Post by Xander on Apr 28, 2009 14:35:41 GMT -5
When the Dark-Hunters were created back in 7382 B.C., Artemis made a pact with Acheron that she would provide for them everything they would need in order for them to maintain their focus on killing Daimons.
Acheron returned from that meeting with Artemis to the cave where the first three Dark-Hunters hid. With him he brought two men, because every good knight needs a man-at-arms. Armor and weapons are expensive and unwieldy, after all. Who do you suppose looks after all that when the knight is off killing things?
Exactly.
Originally, the men were called Shield-Bearers, much like those who served the warrior knights of old. Later, they came to be known as Squires.
The Squires are the helpmate's and companions of Dark- Hunters in many of the same ways medieval Squires were expected to aid their knights. Something of a cross between a servant and an employee (they serve Artemis, just like the Dark-Hunters, and they are compensated well for their troubles), they keep watch over their Dark-Hunters and provide everything they need, especially in the daylight hours.
In the beginning, after their ranks were assembled by Acheron, a Squire's job was to stand guard over the crypts where their charges slept. Today they perform a few more mundane duties, not the least of which is legally acquiring and maintaining both land and property for the unique men and women they serve who died a very, very long time ago.
Squires are bound to kill any human who poses a threat to a Dark-Hunter by exposing his or her existence. (They are not necessarily the ones who do the killing, but they are required to pass the information along to someone who will.) They are forbidden to reveal anything embarrassing about a Dark-Hunter to whom they are in service (not that it ever stopped Otto or Nick), or anything that might endanger them.
As you can see, there is a lot of gray area when it comes to Squires. Ultimately, however, they are essential to the survival of the Dark-Hunters, and their loyalty is unvarying, unyielding, and eternal. You can trust that with your life; you may one day need to.
It is up to the Dark-Hunters to fight the battles—Squires are not meant to engage Daimons. Their duty is to protect their Dark-Hunters. It helps a lot if they're alive to do that. They also (normally) do not have psychic abilities, or supernatural powers of any kind.
The rank of Squire in the ancient world was often hereditary. Similarly, Dark-Hunter Squires are either the children of other Squires or they are recruited by other Squires and Dark-Hunters. Many a Squire has been made of a too-smart-for-her-own-britches youth who couldn't keep her nose out of trouble and wouldn't take no for an answer.
Some of the best Squire families have descended from those whippersnappers.
Unlike their squire namesakes, Dark-Hunter Squires are not the apprentices of the Dark-Hunters. Think about it—who in their right mind would say, "Yes, please, I hope someone kills my family and friends and betrays me in a fashion so unforgivable that I will trade my soul to become an immortal superpower soldier fighting vampires until the end of time."?
Seriously.
And no, Nick Gautier is not—and doubtfully ever was—in his right mind.
Acheron returned from that meeting with Artemis to the cave where the first three Dark-Hunters hid. With him he brought two men, because every good knight needs a man-at-arms. Armor and weapons are expensive and unwieldy, after all. Who do you suppose looks after all that when the knight is off killing things?
Exactly.
Originally, the men were called Shield-Bearers, much like those who served the warrior knights of old. Later, they came to be known as Squires.
The Squires are the helpmate's and companions of Dark- Hunters in many of the same ways medieval Squires were expected to aid their knights. Something of a cross between a servant and an employee (they serve Artemis, just like the Dark-Hunters, and they are compensated well for their troubles), they keep watch over their Dark-Hunters and provide everything they need, especially in the daylight hours.
In the beginning, after their ranks were assembled by Acheron, a Squire's job was to stand guard over the crypts where their charges slept. Today they perform a few more mundane duties, not the least of which is legally acquiring and maintaining both land and property for the unique men and women they serve who died a very, very long time ago.
Squires are bound to kill any human who poses a threat to a Dark-Hunter by exposing his or her existence. (They are not necessarily the ones who do the killing, but they are required to pass the information along to someone who will.) They are forbidden to reveal anything embarrassing about a Dark-Hunter to whom they are in service (not that it ever stopped Otto or Nick), or anything that might endanger them.
As you can see, there is a lot of gray area when it comes to Squires. Ultimately, however, they are essential to the survival of the Dark-Hunters, and their loyalty is unvarying, unyielding, and eternal. You can trust that with your life; you may one day need to.
It is up to the Dark-Hunters to fight the battles—Squires are not meant to engage Daimons. Their duty is to protect their Dark-Hunters. It helps a lot if they're alive to do that. They also (normally) do not have psychic abilities, or supernatural powers of any kind.
The rank of Squire in the ancient world was often hereditary. Similarly, Dark-Hunter Squires are either the children of other Squires or they are recruited by other Squires and Dark-Hunters. Many a Squire has been made of a too-smart-for-her-own-britches youth who couldn't keep her nose out of trouble and wouldn't take no for an answer.
Some of the best Squire families have descended from those whippersnappers.
Unlike their squire namesakes, Dark-Hunter Squires are not the apprentices of the Dark-Hunters. Think about it—who in their right mind would say, "Yes, please, I hope someone kills my family and friends and betrays me in a fashion so unforgivable that I will trade my soul to become an immortal superpower soldier fighting vampires until the end of time."?
Seriously.
And no, Nick Gautier is not—and doubtfully ever was—in his right mind.