The Traveling Knight

Philip has been traveling for over twelve years.  As the first born son of a powerful, noble family he was properly fostered to be trained as a warrior and in the proper ways of court.  He began as a page where he learned how to behave and how to address all forms of nobility and even clergy.  He even got to wait upon his lord at the feast, which was considered an honor. Later he progressed to squire, where he came to understand the duties of a knight and cared for the equipment and weapons of an older knight.  After he had learned these skills, he learned to fight on horse or foot with a great variety of weapons. But the young man was more then just a wielder of weapons; he read books describing ancient battles and strategies.  He also spent much time among the soldiers talking about their campaigns and what they had done.  He began to acquire a head for all things military.  Finally, at the age of eighteen, after showing his competence in all forms including deportment, he was knighted by his host.  It should have been a great day.  Within hours word reached the keep that his father had been summoned to a council by the king.  Instead of counsel, he was brutally murdered and his lands sequestered by the crown. They were then given to the king's favorite.  Philip, his mother, and sister had been put under sentence of death.  The newly knighted Philip rode straight for his home, managing to rescue his mother and sister.  Later, during an attack, they were seperated.  Later, he was informed by his mother that his sister Lisette was in a safe place.  Those were her only words on the subject.  Within the year she had died of a broken heart.  Philip journeyed to other realms, serving as a mercenary, even rising to captain of a well trained and disciplined company.  But always he seeks a home, a realm where he can prove himself and win the lands and title that have been denied him.  His loyalty and courage have never been questioned; nor his fighting skills or even campaign strategy.  But always the specter of his father's alleged "treason" hangs over him.  It is a heavy cross for the young man to bear.