[Malex]

Been seeing alot of mentions in the recent books I've read over regarding Celedyr's personal armed force. Was wondering what the backstory to this organization is.

[Zunimancer]

Originally a London-based street gang with african roots. Now a separate group using the street gang for recruiting purposes.
I see them as Celedyrs "special forces" when he has business not for NeoNets resources or to hot for shadowrunners.

Most sources must be in: Dragons of the Sixth World, London Sourcebook, Target: Matrix but there are traces in other books.

[Black]

Arn't they also, at least originally, an anti-elf group?

[Mirikon]

No, but being absolutely loyal to Celedyr meant that they often went up against agents of Tir Nan Og.

[Critias]

Arn't they also, at least originally, an anti-elf group?

You might be thinking of the Knights of the Red Branch.   

[Black]

Ahhhh...  the Boston group.  Cool

[Mirikon]

Ahhhh...  the Boston group.  Cool

Is that the one where if you play their records backwards it opens a gate to a hell-dimension?

[CanRay]

Ahhhh...  the Boston group.  Cool

Is that the one where if you play their records backwards it opens a gate to a hell-dimension?

Trog-Rock will open one if you play them FORWARDS. 

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Trog-Rock will open one if you play them FORWARDS. 

*laughs*  +1 to you, sir.

That said, the Knights of Rage are more than just that street gang from London.  I used to know the name of the RL white-robed Nubian group / religion that the street gang was based off of ... I may have to dive into my London sourcebook again.

[Zunimancer]

Ah, the old London book. Always funny to see the old Universal Brotherhood flyer...
Despite that, I think the best reference is in SR3 - Dragons of the Sixth World, pages 56 ff. (London Book 1991, Dragons 2003).

The Majority of the Knights have nubian/african roots. Also, Celedyrs second spotting was 2041, flying over Nubia.
Over the Knights Celedyr sponsors archaeologists to play in the Nubian Desert a little bit Indian Jones, searching for remains of the "Nubozi". And not only colored potsherds.
Side Info: Orange Queen commented the article when People Watcher stated that he never heard something about the Nubozi because they died before "recorded civilization began".

In 2043 Celedyr, showed the leaders of the street gang some holy stones and the gang pledged their loyalty to him.
He sorted the gang out. The best to protect Caerleon, the others hold up the gang as recruiting spot and for special purposes.

According to People Watcher when the egypts took over the nubians some survivors escaped to Austria, Germany and...Brittany. However, it's up to you if you're willing to trust People Watcher.

The Knights are heavy in encryption, decryption and encoding of messages, in Caerleon have high numbers of Deckers, Riggers and the like (all pre '64). How much survived the crash is, to my information, unknown but the Knights still serve as his guards in Caerleon.

[Companero]

The Knight of Rage NPC in the first Dawn of the Artifacts campaign is so incredibly awesome, if only aesthetically, that its making me want to run an entire campaign around them...

Actually... most of the real Nubia sank beneath Lake Nasser with the construction of the Aswan Dam. It would be a great session to have the characters sneak past the massive defences around the dam to infiltrate a submerged Nubian temple to uncover 4th world artifacts!

EDIT: Is there any significance to the name? Is it a reference to anything?

[raggedhalo]

EDIT: Is there any significance to the name? Is it a reference to anything?

Yep - the Night of Rage

[Mirikon]

Maybe, but I don't think so, Halo. For one thing, there does not appear to be any metatype focus to the Knights of Rage, but instead a nubian descent focus. As far as the name goes, there's no clear reason for the name that has been revealed. It could have been picked simply for the intimidation factor. And they are based in England, so anything 'Knights' is going to have some resonance there.

[raggedhalo]

For one thing, there does not appear to be any metatype focus to the Knights of Rage

Their boss is a dragon but I do take your point.  Nevertheless, it seems vanishingly unlikely that it's a coincidence.  I can agree that the Knights thing makes sense for an English gang* but I think that it's a dovetail into the Night of Rage, which presumably stuck in the mind as a cultural icon even if metahuman rights aren't a key focus of the gang.

Of course, I don't have a canon reference for this so it's speculation, but I feel like it's fairly solid.

*: I mean, I'm English and would probably laugh at a street gang calling themselves the Knights of pretty much anything, but I get what you mean.