The Crown Award

Received for dispensing Justice to criminals both with his own hand, and with the KOB Patrols he envisioned and worked to organize.

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Jorus, as a lad, grew up as an only child in the humble town of Cove, far away from the attacks of orcs, ogres, and other such beasts. His father, Angus Khan, was a farmer who wanted to stay out of trouble. Jorus spent many long days, during harvest, picking the many vegetables that would be sold in the market.

Jorus had never known his mother, she died in childbirth, and Jorus never felt very close to his father, perhaps Jorus felt almost guilty about being responsible for his mother's death. The only time he would ever feel close to his father, was when he would teach him the art of forging horseshoes. This may seem strange, but it was the only time that Jorus felt that his father had a trade to pass on.

One day, a guild of 40 warriors came into the town to hold a meeting. This was unusual in Cove. Everyone came out to see them entering the gates. everyone cheered as they came riding in, one by one, on their horses. Even the town guards saluted. These men were given food and drink for free, people flocked around them to hear their many tales of the glorious battles they had been a part of.

The festivities lasted only a few hours, but after the knights left, Jorus knew he wanted to be a part of that life. To live for adventure, to die with honor. This was something that he couldn't experience on a farm. That very day, Jorus purchased a dagger with the few shillings he had saved up.

About a week later, Angus found that dagger. He told Jorus that he was far too young to have such a weapon, perhaps someday, but certainly not until he was a man. As punishment, Jorus would have to melt that very dagger down, so that later they could use the material for horseshoes. Jorus walked slowly to the forge alone, staring at the dagger, thinking about all that it represented, all that he wanted. That evening, Jorus did melt the dagger down, and forged a crude sword out of the material! Jorus would use this sword to practice his swordsmanship in the woods nearby.

At the age of 14, Jorus finally left his father in pursuit of the fame and adventure he craved. His father begged him to stay. But Jorus was determined to become a warrior. The following year was the hardest he had ever known. The life of a warrior wasn't anything he thought it would be. He wasn't fighting great foes. Jorus was barely able to subdue mindless creatures such as giant scorpions, and spiders.

It was after that first year alone that he encountered his first orc. He had never seen one before. The battle they engaged in was quick, and left Jorus badly wounded and bleeding on the ground. The only reason the orc did not finish him off was the crossbow bolt of another traveler. Finally, Jorus could learn from another honorable warrior! But, fate was particularly cruel that day. For the warrior was not saving his life, buy merely killing an orc for his loot. Jorus had gone unnoticed by the stranger. When he did find Jorus lying in his own blood, the stranger robbed him of all his possessions, and left him for dead! All possessions except the crude sword which he had made. This item was left next to Jorus, broken.

So, this was the way of things!

Jorus collected the pieces of his sword, and hobbled back to the nearest town, Britain. He collapsed in front of a small blacksmith shop. The owner was an old man named Anakin. Anakin took him in and healed his fresh wounds. When Jorus awoke, he saw before him, an old man, with a short white beard. "Are you God?" was the first words that Anakin would hear from Jorus! Later that day, Jorus would tell him what had happened to him, and where he came from. Anakin, seeing the boys plight, mad him an offer. He would teach the boy how to use a sword, if he would stay with him and be his blacksmith apprentice, for Anakin had no sons. Jorus laughed! How could such an old man teach HIM out to use a sword. Anakin then took him to a back room, where his old suit of armor was stored. A suit that bore the emblem of Lord British himself! For Anakin had been a guard of the great king, when he had just taken the throne! Jorus, immediately agreed to be his apprentice.

The days spent with Anakin in the shop reminded him of how him and his father would forge horseshoes together in Cove. He grew to be quite fond of this profession, and would forge a new, well crafted blade from the pieces of his first sword. Anakin meanwhile upheld his part by teaching him swordsmanship, as well as tactics of warfare. Anakin saw much of himself in the youth of Jorus.

