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Though the feudal rulers of Bretonnia espouse rigid adherence to the rules of chivalry and the protection of their subjects, Bretonnian politics descends into petty strife and feuding as much as men do anywhere else, with the rules often bent to the point of breaking and the subjects used as mere pawns in the pursuit of power. A succession of weak kings has allowed the dukes of the realm unrestricted independence and the kingdom has suffered from their many conflicts. Threats from within, such as the rumors of the malevolent new ruler of Mousillon, have gone unchecked, and threats from without, such as incursions by beastmen from the southern wilds and the elves of Athel Loren, make a mockery of the kingdom's borders. Though the kings of Bretonnia must be proven warriors who have won the favor of the Lady, many fail at statecraft or simply place their own ambitions above their sworn vows, leaving the kingdom vulnerable.
The latest of these rulers, King Feramand of Bastonne, has died of a fever and left no clear heir, prompting competition between the dukes for the crown. The ruler of Couronne, Louen Leoncoeur, or Louen the Lionheart, is well regarded far and wide, a veteran of foreign crusades and an accomplished politician with an unsullied reputation. Of the grail champions who lead Bretonnia's duchies, he is most favored to succeed the late king, but his rivals promise to resist his rule and ensure his legitimacy is challenged at every turn for years to come until concessions are made at the expense of the realm's unity or they are cowed by threat of bloodshed. Fortunately, Bretonnia would be spared much of this conflict by the appearance of the Fay Enchantress at the autumn moot at Castle Parravon. Her sacred being unchallenged by the nobles in attendance, she crowned the Lionheart for all to see, making the will of the Lady clear and indisputable. With this boon, King Louen Leoncoeur would begin his reign as king of Bretonnia, and all the dukes would swear fealty in turn.
However, King Louen knew his reign would not be one of peace. Norscan raiders prowled along the northern coasts and beastmen attacked the villages of the south. More frequent sightings of the elves of Athel Loren were being reported and there was widespread fear of their fey influence. While he might have hoped to rally the nobles against these antagonists, the King would return to Couronne to find more immediate problems threatening to end his rule before it had hardly begun.
The latest of these rulers, King Feramand of Bastonne, has died of a fever and left no clear heir, prompting competition between the dukes for the crown. The ruler of Couronne, Louen Leoncoeur, or Louen the Lionheart, is well regarded far and wide, a veteran of foreign crusades and an accomplished politician with an unsullied reputation. Of the grail champions who lead Bretonnia's duchies, he is most favored to succeed the late king, but his rivals promise to resist his rule and ensure his legitimacy is challenged at every turn for years to come until concessions are made at the expense of the realm's unity or they are cowed by threat of bloodshed. Fortunately, Bretonnia would be spared much of this conflict by the appearance of the Fay Enchantress at the autumn moot at Castle Parravon. Her sacred being unchallenged by the nobles in attendance, she crowned the Lionheart for all to see, making the will of the Lady clear and indisputable. With this boon, King Louen Leoncoeur would begin his reign as king of Bretonnia, and all the dukes would swear fealty in turn.
However, King Louen knew his reign would not be one of peace. Norscan raiders prowled along the northern coasts and beastmen attacked the villages of the south. More frequent sightings of the elves of Athel Loren were being reported and there was widespread fear of their fey influence. While he might have hoped to rally the nobles against these antagonists, the King would return to Couronne to find more immediate problems threatening to end his rule before it had hardly begun.
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Bretonnia
- Chivalry - Through noble actions, gain powerful benefits for your realm and the Blessing of the Lady for your warriors, or suffer the infamy of misconduct. - Knightly Vows - Knights and nobles can gain greater power from the Lady by fulfilling the sacred vows and troths they take on in her honour. - Feudal Economy - Balance the needs of your realm by utilizing the peasantry as a financial backbone and military support. |
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The Lionheart
- Royal Blood - Ability: "The Lion's Shield" +10 Chivalry (Lord's Army) - Puissant Virtue - Grail Vow unlocked Ability: "Blessing of the Lady" (Lord's Army) - Heir of the Uniter - +10% Campaign Movement Range +25% Aura size for Lords when attacking (Factionwide) |
PROLOGUE
COURONNE AND L'ANGUILLE
I am named Sir Keu, affirmed knight of Bretonnia, and sworn seeker of the Grail. Though my father is the noble Duke Taubert of L'Anguille, Hunter of the Beastmen and Hammer of the Norscans, I have forsaken all claim to his titles until my quest is complete. Though the Serpent of the White Sea emblazons my house's arms, those from other duchies may know me as the Fox of Arzon, an alias I am told became popular among the gossips of the noble courts and commonfolk alike after the invasion of the Raven Tribes was defeated. Here I will record the deeds witnessed by me in the fated reign of the Lionheart, King Louen of Couronne, for as long as my quest's fate is entwined with Bretonnia's struggles, both internal and against the many enemies of the Lady.
King Feramand's illness and death, only five years after his coronation, left the dukes of the realm with no favored heir to the crown. King Feramand's only legitimate heir, Prince Balian, had yet to take up the quest for the Grail, and so months of political paralysis once again seized the kingdoms as various dukes claimed the title. Some suggested that a royal tournament would decide the next king, just as King Theobald II had been chosen, but others prepared for war, more confident in their ability to force their rivals aside on the battlefield. My own liege and father was soon visited by the duke of Couronne as the Lionheart began forging a network of alliances and assurances with his peers to prevent such a disaster, and my father, having no desire to press any of his own, favoured the claim of our eastern neighbor. Some months later, I witnessed the Enchantress's appearance at the negotiations in Parravon, where I represented my father's interests, and the question appeared to be put to rest. While the other dukes may not have been content with the Lionheart's ascendance to the crown, any overt plans that defied the will of the Enchantress would lose all public support and quickly evaporate.
On my return to Castle Grasgar, my father sent me out again with hardly a night's rest, off to Couronne where he assured me the Lionheart would need our aid. His wisdom proved true, for I arrived to find the new king's court in distress. While supplicants from across the kingdom were arriving in Couronne to call on King Louen's favour, the King was absent, leaving his steward to placate the courtiers. From the steward I learned that the merchant princes of Marienburg had taken advantage of the kingdom's disunity to grasp their territorial claims along the Manaansport and had besieged Castle Tancred. This explained the vacant throneroom, for if any inability to protect even his own domain became the talk of the kingdom's courts abroad, the Lionheart's authority over the kingdom would immediately flounder. Of greater concern to the commonfolk, however, was the rumor of a great orc warband gathering in the mountains. Refugees fleeing from the mountain villages had been trickling into the city, spreading fear and panic in their wake.
Reaching the King's warcamp, I saw that almost of all of Couronne's nobility had been called to defend their land, along with their attendant levies. The knights of the eastern marches, whose land was threatened by the Marianburgers, had been joined by their peers from the more populated western holdings near the ducal seat. To augment this core of warriors, the Lionheart had brought both of the duchy's winged banners, and what looked to be his entire train of field trebuchets. As my father's representative, I was welcomed to the King's council and I offered the King my service as well as the support of L'Anguille. Having heard of my past victories, the King asked me to join his campaign, and in his court I met his primary advisor, a damsel of the Lady, envoy of the Enchantress, and formidable wielder of the fey winds, known as Florence of the Fire, partly for her red locks and partly for her temperament. Though I heard of his virtues, knew of his valiant feats, and had seen Couronne prosper under the Lionheart's rule, I became yet further impressed by the man's selfless ambitions for the Bretonnian people as I participated in his war council. I agreed with my father, that for L'Anguille to prosper, Bretonnia must prosper, and for Bretonnia to prosper, we would need a king unlike those I had seen before in life. We would need a king in the mould of the Uniter, and I believed Louen Leoncouer could be that king.
King Feramand's illness and death, only five years after his coronation, left the dukes of the realm with no favored heir to the crown. King Feramand's only legitimate heir, Prince Balian, had yet to take up the quest for the Grail, and so months of political paralysis once again seized the kingdoms as various dukes claimed the title. Some suggested that a royal tournament would decide the next king, just as King Theobald II had been chosen, but others prepared for war, more confident in their ability to force their rivals aside on the battlefield. My own liege and father was soon visited by the duke of Couronne as the Lionheart began forging a network of alliances and assurances with his peers to prevent such a disaster, and my father, having no desire to press any of his own, favoured the claim of our eastern neighbor. Some months later, I witnessed the Enchantress's appearance at the negotiations in Parravon, where I represented my father's interests, and the question appeared to be put to rest. While the other dukes may not have been content with the Lionheart's ascendance to the crown, any overt plans that defied the will of the Enchantress would lose all public support and quickly evaporate.
On my return to Castle Grasgar, my father sent me out again with hardly a night's rest, off to Couronne where he assured me the Lionheart would need our aid. His wisdom proved true, for I arrived to find the new king's court in distress. While supplicants from across the kingdom were arriving in Couronne to call on King Louen's favour, the King was absent, leaving his steward to placate the courtiers. From the steward I learned that the merchant princes of Marienburg had taken advantage of the kingdom's disunity to grasp their territorial claims along the Manaansport and had besieged Castle Tancred. This explained the vacant throneroom, for if any inability to protect even his own domain became the talk of the kingdom's courts abroad, the Lionheart's authority over the kingdom would immediately flounder. Of greater concern to the commonfolk, however, was the rumor of a great orc warband gathering in the mountains. Refugees fleeing from the mountain villages had been trickling into the city, spreading fear and panic in their wake.
Reaching the King's warcamp, I saw that almost of all of Couronne's nobility had been called to defend their land, along with their attendant levies. The knights of the eastern marches, whose land was threatened by the Marianburgers, had been joined by their peers from the more populated western holdings near the ducal seat. To augment this core of warriors, the Lionheart had brought both of the duchy's winged banners, and what looked to be his entire train of field trebuchets. As my father's representative, I was welcomed to the King's council and I offered the King my service as well as the support of L'Anguille. Having heard of my past victories, the King asked me to join his campaign, and in his court I met his primary advisor, a damsel of the Lady, envoy of the Enchantress, and formidable wielder of the fey winds, known as Florence of the Fire, partly for her red locks and partly for her temperament. Though I heard of his virtues, knew of his valiant feats, and had seen Couronne prosper under the Lionheart's rule, I became yet further impressed by the man's selfless ambitions for the Bretonnian people as I participated in his war council. I agreed with my father, that for L'Anguille to prosper, Bretonnia must prosper, and for Bretonnia to prosper, we would need a king unlike those I had seen before in life. We would need a king in the mould of the Uniter, and I believed Louen Leoncouer could be that king.
The Army of Couronne
Command
Duke of Bretonnia - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (lore of heavens)
Command
Duke of Bretonnia - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (lore of heavens)
The Army of Couronne
Command
Duke of Bretonnia - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (lore of heavens)
Command
Duke of Bretonnia - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (lore of heavens)
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Nobility
2 Banners of Pegasus Knights Heralds of the Royarch, Order of the Red Ribbon 2 Banners of Knights of the Realm Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea Nobility
21Banner of Pegasus Knights Heralds of the Royarch 2 Banners of Knights of the Realm The Knights of the March, The Knights of the White Sea 2 Banner of Knights Errant The Lion's Lances, The Banner of the Gauntlet |
Peasantry
4 Levies of Men-at-Arms Spears of Jerome's Strand (spears), Sable Ship Marchers (spears), Green Tower Marchers (spears) 3 Levies of Peasant Bowmen Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail 2 Field Trebuchets with crew Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians Peasantry
2 Levies of Men-at-Arms Spears of Jerome's Strand (spears), Sable Ship Marchers (spears) 1 Levy of Peasant Bowmen Sarone's Bowmen |
CHAPTER 1 (TURNS 1 - 51)
the land of chivalry
The Defense of the Marches
I joined the Lionheart's warcamp just before he moved against the besiegers of Castle Tancred. I watched how the pegasus knights descended on the enemy guns that supported the mercenary infantry of Marienburg, routing these craven auxiliaries before they could endanger the other knights' formations. These weapons had proven deadly in previous wars with the eastern realms but, deprived of their power, the enemy was forced to advance on the King's position to be ridden down by the valiant charge of our knights, led by the Lionheart himself. Though the merchant princes of Marianburg were undignified upstarts who worshiped gold and knew no honour, their ambitious leader, Emil von Korden, was a competent warrior, and killed several knights who sought to best him. However, his soldiers did not match his mettle and he was forced to flee alongside the rest lest he risk being left alone on the field.
Aware that I had led men into battle before, the Lionheart honoured me in his court as a Paladin of the Realm and tasked me with challenging any movement of our enemies north from Marienburg. While his army regrouped and rallied more brigands for an offensive with promises of Bretonnian silver, my small band of knights and yeomen scouts assaulted patrols and recruiters that chose to venture away from the city. Two weeks later we rejoined the King's army as it pressed south, but not toward Marienburg as we had expected. Though the orc tribes gathered in the mountains had been terrorizing the countryside of Couronne, there was no indication when their warboss intended to lead his horde down from the mountains where the King could confront him in the flatlands. Instead, King Louen had decided that he would hunt down this "Crack-Tooth" before making any attempt to bring his army to Marienburg, for as long as these orcs endangered Couronne he would never be able to dedicate his forces against the merchant city-state. Among the ancient dwarf ruins we found the orcs and their minions ready for battle, and the green tide was frightening to behold. Without the footmen to hold their charge, and the peasants to thin their number with arrow and boulder, we knights would have risked being overrun. Though the bloodshed was terrible, the Crack-Tooth could not defeat the Lionheart and the foe's flanks crumbled under repeated charges from the knights. We burned all their holdings in the ruins and on the mountain sides, flushing out any hidden goblins and putting them to the sword, and hoped that word of the warboss's defeat would prevent other greenskins from gathering there again.
A larger challenge loomed in front of us, though it was yet unseen. As we marched out of the mountains our scouts returned in alarm, calling for us to ready for battle. Hastily recruited and assembled by Magnus Knarhelm under the arms of Emil von Korden, a large army had emerged from Marienburg and had advanced up the mountain passes to prevent our return to Couronne. A defeat here for our battered army would have left the King and Couronne at the mercy of the merchant state, and our chances at prevailing over our much more numerous foes appeared grim, but the enemy were upon us and we had no choice but to fight. A long and bloody battle ensued, with the center infantry lines of both sides breaking and regrouping multiple times. The peasant archers used every last arrow in their quivers and the knights pushed at the limits of exhaustion. Less than half of the Bretonnians that entered the mountains to bring destruction to the orc tribes would return home, but we triumphed in the end and Magnus Knarhelm was captured. Though we desired vengeance against the treacherous Marienburgers, our army was in no state to assault the city itself, and so we returned to the Marches.
News of the orc warboss's fall spread quickly and it was accompanied by rumours of our intensifying conflict with the merchant princes, all of which hastened the call to arms of more knights and levies from Couronne and L'Anguille. Crossing the Manaansport with conscripted fishing craft and captured merchant ships, we sacked the settlement at Gossel, siezing all mercantile holdings to further fund the King's military needs, and left a garrison to hold the territory in hopes of luring the enemy away from their walls. The commanders of Marienburg instead responded by raiding into the Lionheart's duchy. We returned to defend the land and caught their army as it approached Couronne itself, defeating their vanguard, under Hans Nussbacker, within sight of the city walls. Despite the disdain of much of our noble warriors for such tactics, we then hid in the hills to await the main body of the enemy host, commanded by Emil von Korden, in order to draw them close enough for our army to be reinforced by the city garrison. As soon as Lord Emil detected our ambush, we advanced on his position in the road to Couronne and crushed his cumbersome unmounted forces.
