Clan History

In AD 1996, a new battlefield arose as the internet brought a whole new arena on which ones honor and skill could be tested. Quake had arrived that year and many warriors from many lands across the globe gathered to do battle. At first chaos reigned, as each struggled only for himself.

Then some began to realize that cooperation was the path to victory and clans began to form. A lone warrior by the name of "Lord Paladin" had entered the fray early on, and soon encountered his first Clan: "ELM". Though he fought bravely he could not come close to matching the 3 ELM players working cooperatively (despite renaming himself "Dutch ELM Disease" to irk them). Lord Paladin saw the future and began a search for like-minded brothers across the net.

After searching far and wide Lord Paladin came upon the Empire of Azeroth, the first European clan formed, and truly honorable warriors. He joined there and quickly rose among the ranks, participating in many Battles including the original Quake tournaments T-1 and T-2, and eventually running the EA's U.S. arm.

Unfortunately the internet does not bridge all distances well and Lord Paladin and the other U.S. members of the Empire soon found that playing on Euro-servers was often untenable and the time zone differentials made clan-wide events difficult.

Therefore with the blessing of the Empire's leader [EA]Lionheart, Lord Paladin left to form his own clan. He adopted the Knights Templar motif because:

1.They never traveled alone (hence the two Knights riding the horse in the Templar seal). We believe that ultimate success in multi-player games will rely on teamwork, including intensive training together as military units. This Clan is not for loners.

2.They stood against the great "evil" of their time. As a group we will strive to honorably battle larger, better skilled groups of players. We will persevere till the victory is ours, but we will not lose sight of the Templar virtues: respect for one another, self sacrifice, cooperation and brotherhood (sisterhood too!).

3.They were honorable. The Templars were known as the most skilled and most trusted warriors of their time. As a group we must always uphold the honor of the Templars.


Lord Paladin took the name of the final Templar Grand Master, Jacque de Molay, and leads the clan to this day. Joining him from the Empire were the original Templars: de Charney, Vichiers, de Montbard and de Bures. The clan was soon joined by others including: de Toroga, de Craon, de Tremelei and de Levanti.

In February 21, 1997, the Knights Templar and Clan Frostbyte decided that their interests were mutual, and that a merger made sense: The Knights Templar and Clan Frostbyte combined into one clan under the Knights Templar banner. Mutta, the leader of Frostbyte took position as the Co-Grand Master of the Templars, and as one, the clan became stronger.

As time went on, the Templars expanded their role, recruiting new members and expanding their realm into games other than Quake. With excellent recruitment, we have expanded our power like the Templars of old and seek to maintain their memory honorably.