Knights Gamlic

The Knights Gamlic is an order of knights that existed from the Fourth to the Seventh Era. The order was re-born several times, each new version calling themselves a new 'order' of the Knights Gamlic.

Origin of the Name

The name of the order comes from the more ancient word for the people of the kingdom: 'Gamlic', which eventually was corrupted into 'Camlic', and still later into 'Camleric'. The reason for the order being called 'Gamlic' rather than 'Camleric' is because of the "nod to the glorious days of our Empire's birth." (The Knights Gamlic, Resser Sargyle)

First Order of the Knights Gamlic (E.4 51-525)

Founded in 51 of the Fourth Era, the First Order was created with the purpose of protecting the newly chosen King Guriel of Camleron. Guriel's rise to power had angered many including his younger brother, Duke Aster Guriel. The First Order was organized by the head of Camleric military, General Saffir Fardel, and included fifty-five of the top-ranking soldiers in the Camleric army. This is where the Camleric saying "As strong as fifty-five" comes from, meaning as strong as the original fifty-five members of the First Order.

The order continued until the end of Guriel's reign in E.3 103. Aster Guriel had been sentenced to death in E.4 62 for treason and attempted assassination against his brother, leaving him unable to take control of the kingdom. After one year of disputing, Guriel's son, Mason Guriel, was declared the new King of Camleron and was given the name "King Guriel II".

The First Order survived until the end of the Guriel Bloodline, lasting through all ten kings: With the assassination of King Samuel in E.4 525, the Knights Gamlic were abandoned. The new king, Prestar Sardinel felt the order was "ineffective; for else, how would I have taken power?" (Sardinel's Speech to Fellow Nobles, E.4 532)
 * King Guriel I (51-103)
 * King (Mason) Guriel II (104-167)
 * King Richard Guriel (167-222)
 * King Malkom Guriel (222-235)
 * King Fredrik Guriel (236-290)
 * King Asmont Guriel (290-355)
 * King Rupard Guriel (355-401)
 * King (Glaus) Guriel III (401-453)
 * King (Akmon) Guriel IV (454-499)
 * King Samuel Guriel (499-525)

Second Order of the Knights Gamlic (E.4 761-922)

Sardinel's bloodline had ended in E.4 606, leaving some 25 years of political unrest. Finally in 632, a new monarchy came to power, the Aukshers. The Auksher Kings would go onto reign until E.4 838. In E.4 760, Auksher King Andrew I expressed feelings of reviving the Knights Gamlic. King Andrew organized one hundred soldiers, mages, and citizens into what he called "The New Order of the Knights Gamlic", now called the "Second Order of the Knights Gamlic".

King Andrew had plans to use the Order as a more extreme form of the Camleric military. The Second Order was to be trained in physical combat, magical arts, rhetoric, and stealth. By E.4 772, King Andrew had crafted his New Order into the ultimate army and placed Governor Morris Kalstyre at the head.

Andrew's first act with his new army was to invade and conquer the northern Wymekal city of Kamela. The resulting Seige on Kamela lasted for fifteen months, beginning in E.4 773. At the end, Andrew had conquered Kamela and many other small cities in southern Wymekal, but the Second Order was in ruins. Almost half of the army lay dead and the citizens of Camleron were angry at their king.

Andrew, hearing the distaste within his kingdom, made a very difficult decision. First, he returned Kamela to the Kingdom of Wymekal in exchange for the Port City of Systell. Second, he turned the New Order into a domestic organization tasked with law-enforcing within the kingdom. The results were staggering. Crime rates had lowered tremendously in the kingdom's capital and other major cities within five years of him enacting the new decision.

Andrew died in E.4 811, leaving power to his son, Peter. King Peter continued his father's policy of using the order as a law-enforcement agency until E.4 838 when he died of food poisoning. Power then passed to a noble named Reismond Argustin. Power continued shifting until the end of the Fourth Era.