At the age of 21, Jorus was quite an accomplished blacksmith and swordsman. Anakin's shop thrived with the surge of growth in Britain. Then came the worst possible news. Cove had been sacked by an orcish legion! Upon hearing the news, Jorus headed off to Cove to become part of the first wave of volunteers to take back the town. Jorus was now fighting for his father, and not for glory, and he fought well. Many orcs were shown their maker by his sword, a sword forged by the very metal which his father forced him to melt down. Jorus would have the dubious honor of slaying the very Orc captain that had held the city, personally. Finally when the city was taken back, there was no sign of his father. Their home had been burned down, but Jorus could only find stranger's bodies. Was his father murdered? Did he flee? Jorus was full of unanswered questions.

When Jorus returned to Britain, two months later, he found that old age had finally beaten Anakin. He had died in his sleep, and without anyone to look after the shop, it was badly looted and worn. Jorus gave Anakin a humble burial, and since he had no sons, took the wonderful gold armor from his belongings. Jorus sold the shop for much less than it was worth, and started his long journey through Briannia to find answers he needed. Only now, that he was gone, did Jorus finally appreciate what his father wanted for him. Anakin had died with no sons. And if his father was still alive, he wanted to make sure Angus would not share the same fate.

Shortly afterwards, while in Cove following up a few leads, Jorus met a miner. Sirus had only been in town a short while, and had no information about a man named Angus Khan. However, seeing that Jorus was troubled by his search, offered to buy Jorus a drink in the local tavern. In all his time with Anakin, Jorus never learned to hold his liquor, and in a short time, Jorus was very drunk! The next morning Jorus woke up in a small cottage in Cove. Sirus was there preparing for a day of mining. "Oh good, you're not dead", said Sirus. They laughed. Jorus had found a good friend indeed. Sirus and Jorus would remain friends from that time on. Sirus would tell stories of a band of noble knights he would assist called the Knights of Britannia. The Knights of Britannia were a group of warriors who would patrol the land and dispatch evil. The stories fascinated Jorus, but he would not deviate from his search for his father's fate.

Sometime later, a bartender in Cove told Jorus that many of the original orcs that took Cove looted the city, then left to search out other riches is the dungeon Shame. Jorus had never been to such a deep dungeon, but if he could find out more there, he would go without question. After two months of making journeys back and forth from Cove to the dungeon Shame, Jorus met up with a man by the name of Ocato. Ocato rode a large steed, and was a figure to behold indeed. Jorus told Ocato of his search, and Ocato decided to accompany him in the dungeon. Jorus was fascinated how Ocato used words of power to conjure beings, and defeat the many orcs they encountered. Jorus finally asked Ocato if he would teach him of these arcane arts. Ocato said that he would only if Jorus would join a guild to which he was a member, the Order of Nordic Knights. Jorus told him that he could not give up his search, and Ocato told him that he didn't have to, and in fact the Nordic Knights could help! Jorus agreed, and Ocato started to train him in the ways of ancient Socaria.

Meanwhile, Sirus had become a full fledged member of the Knights of Britannia. He would not only assist them by supplying them with weapons and armor, but he would aide them in battle as well. Jorus and Sirus would meet often in that little shack of Sirus's and swap stories of their guilds. Sirus had also been studying magic at an alarming rate.

Several months passed by. Then, with the help of his Nordic brothers, they captured an orc soldier in Shame who had been in that first raid on Cove. Ocato and Rolex (the leader of the Nordic Knights) allowed Jorus to conduct the interrogation. The orc defiantly stared into Jorus's eyes at first, but Jorus had years of anguish to unload on that unfortunate orc, who finally confessed what happened that first night. The orc invaders had sailed in near the city without detection. Then set a small encampment in the night, and in the morning they unleashed on the city. All guards were immediately executed. And the citizens quickly fell in line. The heartless orcs systematically executed the children, as they were of no use. What the captain was interested in was the superior quality of the humans armor and weapons. They took everyone with the skill of blacksmith to an orc fort west of Britain, near Shame, where they had a strong presence. Jorus finally had a break. His father did have some experience in blacksmithy. They might have taken him there.