Following this ultimate victory over Emil von Korden, King Louen finally invested the loathsome city perched on the mouth of the Reik. Siege engines were built and I led the men-at-arms of Couronne over the walls to take the gatehouses, as trebuchets knocked holes in the fortifications. The craven burghers surrendered once the knights came charging into the city. Many wished to see the city burn, but King Louen knew that its common inhabitants did not control their rulers' behavior, and the value of the port and its access to the rivers of the Sigmarite realms was undeniable. With some risk at provoking the imperials, he placed his flags above the gates and claimed the city and its surroundings for Bretonnia. The walls would be rebuilt, and Bretonnian nobility would command the city's defense and administration.
The Beasts of the One-Eye
The neighboring Sigmarite provinces were plagued by beastmen and civil strife, too busy fighting each other and the many evil's of the forest to react to the affairs of Marienburg. Following the pillage and massacre of Eilhart, only a few days upriver from Marienburg, the largest and most fearsome horde of beastmen appeared to be heading towards the Gisoreux Gap under the icons of Khazrak the One-Eye. Dukes Chilfroy and Hagen had raised a joint army to combat the threat and eagerly rushed to confront the beasts before they reached the gap. King Louen suspected that, upn their victory, they also desired to press Duke Hagen's claims on the ravaged lands across the Gap, traditional holdings of the Count of Reikland and the Empire's newly elected ruler, but left plainly undefended. Unfortunately, the Bretonnians were crushed by the cunning One-Eye, and scattered as soon as they reached the Reikland. Duke Chilfroy was badly wounded but survived the encounter, and the humbled lord quickly sent a request for assistance to the King.
Relations between the rulers of Couronne, Artois, and Gisoreux had been amiable for many years, and both Duke Chilfroy and Duke Hagen had accepted the King's coronation in good spirits despite their own pride and ambitions. With their current vulnerability, the Lionheart was able to push the cause of the kingdom over their own interests and convince both dukes to render their resources to his command and relinquish much of their assumed privileges for the benefit of a Bretonnia unified against its many external threats. While preparing for the defense of Gisoreux, Duke Hagen sent his most trusted adviser, the renowned Prophetess, Eleonore the Iron Lily, along with the remainder of his muster to immediately join the King's army.
Following the unpredictable whims of his dark gods, Khazrak's horde turned north and began raiding along the marshland roads to Marienburg, and up the Manaansport coast. While the Lionheart prepared to engage the beastmen at Couronne, I organized attacks on the beast's roving warbands and ensured the far-flung villages were aware of the threat and evacuated. After two weeks of raiding the countryside between the Marches and Couronne, it became clear that we would need to face the horde on their terms if we ever wished for the peasants to be able to return to the fields. Supported by Prophetess Eleonore and the Army of Gisoreux, King Louen brought together the knights of four duchies against the servants of the dark gods, and our army engaged the One-Eye with overwhelming force, riding down the beasts and executing all we could catch. The One-Eye was not found after the fight, but the beastmen threat was ended. Unfortunately, word of a new evil arrived almost immediately from Artois.
The Sword of Couronne
A strange fog was spreading from the Arden Forest, and orc warbands were ravaging nearby villages from within the concealment. A Paladin called Tormand of Gisoreux, whose feats were known to me, had tracked these orc attacks while panic spread across the region, and was confident he knew where the greenskins could be found. He estimated that their numbers were more substantial than any had guessed. While my duties held me to the public order of Marienburg, the Lionheart's army marched into the Arden Forest to search its dark groves. There he found an orc warlord, supported by a goblin shaman capable of producing the thick mists that were spreading across Artois, and the two clashed in a bloody battle. After the Lionheart's victory, a small shrine was found deep in the forest, desecrated by the greenskins, and containing an artifact that the greenskins had apparently ignored or avoided. It must have been the Lady's guidance that brought the Lionheart to her humble shrine, for the artifact was an old sword bearing the crest of Guillaume II, Duke of Couronne. According to the legend, the duke had sealed his family sword away, a weapon of magnificent enchantment, in repentance for some great sin before embarking on an ill-fated pilgrimage. The Lionheart accepted this gift from the Lady, and reconsecrated the impressive heirloom as the Sword of Couronne.
The Purge of Mousillon
Following this, the Lionheart turned his attention to the western coast, where rumors of the reign of the Red Duke had grown into a stark reality. The steward of Mousillon had been murdered and stories of atrocities and necromancy flowed from the province. King Louen received word from Lyonesse that, as refugees streamed into his castle town, Duke Adalhard had met with disaster in his own attempt to restore order on his southern border. He claims to have been set upon by the Red Duke, losing most of his army, and now he was holed up behind his walls as he regrouped his army. We were alarmed to hear that the Red Duke was abroad and soon learned he was marching on L'Anguille. Travelling with Lady Eleonore, I joined the brave garrison of L'Anguille as the Red Duke's unholy soldiers advanced on my family's domain. When the scouts informed us that the King's army was near enough to reinforce our own, we marched against the infamous tyrant before he could retreat back to his well-fortified holdings in Mousillon.
The Red Duke's army was composed of base fiends and blasphemous undead, but the sight of these creatures being crushed beneath the charges of the knights kept faith in the Lady strong amongst our common footmen. The usurper of Mousillon was defeated and slain, but many doubted that such a monster could be held by death and the corruption spreading over the lands of Lyonesse from the south was still evident. Our armies descended on Mousillon itself and found it well defended, and so we besieged the fortress for weeks as we constructed rams and towers. The assault was bloody, but the gates were battered open and the fortress was purged of all the horrors within. All that the Red Duke had built was burned and all suspected of collaborating with vampiric cults were sentenced to death. A new steward was appointed over Mousillon, but there was small hope that the duchy would ever heal. When we received word that Duke Alberic, claiming the need to secure his northern borders, had occupied Mousillon about month after our departure, the Lionheart seemed content to leave that cursed land under Bordeleaux's watch.
Having just confronted the horrors of dark magic and the undead, King Louen was dismayed to hear the news that much of the eastern realms across the mountains was being overrun by the armies of a revealed vampire. Weak from months of war with forest beastmen and the goblins of the Grey Mountains, Emperor Karl Franz had suffered a series of defeats against the notorious Count Vlad von Carstein, claimant to the imperial throne, and the Sigmarite Empire looked to be in dire straits. When Altdorf was overrun by this vampiric tyrant, causing the emperor to move his seat to Nuln, King Louen declared that this threat must be met before it reached Bretonnia. The campaign against Vlad von Carstein began with an attack on Grunburg, a vulnerable link in von Carstein's supply chains through Stirland to Sylvania. In great need of allies, Emperor Karl Franz needed little persuasion to allow the Lionheart's knights into Reikland, and we quickly drove the undead from Grunburg with lance and sword. Through inspired statecraft with sincere vision, King Louen Leoncoeur had forged the northern duchies into the spearhead of a new Bretonnia. Now he would wield that influence abroad and show men everywhere why the Bretonnians have the Lady's favour.
I joined the Lionheart's warcamp just before he moved against the besiegers of Castle Tancred. I watched how the pegasus knights descended on the enemy guns that supported the mercenary infantry of Marienburg, routing these craven auxiliaries before they could endanger the other knights' formations. These weapons had proven deadly in previous wars with the eastern realms but, deprived of their power, the enemy was forced to advance on the King's position to be ridden down by the valiant charge of our knights, led by the Lionheart himself. Though the merchant princes of Marianburg were undignified upstarts who worshiped gold and knew no honour, their ambitious leader, Emil von Korden, was a competent warrior, and killed several knights who sought to best him. However, his soldiers did not match his mettle and he was forced to flee alongside the rest lest he risk being left alone on the field.
Aware that I had led men into battle before, the Lionheart honoured me in his court as a Paladin of the Realm and tasked me with challenging any movement of our enemies north from Marienburg. While his army regrouped and rallied more brigands for an offensive with promises of Bretonnian silver, my small band of knights and yeomen scouts assaulted patrols and recruiters that chose to venture away from the city. Two weeks later we rejoined the King's army as it pressed south, but not toward Marienburg as we had expected. Though the orc tribes gathered in the mountains had been terrorizing the countryside of Couronne, there was no indication when their warboss intended to lead his horde down from the mountains where the King could confront him in the flatlands. Instead, King Louen had decided that he would hunt down this "Crack-Tooth" before making any attempt to bring his army to Marienburg, for as long as these orcs endangered Couronne he would never be able to dedicate his forces against the merchant city-state. Among the ancient dwarf ruins we found the orcs and their minions ready for battle, and the green tide was frightening to behold. Without the footmen to hold their charge, and the peasants to thin their number with arrow and boulder, we knights would have risked being overrun. Though the bloodshed was terrible, the Crack-Tooth could not defeat the Lionheart and the foe's flanks crumbled under repeated charges from the knights. We burned all their holdings in the ruins and on the mountain sides, flushing out any hidden goblins and putting them to the sword, and hoped that word of the warboss's defeat would prevent other greenskins from gathering there again.
A larger challenge loomed in front of us, though it was yet unseen. As we marched out of the mountains our scouts returned in alarm, calling for us to ready for battle. Hastily recruited and assembled by Magnus Knarhelm under the arms of Emil von Korden, a large army had emerged from Marienburg and had advanced up the mountain passes to prevent our return to Couronne. A defeat here for our battered army would have left the King and Couronne at the mercy of the merchant state, and our chances at prevailing over our much more numerous foes appeared grim, but the enemy were upon us and we had no choice but to fight. A long and bloody battle ensued, with the center infantry lines of both sides breaking and regrouping multiple times. The peasant archers used every last arrow in their quivers and the knights pushed at the limits of exhaustion. Less than half of the Bretonnians that entered the mountains to bring destruction to the orc tribes would return home, but we triumphed in the end and Magnus Knarhelm was captured. Though we desired vengeance against the treacherous Marienburgers, our army was in no state to assault the city itself, and so we returned to the Marches.
News of the orc warboss's fall spread quickly and it was accompanied by rumours of our intensifying conflict with the merchant princes, all of which hastened the call to arms of more knights and levies from Couronne and L'Anguille. Crossing the Manaansport with conscripted fishing craft and captured merchant ships, we sacked the settlement at Gossel, siezing all mercantile holdings to further fund the King's military needs, and left a garrison to hold the territory in hopes of luring the enemy away from their walls. The commanders of Marienburg instead responded by raiding into the Lionheart's duchy. We returned to defend the land and caught their army as it approached Couronne itself, defeating their vanguard, under Hans Nussbacker, within sight of the city walls. Despite the disdain of much of our noble warriors for such tactics, we then hid in the hills to await the main body of the enemy host, commanded by Emil von Korden, in order to draw them close enough for our army to be reinforced by the city garrison. As soon as Lord Emil detected our ambush, we advanced on his position in the road to Couronne and crushed his cumbersome unmounted forces.
Following this ultimate victory over Emil von Korden, King Louen finally invested the loathsome city perched on the mouth of the Reik. Siege engines were built and I led the men-at-arms of Couronne over the walls to take the gatehouses, as trebuchets knocked holes in the fortifications. The craven burghers surrendered once the knights came charging into the city. Many wished to see the city burn, but King Louen knew that its common inhabitants did not control their rulers' behavior, and the value of the port and its access to the rivers of the Sigmarite realms was undeniable. With some risk at provoking the imperials, he placed his flags above the gates and claimed the city and its surroundings for Bretonnia. The walls would be rebuilt, and Bretonnian nobility would command the city's defense and administration.
The Beasts of the One-Eye
The neighboring Sigmarite provinces were plagued by beastmen and civil strife, too busy fighting each other and the many evil's of the forest to react to the affairs of Marienburg. Following the pillage and massacre of Eilhart, only a few days upriver from Marienburg, the largest and most fearsome horde of beastmen appeared to be heading towards the Gisoreux Gap under the icons of Khazrak the One-Eye. Dukes Chilfroy and Hagen had raised a joint army to combat the threat and eagerly rushed to confront the beasts before they reached the gap. King Louen suspected that, upn their victory, they also desired to press Duke Hagen's claims on the ravaged lands across the Gap, traditional holdings of the Count of Reikland and the Empire's newly elected ruler, but left plainly undefended. Unfortunately, the Bretonnians were crushed by the cunning One-Eye, and scattered as soon as they reached the Reikland. Duke Chilfroy was badly wounded but survived the encounter, and the humbled lord quickly sent a request for assistance to the King.
Relations between the rulers of Couronne, Artois, and Gisoreux had been amiable for many years, and both Duke Chilfroy and Duke Hagen had accepted the King's coronation in good spirits despite their own pride and ambitions. With their current vulnerability, the Lionheart was able to push the cause of the kingdom over their own interests and convince both dukes to render their resources to his command and relinquish much of their assumed privileges for the benefit of a Bretonnia unified against its many external threats. While preparing for the defense of Gisoreux, Duke Hagen sent his most trusted adviser, the renowned Prophetess, Eleonore the Iron Lily, along with the remainder of his muster to immediately join the King's army.
Following the unpredictable whims of his dark gods, Khazrak's horde turned north and began raiding along the marshland roads to Marienburg, and up the Manaansport coast. While the Lionheart prepared to engage the beastmen at Couronne, I organized attacks on the beast's roving warbands and ensured the far-flung villages were aware of the threat and evacuated. After two weeks of raiding the countryside between the Marches and Couronne, it became clear that we would need to face the horde on their terms if we ever wished for the peasants to be able to return to the fields. Supported by Prophetess Eleonore and the Army of Gisoreux, King Louen brought together the knights of four duchies against the servants of the dark gods, and our army engaged the One-Eye with overwhelming force, riding down the beasts and executing all we could catch. The One-Eye was not found after the fight, but the beastmen threat was ended. Unfortunately, word of a new evil arrived almost immediately from Artois.
The Sword of Couronne
A strange fog was spreading from the Arden Forest, and orc warbands were ravaging nearby villages from within the concealment. A Paladin called Tormand of Gisoreux, whose feats were known to me, had tracked these orc attacks while panic spread across the region, and was confident he knew where the greenskins could be found. He estimated that their numbers were more substantial than any had guessed. While my duties held me to the public order of Marienburg, the Lionheart's army marched into the Arden Forest to search its dark groves. There he found an orc warlord, supported by a goblin shaman capable of producing the thick mists that were spreading across Artois, and the two clashed in a bloody battle. After the Lionheart's victory, a small shrine was found deep in the forest, desecrated by the greenskins, and containing an artifact that the greenskins had apparently ignored or avoided. It must have been the Lady's guidance that brought the Lionheart to her humble shrine, for the artifact was an old sword bearing the crest of Guillaume II, Duke of Couronne. According to the legend, the duke had sealed his family sword away, a weapon of magnificent enchantment, in repentance for some great sin before embarking on an ill-fated pilgrimage. The Lionheart accepted this gift from the Lady, and reconsecrated the impressive heirloom as the Sword of Couronne.
