From: David Stokes <dstokes@d...>
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 00:58:42 +0100
Subject: [GZG] Knights of St John Re: Please ignore previous on Knights...
Sorry to cause confusion. The Knights of St John are also known as the Hospitilers or the Knights of Malta. They are still in existence today, with several affiliated groups in various countries. The Templars were the other main group of crusader knights. They 'officially' were put out of business in the middle ages, although they are a favorite subject of rumors in conspiracy theory circles. The Knights of St John (I refer to them as such since they are no longer based on Malta and no longer run the hospital in Jerusalem) ran a small but powerful navy in the renaissance Mediterranean. They escorted (Christian) merchant shipping, attacked (Islamic) North African raiders, and fought the expanding Ottoman Empire. Today they run hospital ships and conduct relief missions in war and famine zones. My plans for them in the Tuffleyverse build on their current operations and their history. They will operate hospital ships evacuating casualties from war zones during the Solar Wars, and patrol shipping lanes against pirates, especially those with connections to the IF. Once the Kra'vak War starts they see their sacred role as protecting humanity and turn their small but potent force to striking Kra'vak incursions. I foresee a siege of their fortified base world analogous to the Turkish siege of Malta, and strikes at the Kra'vak lines of supply during the attack on Sol. Diplomatically, I see them as officially neutral but not equally friendly with all human powers, and relations cut across the typical fault lines. Most friendly with the FSE. Good relations also, ironically, with the NSL, although the NSL sometimes complains about the being too close to the FSE. Cordial, but not warm, relations with the NAC - still haven't quite gotten over the whole Church of England thing, but some of their largest individual donors are NAC subjects. Fairly frosty relations with the ESU, and all but outright hostile with the IF. (yes, I'm building an IF fleet). I have some ideas for their forces. Ship designs based on FSE, but since they go on long patrols with little chance for resupply they've replaced many of the missiles with beams. Their forces are small, but highly trained and very high morale. Models are the new Brigade Euro-Fed ships as well as some older FSE ships bought before they started building their own designs. Flag should be a white, eight-pointed (Maltese) cross on a red field, but I might alter it a bit so as not to conflict with the REAL organization. I'm doing this as a tribute to both the history and the current organization, and because it would fit nicely in the Tuffleyverse milieu, so I don't want to offend the of its members. I'll send more details to Nyrath when I get a chance.