Getting to the orc fort was a difficult task. The orcs were indeed strong in the area. Also, just as was predicted by the prophets long ago, the use of magic was corrupting humanity. More than ever, humans were turning against their own race. Many groups of blackhearted men were found on the long trek to the orc fort. They seemed to be only interested in the bloodshed of their fellow men. Times were indeed getting worse. And this new kind of evil kept the Nordic Knights very busy during their quest. But, alas, finally the Nordic scout brought word that the orc fort lay just ahead. For five long days, the Nordic Knights laid siege to the orc fort, with the help of volunteers gathered from nearby Yew.

Once the fort was taken, Jorus did indeed find evidence that humans were there, as well as blacksmith equipment. After interrogating the captured orcs, it was discovered that the humans they had captured had escaped only days ago. The humans had nothing with them though. This could only mean that the humans would have to make their way to Yew for a safe place. Jorus conveyed the information to Ocato and Rolex, and after a night of rest, they set out through the dense forest, for Yew.

Jorus led the small contingency of the Nordic Knights though the main path through the forest until he saw tracks going off into the woods. Signs showed that whoever went into this forest was most likely chased in. Suddenly, a flash of light came upon them all! A blue oval appeared before them all. Ocato knew what this meant and cried, "Weapons ready, men!" Jorus had never seen anything like this and stood for a moment before raising his sword. "It's a gate" shouted Rolex! Then eight men leapt from the gate, with various crossbows, swords, and staffs. They opened fire on the Nordic Knights. Crossbow bolts whizzed by Jorus's head, and for the first time against another human, used the words of power! "Vas Flam!" Then drew his sword to finish one off! The Knights fought bravely and three more evil knights fell. They then scattered. The Nordic Knights had lost one man in the fight. The evil knights were indeed organized, and apparently it was them who chased these human into the forest.

They continued their trek through the woods, and finally came across three bodies. One, a young man, stripped naked. Another younger man who had been run through with a sword. The third man face down in the dirt, but was obviously older. He had crossbow bolts in his back, and still clutched his sword. As Jorus turned the body over, he looked down in horror. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!" Jorus's scream of pain is said to be heard as far away as Britain! There, lying in his own blood was the farmer Angus Khan. His search was over. His father had been killed by the same kind of scum that attacked the Nordic Knights. Jorus took Angus's body, and held it close to his, and wept. Jorus then immediately started to walk away, carrying his father's corpse with both arms. When Rolex asked Jorus where he was going, Jorus simply replied, ".....home"

The following day, Jorus arrived at the gates of Cove, carrying his father. He then buried his father on the spot of land where his farm, years ago, stood. That whole day, Jorus sat on his fathers grave, staring, almost hypnotized at his sword. Then Jorus took the magnificent sword, made from a cheap dagger...forged by a novice... then reforged by a master, and melted it down, then reforged his powerful sword, into a humble horseshoe, and buried it with his departed father.

After a month of morning his father, Jorus vowed revenge on this new human evil in the land. But when he returned, the Nordic Knights had already had many battles, and Rolex had grown weary of the constant conflicts. Within weeks, the Nordic Knights disbanded. Rolex, falling in a pit of depression, sited that he could never rid Britannia of evil. It was rumored that Rolex took his own life, but it was never confirmed.

Shortly afterwards, Jorus found himself back in that small cottage which had housed so many good times before in Cove. Sirus, hearing of his recent tragedies, once again offered acceptance in the Knights of Britannia. Now that his search was over, he could devote his efforts against evil with these noble knights. He agreed, and pledged loyalty to the then GuildMaster, Bale. Jorus removed his cloak of blue which he had worn for so long, and donned the blood red cloak of his new found brothers. The Knights of Britannia.