The Purge of Mousillon
Following this, the Lionheart turned his attention to the western coast, where rumors of the reign of the Red Duke had grown into a stark reality. The steward of Mousillon had been murdered and stories of atrocities and necromancy flowed from the province. King Louen received word from Lyonesse that, as refugees streamed into his castle town, Duke Adalhard had met with disaster in his own attempt to restore order on his southern border. He claims to have been set upon by the Red Duke, losing most of his army, and now he was holed up behind his walls as he regrouped his army. We were alarmed to hear that the Red Duke was abroad and soon learned he was marching on L'Anguille. Travelling with Lady Eleonore, I joined the brave garrison of L'Anguille as the Red Duke's unholy soldiers advanced on my family's domain. When the scouts informed us that the King's army was near enough to reinforce our own, we marched against the infamous tyrant before he could retreat back to his well-fortified holdings in Mousillon.
The Red Duke's army was composed of base fiends and blasphemous undead, but the sight of these creatures being crushed beneath the charges of the knights kept faith in the Lady strong amongst our common footmen. The usurper of Mousillon was defeated and slain, but many doubted that such a monster could be held by death and the corruption spreading over the lands of Lyonesse from the south was still evident. Our armies descended on Mousillon itself and found it well defended, and so we besieged the fortress for weeks as we constructed rams and towers. The assault was bloody, but the gates were battered open and the fortress was purged of all the horrors within. All that the Red Duke had built was burned and all suspected of collaborating with vampiric cults were sentenced to death. A new steward was appointed over Mousillon, but there was small hope that the duchy would ever heal. When we received word that Duke Alberic, claiming the need to secure his northern borders, had occupied Mousillon about month after our departure, the Lionheart seemed content to leave that cursed land under Bordeleaux's watch.
Having just confronted the horrors of dark magic and the undead, King Louen was dismayed to hear the news that much of the eastern realms across the mountains was being overrun by the armies of a revealed vampire. Weak from months of war with forest beastmen and the goblins of the Grey Mountains, Emperor Karl Franz had suffered a series of defeats against the notorious Count Vlad von Carstein, claimant to the imperial throne, and the Sigmarite Empire looked to be in dire straits. When Altdorf was overrun by this vampiric tyrant, causing the emperor to move his seat to Nuln, King Louen declared that this threat must be met before it reached Bretonnia. The campaign against Vlad von Carstein began with an attack on Grunburg, a vulnerable link in von Carstein's supply chains through Stirland to Sylvania. In great need of allies, Emperor Karl Franz needed little persuasion to allow the Lionheart's knights into Reikland, and we quickly drove the undead from Grunburg with lance and sword. Through inspired statecraft with sincere vision, King Louen Leoncoeur had forged the northern duchies into the spearhead of a new Bretonnia. Now he would wield that influence abroad and show men everywhere why the Bretonnians have the Lady's favour.
The Army of Couronne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsel of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (lore of heavens)
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsel of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (lore of heavens)
|
Nobility
2 Banners of Pegasus Knights Heralds of the Royarch, Order of the Red Ribbon 4 Banners of Knights of the Realm Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing) 1 Banner of Knights Errant Blades of Honour |
Peasantry
2 Levies of Mounted Yeomen Yellow Wardens, Cleon's Huntsmen (bows) 4 Levies of Men-at-Arms Garo's Boars (shields), Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms) 3 Levies of Peasant Bowmen Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail, Bows of the Mud Banner 2 Field Trebuchets with crew Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians |
Other Armies of the King
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (lore of life)
Paladins - Tormand of Gisoreux, Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (lore of beasts)
Nobility
2 Banners of Knights of the Realm
2 Banners of Knights Errant
Peasantry
1 Levy of Mounted Yeomen (bows)
2 Levies of Men-at-Arms (1 with shields, 1 with polearms)
2 Levies of Spearmen-at-Arms
2 Levies of Peasant Bowmen
1 Band of Battle Pilgrims (with a Reliquae)
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (lore of life)
Paladins - Tormand of Gisoreux, Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (lore of beasts)
Nobility
2 Banners of Knights of the Realm
2 Banners of Knights Errant
Peasantry
1 Levy of Mounted Yeomen (bows)
2 Levies of Men-at-Arms (1 with shields, 1 with polearms)
2 Levies of Spearmen-at-Arms
2 Levies of Peasant Bowmen
1 Band of Battle Pilgrims (with a Reliquae)
Chapter 2 Turns 51 - 81
The Sylvanian Crusade
As the imperials started to rebuild Grunburg's defenses and purge the town's ruins, I travelled with the Lionheart to liberate Altdorf from its unnatural conquerors. As we besieged the city however, Vlad von Carstein had moved with much of his force along the other side of the Reik, through the Blood Pines, to counterattack with reinforcements from the forsaken city of Wurtbad. Striking where he thought us weak, Vlad von Carstein marched on Grunburg but the Iron Lily of Gisoreux had been left encamped nearby to defend the approach. Of what would become known as the famed Second Battle of Grunburg, many stories of heroism are told, with the most widely known being of the appearance of the Green Knight. It is said the he rode with the Knights of Desfleuve, and when these warriors were force to withdraw, he stayed behind to fend off an entire cohort of undead armored horsemen. Other survivors say they saw him appear at the side of Tormand of Gisoreux, as the brave paladin faced down Count Vlad von Carstein at the heart of the battle. However, the undead count channeled power unparalleled, and the warriors of Gisoreux saw Tormand fall before his blades and then the Green Knight. As the knights were overwhelmed on the flanks, and the men-at-arms fled from the center, the battle would soon be lost, but the Iron Lily stood firm and those who fled began to rally around her. With no other hero left to match the vampire, she stood against Vlad von Carstein with the remnants of her knights errant, the Order of the Red Ribbon, and the crazed devotees of Sir Hugh's Reliquae. These warriors claim they could feel the will of the Iron Lily coursing through their being, mending what should have been mortal wounds. Fortunately, von Carstein's monstrous strength neared exhaustion and, with impressive swordsmanship, the Prophetess landed a killing blow upon the vampire lord. The souls of his minions were thus released, and the brave survivors of the Iron Lily's last stand stood victorious. Sir Tormand's body was recovered from the field, but no trace remained of the Green Knight. With Vlad von Carstein's flanking forces defeated, the army of the King assaulted the defenders of Altdorf and took the head of its vampiric commander.
Within days of the Iron Lily's victory, however, a numberless horde of goblins descended into the Reikland and quickly routed the imperial defenders of Grunburg. The decimated knights of Artois and Gisoreux found themselves in position to stop them, unprepared for an attack from the Grey Mountains. Aware of the condition of Eleonore's warriors, the Lionheart headed south immediately to join her. together they confronted the goblin horde at the Third Battle of Grunburg, and defeated the notorious Skarsnik, warlord of the Crooked Moon. With word that the dwarves of Karak Norn were marching on the Crooked Moon tribe's mountain holdings, King Louen decreed that the forces of Bretonnia would head further east, to hunt down and destroy the source of Vlad von Carstein's power in Sylvania
We spent many days at Wurtbad, where the local population was held hostage by dark lords in service to Count Vlad, eventually breaking through the walls and purging the city in the Lady's name. We lost many in battle, but many more to unseen fiends in the night and noxious diseases on our slow march through those cursed lands. Again at the Moot we defeated an army of skeletons and wights, and finally we stood at the gates of Schwatzhafen where we were met by Count Vlad himself, despite his reported demise, and his consort, Isabella. With the the Lady's exhortations ringing in the air as Lady Florence called down her divine wrath upon the enemy legions, the men-at-arms and peasants stood strong against the charge of monstrous vargheists and varghulfs. The knights pierced the defenses of the their leaders, slaying the necromancers, and King Louen brought down Vlad with the Sword of Couronne. The undead soldiers crumbled as the the vampires fell, and the Lionheart declared the threat of Count Vlad von Carstein defeated. Schwatzhafen and its crypts were put to the torch and we began the long march home.
The Alliance of Bastonne
As we emerged from the Gisoreux Gap, news of yet another orc menance was the talk of peasant and noble alike. Murdering villagers and stealing cattle herds, a savage band of the greenskins had emerged from the Forerst of Chalons and was blatantly raiding the countryside of Bastonne while Duke Bohemond sat behind his walls, neglecting his duty to protect the peasants. Though this warband boasted hundreds of the largest orcs I had seen, the combined armies of the northern duchies handily crushed the roving despoilers. However, the greater threat to Bretonnia, as I was learning, resided behind Bastonne's walls.
It was well known among throughout the kingdom that Duke Bohemond the Beastslayer had been the most outspoken voice of discontent regarding the passage of the King's crown to Couronne. The Lionheart's council was aware of growing and more frequent acts of defiance and sabotage against the King's will, with the worst affronts including assassination attempts against agents of the crown passing through his lands. One of these attempts came in the form of a duel forced by Sir Jean Clement the Saracen, the master swordsmen sworn to Bastonne, and left Sir Lorenzo on death's edge for weeks. The Beastslayer's actions had emboldened the ambitions of other dukes as well, and an alliance in opposition to Couronne was growing, threatening to cripple the kingdom for the sake of maintaining the autonomy of the dukes. Visibly pained by asking his subjects to bare their blades against their countrymen, the Lionheart declared that diplomacy had taken us as far as it could and that a show of resolve would be needed to stop further development of rival factions within the kingdom. As the Beastslayer continued to ignore the King's summons, the Lionheart declared Bohemond a traitor and vow-breaker. Duke Bohemond's alliance, including Montfort, Parravon, Quenelles, and the dwarfs of Karak Ziflin, had been founded to resist incursions by the enigmatic elves of the Loren Forest and Bohemond was quick to denounce the King as a puppet of the elven warlords and a danger to Bretonnia's integrity.
In contrast to the rumors of his warmongering being spread by Bastonne's nobility, King Louen continued to pursue diplomatic resolution with his opponents as the armies maneuvered in the countrysides of Gisoreux and Montfort. Fortunately, Duke Tancred proved unsure of his bedfellows and, once assured that the Lionheart was not in league with the fey folk and would indeed assist in the defense of his realm against Athel Loren's denizens, chose to renew his vows to the crown. Duke Cassyon, as well, followed suit and promised the support of his knights to the Lionheart. Quickly, Duke Bohemond found his grand alliance unraveling, but the Lord of Karak Ziflin was not so easily swayed. When word arrived at the King's camp that an army of dwarfs had emerged from Underway passages in the Arden Forest, we rushed to engage them before they could fall upon the people of Artois. We were easily able to outmanuever the mountain folk and take up advantageous positions in the hills above their warcamp, but their stubborn lord, known as Granitehand, seemed to underestimate our noble warriors and was set on bloodshed. No matter the details of the misunderstanding, the King could not allow the lords of Karak Ziflin to futher aid Duke Bohemond in undermining his authority, and ordered the trebuchets to begin raining stone down upon the dwarfs. The dwarf army, infantry supported by some crossbows and handguns, advanced up the hillsides towards our position, but could not stand against our mounted counter-charge. The dwarfs were forced to retreat from the field, but had emerged deep within Artois and many of their survivors were quickly rounded up and captured, preventing any change of regrouping. There were a few further skirmishes with the warriors of Karak Ziflin in the foothills of the Grey Mountains, but within less than a month of fighting Lord Granitehand began to rethink his involvement in Bretonnian politics. A peace was reached between King Louen and the Karak, and Duke Bohemond found himself with one less ally. While the Duke stubbornly refused to submit himself before the Lionheart's judgement, his attempt to establish a rival confederation had clearly failed.
The Skaeling Invasion
As King Louen cornered Duke Bohemond in Bastonne, the first of a series of major Norscan incursions appeared in the waters of the Manaansport. My people and our neighbors in Couronne were accustomed to raiding from the north, but the Army of Couronne was engaged far from the coast. The Army of Gisoreux moved north from the Grey Mountains, but Lady Eleonore was forced to await news of where the enemy would land before she could dedicate her warriors. After a few weeks of unpredictable raiding along the coasts, the Skaelings congregated around the walls of Marienburg and we learned that these barbaric tribe were unified under a fearsome rising warlord known as Felman Ingersson. Prophetess Eleonore launched her assault on the invaders though she was sorely outnumbered, and the city's garrison sallied out to assist, aware that this was likely their sole hope at salvation. The battle with the Skaelings would become the subject of numerous poets' works, with victory hanging on the brave actions of a few as many fled before the violence of the Norscan marauders and their fearsome troll allies, and from the accounts I have heard of those who were there, almost all the tales of that battle are true. Messangers informed us of the triumph at Marienburg and that the Army of Gisoreux engaged the retreating army again, further north, driving them back to their boats, but we knew eyes would still be needed on the northern seas.
The Lionheart once admitted to me that, after being chosen by the Fay Enchantress, he had thought he would be able to lead as simply the first among brothers, more a unifying figurehead than a liege lord. Now, however, he admitted that this ideal was clearly beyond his ability. The crown was an authority that could not be neglected, lest the commonfolk suffer for the conflicting ambitions of their noble lords, and King Louen was now resolved that Bretonnia, just as in the time of Gilles the Breton, could not afford the luxury of political division and must be unified in aim and deed.
As the imperials started to rebuild Grunburg's defenses and purge the town's ruins, I travelled with the Lionheart to liberate Altdorf from its unnatural conquerors. As we besieged the city however, Vlad von Carstein had moved with much of his force along the other side of the Reik, through the Blood Pines, to counterattack with reinforcements from the forsaken city of Wurtbad. Striking where he thought us weak, Vlad von Carstein marched on Grunburg but the Iron Lily of Gisoreux had been left encamped nearby to defend the approach. Of what would become known as the famed Second Battle of Grunburg, many stories of heroism are told, with the most widely known being of the appearance of the Green Knight. It is said the he rode with the Knights of Desfleuve, and when these warriors were force to withdraw, he stayed behind to fend off an entire cohort of undead armored horsemen. Other survivors say they saw him appear at the side of Tormand of Gisoreux, as the brave paladin faced down Count Vlad von Carstein at the heart of the battle. However, the undead count channeled power unparalleled, and the warriors of Gisoreux saw Tormand fall before his blades and then the Green Knight. As the knights were overwhelmed on the flanks, and the men-at-arms fled from the center, the battle would soon be lost, but the Iron Lily stood firm and those who fled began to rally around her. With no other hero left to match the vampire, she stood against Vlad von Carstein with the remnants of her knights errant, the Order of the Red Ribbon, and the crazed devotees of Sir Hugh's Reliquae. These warriors claim they could feel the will of the Iron Lily coursing through their being, mending what should have been mortal wounds. Fortunately, von Carstein's monstrous strength neared exhaustion and, with impressive swordsmanship, the Prophetess landed a killing blow upon the vampire lord. The souls of his minions were thus released, and the brave survivors of the Iron Lily's last stand stood victorious. Sir Tormand's body was recovered from the field, but no trace remained of the Green Knight. With Vlad von Carstein's flanking forces defeated, the army of the King assaulted the defenders of Altdorf and took the head of its vampiric commander.
