*Before the great war, order in the Realm was kept by a band of warriors
known as the Knights of the Rose.  During the war and the events that
followed it, the Knights were extremely discredited and eventually came to be
replaced entirely as an organization by the Guard of the Realm.  A little
under a century ago, the Knights disbanded, their honor tarnished--now the 
remaining Knights are old men.
 -Benjamin became a soldier, and was involved in some of the early battles
with the Easterners.  Somehow he incurred an honor-debt to Jerelak, which
he repaid by becoming his bodyguard.  (Notes: his son became Realm
executioner, then quit after being forced to kill his grandson, who was
accused [falsely]of being traitor to the Realm.  His son is now a Bloodletter.)
 -Abra'm became an alcoholic, although he stayed in some semblance of shape
by choosing a career as a detective.  His daughter became a prostitute and
eventually affiliated with the Black Hand.  Recently, while drunk, he
overheard a conversation between two Guardsmen, talking about Barak and the
Justiciar, and he decided the Guard was corrupt and that this was the
Knight's chance to regain their tarnished honor.  He has called a reunion of
"old Knight buddies," planning to spring the info on them there.  It's being
held on the Castle because of Benjamin.
 -Abra'm's daughter, Lilith (Hiva'i), has a great deal of hatred for him from
her youth.  She is a Black Hand witch, and intends to frame the Knights and/
or use them as the Hand's next victims.

 -Ephraim became a priest of Tualoha, and has been using his clerical magics
to remain young in seeming.  He's also here because of the godwar, but...
 -Reuben died recently, interfering with a protection racket run by
the Brothers in Darkness.  His daughter, who had always felt ashamed of her
fathers heritage and overcome by guilt/grief/admiration, decided to take on
the mantle of Knight and restore his father's, and the Knighthood's, honor.
The Brothers want to find her and show her a lesson.

*When the first Knight, Benjamin, became a soldier he was in charge of a
battalion that was attacking an Eastern fortress.  He was betrayed by one of
his scouts, who turned out to be a double agent for the Easterners, and led
into an ambush.  His battalion was slaughtered, but he was taken prisoner by
the Easterners and so survived.  He managed to escape, but not before
discovering that the Easterners were obtaining information from a disgraced
ex-Knight who had sold out to them.  His scout, a gentleman by the name of
Barak, returned to the Realm and joined the Thieve's Guild.  Benjamin
returned and retired from the army, receiving an honorable discharge.  The
ex-knight in question, Maskil, became a mercenary when the East-Realm
treaties were signed.  Benjamin, after finally spending the last of his
discharge money, became an adventurer for several years and finally settled
down to work as a hired guard.  In the course of his work he ended up having
his life saved by Jerelak, and chose to repay his debt of honor by serving as
the mage's bodyguard, where he's been ever since.  

*Several other battalion soldiers survived, and some even made their way from
the battlefield alive.  One in particular was found by Maskil, who decided
to be ironic and saved him, tricking him into believing that Benjamin was
responsible for the doublecross.  The boy, who had lost his brother in the
ambush, vowed revenge, following Benjamin through his career as an adventurer
and losing him when he became Jerelak's bodyguard.  Now that the Castle has
been opened to the public, he has his chance.

*Benjamin's son, Iared, became Executioner for the Realm when Benjamin began
his adventuring career.  Not long ago, he was forced to execute his own son,
who had been found guilty of treason agaionst the Realm.  after discovering
that his son had been framed, Iared resigned his post and dedicated himself
to searching for his son's "killer."  He eventually became a member of the
Circle of Bloodletters.  
All files in the directory /mit/abstract/Archives/Old_castles, and all files
in any subdirectories thereof, and any materials in the "abstract" locker 
pertaining to the game "Castles in the Sky" as run for the MIT Assassin's
Guild in the Spring of 1989 are copyright to Andrea Brandford and David 
Policar and are not available for public use or viewing.