CYBER-KNIGHT MOTIF: COURTIER
Close to half of all cyber-knights are Courtiers, noble and lawful
warriors who live their life by the Chivalric Code. All cyber-knights
adhere to the Code in some way, shape or form, but it is the Courtiers
who have seemingly refined it to an 'art and a science.' Their every
action corresponds in some way to the Code which binds them. Verily,
they are living examples of the power of law and justice in a lawless
world.
Couriers are so named because they maintain the ancient practice of
'holding court' so that a cyber-knight's deeds may be publicly known
and the knight's worthiness evaluated by their peers. In ancient times,
feudal knights attended the court of their lord and king for such
purposes. On Rifts Earth, the cyber-knights are not a feudal
organization. Indeed, they are not a formal organization at all, so
they really have no formal meeting places or castle in which to 'hold
court.' Instead, there is a tradition among them that whenever six or
more knights gather, they head for the nearest town and 'hold court.'
This typically entails the knights bringing large gifts of food and
drink to the town, which in turn holds a large festival in their
honour. At night, the cyber-knights are asked to come forward and tell
stories of their deeds. Since cyber-knightsin good standing do not lie
or exaggerate, the stories told are assumed by all to be true.
Everybody at the scene listens to the tales; in a world where most
people have no books, television or movies, cyber-knight stories are
much-loved entertainment.
While comments,praise, applause and questions are welcomedfrom all the
listeners, either a single person or a small group of four to eight
people from the crowd are chosen to evaluate the cyber-knight based on
his deeds. This person or group is always female, usually a young
maiden whi has not yet been married or attended motherhood. In some
cases, little children will also be called upon to evaluate the
knightly tales. The idea behind this odd practice is that these people
represent the most easily trodden upon folks in the badlands where the
cyber-knights roam. In many wasteland villages and homesteads, women
tend the home fires and have little or no means of defending
themselves. Children are even more easily victimized, and the young age
of both suggests innocence. Who better to judge the progress of the
champions of the downtrodden than the downtrodden and innocent
themselves?
Should a cyber-knight be deemed worthy of adulation, the other knights
will bear witness to it, and spread the word to any other cyber-knights
they reach. This is how the reputation of a cyber-knight grows among
other knights. Among common folk, knightly reputations often grow like
wildfire and may get rather embellished along the way. By the time the
tale of one cyber-knight's victory over a pair of Simvan in Minnesota
reaches texas, the deed has turned into a one-man battle against a
horde of Simvan and all their monstrous steeds. So on one hand, the
practice of holding impromptu courts helps correct runaway stories of
outlandish deeds, and on the other, helps to propagate them. For most
knights, hearing that the magnitutdeof their deeds has been blown out
of proportion is cause for embarrassment. Villages that hold court for
cyber-knightsoften take it upon themselves to be truthfaul keepers of
the stories told during the festivities. The tales become part of the
village's heritage and in this way,many of the small communities
dotting the wastelands of Rifts North America are themselves small
museums of Cyber-Knight lore. Should a scholar make anextensive trip
among these places, they could assemble a mighty collection of
Cyber-Knight lore.Erin Tarn herself gathered numerous accounts and has
been said to have considered making a comprehensive history if only she
'were ten years younger.'