Within days of the Iron Lily's victory, however, a numberless horde of goblins descended into the Reikland and quickly routed the imperial defenders of Grunburg. The decimated knights of Artois and Gisoreux found themselves in position to stop them, unprepared for an attack from the Grey Mountains. Aware of the condition of Eleonore's warriors, the Lionheart headed south immediately to join her. together they confronted the goblin horde at the Third Battle of Grunburg, and defeated the notorious Skarsnik, warlord of the Crooked Moon. With word that the dwarves of Karak Norn were marching on the Crooked Moon tribe's mountain holdings, King Louen decreed that the forces of Bretonnia would head further east, to hunt down and destroy the source of Vlad von Carstein's power in Sylvania
We spent many days at Wurtbad, where the local population was held hostage by dark lords in service to Count Vlad, eventually breaking through the walls and purging the city in the Lady's name. We lost many in battle, but many more to unseen fiends in the night and noxious diseases on our slow march through those cursed lands. Again at the Moot we defeated an army of skeletons and wights, and finally we stood at the gates of Schwatzhafen where we were met by Count Vlad himself, despite his reported demise, and his consort, Isabella. With the the Lady's exhortations ringing in the air as Lady Florence called down her divine wrath upon the enemy legions, the men-at-arms and peasants stood strong against the charge of monstrous vargheists and varghulfs. The knights pierced the defenses of the their leaders, slaying the necromancers, and King Louen brought down Vlad with the Sword of Couronne. The undead soldiers crumbled as the the vampires fell, and the Lionheart declared the threat of Count Vlad von Carstein defeated. Schwatzhafen and its crypts were put to the torch and we began the long march home.
The Alliance of Bastonne
As we emerged from the Gisoreux Gap, news of yet another orc menance was the talk of peasant and noble alike. Murdering villagers and stealing cattle herds, a savage band of the greenskins had emerged from the Forerst of Chalons and was blatantly raiding the countryside of Bastonne while Duke Bohemond sat behind his walls, neglecting his duty to protect the peasants. Though this warband boasted hundreds of the largest orcs I had seen, the combined armies of the northern duchies handily crushed the roving despoilers. However, the greater threat to Bretonnia, as I was learning, resided behind Bastonne's walls.
It was well known among throughout the kingdom that Duke Bohemond the Beastslayer had been the most outspoken voice of discontent regarding the passage of the King's crown to Couronne. The Lionheart's council was aware of growing and more frequent acts of defiance and sabotage against the King's will, with the worst affronts including assassination attempts against agents of the crown passing through his lands. One of these attempts came in the form of a duel forced by Sir Jean Clement the Saracen, the master swordsmen sworn to Bastonne, and left Sir Lorenzo on death's edge for weeks. The Beastslayer's actions had emboldened the ambitions of other dukes as well, and an alliance in opposition to Couronne was growing, threatening to cripple the kingdom for the sake of maintaining the autonomy of the dukes. Visibly pained by asking his subjects to bare their blades against their countrymen, the Lionheart declared that diplomacy had taken us as far as it could and that a show of resolve would be needed to stop further development of rival factions within the kingdom. As the Beastslayer continued to ignore the King's summons, the Lionheart declared Bohemond a traitor and vow-breaker. Duke Bohemond's alliance, including Montfort, Parravon, Quenelles, and the dwarfs of Karak Ziflin, had been founded to resist incursions by the enigmatic elves of the Loren Forest and Bohemond was quick to denounce the King as a puppet of the elven warlords and a danger to Bretonnia's integrity.
In contrast to the rumors of his warmongering being spread by Bastonne's nobility, King Louen continued to pursue diplomatic resolution with his opponents as the armies maneuvered in the countrysides of Gisoreux and Montfort. Fortunately, Duke Tancred proved unsure of his bedfellows and, once assured that the Lionheart was not in league with the fey folk and would indeed assist in the defense of his realm against Athel Loren's denizens, chose to renew his vows to the crown. Duke Cassyon, as well, followed suit and promised the support of his knights to the Lionheart. Quickly, Duke Bohemond found his grand alliance unraveling, but the Lord of Karak Ziflin was not so easily swayed. When word arrived at the King's camp that an army of dwarfs had emerged from Underway passages in the Arden Forest, we rushed to engage them before they could fall upon the people of Artois. We were easily able to outmanuever the mountain folk and take up advantageous positions in the hills above their warcamp, but their stubborn lord, known as Granitehand, seemed to underestimate our noble warriors and was set on bloodshed. No matter the details of the misunderstanding, the King could not allow the lords of Karak Ziflin to futher aid Duke Bohemond in undermining his authority, and ordered the trebuchets to begin raining stone down upon the dwarfs. The dwarf army, infantry supported by some crossbows and handguns, advanced up the hillsides towards our position, but could not stand against our mounted counter-charge. The dwarfs were forced to retreat from the field, but had emerged deep within Artois and many of their survivors were quickly rounded up and captured, preventing any change of regrouping. There were a few further skirmishes with the warriors of Karak Ziflin in the foothills of the Grey Mountains, but within less than a month of fighting Lord Granitehand began to rethink his involvement in Bretonnian politics. A peace was reached between King Louen and the Karak, and Duke Bohemond found himself with one less ally. While the Duke stubbornly refused to submit himself before the Lionheart's judgement, his attempt to establish a rival confederation had clearly failed.
The Skaeling Invasion
As King Louen cornered Duke Bohemond in Bastonne, the first of a series of major Norscan incursions appeared in the waters of the Manaansport. My people and our neighbors in Couronne were accustomed to raiding from the north, but the Army of Couronne was engaged far from the coast. The Army of Gisoreux moved north from the Grey Mountains, but Lady Eleonore was forced to await news of where the enemy would land before she could dedicate her warriors. After a few weeks of unpredictable raiding along the coasts, the Skaelings congregated around the walls of Marienburg and we learned that these barbaric tribe were unified under a fearsome rising warlord known as Felman Ingersson. Prophetess Eleonore launched her assault on the invaders though she was sorely outnumbered, and the city's garrison sallied out to assist, aware that this was likely their sole hope at salvation. The battle with the Skaelings would become the subject of numerous poets' works, with victory hanging on the brave actions of a few as many fled before the violence of the Norscan marauders and their fearsome troll allies, and from the accounts I have heard of those who were there, almost all the tales of that battle are true. Messangers informed us of the triumph at Marienburg and that the Army of Gisoreux engaged the retreating army again, further north, driving them back to their boats, but we knew eyes would still be needed on the northern seas.
The Lionheart once admitted to me that, after being chosen by the Fay Enchantress, he had thought he would be able to lead as simply the first among brothers, more a unifying figurehead than a liege lord. Now, however, he admitted that this ideal was clearly beyond his ability. The crown was an authority that could not be neglected, lest the commonfolk suffer for the conflicting ambitions of their noble lords, and King Louen was now resolved that Bretonnia, just as in the time of Gilles the Breton, could not afford the luxury of political division and must be unified in aim and deed.
The Army of Couronne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsel of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (heavens)
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsel of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (heavens)
The Army of Couronne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yellow Wardens, Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of the Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Gascard the Stern, Pierre of Aldoire
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers, Spears of the Wyrmwood
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows)
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Chartan's Vagabonds (questing), Band of the Grey Favour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
Agents
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Renee of Cereste (Lore of the Life), Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts)
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yellow Wardens, Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of the Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Gascard the Stern, Pierre of Aldoire
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers, Spears of the Wyrmwood
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows)
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Chartan's Vagabonds (questing), Band of the Grey Favour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
Agents
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Renee of Cereste (Lore of the Life), Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts)
Chapter 3 Turns 81 - 95
Servants of the code
The Battle of Crone's Mountain
While King Louen marched the army of Couronne towards Montfort, Duke Cassyon moved from Quenelles to support the Royarch. Clearly hoping to confront his enemies piecemeal and take some form of vengeance on his erstwhile ally, Duke Bohemond attempted to engage the Army of Parravon on the road midway between Quenelles and Montfort, in the foothills of Massif Orcal. Outnumbered by the Army of Bastonne, Duke Cassyon chose to withdraw into the mountains, but the war council had considered this move on Bohemond's part and Cassyon had messengers ready to immediately send word to the Lionheart regarding the enemy's movements. The Army of Couronne swiftly changed course, crossing the Grismerie River at Etroitpont, and advancing on Bohemond's position. Instead of fleeing back to his fortress, the Duke of Bastonne boldly chose to make a stand on the slopes of Crone's Mountain and there we slew many of our brother knights before the duke sounded the retreat of his army. King Louen had engaged Duke Bohemond on the battlefield, two famous champions of the Bretonnian people locked in deadly combat, and Bohemond had been bested with wounds that would bring him close to death. Though it had come with a shameful cost in Bretonnian strength, some part of the experience had brought Bohemond to reason, and the Lionheart's demands were accepted without issue directly after. Bastonne and Montfort were subjugated beneath the King's authority and their dukes were stripped of many rights and privileges.
Soon after these events, Duke Adalhard fully pledged Lyonesse's warriors to the Lionheart's cause. Though he had publicly voiced support of the King after the defeat of the Red Duke, the duke of Lyonesse had only shown interest in defending the borders of his own duchy. Now the army of Lyonesse, as well as Duke Adalhard's other resources, would be at the King's command.
Orion's War
From my study of the histories, I know that the fey denizens of Athel Loren have typically been held in respect and their presence tolerated in the Lady's judgement. Unfortunately, there have also been many episodes where either the elves or our own people have crossed the waystone boundaries with malicious or misguided intent, bringing fearful violence between the two realms. The domains bordering the great forest - Parravon, Quenelles, and Carcassonne - had all suffered from unpredictable raiding and killing perpetrated by elusive inhuman riders. Seeking retribution, local nobles had organized expeditions into the forest or begun random clearings and burnings of the forest's edge. As the conflict escalated, the events had consumed the politics of the region, with even the Fay Enchantress frustrated in her attempts to reestablish the Lady's peace. The Enchantress's messengers spoke of the awakening of a powerful violent force among the elves, known as Orion, that desired war with all realms outside the forest. To appease the southern nobility and demand reparations from the lords of the forest, the Lionheart brought the Army of Couronne to Parravon in order to spearhead a punitive expedition of his own. Supported by the Army of Parravon and the magical talents of two renowned damsels of the Lady, we ventured into one of the few known routes that headed deeper into the forest. Lady Renee of Cereste, who had spent much of her life studying the forest and communing with its spirits, explained to me that the forest allows its inhabitants to keep their movements and assets easily hidden from invaders, but there were fortunately some sites of such intense power that they could not be totally concealed from those attuned to the winds of magic.
Known as Vaul's Anvil, we reached such a site after two weeks of slow progress through the dangerous terrain, and the elves were finally forced confront us. As I readied the men for battle, King Louen and his magical council sought to address Lord Daith, the ruler of Vaul's Anvil, but was arrogantly denied an audience. We attacked as soon as the King returned and the harrowing battle was a chaotic affair unlike any other I have witnessed. Though it often seemed as if we fought ghosts in the trees and many of our brave warriors would die from poisoned arrows before ever laying eyes on their foe, our valiant steeds charged through the malicious foliage, catching our swift enemy, and allowing us to bring sharpened steel to the elves. Combat raged above the canopy as well, where King Louen, astride his hippogryph, Beaquis, and the pegasi banners slew a great green dragon and many hawk-riding elven warriors. Through a clearing in the trees, I was able to spot and chase down Lord Daith and, with the Lady's Blessing, dealt him a mortal wound, and when I returned to the battle to fight alongside the Knights of the White Sea, I found the elves to be fleeing into the wider forest, abandoning Vaul's Anvil.
Though our supply lines into the forest were tenuous, we occupied the Anvil in the name of the Lady and began to plan our next moves. While victorious, our diminished strength would be unable to advance against the other elven strongholds, for we had as many dead or wounded as we had still fit for battle, but I agreed with the King that our foothold in the forest must not be given up. We soon realized we had underestimated Orion's strength, however, for within two weeks the elven lord was upon us in great strength. Duke Cassyon's warcamp was isolated in the forest as they organized the Anvil's reinforcement, and forced to retreat from their compromised position or be surrounded and lost. Duke Cassyon showed wisdom in this choice, for the annihilation of the Parravonese would have done little to impede Orion's advance and removed all hope of later support. Our position at the Anvil was assaulted immediately afterward, with Orion at the spearhead, and we were unable to hold together under the rain of arrows that covered their advancing spear formations. Our lines were spread thin as the knights attempted to come to grips with their foe and we soon collapsed into a full rout, our forces scattered into the dangerous wilds to fend for themselves. Gathering together what survivors I could, I fled Vaul's Anvil, through the maze of the Athel Loren's pathways, searching for the borders of Bretonnia. The wounds I suffered from elven blade and arrow left me on death's edge for almost a month, with fever overtaking me as I was tended by the Shallyans in Quenelles. The tattered remnants of the Army of Couronne regrouped there, and the King visited my bedside regularly with Lady Florence in order to plan for Orion's seemingly inevitable offensive into Bretonnia. A week after our defeat in the forest, an elven messenger arrived to invite King Louen to parley with Lord Orion. To our surprise, Lord Orion desired to end the conflict, promising that the Wild Hunt would no longer ravage the villages of Duke Cassyon and Duke Tancred and offering many valuable gifts as reparations between our realms. From across the realm, word of Norscan activities on the norther coasts, growing influence of the vampire counts over the eastern reaches of the Empire, and sightings of foreign corsairs prowling the the northwestern oceans had arrived, calling for the King's attention. Though Orion's motivations were enigmatic, the Lionheart accepted this peace with the wood elves, reestablishing the tenuous relations between the two realms and hoping that the unknown threats of Athel Loren were truly the lesser evil.
The Liberation of Nordland
Turned away at Marienburg. The rising warlord of the Skaelings, Felman Ingersson, had reemerged from Norsca to invade further east along the coast of Nordland. Elector Count Theodoric had been defeated on the battlefield and all military resistance had retreated from the coast, leaving the towns occupied by the invader. The cunning northmen had even scaled the walls of Salzenmund and now their chieftains sent out their raiders from the behind the protection of its walls. While we warred with Orion and the wood elves, the Prophetess Eleonore hunted down the sources of evil corruption spreading from the northern coasts. Her hunt brought her and the Army of Gisoreux to the borders of ravaged Nordland, where she clashed with multiple Skaeling raiding camps. When word arrived to us of Nordland's fate, King Louen tasked the Army of Artois with reinforcing Lady Eleonore's efforts as quickly as possible. Duke Chilfroy and the Iron Lily crushed the meager guard left behind by the enemy at the docks of Dietershafen and freed the imperial peasants held there to be shipped north as slaves. They burned the longships they found there, and the docks themselves, to hinder further landings of the Norscans and then they proceeded inland to Salzenmund and invested the city. Within a few weeks, rams breached the gates and the Skaeling chieftains were strung up in the streets, undoubtedly to the cheers of their Nordlander captives.
Meanwhile, Felman Ingersson's fleet had returned to the Manaansport Sea, pillaging coastal villages before closing in on the defenses of Marienburg, where Duke Adalhard held command of the garrison with some additional conscripts from Lyonesse. Returning from Nordland, Duke Chilfroy was alerted by his outriders that he would arrive to find the the city besieged by the Skaeling warlord, and rushed to relieve the city. Together, the two Bretonnian lords defeated the besiegers and sent the raiders back to their ships, promising to return once again.
