Where the Black Knights are Messmer's army, the Fire Knights are Messmer's intimates. Their armour, distinguished by red cape and twin golden snakes at the neck, is the canon's rare admission of what loyalty cost the men who gave it. The Fire Knight Armor description states it twice. First : 'These were the only ones who truly knew Messmer. His flames, like serpents. The painful fate that accompanied his accursed form.' Then, in the altered version : 'Each and every knight hailed from a renowned family of the Erdtree's upper echelons, but were shunned and chased from their homes after pledging allegiance to Messmer as their master.' Their names, Wego, Salza, Kood, Hilde, Queelign, survive only because their armour does.

Their internal politics are recorded in two flavour texts. The elder Wego, 'gnawed at by loneliness, the old man turned his attention to the spirituality of Messmer's flame, using it in a rite of resurrection. Yet the soulless bodies he brought to life were no comfort to poor Wego.' His pupil Salza split with him over a question of mercy : the Salza's Hood description states that he 'refused to burn down an old ruin, at the risk of his own life.' That ruin, almost certainly Rauh, is where the Hornsent's last temples stood. Salza, Hilde, and a small dissenting fraction of Fire Knights joined those who 'urged that the specimens be preserved.' They are the canon's clearest example of an order whose loyalty to its lord could not survive what the lord asked them to burn.

◆ Sources

ArmorFire Knight Armor

Distinguished by its red cape and twin golden snakes which adorn the neck. These were the only ones who truly knew Messmer. His flames, like serpents. The painful fate that accompanied his accursed form.

ArmorFire Knight Armor (Altered)

Each and every knight hailed from a renowned family of the Erdtree's upper echelons, but were shunned and chased from their homes after pledging allegiance to Messmer as their master.

ArmorDeath Mask Helm

Helm of Wego, elder among the Fire Knights. Gnawed at by loneliness, the old man turned his attention to the spirituality of Messmer's flame, using it in a rite of resurrection. Yet the soulless bodies he brought to life were no comfort to poor Wego.

ArmorSalza's Hood

Hood of Salza, sage of the Fire Knights. A disciple of the elder Wego, he refused to burn down an old ruin, at the risk of his own life.