Star Knight Lore: The Sons of Ken

Earth in Galactic Christendom is directly held by the Church, headquartered out of the Holy See (i.e. the Vatican). Most of the nations of Galactic Christendom maintain households planetside for the specific purpose of maintaining diplomatic ties with galactic neighbors. However, there is one nation that calls Earth its homeworld: the Sons of Ken.

Most people have never seen a Son by the dawn of the 4th Millenium, and when they do it's usually in the company of an Inquisitor or a Brother-Knight of Saint George. They are a nation whose unique calling concerns the supernatural, specifically the killing of it, and their continued existence is a reminder of the previous centuries of high weirdness as giants and other monsters once strode across the land and Mankind was on its heels prior to re-establishment of the Church by Pope Simon I, The Miner's Son.

The Sons tell the tale that their father was once an ordinary man, born and raised in the final years before the Cataclysm, who could not--and would not--conform to the sick spirit of that age. Ken wandered the land, stalking the monsters that preyed upon Mankind as they preyed upon Man, often getting little but appreciation and assistance escaping from the corrupt officials hunting him.

But Ken's true calling came after the Cataclysm. It is said that he was the only man burned by the flames that was not consumed by them, but instead transformed- first by the flames, then by the deadly-cold frost of the depths of Winter. He assumed the mien now famous among his kin: skin white like a winter wonderland, eyes burning like a thousand suns, nails become talons, teeth become jaws. Soon thereafter, having found himself surrounded by the undead hordes of The Necromancer, he took the last tool of terror from that first Dark Lord by consuming the consumers of human flesh.

He was not acclaimed. He was not beloved. He was feared at first, and in time respected, but no honor came to Ken until his own time had come. An aged Simon came to him, long after the Necromancer's fall, and took Ken's final confession before the father of monster hunters died in the manner rare to his own: peacefully, in his sleep, in his own bed, of old age. Ken was 120, and 80 of them were after the Cataclysm.

By then he had sons and grandsons, and the truth of his blood bore out: his sons were like unto him, while his daughters merely carried his traits dormantly and were otherwise as ordinary women. Despite the fates many would meet over the centuries since, the Sons fought in every Crusade and would set foot across the galaxy in pursuit of ever-rarer prey, and as such the Sons are spread thin. However, by decree of The Miner's Son, the lands of Ken's origins deep within North America would be recognized as the homeland of the Sons and no one has ever been crazy or stupid enough to encroach on a nation where every boy is raised to stalk and kill as a way of life.

And soon the Sons will be needed in strength yet again.