While King Louen marched the army of Couronne towards Montfort, Duke Cassyon moved from Quenelles to support the Royarch. Clearly hoping to confront his enemies piecemeal and take some form of vengeance on his erstwhile ally, Duke Bohemond attempted to engage the Army of Parravon on the road midway between Quenelles and Montfort, in the foothills of Massif Orcal. Outnumbered by the Army of Bastonne, Duke Cassyon chose to withdraw into the mountains, but the war council had considered this move on Bohemond's part and Cassyon had messengers ready to immediately send word to the Lionheart regarding the enemy's movements. The Army of Couronne swiftly changed course, crossing the Grismerie River at Etroitpont, and advancing on Bohemond's position. Instead of fleeing back to his fortress, the Duke of Bastonne boldly chose to make a stand on the slopes of Crone's Mountain and there we slew many of our brother knights before the duke sounded the retreat of his army. King Louen had engaged Duke Bohemond on the battlefield, two famous champions of the Bretonnian people locked in deadly combat, and Bohemond had been bested with wounds that would bring him close to death. Though it had come with a shameful cost in Bretonnian strength, some part of the experience had brought Bohemond to reason, and the Lionheart's demands were accepted without issue directly after. Bastonne and Montfort were subjugated beneath the King's authority and their dukes were stripped of many rights and privileges.
Soon after these events, Duke Adalhard fully pledged Lyonesse's warriors to the Lionheart's cause. Though he had publicly voiced support of the King after the defeat of the Red Duke, the duke of Lyonesse had only shown interest in defending the borders of his own duchy. Now the army of Lyonesse, as well as Duke Adalhard's other resources, would be at the King's command.
Orion's War
From my study of the histories, I know that the fey denizens of Athel Loren have typically been held in respect and their presence tolerated in the Lady's judgement. Unfortunately, there have also been many episodes where either the elves or our own people have crossed the waystone boundaries with malicious or misguided intent, bringing fearful violence between the two realms. The domains bordering the great forest - Parravon, Quenelles, and Carcassonne - had all suffered from unpredictable raiding and killing perpetrated by elusive inhuman riders. Seeking retribution, local nobles had organized expeditions into the forest or begun random clearings and burnings of the forest's edge. As the conflict escalated, the events had consumed the politics of the region, with even the Fay Enchantress frustrated in her attempts to reestablish the Lady's peace. The Enchantress's messengers spoke of the awakening of a powerful violent force among the elves, known as Orion, that desired war with all realms outside the forest. To appease the southern nobility and demand reparations from the lords of the forest, the Lionheart brought the Army of Couronne to Parravon in order to spearhead a punitive expedition of his own. Supported by the Army of Parravon and the magical talents of two renowned damsels of the Lady, we ventured into one of the few known routes that headed deeper into the forest. Lady Renee of Cereste, who had spent much of her life studying the forest and communing with its spirits, explained to me that the forest allows its inhabitants to keep their movements and assets easily hidden from invaders, but there were fortunately some sites of such intense power that they could not be totally concealed from those attuned to the winds of magic.
Known as Vaul's Anvil, we reached such a site after two weeks of slow progress through the dangerous terrain, and the elves were finally forced confront us. As I readied the men for battle, King Louen and his magical council sought to address Lord Daith, the ruler of Vaul's Anvil, but was arrogantly denied an audience. We attacked as soon as the King returned and the harrowing battle was a chaotic affair unlike any other I have witnessed. Though it often seemed as if we fought ghosts in the trees and many of our brave warriors would die from poisoned arrows before ever laying eyes on their foe, our valiant steeds charged through the malicious foliage, catching our swift enemy, and allowing us to bring sharpened steel to the elves. Combat raged above the canopy as well, where King Louen, astride his hippogryph, Beaquis, and the pegasi banners slew a great green dragon and many hawk-riding elven warriors. Through a clearing in the trees, I was able to spot and chase down Lord Daith and, with the Lady's Blessing, dealt him a mortal wound, and when I returned to the battle to fight alongside the Knights of the White Sea, I found the elves to be fleeing into the wider forest, abandoning Vaul's Anvil.
Though our supply lines into the forest were tenuous, we occupied the Anvil in the name of the Lady and began to plan our next moves. While victorious, our diminished strength would be unable to advance against the other elven strongholds, for we had as many dead or wounded as we had still fit for battle, but I agreed with the King that our foothold in the forest must not be given up. We soon realized we had underestimated Orion's strength, however, for within two weeks the elven lord was upon us in great strength. Duke Cassyon's warcamp was isolated in the forest as they organized the Anvil's reinforcement, and forced to retreat from their compromised position or be surrounded and lost. Duke Cassyon showed wisdom in this choice, for the annihilation of the Parravonese would have done little to impede Orion's advance and removed all hope of later support. Our position at the Anvil was assaulted immediately afterward, with Orion at the spearhead, and we were unable to hold together under the rain of arrows that covered their advancing spear formations. Our lines were spread thin as the knights attempted to come to grips with their foe and we soon collapsed into a full rout, our forces scattered into the dangerous wilds to fend for themselves. Gathering together what survivors I could, I fled Vaul's Anvil, through the maze of the Athel Loren's pathways, searching for the borders of Bretonnia. The wounds I suffered from elven blade and arrow left me on death's edge for almost a month, with fever overtaking me as I was tended by the Shallyans in Quenelles. The tattered remnants of the Army of Couronne regrouped there, and the King visited my bedside regularly with Lady Florence in order to plan for Orion's seemingly inevitable offensive into Bretonnia. A week after our defeat in the forest, an elven messenger arrived to invite King Louen to parley with Lord Orion. To our surprise, Lord Orion desired to end the conflict, promising that the Wild Hunt would no longer ravage the villages of Duke Cassyon and Duke Tancred and offering many valuable gifts as reparations between our realms. From across the realm, word of Norscan activities on the norther coasts, growing influence of the vampire counts over the eastern reaches of the Empire, and sightings of foreign corsairs prowling the the northwestern oceans had arrived, calling for the King's attention. Though Orion's motivations were enigmatic, the Lionheart accepted this peace with the wood elves, reestablishing the tenuous relations between the two realms and hoping that the unknown threats of Athel Loren were truly the lesser evil.
The Liberation of Nordland
Turned away at Marienburg. The rising warlord of the Skaelings, Felman Ingersson, had reemerged from Norsca to invade further east along the coast of Nordland. Elector Count Theodoric had been defeated on the battlefield and all military resistance had retreated from the coast, leaving the towns occupied by the invader. The cunning northmen had even scaled the walls of Salzenmund and now their chieftains sent out their raiders from the behind the protection of its walls. While we warred with Orion and the wood elves, the Prophetess Eleonore hunted down the sources of evil corruption spreading from the northern coasts. Her hunt brought her and the Army of Gisoreux to the borders of ravaged Nordland, where she clashed with multiple Skaeling raiding camps. When word arrived to us of Nordland's fate, King Louen tasked the Army of Artois with reinforcing Lady Eleonore's efforts as quickly as possible. Duke Chilfroy and the Iron Lily crushed the meager guard left behind by the enemy at the docks of Dietershafen and freed the imperial peasants held there to be shipped north as slaves. They burned the longships they found there, and the docks themselves, to hinder further landings of the Norscans and then they proceeded inland to Salzenmund and invested the city. Within a few weeks, rams breached the gates and the Skaeling chieftains were strung up in the streets, undoubtedly to the cheers of their Nordlander captives.
Meanwhile, Felman Ingersson's fleet had returned to the Manaansport Sea, pillaging coastal villages before closing in on the defenses of Marienburg, where Duke Adalhard held command of the garrison with some additional conscripts from Lyonesse. Returning from Nordland, Duke Chilfroy was alerted by his outriders that he would arrive to find the the city besieged by the Skaeling warlord, and rushed to relieve the city. Together, the two Bretonnian lords defeated the besiegers and sent the raiders back to their ships, promising to return once again.
The Army of Couronne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yellow Wardens, Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Gascard the Stern, Pierre of Aldoire
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers, Spears of the Wyrmwood
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows), Crasson's Sharp-Eyes
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Damsels of the Lady - Carpuchine of the Tower (Lore of Life)
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yeomen of the Grim Hills
Spearmen-at-Arms - Levy of Old Marbeaux (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Green Thumbs (pox arrows)
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Renee of Cereste (Lore of Life), Louane Beringer (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of Agilgar's Peak, Order of the Lady's Star
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Knights of Old Cuileux, Order of the Grey Lady, Band of the Grey Favour (errant), Martton's Orcslayers (errant), Bold Brotherhood (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
The Army of Bastonne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond the Beastslayer
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Rolousse, Knights of the Red Wyrm
The Army of Lyonesse
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Adalhard of Lyonesse
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Red Manes
Men-at-Arms - Wardens of the Straits (polearms)
Agents
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon, Jean-Clement the Saracen
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts)
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yellow Wardens, Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Gascard the Stern, Pierre of Aldoire
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers, Spears of the Wyrmwood
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows), Crasson's Sharp-Eyes
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Damsels of the Lady - Carpuchine of the Tower (Lore of Life)
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yeomen of the Grim Hills
Spearmen-at-Arms - Levy of Old Marbeaux (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Green Thumbs (pox arrows)
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Renee of Cereste (Lore of Life), Louane Beringer (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of Agilgar's Peak, Order of the Lady's Star
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Knights of Old Cuileux, Order of the Grey Lady, Band of the Grey Favour (errant), Martton's Orcslayers (errant), Bold Brotherhood (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
The Army of Bastonne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond the Beastslayer
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Rolousse, Knights of the Red Wyrm
The Army of Lyonesse
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Adalhard of Lyonesse
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Red Manes
Men-at-Arms - Wardens of the Straits (polearms)
Agents
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon, Jean-Clement the Saracen
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts)
chapter 4 - Defenders of Honour 95 - 107
Wrath's Landing
From the court of L'Anguille, my father sent word of imperial merchants seeking shelter from a massive elven fleet advancing towards the Bretonnian coast. A veteran captain had identified the fleet's insignia as one belonging to Har Ganeth (?), a distant city-state not loyal to the Phoenix King of Ulthuan and known for harboring a brutal slave trade. With their intentions unknown, Bretonnian scouts tracked the movement of these "dark" elves as they prowled along the coastlines, and reported to L'Anguille when they sighted the fleet landing rank upon rank of armored warriors a day's ride southwest of the castle town. As I commanded the castle's preparations for an attack, I was joined by Duke Adalhard who had mustered the noble knights of Lyonesse in preparation to join the King's war efforts. Much of L'Anguille's warriors were headed towards Nordland with the Army of Couronne to hunt down the roving Skaeling warbands, and even with the forces of Lyonesse to bolster what soldiery remained in L'Anguille, we did not have enough men to confront the invaders in the field. Instead we shepherded the peasants behind the town's walls while we observed their movements and planned the city's defense. Beyond the strange features of their bodily appearance, these elves showed nothing in common with the folk of the southern forests and showed know interest in dialogue. Any villages caught within their path were left bare of human life, with their inhabitants either missing without trace or left as tortured and mutilated corpses. We eventually learned that this warhost belonged to Bael'Sammon, a slaver lord known as the Hand of Wrath, a sacker of cities and ravager of the elven trade routes.
In response to this attack, King Louen abandoned his advance against the Skaeling warbands in order to bring the Army of Couronne to our relief. As the King attacked from Couronne, I marched with Duke Adalhard from L'Anguille to catch the slaver host on the roads between the two cities. Our knights, led by the sacred grail knights of the Order of the Laurel, crushed the enemy's bestial cavalry and slew their whip-driven monsters, while the King and the pegasus banners confronted the Hand of Wrath, who fought upon the back of an immense black dragon. The dragon fell before the Sword of Couronne and the elves fled before the Lady's righteous servants and we pursued them back to their ships, leaving their odious corpses to feed the wolves and birds. I was unsure of the Hand of Wrath's fate, but I was confident that the elves of Har Ganeth would not dare set foot in the Lady's realms again anytime soon.
The Norscan Expedition
The Skaeling menance continued to be a constant threat in the Manaansport and all along the northern coasts. At Gossel, an errant army from Bordeleaux under Duke Alberic's vassal, Lord Pierre, coordinated with Duke Chilfroy and the Army of Artois to rout another marauder warband united under the banner of a fearsome sorcerer. With Norscan warriors prowling the Sea of Claws and the Nordland coastline, King Louen hoped they may be unprepared for a Bretonnian offensive on their northern ports and shipyards. In penance for his role in the recent civil strife, Duke Bohemond accepted this treacherous task and left the comfort of Bastonne with his chosen warriors to bring the Lady's justice to the heathen lands of Norsca. His ships reached Pack Ice Bay, and the Army of Bastonne cut down the town's viperous inhabitants and burned its drydocks. Duke Bohemond wrote the King of this success but claimed that any further incursion into the hostile north would not be so easy. Reinforcements would be needed if the King wished to secure the coast and a permanent foothold would need to be established to support the armies. With a chance to enforce Bretonnian rule upon the Sea of Claws and its traditional raiding routes, the knights of the northern duchies set out to join Duke Bohemond and bring the war to the Norscan shores.
The Hochland Crusade
The demise of Vlad von Carstein seemingly allowed for the consolidation of the eastern vampire broods under yet another monster who had been waiting in the shadows. While Vlad had brought terror to Altdorf, the lands of Ostermark had slowly fallen to the corruption of another lord of the night. Now, mostly unchecked by the recovering forces of the Empire, Mannfred von Carstein had revealed his power and quickly subjugated many of the eastern provinces, creating a morbid shadow empire of his own where the living served as little more than cattle for their monstrous lieges. In the King's council, Prophetess Eleanore declared her intention to lead a Crusade against the vampires and King Louen gave his blessing to her cause. The nobility of Gisoreux would follow her on this holy task and Duke Cassyon publicly committed himself and those he led to her cause.
Given passage through Middenland by Elector Count Boris, the the crusade struck first in the Middle Mountains where the midnight aristocracy had encamped at Brass Keep. The keeps master was wholly unprepared for the Bretonnian assault, and the Lady Eleanore ordered the keep repaired after the assault to serve as her stronghold during the war. While Lady Eleanore waited in her mountain stronghold, allowing further reinforcements to arrive from home and conscripting the people of the local towns to serve in the peasant regiments, she sent eyes and ears along the provincial roads. Within a few weeks, the King was informed that the crusade was moving south. Lady Eleanore moved on to Hergig, purging the city of its corrupted inhabitants after assaulting its walls and opening its gates, and then crossed the Talabec River to invest Talabheim. As perparations were made to liberate Talabheim, Mannfred von Carstein made his move against the Bretonnians. On hilltop clearings among the dark forests outside of Talabheim, the knights and peasants of the crusade clashed with the fearless armies of the vampires. Atop their pegasus mounts, Lady Eleanore and Duke Cassyon fought side by side to bring down Lord Mannfred and his undead dragon, ensuring the Lady's righteous victory over the evil of the vampires.
Meanwhile, however, the ungrateful and ignorant commonfolk of the Middle Mountains had risen up against the small garrison left by Lady Eleanore at the Brass Keep. A Sigmarite priest who had run a resistance network throughout Hochland against the Sylvanians had driven the population to violence against their liberators. Sir Pierre the Troubadour was killed by the well-armed mob that followed the vile priest as he attempted to defend the keep and the rest of the garrison soon surrendered. In her noble wisdom, Lady Eleanore decided that the crusade would not turn back to seek vengeance on the men of Hochland and instead looked northeast, towards the greater evil.
