Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
Referring to themselves as "Fastheld's Other Wall", the Knights that make up the Noble Orders within Fastheld are a cornerstone of the realms's maintenance of law and order within the various Townships and Cities of the the Empire.
Well trained and equally well equipped to various degrees of quality and personal tastes thanks to the funding that the Noble Houses they serve provide, their strong armor and heavy weapons make them a ferocious combatant for any criminal to deal with. Their assigned duty to uphold the laws of the Imperium combined with their often noble background and dedication to the cause ensure they remain stalwart in the face of any shadow.
Heeding the dictates of chivalry and honor, they are sworn with the defense of the Noble House they're a part of, as well as tasked with maintaining the Imperial Law in the reaches of the realm that the Imperial Watch do not patrol.
The Noble Orders of Knights were assembled late in the year 626 ATA when the Emperor Zolor Zahir the First decreed that each Noble House would be tasked with the enforcement of the Imperial Law within the territory and settlements that they held in order to pay back the Empire for tax amnesty and to ease the burden on the Imperial Watch.
While this has indeed made Fastheld a safer place - with the Knights patrolling the towns and cities, and the Imperial Watch patrolling the highways and surrounding lands - it has also lead to a very literal "arms race" developing between the six Noble Houses; each Knight that one House enlists becomes a threat to the security of the other five, who in turn seek to balance the division of power within the realm by expanding their own Knightly population as a countermeasure.
Though each House is only permitted one Order, and though each Order only consists of twenty or so Knights, each Knight is often worth ten Town Militia officers, and each one is often more armed and armored than any member of the Imperial Watch could ever hope to be.
Should an inter-House war ever erupt in the Empire, it will be the Knights that fight it first, supported by the assembled Militia of each House and the deep pockets of the families that they serve. Entire towns and regions can change hands with only the slightest effort from these noble Knights, so each House seeks to ensure that for every Knight one rival House enlists, they too enlist one Knight to counter it.
While mostly hailing from a background of Nobility, some Noble Houses have opted to hire Freelanders to serve as Knights, thus making them honorary Nobles while clad in the armor provided to them. Also, some Houses have chosen to enlist the services of female Knights, given the recent decline in the sexist attitudes one prevalent among the nobility.
Unlike Town Militia, each Knight is also free to roam where they like (though usually within the confines of the territory their House holds dominion over), seeking out trouble where it surfaces and dealing with criminals and - indeed - rival House Knights as they see fit. They are also still Nobles beneath the armor, and may engage in Noble duties while also handling their assigned Knightly ones without fear of reprimand or complaint.
