1d6 Sad Knights
Here are some knights inspired by Round Table ones. See if you can figure out which is which.
1. The Ladies' Knight
This is the best of all knights for one reason alone: he listens.
As a young man, the Ladies' Knight is the image of vanity. On a scale from 0 to 10 he is an 11 and would give himself a 12. He parties, he fights, he tourneys; to him, knighthood and fame are a sport, and he excels in it.
But as time goes on, the Ladies' Knight listens to more and more people. Women in particular, the poor, the downtrodden. It culminates in two year-long journeys where he travels across the realm - in one he faces death, in the other, rejection.
Thus the Ladies' Knight blossoms into the most beautiful flower of Chivalry. He doesn't need anymore to be known as famous or epic - he is Good. That is enough.
2. The Mercenary Knight
He is a relic from the recent past. An older man who has been foster father to His Sacred Majesty, the Mercenary Knight prizes masculinity above Chivalry - "this new thing."
The Mercenary Knight knows violence and war, and his body is starting to break under the weight of that knowledge. His back hurts, he lacks fingers, and his balance isn't very good, but he still wears his armour black from the forge. It is heavier and an older model, but very well-tended.
Above all, the Mercenary Knight knows men and men's hearts. He knows how to mediate between men and how to save face and preserve one's manliness while cowering and backing down. He avoids war skillfully and did his best in raising every generation that came after him.
His time will come soon, and as he dies, his hopes of a better world will live inside all of us.
3. The Giant Knight
Leave honour and education to those other knights, the Giant Knight knows better.
Many knights turn their attentions to the world and how to treat with it, to the downtrodden and how to protect them, but the Giant Knight concerns himself with other knights. He fights as well as anyone, but no sword is as sharp as his wits. The Giant Knight took it upon himself to test the men of the court, and as the king's brother and right hand man, he enjoys protection.
In practice, the Giant Knight is a bully. If there were lockers around the realm, he would be stuffing squires inside of them. He calls everyone on their bluff, holds everyone accountable for every word said or left unsaid, but in his eyes there is always a glint daring you to tell him he is wrong - to prove him wrong and show everyone what you're worth.
He is the villain on our side. Never confuse his goodness for kindness.
His armour bears the face of an angry giant, two arms sculpted over the breastplate, and two more heads in each shoulder. These were gifted by the king, and he insisted on asking for an armour even more expensive than he had offered. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to impress the queen he so desires in secret.
4. The Lover Knight and His Lady of White Hands
His story does not have a nice end, and it seems like he knows it.
The Lover Knight cares little for adventuring or quests - in fact, it seems like he avoids them, only acting when push comes to shove. Unfortunately for him, life pushes him constantly.
His lover is the Lady of White Hands, the most beautiful in the world. Cunning and shrewd, she hated the Lover Knight at first, to the point of swearing revenge for her uncle, but the two found one another, and now that is all that they have.
In beautiful summer days, they hold one another as if life is about to tear them apart. The Lover is immensely strong, capable of anything when love is on the line; the Lady would do whatever it takes to bring him from wherever he may be.
One day, he will cause both of their deaths. They have less time than they think.
5. The Ill-Made Knight
They call him the best of all knights, but he is anything but.
His only real talent is killing, and he does it like no one else. Nowadays he cares little for this prowess, but you would have a hard time recognizing him as that little boy in Elfland moved only by dreams and prayers. You might have wondered what store of ferocity he had against himself, that could set him to break his own body so young. You might have wondered why he was so strange.
The Ill-Made Knight tried doing everything right. He followed the laws of Chivalry to a science, he killed many monsters and even more men, he fought in every single war there has been, and he pretended to be "normal" for a very long time. It couldn't last forever.
For years now he's been living as a wild man, scavenging from the ground and barely surviving. He believes he has dishonored himself and his forbidden beloved. One day he will die, burning everything he is and has to the ground, and all of this for love.
If only he had been true.
6. The Perfect Knight
No one is ever quite sure how to feel around the Perfect Knight, for he wasn't made according to the laws of Men, but rather the laws of God.
Something beyond us talks to him. Something big. He has constant visions and premonitions and his arms and hands are always covered in writings he's received and jotted down before he could forget it.
The Sacred Office takes most of his time, so he could never figure out how to talk to people or communicate properly. His sermons are rambling and hard to understand, his writings borderline indecipherable. Whatever he's trying to tell us, it seems impossible to truly parse, and they say he can be seen crying in frustration over his incapability at making the Voice that seems so simple to him be understood by all.
He is not for this world. One day very soon he will be taken by a breath of light to somewhere else, and when he's gone the entire world will be a little worse.