From the court of L'Anguille, my father sent word of imperial merchants seeking shelter from a massive elven fleet advancing towards the Bretonnian coast. A veteran captain had identified the fleet's insignia as one belonging to Har Ganeth (?), a distant city-state not loyal to the Phoenix King of Ulthuan and known for harboring a brutal slave trade. With their intentions unknown, Bretonnian scouts tracked the movement of these "dark" elves as they prowled along the coastlines, and reported to L'Anguille when they sighted the fleet landing rank upon rank of armored warriors a day's ride southwest of the castle town. As I commanded the castle's preparations for an attack, I was joined by Duke Adalhard who had mustered the noble knights of Lyonesse in preparation to join the King's war efforts. Much of L'Anguille's warriors were headed towards Nordland with the Army of Couronne to hunt down the roving Skaeling warbands, and even with the forces of Lyonesse to bolster what soldiery remained in L'Anguille, we did not have enough men to confront the invaders in the field. Instead we shepherded the peasants behind the town's walls while we observed their movements and planned the city's defense. Beyond the strange features of their bodily appearance, these elves showed nothing in common with the folk of the southern forests and showed know interest in dialogue. Any villages caught within their path were left bare of human life, with their inhabitants either missing without trace or left as tortured and mutilated corpses. We eventually learned that this warhost belonged to Bael'Sammon, a slaver lord known as the Hand of Wrath, a sacker of cities and ravager of the elven trade routes.
In response to this attack, King Louen abandoned his advance against the Skaeling warbands in order to bring the Army of Couronne to our relief. As the King attacked from Couronne, I marched with Duke Adalhard from L'Anguille to catch the slaver host on the roads between the two cities. Our knights, led by the sacred grail knights of the Order of the Laurel, crushed the enemy's bestial cavalry and slew their whip-driven monsters, while the King and the pegasus banners confronted the Hand of Wrath, who fought upon the back of an immense black dragon. The dragon fell before the Sword of Couronne and the elves fled before the Lady's righteous servants and we pursued them back to their ships, leaving their odious corpses to feed the wolves and birds. I was unsure of the Hand of Wrath's fate, but I was confident that the elves of Har Ganeth would not dare set foot in the Lady's realms again anytime soon.
The Norscan Expedition
The Skaeling menance continued to be a constant threat in the Manaansport and all along the northern coasts. At Gossel, an errant army from Bordeleaux under Duke Alberic's vassal, Lord Pierre, coordinated with Duke Chilfroy and the Army of Artois to rout another marauder warband united under the banner of a fearsome sorcerer. With Norscan warriors prowling the Sea of Claws and the Nordland coastline, King Louen hoped they may be unprepared for a Bretonnian offensive on their northern ports and shipyards. In penance for his role in the recent civil strife, Duke Bohemond accepted this treacherous task and left the comfort of Bastonne with his chosen warriors to bring the Lady's justice to the heathen lands of Norsca. His ships reached Pack Ice Bay, and the Army of Bastonne cut down the town's viperous inhabitants and burned its drydocks. Duke Bohemond wrote the King of this success but claimed that any further incursion into the hostile north would not be so easy. Reinforcements would be needed if the King wished to secure the coast and a permanent foothold would need to be established to support the armies. With a chance to enforce Bretonnian rule upon the Sea of Claws and its traditional raiding routes, the knights of the northern duchies set out to join Duke Bohemond and bring the war to the Norscan shores.
The Hochland Crusade
The demise of Vlad von Carstein seemingly allowed for the consolidation of the eastern vampire broods under yet another monster who had been waiting in the shadows. While Vlad had brought terror to Altdorf, the lands of Ostermark had slowly fallen to the corruption of another lord of the night. Now, mostly unchecked by the recovering forces of the Empire, Mannfred von Carstein had revealed his power and quickly subjugated many of the eastern provinces, creating a morbid shadow empire of his own where the living served as little more than cattle for their monstrous lieges. In the King's council, Prophetess Eleanore declared her intention to lead a Crusade against the vampires and King Louen gave his blessing to her cause. The nobility of Gisoreux would follow her on this holy task and Duke Cassyon publicly committed himself and those he led to her cause.
Given passage through Middenland by Elector Count Boris, the the crusade struck first in the Middle Mountains where the midnight aristocracy had encamped at Brass Keep. The keeps master was wholly unprepared for the Bretonnian assault, and the Lady Eleanore ordered the keep repaired after the assault to serve as her stronghold during the war. While Lady Eleanore waited in her mountain stronghold, allowing further reinforcements to arrive from home and conscripting the people of the local towns to serve in the peasant regiments, she sent eyes and ears along the provincial roads. Within a few weeks, the King was informed that the crusade was moving south. Lady Eleanore moved on to Hergig, purging the city of its corrupted inhabitants after assaulting its walls and opening its gates, and then crossed the Talabec River to invest Talabheim. As perparations were made to liberate Talabheim, Mannfred von Carstein made his move against the Bretonnians. On hilltop clearings among the dark forests outside of Talabheim, the knights and peasants of the crusade clashed with the fearless armies of the vampires. Atop their pegasus mounts, Lady Eleanore and Duke Cassyon fought side by side to bring down Lord Mannfred and his undead dragon, ensuring the Lady's righteous victory over the evil of the vampires.
Meanwhile, however, the ungrateful and ignorant commonfolk of the Middle Mountains had risen up against the small garrison left by Lady Eleanore at the Brass Keep. A Sigmarite priest who had run a resistance network throughout Hochland against the Sylvanians had driven the population to violence against their liberators. Sir Pierre the Troubadour was killed by the well-armed mob that followed the vile priest as he attempted to defend the keep and the rest of the garrison soon surrendered. In her noble wisdom, Lady Eleanore decided that the crusade would not turn back to seek vengeance on the men of Hochland and instead looked northeast, towards the greater evil.
The Army of Couronne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens), Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Gascard the Stern, Pierre of Aldoire
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers, Spears of the Wyrmwood
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows), Crasson's Sharp-Eyes
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
Pesantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yeomen of the Grim Hills
Spearmen-at-Arms - Levy of Old Marbeaux (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Green Thumbs (pox arrows)
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of Agilgar's Peak, Order of the Lady's Star
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Knights of Old Cuileux, Order of the Grey Lady, Martton's Orcslayers (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Arman Valley (pox arrows)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
The Army of Bastonne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond the Beastslayer
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Winged Order of the Rose
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Rolousse, Knights of the Red Wyrm, Knights of the Black Wyrm, Band of the Sacred Vigil (questing), Dragon Claws (errant), Fellowship of the Turban (errant)
Peasantry
Men-at-Arms - King's Gate Shieldbearers (shields)
The Army of Lyonesse
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Adalhard of Lyonesse
Paladins - Hector of Stira
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of the Blue Isles
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Cornuaille, Knights of the Marshal, Knights of Redfort, Theralind's Champions (errant), Heirs of the Crimson Lion (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Foot Squires - Red Manes
Men-at-Arms - Wardens of the Straits (polearms)
Agents
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon, Jean-Clement the Saracen
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts), Carpuchine of the Tower (Lore of Life), Renee of Cereste (Lore of Life), Louane Beringer (Lore of Beasts)
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens), Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Gascard the Stern, Pierre of Aldoire
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers, Spears of the Wyrmwood
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows), Crasson's Sharp-Eyes
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
Pesantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yeomen of the Grim Hills
Spearmen-at-Arms - Levy of Old Marbeaux (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Green Thumbs (pox arrows)
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of Agilgar's Peak, Order of the Lady's Star
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Knights of Old Cuileux, Order of the Grey Lady, Martton's Orcslayers (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Arman Valley (pox arrows)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
The Army of Bastonne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond the Beastslayer
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Winged Order of the Rose
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Rolousse, Knights of the Red Wyrm, Knights of the Black Wyrm, Band of the Sacred Vigil (questing), Dragon Claws (errant), Fellowship of the Turban (errant)
Peasantry
Men-at-Arms - King's Gate Shieldbearers (shields)
The Army of Lyonesse
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Adalhard of Lyonesse
Paladins - Hector of Stira
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of the Blue Isles
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Cornuaille, Knights of the Marshal, Knights of Redfort, Theralind's Champions (errant), Heirs of the Crimson Lion (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Foot Squires - Red Manes
Men-at-Arms - Wardens of the Straits (polearms)
Agents
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon, Jean-Clement the Saracen
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts), Carpuchine of the Tower (Lore of Life), Renee of Cereste (Lore of Life), Louane Beringer (Lore of Beasts)
chapter 5 - The Errantry War
107-135
The Norscan Foothold
Amid the snow and rocks of the Norscan coast, Pack Ice Bay was a precarious exclave of Bretonnian authority surrounded by the hostile heathen tribes that roamed the Vanaheim Mountains. Very little of the bay's local population had proven receptive to rule by the Bretonnian lords and most of those that had not met the Army of Bastonne on the battlefield had fled into the wilderness after the army's victory. This had deprived Duke Bohemond and his lords of any useful laborers or food production, and reports from the Duke's expedition were uniformly bleak. The promise of new lands to claim from enemy hands might draw Bretonnia's most ambitious nobles and adventurers, but the entire region was sparsely inhabited, with huge tracts of mountain range between any major population centers, and contained very little arable land that would promise any profit from traditional Bretonnian crops. It was clear that any hopes of establishing a Bretonnian frontier in Norsca would require immense investment from the royal treasury to incentivize development.
The Lionheart decided to bring the Army of Couronne across the Sea of Claws to spearhead the next advance into Skaeling territory, and asked Duke Adalhard to take his army into the Sea of Chaos to probe for vulnerable ports along the western coasts. Harried by the Norscan fleets, the King's army was forced to put ashore many day's ride west of their target at Icedrake Fjord and slowly approach the harbor along the frigid coastal paths. On these paths we were met by an organized defense under Felman Ingersson. The Skaelings were defeated and we occupied the fjord, a primary launching point for Skaeling incursions against the coasts of Bretonnia and the Empire. We lost many warriors taking the fjord and harsh weather and endless skirmishing with the locals continued to diminish our numbers faster than our tenuous supply routes back to Bretonnia could reinforce us.
After two weeks at the Icedrake colony, situations were yet to improve. My scouting runs discovered that the Skaelings were gathering at the distant Doomkeep with the intent to descend on Icedrake Fjord and retake the coastline, and word from Duke Bohemond informed us that the local tribes surrounding Pack Ice Bay had organized under a lesser warlord and threatened to surround the colony. Duke Adalhard had successfully occupied the Troll Fjord, but reported that an overwhelming counter-attack appeared imminent. Simultaneously, word arrived from Lady Eleanore describing the need for support in the East for a push to liberate the people of Kislev from the grip of the vampire counts. After a lengthy debate with the war council, the Lionheart implored Duke Bohemond to preserve his warriors by withdrawing to Couronne, and advised Duke Adalhard to burn the holdings of the Troll Fjord and seek further targets left undefended by the Skaelings. For our part, the Army of Couronne would abandon the Icedrake colony to make for Kislev with all haste. By the King's royal decree, and in the Lady's name, a new Errantry War was declared to free the noble lands of Kislev from the clutches of the evil vampires and the vile servants of the Ruinous Powers. All knights of Bretonnia not held by their current sworn responsibilities were called to support the cause with all their strength, and full titles awaited all knights errant who proved their worth against the enemy.
The Kislev Crusade
Having heard of the city's liberation from sailors travelling the opposite direction, we arrived in Erengrad to the welcoming sight of the Lionheart's banners flying above the city's wall. In council with Lady Eleanore and Duke Cassyon, we learned that Mannfred von Carstein, returned to the world of the living once again, was marching north to retake Erengrad as we spoke. Together, the Army of Couronne and the Army of Gisoreux moved south to meet the enemy, crossing old imperial borders and finding the enemy vanguard outside the ruins of Castle von Rauken. Lady Eleanore had faced the von Carsteins' forces many times before and defeated Mannfred himself during the Hochland Crusade, but the vampire's power had only been held in check and he was now supported at Castle von Rauken by the master necromancer, Heinrich Kemmler, and his unholy horde of enthralled corpses. To halt the progress of this scourge, and once again send the midnight aristocracy back to their Sylvanian lairs, the Army of Couronne joined with the Prophetess's forces in the path of their northward advance and the King of Bretonnia met with self-proclaimed Lord of the Night sword to sword. Against Bretonnian steel and honor, the vampires and there servants failed to break the Bretonnian infantry lines and were crushed under the hoofs of our valiant counter charge.
Following their defeat at Castle von Rauken, the control of the vampire counts in Kislev was restricted to the main population centers, where they could cower behind well-built walls. Most of these fell quickly to short sieges and concentrated assaults by the armies of Gisoreux and Parravon, while the Army of Couronne invested the defenses of Praag until we had constructed the many towers needed by our Men-at-Arms to take its high walls and let the knights into the city. By the time the Lionheart's flag flew over Praag, the Bretonnian crusaders had liberated much of Kislev's northern oblast, from Volksgrad far in the East to the marches of Zoishenk along the Norscan borderlands. Unfortunately, the city of Kislev remained beyond our grasp and it is there that the vampire's consolidated their strength. It was said that the Queen of Kislev had been killed after the city had fallen, and most of the Kislevite nobility had been executed or had turned to join the vampire counts. To the King's disappointment, the council explained that there was little hope of any revival of the strong Kislevite nation of old.
Erengrad and the liberated lands of Kislev, despite a war-weary population that still hid the tenacious corruption of the vampires, held fair potential in farmland and cattle, and was of great strategic importance in controlling the Sea of Claws. Creating a myriad of new crusader states, King Louen extended the protection of the crown and the Bretonnian nobility over northern Kislev by bequeathing newly created titles to the land's income and production to the loyal and deserving. Just as in Bretonnia, these lords would be obligated to protect the peasants who toiled on the land and traded in the towns, and root out all presence of dark magic or the Ruinous Powers in the name of the Lady. It was hoped that the Kislevite states would once again prosper under Bretonnian rule, and the rebuilding of vital towns and market centers began immediately with the support of the royal treasury but, with enemies to the north and south, confidence in the King's campaign was fragile.
The Varg clans, the loathsome warriors of Norsca's eastern mountains, had formed an incomprehensible alliance with the undead and attacked the Army of Artois in the northern marches, near Zoishenk. The assault was defeated and King Louen brought the Army of Couronne north to assist Duke Chilfroy's advance on the occupied forts of the far north, built by the Kislevites to protect against the raids of the very Norscans who now sat among their ruined walls. Fort Ostosk fell to our knights first and then Fort Straghov, where King Louen smited Roffe the Sorcerer, a great jarl among the Varg. Around the same time, Duke Cassyon led the Army of Parravon to the Norscan coastline past the eastern borders of Kislev where they razed Baersonling's Camp, a traditional gathering point for Norscan excursions into the southern realms. With these defeats, Warlord Surtha Ek, strongest of the Varg, sent an emissary to offer terms of truce between our people. Though any peace with the heathen followers of the dark gods was as transitory as the moons, agreements were reached and fighting along the northern frontiers ceased for the time being. The Lionheart had been informed of a threat more dire to Bretonnia, and all mankind, lying even farther north than the realms of the Varg, and securing unhindered access though their corrupted and frigid land would ease the passage if his bold crusaders.
Return of the Beast
Only two years after the rampage Khazrak the One-Eye, the monstrous herds of the Drakwald had come together under a another whose name would terrorize the forest's remote villages. Srui Limb-Render, as he was known, pillaged Middenland's forest roads with impunity and the nobles of Marienburg and Gorssel petitioned the King's council to aid in securing the trade routes before the beasts made their way across Bretonnian borders. Engaged in Kislev at the time, King Louen and the Army of Couronne was in no position to heed this call, but fortunately other resources had recently become available to the royal throne.
