Among the ancient history of the Dasarin, there was a Knighthood on their planet founded by a great leader known as Raynor. Little is known of these origins as the planet was long abandoned, its resources drained and desolation littering the crust of the continents. Even the water left frozen in barren lands, unable to refill the oceans. Nevertheless, the knighthood was kept by order of the hierarchs commanding the Kah'Rul Empire, and after a few generations of manipulation and reform, the knighthood became a tool used by the Kah'Rul to keep the Dasarin, and any lifeforms of inhabited planets they invaded, in check by way of symbolism and sword. Generations ago, however, the hope from the original knights still lived on in a subtle and closely kept secret between the knights and their families alone. A pact was made that when a planet was found with an indigenous kind who sufficiently resisted the Kah'Rul, all the knights would defect and free as many Dasarin people as they could to bolster the planet's resistance, finally breaking free from the grasp of their enslavement to the Kah'Rul Empire.
For generations, the Knights operated as the oppressive force who kept all in line. Uprisings which threatened the traversal and operations of the Kah'Rul were thwarted by these Knights with extreme ferocity. Despite this, the Knights secretly met with leaders of Tribes, organizing the resistances as a kind of cover up to keep the Kah'Rul convinced the Knights were loyal. In time, it became a great honor to die by the hand of a Knight among the Dasarin, sacrificing one's self to ensure the continuation of the secret in the hopes that their children would one day see the final turn of the Knights from Kah'Rul order.
The Knights broke sequentially, but within a few years of one another as to keep the Kah'Rul guessing until it was too late.
Knights listed in order of those who turned from first to last:
Ardradel fled first when the Kah'Rul ship he served on was under heavy distress. He evacuated as many Dasarin as he could before leading them through the flatland wilds to go into hiding as the Kah'Rul fell to the human resistance. He spent months helping spread and hide the tribes to maximize their survival rate until eventually being founded and recruited by the Initiative for his prowess. Upon joining the resistance, he entrusted the humans with the knowledge of other Knights, but was slow to reveal the eventual plan that they would turn on the Kah'Rul as a collective to ensure their secret from falling into enemy hands and being exposed.
Marik was the second to escape, after being alerted to the downfall of Ardradel's disappearance and the destruction of his ship, knowing Ardradel or his family would have checked in by now if he were alive, Marik took it that the time finally had come. He sent word to the other Knights, alerting them with a secret message and began the decent of the carrier he was assigned to. After a few weeks of planning, he distributed information to the Tribes on his carrier to begin the three month process of dismantling the underbelly of the ship while he gave it every reason to come lower and lower from orbit into atmosphere. Finally getting the attention of human resistance groups, he made contact and gave them schematics to weaken the ship to the ground without destroying it or harming most of the Dasarin on board. As the ship was forced to make landfall, Marik lead a mass of Dasarin through the interior of the ship, the resulting destruction forcing them to use dropships and escape pods to escape the self destruct sequence put on by the Kah'Rul commanders.
A year later, Aurelian and Idris escaped together with their children, Ben and Carver. Idris organized the exodus of the tribes while Aurelian stayed behind. The Kah'Rul had begun to catch on to the Knights and the effort required more unique planning. Aurelian met with the human resistance off the parameter of the planet-side compound while Idris gathered the tribes. He and the attack acted as a distraction while they escaped in the chaos. The compound was not liberated from Kah'Rul hands, but almost all of the Tribes of slave Dasarin escaped, bolstering the numbers of the local area so severely that they were able to return weeks later, completely taking the base from the Kah'Rul. Aurelian and Idris took control of the base and resumed training Ben and Carver in the ways of knighthood and combat there while acting as a strategic location for resistance supply relays.
Rorvik was the last to enact his plan. Being among the highest ranking knights, he was stationed at the Prime Citadel, head of the Dasarin Guard. Loyalties of the local Dasarin was split here, some brainwashed and others controlled by the safety of their families at risk if they stepped out of line. Rorvik had to lead a small team operation to disrupt the reactor enough to destabilize power to security and communication lines, allowing the local Tribes to escape. Corrin was still young like the other children of the Knights, but Rorvik was forced to send him into the wilderness alone. In the wake of the chaos, Rorvik knelt to Corrin and bowed his head to his son. "With this sword, I knight thee to Oath and people. My son, Corrinelious. Do you swear to it..? Do you swear to this sword!?" Rorvik begged of his son. Corrin nodded. He received his father's sword and departed while Rorvik stayed behind to fight off the pursuing guardsmen. Corrin saw his father fell five men before taking a fatal spear to his side. This was the last he saw of his father before the blast door closed.
The Argoran Blade is the ceremonial, and practical weapon of the Knights of Raynor. Passed down from the original knights with only enough updates to keep the weapons functional, these distinctive swords are the iconic representation of the Knights, alongside their more rarely worn ceremonial armor set.
Now, while the Knights of Raynor always have been and always shall remain as the Five who pass their blades down to their children, the training and traditions have expanded to small, yet select groups of individuals who are permitted to join the Raynor Guard, allowing for more elite and refined training in combat to be used against the Kah'Rul while remaining in small enough numbers that counter skills are too difficult to develop due to commonality of the martial arts specific to Knights and Dasarin.