This took entirely too long to write and frankly I never expected to come back to this. But it happened! System revamps and other reconsiderations will follow in the next few days, but I think it was high time we got to see a (much, much) younger* Karl Franz in action.
Also, I'm opening the floodgates. All yet-unnamed knights in the Order are now open to write-ins, including the three Notables that have proven themselves in the battle. So I invite everyone to Adopt-A-Knight! Give them names! Write backstories! Invent feuds between noble houses that come to life within Johanna's order! And then when the time comes for battle, watch as they either prove themselves or die trying.
I'll even let people write omakes to give their Adopt-A-Knight bonuses so they don't die horribly on the battlefield. I'm not super decided on this, and I'm putting a flat cap of +20 for omake bonuses for any given character on any given action, but yeah let's see where this goes for now.
*Canonical sources I found placed Karl Franz's canonical age to be around 30 when he was coronated as Emperor. Johanna's, like, late 20s here, probably around 28 years old. Karl Franz is five years her junior. So now not only is he your baby brother, he's also a baby in general. He'll grow into his canonical badass self sooner or later (dice permitting) but for now he's still trying to find his feet as Emperor of Man
Lorence de Bonpuis was born to a particularly poor but skilled family of bretonnian knights, their lowly means and ever-busy father meant she spent as much time sparring with her brother as anyone, with her impressive skill with the blade becoming something of an open family secret. Facing financial ruin after a failed harvest while their father was away, they sought to enter a tournament known for a significant purse for the winning knight. The day before, her nervous brother took one to many drinks to calm his nerves and ended up breaking his leg while trying to mount his horse. At her brother's urging, she donned a spare set of armor and entered, hoping to win and leave as an anonymous knight. Her hopes were utterly dashed, for while she won handily, she caught the eye of the local duke.
Claiming it was an offense to chivalry that so promising a young knight to be left destitute, he offered her a substantial salary to be delivered discretely should she join him on campaign. Panicking, and terrified of drawing yet more attention to herself, Lorence agreed. What was intended to be a short campaign against the orks soon turned into a grueling multi-year affair as their success drew more greenskins, who in turn drew more glory hungry knights. While she successfully sunk into the background by simple virtue of being willing to accept less glorious tasks, on her third year she learned of her death. Her brother, unable to hide her long absence had panicked and said she had been slain by marauding orks. Faced with no way to return home without damaging her family name and risking being found out, upon the war's conclusion she fled bretonnia into the empire, with vague plans of becoming a mercenary.
After failing to figure out the finer points of contract negotiation, Lorence almost starved before answering the call for initiates for the Order of Iron arms. Resigning herself to once more living as a male knight. Passing the trial to enter the order, she soon found herself a fresh initiate. Some few weeks later she found herself sharing a tent with Kaja, a knight who Lorence quickly began to suspect was also a woman. Confused as to how someone so poorly hiding her gender could be living as a knight, she had almost worked up the nerve to raise the subject when the battle of the dragon oak occurred.
During the daring charge against the beastmens accused shrine, Lorence found her section of the wedge faced by a bray shaman. Knowing the horror such things could unleash, she spurred her steed into a reckless burst of speed, leaping over a line of gores she ran the abomination through before it had a chance to wreak ruin upon the knights behind her. She then stood alone against the monsters enraged bodyguards while the rest of the wedge cut their way to her, her stowed lance dangling her kill like a grisly trophy, terrifying and distracting its kin while the rest of the order rode them down.
Lorence is both elated and terrified for the acclaim she won in battle. Fearing that it may be the end of her should her secret be exposed. Ironically, several of the new initiatives have realized her gender, though thus far no one has said anything.
