The Beltless Brotherhood

The Beltless Brotherhood is a covenant of knights who pledge themselves to protecting the weak and sagging their trousers. The history of the brotherhood stretches far back into the late 15th century and has faced many challenges along its path to present day. The brotherhood now resides in Avon Grove City, serving a shield for the civilized world.

Prophecy
Between 150 B.C. and 70 A.D., an unknown oracle predicted that a powerful force of warriors would emerge from the battlefield, and that they would be destined to save the human race from tight belts. These warriors arose not from royal blood, but from the wretched peasantry. Their key feature, among their valor and bravery, was their sagging trousers. The oracle wrote these divinations on a great scroll, which was hidden within a cave for centuries before it was discovered in 1947 and incorrectly called the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Foundation (1488 A.D.)
In 1488, King James IV of Scotland created a specially trained division of knights. These knights wore kilts beneath a loose mail of chain. Their leader, Sir Sagmeyer I, was the most notable of the knights, and he led them into battle against the English during the Italian Wars in 1513. During the Battle of Flodden, the knights served as Scotland's special operations units. James IV ordered Sagmeyer I to lead his knights to Branxton in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513. During the battle, Sagmeyer and his men plunged through the English line, suffering many casualties. The Scottish retreated towards the end of the battle, leaving Sagmeyer to fight alone. Atop a mountain of fallen men, and with his armor beaten, Sagmeyer took an arrow to the waist. This split his belt, and his kilt sagged between his legs.

Legend soon told of a Scottish berserker-knight who fought with sagging pants. Sagmeyer was believed to have survived the battle, and believing that King James IV had betrayed him and was the reason his knights had been overwhelmed, left the kingdom of Scotland. He traveled to Moel Famau of Wales, where he began training other knights who had no masters in the arts of saggin. This new covenant of knights formed the Beltless Brotherhood.

Spread of the Brotherhood (1500s)
In the mid-1500s, Sagmeyer I's apprentice, Sagmeyer II, became a powerful warrior-monk who sought to spread Sagmeyer I's teachings across Europe. Sagmeyer II traveled to France, converting the French village of Fleure to the way of the saggin. Sagmeyer II, while wandering barefoot through a freshly-sewn field of wheat, found an orphaned child who was no older than a few months. The infant would be raised as Sagward, the first beltless protector.

Sagmeyer II's teachings reached as far away as Russia by 1566. Sagmeyer II's teachings were inscribed on parchment, and became the Testament of Saggin.

The Great Trouser Wars (late 1500s-early 1600s)
Sagward, having inherited the title of Sag-bearer, or head of the brotherhood, was challenged by a rival covenant, the Cult of the High-belts. The High-belts were led by the barbarian lord Goddan'gurak, whose trousers extended far above his waist. The cult destroyed many beltless temples across Europe and Asia and slaughtered anyone who refused to wear a belt. Sagward called forth all of the Beltless warriors of France and England to liberate the now-enslaved beltless followers of Barbarian Germany. Sagward's forces eventually pushed the High-belts east into Siberia, where they would not be heard of again for centuries. The beltless made the mistake in assuming that the High-belts were destroyed, which would prove to be false in the future. Sagward was celebrated by his people and given the title of Grand Saglord, the highest rank of any Beltless.

The Dark Times and the Great Beltless Schism (1630-1700)
Sagward had a single heir, Ghersag, who would become known as Ghersag the Accursed. His mother died at childbirth, during which a great storm of crows dropped carrion and bones atop the Great City of Sagwardia. Ghersag was a frail child since birth, though he was held in high esteem by his people. Sagward fell ill to an unknown pestilence, and perished. In 1630, the young Ghersag inherited the throne.

Ghersag became known for unorthodox and sometimes cruel leadership. Unlike the Beltless before him, Ghersag ruled through fear, not by fair leadership. Beltless tribes across Europe no longer approved of Ghersag's teachings, believing that they went against the Testament of Saggin. In 1657, the Great Beltless Schism occurred, rendering the Beltless brotherhood no more than a handful of quarreling nation-states.

In 1660, Ghersag mobilized his armies in Wales, and he sought to destroy all of the Beltless tribes that went against him. The rest of the brotherhood, which had given Ghersag their oath of knighthood, stepped down. The overarching consensus was that Ghersag did not adhere to the teachings of Saggin, and that he was to be removed from power if the brotherhood was ever to reunite.

Ghersag proclaimed the movement as treason, and then did the unthinkable. Ghersag released his pants entirely, letting his trousers fall to the floor. It was the attire of a dark lord with nothing left to lose. This gave him unholy strength, he slew a thousand of his own knights and tore down the falls of Sagwardia. He single-handedly destroyed the armies of the fragmented beltless states in continental Europe, and was named the "Pantless Demon of Wales". He executed all of the Beltless lords, extinguishing the line of Sagward. Ghersag would eventually fall to the lowly knight Trousanna, who fought him atop Mt. Saggoth Ungol. She held the parchments of the Testament of Saggin atop her shield, proclaiming to the dark lord the true ways of saggin. A great lightning storm appeared, smiting Ghersag. Trousanna, though victorious, died from her wounds. After the dark times, the Beltless order was all but forgotten.