The Second Order was a shadow of its former self after the death of Peter and began to dissolve after E.4 840. The Second Order officially disbanded in E.3 922.

Third Order of the Knights Gamlic (E.5 101-443)

By the dawn of the Fifth Era, nobles had been calling for the revival of the Knights Gamlic. The final years of the Fourth Era had been shakey for the kingdom and many saw the Order as the only way to keep stability within the kingdom. The first two kings ignored the nobles' pleas. King Julio and King Markal often claimed the Order was a waste of public resources and was always doomed to fail.

Finally, in E.5 101, the third king to take power in the Fifth Era, King Terend I, saw the necessity of a new Order. He declared the "Third Order of the Knights Gamlic with the purpose of better aiding our society and monarchy" in a speech in E.5 101. Terend's new Order targetted the poor with the purpose of getting them well paying jobs. Within its first ten years, the Third Order sent some 550,000 jobless men to work. The Third Order was less focused on military purposes than the orders before it. Terend saw the need for road-building, mining, and forest clearing, and sent the Third Order out to do these tasks.

Terend died in E.5 155, passing power onto his son Terrend II. Terend II continued his father's policies until his death in E.5 200, where his son Terend III took over. Terend III attempted to shift the Order towards defense building at the start of his rule. Terend III had forts and barracks be rebuilt along the borders of Camleron, especially towards the West as tensions had been growing with the Euriks.

In E.5 236, the Firsr Eurik-Gamlic War began and Terrend III sent all Third Order workers to the battlefield. At first, the Camlerics were doing quite well. Terrend's Third Order was pushing the Euriks far into their territories in the north, allowing him to capture the cities of Trenk, Orviek, and Brunreach. However, in the winter of E.5 239, the Camleric forces were crushed at the Battle of The Frozen Swamps. Terrend began to fear the worst and decided to cut his losses. In E.5 240, the Eurik-Gamlic Treaty, also known as the Rosegold Treaty, was signed. Terrend III gave back two of the three cities and established Brunreach as a buffer-zone for citizens wishing to cross the border between the two kingdoms.

Terrend III tasked the Third Order with rebuilding the north-western cities of the kingdom which were devastated during the war. By E.5 252, Terrend III announced the rebuilding process was finished and decided to step-down, making him the first Camleric king to ever do so.

With no heir to the throne, the monarchy fell to the hands of a female noble by the name of Bessia Castine. Bessia was forbidden from ruling, so instead placed her son Mark Castine onto the throne.

King Mark the Young, as he became known, gained the crown in E.5 254, and announced the continuation of Terrend III's domestic policies regarding the Third Order. Mark ruled until his death in E.5 288, when his son Davik became king. The following kings continued Mark's policies with little variation. It wasn't until E.5 390 that things began to change.

iIn E.5 390, the Eurik's violated the Rosegold Treaty and declared full ownership of Brunreach and the surrounding lands. The Gamleric king at the time, King Gyle II announced full arming of the Third Order. Gyle sent the Order to blockade the city and arrest the Eurik provincial governor, Hyliak Kriek. Kriek eventually surrendered after six months, when starvation began to become visible in the city. Kriek ceded the city to the Third Order and was banished to the Eurik Kingdom.

Now, positioned within the city itself, the Order's morals began to change. Many felt King Gyle II was weak for allowing the Euriks to take the city in the first place as well as for pardoning Kriek. The result was one of the most influential Third Orderists, Sodil Grygmek, declaring the city independent of Camleric rule in E.5 404.

King Gyle II no longer had an Order to enforce his rule on the new rebels. Although a handful of Third Order members eventually returned to the capital city, Gyle's rule was challenged and the Order had put a nail in its coffin. Gyle outlawed Order membership in E.5 409 and appointed the loyal Third Order members as his personal royal army.

The Psuedo-Third Order continued to rule in Brunreach until 443 when internal conflicts caused it to collapse. Brunreach takes prides in this era, calling it their "Glory Days". A visit to Brunreach will show this with the many Third Order flags still being flown to this day.