Knights of Origo

Knights of Origo is a minor Bretonnia faction introduced in Total War: Warhammer II. It can be found in the northern parts of Araby, in the northwestern Southlands.

The Knights are based on the island of Fyrus on the northern coast of Araby from where they wage holy war against the heathens. There are two other Bretonnian factions close by, Thegan's Errantry and the Knights of the Flame.

Background
The Story of the Knights of Origo

The island outpost of Fyrus seemed a good place for the monks of the holy order of Saint Origo to build a monastery. True - Fyrus did lie but a dozen miles from the coasts of Araby, it was the birth place of the revered Mullah Aklan'd and its harbours did control the main east-west trade route; but the Brothers of the Holy Order of Saint Origo decided Fyrus would make an ideal place to rest and meditate. They started by kicking out all of the natives and building a huge fortress. This they decided to call the 'Holy Monastery of the Divine Origo.'

When the good brothers found their prayer disturbed by Arabian pirates and the continued complaints of the disinherited they reacted in the only way they knew how. They built fleets, wiped the waterways clean of eastern ships, and fired every Arabian port within a hundred miles. For the purposes of the crusade the Grand Master of the Order designed the special uniform and banner which is illustrated here.

The Knights returned to a life of peace and contemplation, disturbed only by annual excursions burning, looting and destroying all along the coasts of heathendom. After a few years they were shaken from their solitude by vast armies of Easterners, who laid siege to, and eventually destroyed, the monastery. Many of the Knights were slain in this unprovoked attack but a large company escaped. Under their new Grand Master, Sir John Tyreweld, and aided by the Order's Champion Donna Don Domingio, the Order reformed in the West.

From then on the company crusaded extensively against the enemies of all right thinking folk and gained a considerable reputation from their enemies. Amongst the Goblins they became renowned as 'The Frothers', whilst the Easterners dubbed Sir John 'The Foaming One'.

Provinces

 * Eye of the Vortex campaign
 * Coast of Araby (in control of Fyrus, the rest controlled by allied factions)
 * Mortal Empires campaign
 * Coast of Araby (in control of Fyrus, the rest controlled by allied factions)

Diplomatic Traits

 * Defensive
 * Reliable
 * Underdog

Strategy
Playing as a Bretonnian in the Mortal Empires campaign you can try to assist them in their Errantry wars against the Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts factions in Araby. It might be hard to save all of the three crusader factions since the Knights of the Flame often get overwhelmed by Followers of Nagash relatively quickly, but the other two should survive and might even win against their enemies. Furthermore, there are technologies you can research as Bretonnia to increase your standing with the crusading factions to be able to aid them even more.

Trivia

 * Battlecry - Peace and Justice.
 * Sir John Tyreweld's family motto is "only the Sword Purifies".
 * The Knights of Origo are notable for being a particularly aggressive faction diplomatically and will frequently declare war on the player even when they are on the opposite end of the map or just sailing by. This is amusing, as their lore depicts them as zealots.
 * The Knights of Origo draw heavy inspiration from the Knights Hospitaller--in addition to their crest having distinct visual inspirations, their history shares many elements. Following the end of the Crusades, the Knights were driven out of Jerusalem and took up residence on various Mediterranean islands in succession--Cyprus, Rhodes, and Malta, all three of which were close to majority-Muslim states. This repeatedly drew the ire of the powerful Ottoman Empire, which drove them from Rhodes and nearly destroyed them on Malta. The Knights also gained a reputation as somewhat dishonorable later in their existence, turning to raiding Muslim ships beyond the call of their order and becoming, effectively, pirates--and quite wealthy from it.