The southern dukes of Carcassonne, Brionne, Aquitaine, and Bordeleaux, may have acknowledged the Lionheart's right to the Bretonnian crown, but had leveraged their loyalty in exchange for autonomy, choosing not to send their knights on the King's distant campaigns. Instead they had pursued competitive enterprises for their own enrichment, including continued conflict with the elves of Athel Loren, in an ill-advised alliance with the men of the Empire, and in defiance of the King's treaty. While the southern dukes had seen great success in war on the Estalian peninsula, they had recently suffered a series of great defeats at the hand of an elven army led by a fearsome and unstoppable treeman, and now this army had encircled Duke Theodoric within the walls of Brionne. Fortunately for the good Bretonnians of the southern realms, the Fay Enchantress offered to negotiate a favorable peace with the elves on their behalf if their lords would pledge their lands and warriors wholeheartedly to the Lionheart and his noble cause. Duke Huebald and Duke Theodoric assented quickly, and true to the Enchantress's word, both elves and treemen soon withdrew from Brionne and Carcassonne. Increasingly isolated, Aquitaine soon followed suite, and finally Bordeleaux as well. The dukes joined the King's Council, leaving the southern armies under the guidance of the Fay Enchantress, excepting Alberic of Bordeleaux who declared that he would personally lead his knights to war against the Norscans.
From the south, the Fay Enchantress moved to defend against the horde of Srui Limb-Render while one of her trusted proteges, Inez Babineaux, a well-known face at my father's court, assembled an army at L'Anguille to march from the west. While a great portion of L'Anguille's nobility marched under the king's banner with the Army of Couronne, my father ensured that the Lady Inez, and her brother, Sir Maxense, found every strong swordarm left at home. By the time the Army of Carcassonne and the Enchantress arrived at the borderlands past Marienburg, the Army of L'Anguille had already fought two bloody battles with the beastmen in order to turn them away from Gorssel. The garrison of Gorssel had rallied around a local prioress named Ada and had been vital in the defense of their town. Lady Ada and Inez joined with the forces of the Enchantress, and together these devout servants of the Lady caught and defeated the great beast horde and Srui Limb-Render was slain on the battlefield.
Taming the Fjords
Meanwhile, the royal council had approved further expeditions to recover the Norscan colonies. The Army of Lyonesse had defeated a Skaeling army along the western coasts and now held the Troll Fjord but was isolated and unable to press further without support though he described a weakened resistance among the Skaelings. Finding herself at the head of an army of zealous warriors, Ada the Prioress took ship from Gorssel and joined Duke Bohemond in the reconquest of Pack Ice Bay and Icedrake Fjord. Her army would then continue into the hostile inner valleys to meet the Army of Lyonesse at the battle of the Bjornling's Gathering where the Skaeling defenders were crushed and her devout followers established a chapel in gratitude for their victory, swearing to defend this northern-most outpost of the Lady's glory until the end of time.
The Army of Bordeleaux landed at the Longship Graveyard, occupying the town for Bretonnia and securing yet another important port along the Sea of Claws, and the Bretonnian colonies began to appear safe enough for enterprising nobles and adventurous merchants to take advantage of the kingdom's expanding reach. Though many already argued that the Vanaheim colonies and the Norscan Marches were an unprofitable expense for the kingdom, those who had lived along the northern coasts in constant fear of sails on the horizon could clearly see the benefits.
Into the Jaws of Oblivion
Though the Norscan barbarians had momentarily retreated deep into the mountains and the Sylvanian sempire appeared to be held in check by that of the Sigmarites, the Lionheart revealed to his war council that the Errantry War had a greater goal. To mixed reactions, the King declared that the knights of Bretonnia would be required to charge in the Chaos Wastes themselves in order to meet mankind's greatest threat. The King's most trusted sources had discovered the beginnings of a dark counter-crusade, made possible by a temporary alliance of the Ruinous Powers, and led by their greatest champions, both mortal and daemonic. In order to thwart a great invasion from the unified powers of the Wastes, the Lionheart insisted that he would lead a great force to the legendary site known as the Towers of Molghak, where the dark gods' champions were drawing together their hosts, and the lances of Bretonnia would strike them down in the Lady's light before the far-flung tribes of the Wastes could gather behind their insidious banners.
Inspired by the Lionheart's words, many lords clamoured to be placed in the King's vanguard, despite the horrors they would undoubtedly witness on such a quest. All could not go however, as the commonfolk could not be left defenseless. The Lionheart would lead the Army of Couronne, including many knights of L'Anguille and the honoured Order of the Laurel, and would also be accompanied by his old rival, Duke Bohemond the Beastslayer, with the brave warriors of Bastonne, and Duke Tancred would lead the erranty vanguard. To King Louen's displeasure, a large contingent of pilgrims had formed around a prophetess of the Lady, known as Helene the Good, to follow the crusade, but he did not demand their disbandment for what little good it might have done. I continued to serve with the Army of Couronne, and thanked the Lady that my quest had brought me to this most momentous of tasks.
Our route north took us past the ruins of the Bearsonling's Camp, deep into Varg territory, but the Varg clans chose not to oppose us. A land route to the Towers of Molghak could be found by circling the Sea of Chaos, but many weeks travel could be saved by sailing across the narrowest regions of the sea. Though the Sea of Chaos was riven with storms and home to murderous sea monsters, the land routes through the Wastes were known to be no less hazardous, and indeed we crossed the seas with few losses to the storms, but as soon as we began marching inland toward the Towers, madness and strange diseases began to spread among our soldiers. I blamed the madness when rumours spread through the camps that the King had been seen with the Green Knight, but we soon all saw for ourselves that the mystical warrior traveled alongside our leader on this great pilgrimage. A fifth of our numbers had perished from malady or marauder attacks before the Towers came into view on the horizon, but our arduous journey proved worthwhile, for the army of the dark gods awaited us just as the Lionheart had claimed.
The Great Enemy was well aware of our coming and was formed up for battle. Duke Tancred's knights met the enemy vanguard, led by the fabled champion, Sigvald the Magnificent. Our brave knights crashed though the barbarian infantry, but were shamefully outmatched by their own knights, clad in unholy armour stronger than anything from a Bretonnian forge and inhumanly strong. The King's field trebuchets and the enemy's sorcerous daemon-cannons rained carnage on the battlefield, but the daemon-fire was soon silenced by the Heralds of the Royarch as the Lionheart himself engaged Archaon the Everchosen and his bodyguard with the Order of the Laurel. As our vangaurd faltered, I led the Band of the Gilded Skull and the Blessed Exiles to bolster Duke Tancred's warriors and the fight against the knights of the dark gods was brutal and merciless. In the melee, I found Sigvald the Magnificent, who chose to fight on foot. With both of us wounded, I was fortunate to land a mortal blow upon the warlord before exhaustion brought me low.
The battlefield shifted as a band of dragon ogres joined the fray from the nearby mountains under a giant monster that could only have been Kholek Suneater, the immortal lord of the dragon ogres. The King and his noble hippogryph, Beaquis, met their terrible charge with as many knights as could be gathered to his banner, but the Everchosen's center still held strong. I led my forces to the flank of the enemy center, and saw the Green Knight in combat with the Everchosen. I pray the Lady will forgive my dishonour, but I did not hesitate to interfere with their dual and charged directly at the dark champion. I would never have the chance to speak with the warrior, but I am sure that the Green Knight saved my life more than once in the ensuing fight, which remains a blur in my memory. What is certain is that the Everchosen's foul blessings failed to protect him against our blades, and he fell on the field.
I was wounded beyond the ability to fight at this point, and simply watched as Helene's pilgrims threw themselves at bands of heavily armoured warriors led by a towering daemon with the head of a vulture. The pilgrims were individually no match for the chosen warriors of the daemon, but the prophetess unleashed the Lady's favour over her followers, and I would later hear stories of fanatics who manifested skin as strong as stone and whose wounds disappeared before their eyes. The enemy warriors were slowly dragged down by the horde to be bludgeoned to death in the dirt.
With the banishment of the great daemon the battle was won, but there was no celebration as we collected our dead and began the trek back to the sea. Our decimated armies returned to Kislev and all the survivors were changed forever. Many would disappear, descend into madness, or meet some other unjust fate, as a curse seemed to follow all those who had ventured into the Wastes, but the Lionheart's quest had been successful, and the disgraced champions of the Ruinous Powers were unable to gather their great army and invade the southern realms. For my part, I was happy to return to Couronne with the King for some time, continuing to serve in his court, but my own quest was not complete and I found myself unable to serve the King as he desired while bound to my questing vow. The Lionheart gave me leave to pursue the Lady's grace, and I returned to the road in search of the Grail.
Amid the snow and rocks of the Norscan coast, Pack Ice Bay was a precarious exclave of Bretonnian authority surrounded by the hostile heathen tribes that roamed the Vanaheim Mountains. Very little of the bay's local population had proven receptive to rule by the Bretonnian lords and most of those that had not met the Army of Bastonne on the battlefield had fled into the wilderness after the army's victory. This had deprived Duke Bohemond and his lords of any useful laborers or food production, and reports from the Duke's expedition were uniformly bleak. The promise of new lands to claim from enemy hands might draw Bretonnia's most ambitious nobles and adventurers, but the entire region was sparsely inhabited, with huge tracts of mountain range between any major population centers, and contained very little arable land that would promise any profit from traditional Bretonnian crops. It was clear that any hopes of establishing a Bretonnian frontier in Norsca would require immense investment from the royal treasury to incentivize development.
The Lionheart decided to bring the Army of Couronne across the Sea of Claws to spearhead the next advance into Skaeling territory, and asked Duke Adalhard to take his army into the Sea of Chaos to probe for vulnerable ports along the western coasts. Harried by the Norscan fleets, the King's army was forced to put ashore many day's ride west of their target at Icedrake Fjord and slowly approach the harbor along the frigid coastal paths. On these paths we were met by an organized defense under Felman Ingersson. The Skaelings were defeated and we occupied the fjord, a primary launching point for Skaeling incursions against the coasts of Bretonnia and the Empire. We lost many warriors taking the fjord and harsh weather and endless skirmishing with the locals continued to diminish our numbers faster than our tenuous supply routes back to Bretonnia could reinforce us.
After two weeks at the Icedrake colony, situations were yet to improve. My scouting runs discovered that the Skaelings were gathering at the distant Doomkeep with the intent to descend on Icedrake Fjord and retake the coastline, and word from Duke Bohemond informed us that the local tribes surrounding Pack Ice Bay had organized under a lesser warlord and threatened to surround the colony. Duke Adalhard had successfully occupied the Troll Fjord, but reported that an overwhelming counter-attack appeared imminent. Simultaneously, word arrived from Lady Eleanore describing the need for support in the East for a push to liberate the people of Kislev from the grip of the vampire counts. After a lengthy debate with the war council, the Lionheart implored Duke Bohemond to preserve his warriors by withdrawing to Couronne, and advised Duke Adalhard to burn the holdings of the Troll Fjord and seek further targets left undefended by the Skaelings. For our part, the Army of Couronne would abandon the Icedrake colony to make for Kislev with all haste. By the King's royal decree, and in the Lady's name, a new Errantry War was declared to free the noble lands of Kislev from the clutches of the evil vampires and the vile servants of the Ruinous Powers. All knights of Bretonnia not held by their current sworn responsibilities were called to support the cause with all their strength, and full titles awaited all knights errant who proved their worth against the enemy.
The Kislev Crusade
Having heard of the city's liberation from sailors travelling the opposite direction, we arrived in Erengrad to the welcoming sight of the Lionheart's banners flying above the city's wall. In council with Lady Eleanore and Duke Cassyon, we learned that Mannfred von Carstein, returned to the world of the living once again, was marching north to retake Erengrad as we spoke. Together, the Army of Couronne and the Army of Gisoreux moved south to meet the enemy, crossing old imperial borders and finding the enemy vanguard outside the ruins of Castle von Rauken. Lady Eleanore had faced the von Carsteins' forces many times before and defeated Mannfred himself during the Hochland Crusade, but the vampire's power had only been held in check and he was now supported at Castle von Rauken by the master necromancer, Heinrich Kemmler, and his unholy horde of enthralled corpses. To halt the progress of this scourge, and once again send the midnight aristocracy back to their Sylvanian lairs, the Army of Couronne joined with the Prophetess's forces in the path of their northward advance and the King of Bretonnia met with self-proclaimed Lord of the Night sword to sword. Against Bretonnian steel and honor, the vampires and there servants failed to break the Bretonnian infantry lines and were crushed under the hoofs of our valiant counter charge.
Following their defeat at Castle von Rauken, the control of the vampire counts in Kislev was restricted to the main population centers, where they could cower behind well-built walls. Most of these fell quickly to short sieges and concentrated assaults by the armies of Gisoreux and Parravon, while the Army of Couronne invested the defenses of Praag until we had constructed the many towers needed by our Men-at-Arms to take its high walls and let the knights into the city. By the time the Lionheart's flag flew over Praag, the Bretonnian crusaders had liberated much of Kislev's northern oblast, from Volksgrad far in the East to the marches of Zoishenk along the Norscan borderlands. Unfortunately, the city of Kislev remained beyond our grasp and it is there that the vampire's consolidated their strength. It was said that the Queen of Kislev had been killed after the city had fallen, and most of the Kislevite nobility had been executed or had turned to join the vampire counts. To the King's disappointment, the council explained that there was little hope of any revival of the strong Kislevite nation of old.
Erengrad and the liberated lands of Kislev, despite a war-weary population that still hid the tenacious corruption of the vampires, held fair potential in farmland and cattle, and was of great strategic importance in controlling the Sea of Claws. Creating a myriad of new crusader states, King Louen extended the protection of the crown and the Bretonnian nobility over northern Kislev by bequeathing newly created titles to the land's income and production to the loyal and deserving. Just as in Bretonnia, these lords would be obligated to protect the peasants who toiled on the land and traded in the towns, and root out all presence of dark magic or the Ruinous Powers in the name of the Lady. It was hoped that the Kislevite states would once again prosper under Bretonnian rule, and the rebuilding of vital towns and market centers began immediately with the support of the royal treasury but, with enemies to the north and south, confidence in the King's campaign was fragile.
The Varg clans, the loathsome warriors of Norsca's eastern mountains, had formed an incomprehensible alliance with the undead and attacked the Army of Artois in the northern marches, near Zoishenk. The assault was defeated and King Louen brought the Army of Couronne north to assist Duke Chilfroy's advance on the occupied forts of the far north, built by the Kislevites to protect against the raids of the very Norscans who now sat among their ruined walls. Fort Ostosk fell to our knights first and then Fort Straghov, where King Louen smited Roffe the Sorcerer, a great jarl among the Varg. Around the same time, Duke Cassyon led the Army of Parravon to the Norscan coastline past the eastern borders of Kislev where they razed Baersonling's Camp, a traditional gathering point for Norscan excursions into the southern realms. With these defeats, Warlord Surtha Ek, strongest of the Varg, sent an emissary to offer terms of truce between our people. Though any peace with the heathen followers of the dark gods was as transitory as the moons, agreements were reached and fighting along the northern frontiers ceased for the time being. The Lionheart had been informed of a threat more dire to Bretonnia, and all mankind, lying even farther north than the realms of the Varg, and securing unhindered access though their corrupted and frigid land would ease the passage if his bold crusaders.
