"Shall mankind’s lot be to sit idle and let the darkness take him? No, I say thee! We must strike back against the shadows!"
- —Anonymous crusader[2]
A grizzled crusader of the Empire.
A crusader is a veteran knight of the crusades, the great holy wars that are launched by the knightly orders of the Old World's religious faiths against their enemies.
Role[]
It is perhaps the greatest deed a templar can perform to go to war in the name of the gods. In ages past, especially during the Great Crusade Against Araby, it was unusual for a knight to not go on crusade with his order. But in more recent times crusades are far less common, especially on such a scale.[1a]
Crusaders are those knights who are veterans of a crusade, and who have earned great glory for their order and faith through their deeds in foreign lands against the enemies of the cult. They are world-wise men, skilled at fighting in all manner of conditions and against all manner of enemies, and many knights who return from crusade find their deeds forever etched in the legends of their order.[1a]
Not all crusaders hail from the nobility of the Old World or from a knightly order, although it is certainly true that most do. Some are pious men who are mere soldiers, fighting alongside the armies of templars and knights, and their deeds are no less noble despite their lesser social status.[1a]
Crusader Patrons and the Economics of Faith[]
Although crusades are usually declared by a religious order, many of the knights who join them are driven by worldly motives like revenge or the pursuit of glory.[2]
Crusaders from the Empire typically belong to Sigmarite or Ulrican orders such as the Knights Panther or Knights of the White Wolf. Crusaders from the southern lands of Estalia and Tilea are almost entirely drawn from the Myrmidian Order of the Righteous Spear. Bretonnian crusaders fight on behalf of their liege lords and the Lady of the Lake, rather than belonging to organised knightly orders.[2]
Crusades are costly endeavours, often requiring significant investment from nobles and merchants. Religious orders lacking the resources to supply ships and baggage trains themselves must guarantee treasure or parcels of land to potential financiers. Wealthy benefactors who wish to have their interests properly represented provide soldiers led by knights from their own armies, or even accompany the crusade in person.[2]
Within the Empire, the Cult of Sigmar is the only religious order with sufficient wealth to launch a crusade without the backing of others, although the temples' coffers would be depleted by such an endeavour, so the patronage of Imperial nobles is generally solicited.[2]
Echoes of Araby[]
Every crusader knows of the Great Crusade Against Araby that was launched nearly 1,000 years ago by King Louis the Righteous of Bretonnia in retaliation for the Arabyan Sultan Jaffar's invasion of the lands of Estalia. Few realise the extent to which those crusades still influence the customs of knightly orders today.
The Knights Panther's symbolic cat pelts are intended to commemorate their crusader forebears, but the order also practises ritualistic hand gestures before meals to bless their food and drink. In modern times, these gestures are accompanied by prayers to Taal and Rhya, but originally they were used in spells by the crusaders' hedge wizards to appease desert spirits. Present-day crusaders of the Knights Panther wear grilled visors on their helms as a matter of tradition, but during the Arabyan crusades this was merely a precaution against heat stroke.
When the Arabyan port city of Copher was ransacked during the original crusades, both Arabyan civilians and wounded soldiers were slain without quarter. The grand masters of the Order of the Righteous Spear agreed at the time that the killings at Copher constituted murder, not war, and warned their knights against the temptations of the dread god Khaine, the Lord of Murder. The Order of the Righteous Spear has a longstanding policy amongst its crusaders to always accept a Human enemy's surrender.[2]
Storm of Chaos[]
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Attention, Empire Citizens!
This article or this section of the article contains information regarding the Storm of Chaos campaign and its aftermath, which is now considered a non-canon, alternate timeline.
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The lands north of Kislev have become a popular destination for crusaders from across the Old World since the Storm of Chaos.[2]