Every questing knight has need now and again for the covert. Either the dragon is too crafty, or the quest is too complicated, or the goal is too elusive... The knight who champions the right and boldly strides forth to face the dragon head-on can often find himself flat on his back, well-singed, and wondering just what happened. Dragons are sneaky and dishonest and not at all afraid to use the "back door" to fell an unsuspecting knight. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary to employ stealth tactics to overcome a particularly crafty dragon.
It is here that the rogue knight operates at his best. Trick for trick, stealth for stealth, cleverness for cleverness, the rogue knight is the dragon's mongoose, hitting him in the very places where he himself attacks the gallant and unsuspecting knight. For a rogue is able to think like a dragon and act like a dragon when need demands. And most importantly, a rogue understands that the dragon, clever as he is, can still only think in one dimension...and that is his weak point. The dragon is usually so bent on the knight's destruction, that he fails to realize when he gives away all his own best secrets by employing his covert tactics. Turning a dragon's tricks back on him is often the most effective way to find his soft underbelly and the very best time to strike. This a rogue knows almost instinctively and employs most ruthlessly...
This most useful skill can often get the rogue into trouble with his fellow knights, however. The order of knighthood, after all, seems to champion only truth, justice, forthrightness, and honesty. Using the covert tactics of the rogue can seem somewhat out of joint with those most righteous virtues, so the others claim. And the rogue is very often caught drinking in life with gusto (sometimes literally!) and consequently disregarding rules, regulations and propriety in his "off-duty" escapades. And it doesn't help that the often handsome, dashing, cavalier, yet mysterious 'scoundrel' rogue seems so deft at attracting the most desirable women...much to the virtuous knights' chagrin. So the rogue is often ridiculed and scorned, even though it is he that so often saves the day when those 'righteous virtues' keep the other knights confused, disoriented and off-guard in the face of relentless dragon fire...
The truth is, though, that the rogue is most fiercely loyal and trustworthy in his allegiances. For just as the rogue can see to the true heart and mind of the dragon when others can not, so can he see to the true heart and mind of a fellow knight when others can not. Therefore, the rogue knight whose allegiance has once been earned truly makes the very best of friends...and that can make all the difference.
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