White Dragon Knights

Part of Midland's regular forces, the White Dragon Knights held a reputation as the kingdom's mightiest soldiers. They bore the coveted white honorific, the highest rank Midland's military could bestow, and stood at the summit of the realm's armies. The general Julius, brother to the king, commanded the order and nursed the hope that his own son Adonis would one day inherit its leadership.

The order existed to shield Midland's royal house, and by long custom its knights formed the king's protective escort throughout the annual Autumn Hunt. That prestige began to slip as the Band of the Falcon ascended and eclipsed them in glory. Judging the low-born Griffith a threat to the nobility, Julius plotted his murder, tasking his finest crossbowman, Hail, with obtaining poison and striking the White Falcon down during the hunt. The bolt found Griffith's chest, but his crimson beherit turned it aside. When Hail afterward begged forgiveness and proposed a cover story, Julius coldly dismissed him from his sight. Griffith answered the attempt by sending Guts to kill the general, and with Julius dead the order lost its head. In recognition of the Falcons' triumph at Doldrey, the king would later bestow on them the title of White Phoenix Knights.

Julius, the king's own brother, led the order and hoped to see his son Adonis take up its command in time. Hail served as its skilled crossbowman, the marksman chosen for the failed attempt on Griffith's life.