another.
Unlike the wizard spell, the spellcaster can control the timing, direction, and distance of a knight's move within certain constraints. The priest can blink at any time during a round in lieu of taking any other action. Alternatively, the caster may perform some other action at his or her normal initiative and then blink at the very end of the round after all other actions of other individuals have been taken.
The direction and distance of the blink are under the control of the priest, who can blink from his or her current location to any location in sight within 5 feet times his or her level to a maximum of 120 feet.
The material component of this spell is the priest's holy symbol.
5th Level
Telepathic Broadcast (Pr 5; Alteration)
Sphere: Combat, Thought
Range: 10 yards/level
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 round/level
Casting Time: 8
Area of Effect: The caster's allies
Saving Throw: None
This spell puts the priest in one-way telepathic communication with all allies within range. No opponent hostile to the spellcaster can "hear" the telepathic broadcast. While this spell is in effect, the priest can telepathically broadcast instructions, orders, information, or anything else desired at will, so long as the information can be transmitted verbally. The priest cannot select which allies hear the message; anything chosen for broadcast is heard by all allied forces. This spell also does not allow the priest's allies to respond.
The caster must choose the language the broadcast will be sent in. Allies who cannot understand the language in which the caster is communicating hear the words but do not understand their meaning without additional magical aid.
The material components of this spell are the priest's holy symbol and a pinch of dust from the desiccated brain of a mind flayer or other creature with telepathic abilities or a drop of a potion of clairaudience or potion of ESP.