Year of the Lance, 356
I entered the chapel and fell to my knees near the altar, wondering if perhaps this was the very spot in which my father had meditated, and his father before him, and his before him. Meditation was difficult to maintain, as once this ordeal was ended, I would be christened a Knight of Solamnia -- Sir Jared uth Wistan, Knight of the Crown.
I think he would be proud to see me now. Lord David uth Wistan died protecting Palanthas -- the city I grew up in. His death was glorious, saving the townsfolk from the advance of the undead warriors summoned by the Death Knight, Lord Soth. My mother cried no tears at his funeral, nor did I, as the knighthood was his life, and fittingly, his death.
Now I would be the fourteenth son of the Wistan family to join the knights, and I had much to live up to. Not only was there my father's example, but his brother, my uncle, is Lord Gunthar uth Wistan, Grand Master of the Knights of Solamnia. I have always taken the utmost care to distance myself from them both as to my abilities as a Squire with the knights -- I wanted to prove myself of my own merits.
My time spent as a Squire was uneventful -- protecting supply routes to Kalaman, and Ergoth, standing guard at the famed High Clerist Tower, or on the Isle of Whitestone, moving siege weaponry from the Gnomes back to Palanthas, maneuvers on the backs of silver dragons wielding the famed Dragonlances... all normal duties. Until, of course, that one dark night which Soth lead his skeletal forces back into Palanthas as a measure of revenge for the death of his lover, one of the Dragon Highlords who had originally attacked the city in the battle in which my father had died. With his example, I helped defend the townsfolk, by some great happenstance immune from the waves of unnatural fear given off by his armies. Fortune shined upon me yet again, as one of the civilians I had helped turned out to be a relatives of the lord of the city, and word was passed of my heroic deed to Lord Gunthar.
And here I sit now, to pass a cold winter's night in vigil, waiting for the sunrise and the ceremony that would fulfill my destiny.
*****
"...eligible to wearing the trappings thereof, as well as being able to draw upon the coffers as subscribed by the Code. Do you agree?" asked Lord Gunthar, his hair glinting red in the early morning sun, much as was mine.
"I do, my Lord,"
He drew his sword with a practiced motion and laid it upon my right shoulder. "Rise, Sir Jared uth Wistan, Knight of the Crown, and take your place amongst your brethren. As Grand Master I name you Knight of Solamnia."
That was the greatest day of my life, my comrades cheering with a great hurrah, clapping my back. My heart swelled with pride, and I whispered a small prayer to Paladine and my father.
*****
Year of the Lance, 374
In the next eighteen years, I rose through the ranks of Knights quickly -- faster than my father, actually. Lord Gunthar came to rely upon me for important duties of the Knights. I spent a year in Palanthas after achieving the rank of Knight of the Sword, training with the Master Clerist at the Temple of Paladine. I studied with the Revered Sons and Daughters of Paladine, Kiri-Jolith, and Mishakal there, learning how to call upon them in times of need. I had never been much a spiritual man, but these studies allowed me to find an inner peace within myself, a central calm which was a unique counter to my normal battle-ready mode of being.
Unfortunately, I was called out of my training late last year with the appearance of a new threat -- the Knights of Takhisis, dark knights sworn the Goddess of Evil. After some initial skirmishes, Gunthar declared a state of war, and field-promoted me to Knight of the Rose. Normally, this would raise some eyebrows, but since I come from a noble line, it was understood. My battalion encountered a force of Dark Knights east of Kalaman, and we were surprised, yet somewhat delighted, to find that they adhered to the same codes of Honor as we.
The Dark Knights were repelled back near Goodlund, far enough so that I could bring my battalion back to Palanthas, and I can now see the High Clerist's Tower in the distance...