Julius William Etrix

Julius William Etrix was the leader of the Knights of the Blood Red Light between 785 and 808, the precedessor - and also former master - of the current leader Gaius Frostang.

Early Life
Julius William Etrix was born on the 766.85524589648, into a minor noble family in Eastern Etrand. As the second son of a noble family with a modest estate who considered the partition of their estate the last thing they needed, it was decided early on, that little Julius would not inherit an inch of land, unless something tragic happened to his brothers. So, the family began looking for an excuse to keep all the land at the hands of one person - Julius's older brother. They were considering making Julius a priest and urging him to pursue an ecclesiastical career as a bishop later on - or alternatively, as a knight.

In the end, the idea of pushing him into a knightly order won, and he was enrolled into the Order of the Knights of the Blood Red Light at the age of seven. This was in, during the Cairbré-era, during which the vestigal order was in the process of regaining its former glory. As one could expect, the order took the boy in gladly, albeit also expected some monetary support from the boy's family - which was a small price to pay for being able to avoid the partitioning of the realm upon the patriarch's death.

Life in the order
After being enrolled into the order, Julius was a diligent learner, albeit he first had to be dragged into the world of knights kicking and screaming. The temperamental boy became an Apprentice at the age of 12 - in -, taken under the wings of a master called Mallan Alrei. At the age of 19 (in 763), he was promoted to the rank of Paladin, then to the rank of Crusader at the age of 24 (in 768), and finally to the rank of Master at the age of 28 (in 772) -

As all of Julius's career before becoming grandmaster took place during the Cairbré-era, he had lots of help in his missions, whether as an apprentice, paladin, crusader or master. As an apprentice, he was taken to undead-hunting and also had to aid the Inquisition in hunting down suspected heretics and demon-worshippers. As a paladin and crusader, he was often in charge of investigations regarding to undead-related incidents, especially ones supposedly caused by Ria Baeni. As a master, he was prolific: among his apprentices were Éther Kestrow (768-772), Cronwil Mairaghel (773-780), Endólius Logze (780-786), Gaius Frostang (787-794) and Bourn Garibald (799-807).

Grandmaster of the Order
In 785 the previous leader of the order died, leading to Julius being elected as the new leader, at the age of. When being elected as the new leader, his feats in hunting down undead and heretics were listed, as well as his skills as a teacher. At the time, he was just in the process of finishing teaching his third apprentice Endólius Logze (who would get recognized as a Paladin just one year later), and as a matter of fact, he would take on two more apprentices after becoming Grandmaster.

He spent his first four years as grandmaster at what was effectively a public relations campaign. He held meetings with the leaders of other knightly orders, including the Order of the Emerald Tulip, which lost one member recently: Héli Calbae, having been converted by Ria Baeni. While the turncoat ex-knightess and her annoying master weren't turned up, Etrix emerged as an important figure. Not just due to outdoing his predecessor (not only bringing the vestigal order back from the brim, but in fact guiding to emerge as number one) and starting an unofficial united front among the knightly orders in the fight against the forces of darkness, but also because he was becoming somewhat of a political figure himself: after the death of King Cairbré and the ascension of his successor Calhoun, Julius decided to continue (or revive?) the "tradition" established by his last two predecessors - being an active political figure in the royal court, and being among the king's advisors.

Calhoun's rule was a great boon for the order, as the king fashioned himself as a knightly king and bestowed privileges and generous donations onto various knightly orders, especially the Order of the Blood Red Light. The order also came out as a political winner after the Carolus Conspiracy as well - while the king was forced to make concessions to the nobility, the whole ordeal left him with a bitter taste in the mouth, making him rely more on his beloved knights, putting even more trust into Julius William Etrix as his advisor. However, all these gains, all this influence came at the cost of politicizing the order, getting it heavily involved in petty court politics, with the knights effectively running errands for the king a lot of time, acting as his enforcers. This kind of mentality is what would eventually lead the order down the path of war with a sovereign state after Etrix's death.

Death
On the 832.24654346338, Julius William Etrix was assassinated by an unknown assassin. During that fateful summer night, Prince Orlónius and two of his noble friends begun teasing the daughter of a smith on the streets of Grandfolk, which culminated in a fistfight between them and several locals. A large man in night suit came to firmly put an end to the late commotion, only to end up with his throat slit open. The individual was none other than the famous Julius William Etrix himself. Atlhough none of the three nobles or the locals were found to be in a state capable of the murder, nevertheless it is an undeniable fact that the fight started by the prince and his "retinue" made it possible for the actual assassin to commit his or her deed - that is, assassinating Julius William Etrix -, and slip away unnoticed into the night.

After his death, his former apprentice Gaius Frostang was elected as the new Grandmaster of the Knights of the Blood Red Light.

Legacy
Julius William Etrix did not die without leaving a legacy behind: his order expanded greatly during his years of grandmaster, in manpower, wealth and political influence alike. However, the latter gains came at the cost of politicizing the order, getting it heavily involved in royal court politics. Julius effectively set the order down on the path that would lead to it taking part in a de facto war between two sovereign states just one year after his death, with the order being led by his former apprentice Gaius Frostang.

While the order became the most powerful knightly order in Etrand during Etrix's leadership, some of the more cynical historians say that this came at the cost of basically transforming it from an order of holy knights to an order devoted to being the king's enforcers and a somewhat politicized peacetime police force - which, while not entirely utnrue, is also somewhat of an exaggeration, as the order continued to - and still continues to - be mindful of its duties of protecting innocent people from the Forces of Darkness. The order continued to be somewhat effective at catching vampires, theriantropes and other undead creatures, as well as aiding the Inquisition by providing an extra military muscle for the violent arrest of heretics - such as ones belonging to the Order of the Eternal Crystal Flower.

The original FRPG
He was mentioend by name in the original FRPG, but only as a footnote.