The Red Knight

Where other war gods focus on the bravery, duty, or pain of battle, the Red Knight is concerned solely with the art of tactics. She is a god of planning and strategy. Her military genius allows her and her followers to see the greater picture in any war, rather than a series of battles won and lost.

In spite of her calm and logical demeanor, the Lady of Strategy isn't without compassion. Faerûn's myths and legends depict her as a wise, daughter-like figure to the god Tempus, advising him in times of need. She aids mortal tacticians by fashioning boulders into red-veined Stone Golems shaped like lanceboard pieces, sending crimson Pegasi from the heavens above, or animating lanceboard pieces to demonstrate tactical maneuvers.

Devotees of the Red Knight are rare in the general population. Her name is seldom invoked outside of battle, except perhaps in games of strategy such as lanceboard. High-ranking commanders of armies, instructors in colleges of war, quartermasters, and authors of tomes of tactics revere her.

Worship of the Red Knight arose among a hero-venerating monastic order of Tempus in Tethyr shortly after the Time of Troubles. The Lady of Strategy visited these monks in a dream and delivered to them the Great Stratagem: an imperative to travel to places of warfare to educate generals and monarchs in the arts of strategy and battlefield tactics. Known as the Red Fellowship, her priests traveled throughout southwestern Faerûn sharing their wisdom. Many leaders they approached turned them away at first, but it soon became apparent that those who accepted the counsel of the Lady of Strategy gained a distinct tactical edge. Grateful victors built temples to the Red Knight, and gradually her faith spread. Today, her followers appear in nearly any land that has seen warfare in the past century. The Red Knight's greatest temples include an enchanted war table that visiting generals can rent out to visualize their tactics.

The Red Knight's Chosen ride the god's crimson pegasi into combat. However, their most crucial work takes place in war rooms far from the front lines. These Chosen act as trusted advisers to powerful military forces in Faerûn, predicting their foes' next moves with eerie accuracy.