Return of the Beast
Only two years after the rampage Khazrak the One-Eye, the monstrous herds of the Drakwald had come together under a another whose name would terrorize the forest's remote villages. Srui Limb-Render, as he was known, pillaged Middenland's forest roads with impunity and the nobles of Marienburg and Gorssel petitioned the King's council to aid in securing the trade routes before the beasts made their way across Bretonnian borders. Engaged in Kislev at the time, King Louen and the Army of Couronne was in no position to heed this call, but fortunately other resources had recently become available to the royal throne.
The southern dukes of Carcassonne, Brionne, Aquitaine, and Bordeleaux, may have acknowledged the Lionheart's right to the Bretonnian crown, but had leveraged their loyalty in exchange for autonomy, choosing not to send their knights on the King's distant campaigns. Instead they had pursued competitive enterprises for their own enrichment, including continued conflict with the elves of Athel Loren, in an ill-advised alliance with the men of the Empire, and in defiance of the King's treaty. While the southern dukes had seen great success in war on the Estalian peninsula, they had recently suffered a series of great defeats at the hand of an elven army led by a fearsome and unstoppable treeman, and now this army had encircled Duke Theodoric within the walls of Brionne. Fortunately for the good Bretonnians of the southern realms, the Fay Enchantress offered to negotiate a favorable peace with the elves on their behalf if their lords would pledge their lands and warriors wholeheartedly to the Lionheart and his noble cause. Duke Huebald and Duke Theodoric assented quickly, and true to the Enchantress's word, both elves and treemen soon withdrew from Brionne and Carcassonne. Increasingly isolated, Aquitaine soon followed suite, and finally Bordeleaux as well. The dukes joined the King's Council, leaving the southern armies under the guidance of the Fay Enchantress, excepting Alberic of Bordeleaux who declared that he would personally lead his knights to war against the Norscans.
From the south, the Fay Enchantress moved to defend against the horde of Srui Limb-Render while one of her trusted proteges, Inez Babineaux, a well-known face at my father's court, assembled an army at L'Anguille to march from the west. While a great portion of L'Anguille's nobility marched under the king's banner with the Army of Couronne, my father ensured that the Lady Inez, and her brother, Sir Maxense, found every strong swordarm left at home. By the time the Army of Carcassonne and the Enchantress arrived at the borderlands past Marienburg, the Army of L'Anguille had already fought two bloody battles with the beastmen in order to turn them away from Gorssel. The garrison of Gorssel had rallied around a local prioress named Ada and had been vital in the defense of their town. Lady Ada and Inez joined with the forces of the Enchantress, and together these devout servants of the Lady caught and defeated the great beast horde and Srui Limb-Render was slain on the battlefield.
Taming the Fjords
Meanwhile, the royal council had approved further expeditions to recover the Norscan colonies. The Army of Lyonesse had defeated a Skaeling army along the western coasts and now held the Troll Fjord but was isolated and unable to press further without support though he described a weakened resistance among the Skaelings. Finding herself at the head of an army of zealous warriors, Ada the Prioress took ship from Gorssel and joined Duke Bohemond in the reconquest of Pack Ice Bay and Icedrake Fjord. Her army would then continue into the hostile inner valleys to meet the Army of Lyonesse at the battle of the Bjornling's Gathering where the Skaeling defenders were crushed and her devout followers established a chapel in gratitude for their victory, swearing to defend this northern-most outpost of the Lady's glory until the end of time.
The Army of Bordeleaux landed at the Longship Graveyard, occupying the town for Bretonnia and securing yet another important port along the Sea of Claws, and the Bretonnian colonies began to appear safe enough for enterprising nobles and adventurous merchants to take advantage of the kingdom's expanding reach. Though many already argued that the Vanaheim colonies and the Norscan Marches were an unprofitable expense for the kingdom, those who had lived along the northern coasts in constant fear of sails on the horizon could clearly see the benefits.
Into the Jaws of Oblivion
Though the Norscan barbarians had momentarily retreated deep into the mountains and the Sylvanian sempire appeared to be held in check by that of the Sigmarites, the Lionheart revealed to his war council that the Errantry War had a greater goal. To mixed reactions, the King declared that the knights of Bretonnia would be required to charge in the Chaos Wastes themselves in order to meet mankind's greatest threat. The King's most trusted sources had discovered the beginnings of a dark counter-crusade, made possible by a temporary alliance of the Ruinous Powers, and led by their greatest champions, both mortal and daemonic. In order to thwart a great invasion from the unified powers of the Wastes, the Lionheart insisted that he would lead a great force to the legendary site known as the Towers of Molghak, where the dark gods' champions were drawing together their hosts, and the lances of Bretonnia would strike them down in the Lady's light before the far-flung tribes of the Wastes could gather behind their insidious banners.
Inspired by the Lionheart's words, many lords clamoured to be placed in the King's vanguard, despite the horrors they would undoubtedly witness on such a quest. All could not go however, as the commonfolk could not be left defenseless. The Lionheart would lead the Army of Couronne, including many knights of L'Anguille and the honoured Order of the Laurel, and would also be accompanied by his old rival, Duke Bohemond the Beastslayer, with the brave warriors of Bastonne, and Duke Tancred would lead the erranty vanguard. To King Louen's displeasure, a large contingent of pilgrims had formed around a prophetess of the Lady, known as Helene the Good, to follow the crusade, but he did not demand their disbandment for what little good it might have done. I continued to serve with the Army of Couronne, and thanked the Lady that my quest had brought me to this most momentous of tasks.
Our route north took us past the ruins of the Bearsonling's Camp, deep into Varg territory, but the Varg clans chose not to oppose us. A land route to the Towers of Molghak could be found by circling the Sea of Chaos, but many weeks travel could be saved by sailing across the narrowest regions of the sea. Though the Sea of Chaos was riven with storms and home to murderous sea monsters, the land routes through the Wastes were known to be no less hazardous, and indeed we crossed the seas with few losses to the storms, but as soon as we began marching inland toward the Towers, madness and strange diseases began to spread among our soldiers. I blamed the madness when rumours spread through the camps that the King had been seen with the Green Knight, but we soon all saw for ourselves that the mystical warrior traveled alongside our leader on this great pilgrimage. A fifth of our numbers had perished from malady or marauder attacks before the Towers came into view on the horizon, but our arduous journey proved worthwhile, for the army of the dark gods awaited us just as the Lionheart had claimed.
The Great Enemy was well aware of our coming and was formed up for battle. Duke Tancred's knights met the enemy vanguard, led by the fabled champion, Sigvald the Magnificent. Our brave knights crashed though the barbarian infantry, but were shamefully outmatched by their own knights, clad in unholy armour stronger than anything from a Bretonnian forge and inhumanly strong. The King's field trebuchets and the enemy's sorcerous daemon-cannons rained carnage on the battlefield, but the daemon-fire was soon silenced by the Heralds of the Royarch as the Lionheart himself engaged Archaon the Everchosen and his bodyguard with the Order of the Laurel. As our vangaurd faltered, I led the Band of the Gilded Skull and the Blessed Exiles to bolster Duke Tancred's warriors and the fight against the knights of the dark gods was brutal and merciless. In the melee, I found Sigvald the Magnificent, who chose to fight on foot. With both of us wounded, I was fortunate to land a mortal blow upon the warlord before exhaustion brought me low.
The battlefield shifted as a band of dragon ogres joined the fray from the nearby mountains under a giant monster that could only have been Kholek Suneater, the immortal lord of the dragon ogres. The King and his noble hippogryph, Beaquis, met their terrible charge with as many knights as could be gathered to his banner, but the Everchosen's center still held strong. I led my forces to the flank of the enemy center, and saw the Green Knight in combat with the Everchosen. I pray the Lady will forgive my dishonour, but I did not hesitate to interfere with their dual and charged directly at the dark champion. I would never have the chance to speak with the warrior, but I am sure that the Green Knight saved my life more than once in the ensuing fight, which remains a blur in my memory. What is certain is that the Everchosen's foul blessings failed to protect him against our blades, and he fell on the field.
I was wounded beyond the ability to fight at this point, and simply watched as Helene's pilgrims threw themselves at bands of heavily armoured warriors led by a towering daemon with the head of a vulture. The pilgrims were individually no match for the chosen warriors of the daemon, but the prophetess unleashed the Lady's favour over her followers, and I would later hear stories of fanatics who manifested skin as strong as stone and whose wounds disappeared before their eyes. The enemy warriors were slowly dragged down by the horde to be bludgeoned to death in the dirt.
With the banishment of the great daemon the battle was won, but there was no celebration as we collected our dead and began the trek back to the sea. Our decimated armies returned to Kislev and all the survivors were changed forever. Many would disappear, descend into madness, or meet some other unjust fate, as a curse seemed to follow all those who had ventured into the Wastes, but the Lionheart's quest had been successful, and the disgraced champions of the Ruinous Powers were unable to gather their great army and invade the southern realms. For my part, I was happy to return to Couronne with the King for some time, continuing to serve in his court, but my own quest was not complete and I found myself unable to serve the King as he desired while bound to my questing vow. The Lionheart gave me leave to pursue the Lady's grace, and I returned to the road in search of the Grail.
The Army of Couronne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens), Renee of Cereste (Lore of Life)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Damsels of the Lady - Louane Beringer (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows), Crasson's Sharp-Eyes
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yeomen of the Grim Hills, Ice Tooth Rangers
Spearmen-at-Arms - Levy of Old Marbeaux (shields), Iron Oarsmen (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Green Thumbs (pox arrows), Bows of Newharbour
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Paladin - Gascard the Stern
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of Agilgar's Peak, Order of the Lady's Star
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Knights of Old Cuileux, Order of the Grey Lady, Martton's Orcslayers (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
The Army of Bastonne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond the Beastslayer
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Carpuchine of the Tower (Lore of Life)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Winged Order of the Rose
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Rolousse, Knights of the Red Wyrm, Knights of the Black Wyrm, Blessed Exiles (questing), Fellowship of Glory (questing), Dragon Claws (errant), Fellowship of the Turban (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Slayer's Hounds
Men-at-Arms - King's Gate Shieldbearers (shields), Levy of Poitre (shields), Levy of Ertran's Motte (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Merrsif Keep (fire arrows), Bows of Arman Valley (pox arrows)
Battle Pilgrims - Huebald's Unworthy
The Army of Lyonesse
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Adalhard of Lyonesse
Noblity
Pegasus Knights - Knights of the Blue Isles
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Cornuaille, Knights of the Marshal, Heirs of the Crimson Lion (errant)
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Red Manes
Men-at-Arms - Wardens of the Straits (polearms)
The Army of Carcassonne
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - The Fay Enchantress (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Theugard the Ox
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - White Order (grail guardians)
Peasantry
Peasant Bowmen - Narbonne's Archers
Battle Pilgrims - Blessed Brotherhood
The Army of L'Anguille
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Inez Babineaux (Lore of Beasts)
Damsels of the Lady - Meline the Fortunate (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Grasgar, Theralind's Champions (errant), Fearless Brotherhood (errant)
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Babineaux Gendarmes
Men-at-Arms - Levy of Gertomme, Levy of Bertold's Abbey
Peasant Bowmen - Band of the Pink Cap, Pheasant Feathers
Field Trebuchets - Watchmen of Hatton Hill
The Army of Bordeleaux
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Alberic de Bordeleaux
Paladins - Thibaut of Cornett
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Trident, Knights of Pitroi, Servants of Virtue (errant)
Peasantry
Peasant Bowmen - Dun Hunters, Levy of Oyster Bay, Sal's Pigeon Pluckers
Field Trebuchets - Lascon's Vengeance
The Army of the Vanaheim Marches
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Ada the Prioress (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Hector of Stira
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Redfort, Chartan's Vagabonds (questing), Raven Helms (errant), Band of the Giant's Head (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Lacroix's Scouts (bows)
Foot Squires - Lay Brothers of Fremont
Spearmen-at-Arms - Spears of Casson Motte (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Crew of Sunken Shelly, Jacq's Troll Featherers
Battle Pilgrims - Shavepates of Mersille (Reliquae of Sir Bors), Bearers of the Prophecy
The Army of Estalia
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond of Toronne
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the West Reach
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Aerie Shrine Guardians
Agents
Paladins - Jean-Clement the Saracen, Pierre of Aldoire, Cedric Culder, Maxense Babineaux
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts), Ada the Scholar (Lore of Life)
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Louen Leoncoeur
Paladins - Keu the Fox of Arzon
Damsels of the Lady - Florence of the Fire (Lore of Heavens), Renee of Cereste (Lore of Life)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Heralds of the Royarch
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Laurel (grail knights), Lion's Lances, Knights of the March, Knights of the White Sea, Band of the Gilded Skull (questing), Blades of Honour (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Cleon's Huntsmen (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Garo's Boars (shields) , Levy of Tretwall (shields), Levy of Crab Coast (shields), Levy of the Verdant Keep (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Sarone's Bowmen, Bows of the Wolf's Tail
Field Trebuchets - Three Sisters, Nasmeur's Guardians
The Army of Gisoreux
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Eleonore the Iron Lily (Lore of Life)
Damsels of the Lady - Louane Beringer (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Order of the Red Ribbon
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Desfleuve, Knights of Uexin, Young Stags (errant), Banner of the Burned Gor (errant), Knights of the Torch (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Sons of Arden (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Defenders of the Gap (shields), Levy of Harran (polearms)
Spearmen-at-Arms - Sable Ship Marchers
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Wren Marsh (fire arrows), Vareux's Ruffians (fire arrows), Crasson's Sharp-Eyes
Battle Pilgrims - Band of Sir Hugh's Finger (Reliquae of Sir Hugh)
The Army of Artois
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Chilfroy the Dour
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Tusk, Knights of Larret, Boar's Blades (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Yeomen of the Grim Hills, Ice Tooth Rangers
Spearmen-at-Arms - Levy of Old Marbeaux (shields), Iron Oarsmen (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Green Thumbs (pox arrows), Bows of Newharbour
The Army of Parravon
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Cassyon the Young
Paladin - Gascard the Stern
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Knights of Agilgar's Peak, Order of the Lady's Star
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the Vale, Order of the Henge, Knights of Old Cuileux, Order of the Grey Lady, Martton's Orcslayers (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - High Watch (bows)
Men-at-Arms - Gold Wing Wardens (polearms), Black Wing Wardens (polearms), Levy of Bartrois (polearms)
Field Trebuchets - Hammers of Sanglac
The Army of Bastonne
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond the Beastslayer
Paladins - Lorenzo the Victor
Damsels of the Lady - Carpuchine of the Tower (Lore of Life)
Nobility
Pegasus Knights - Winged Order of the Rose
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Rolousse, Knights of the Red Wyrm, Knights of the Black Wyrm, Blessed Exiles (questing), Fellowship of Glory (questing), Dragon Claws (errant), Fellowship of the Turban (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Slayer's Hounds
Men-at-Arms - King's Gate Shieldbearers (shields), Levy of Poitre (shields), Levy of Ertran's Motte (polearms)
Peasant Bowmen - Bows of Merrsif Keep (fire arrows), Bows of Arman Valley (pox arrows)
Battle Pilgrims - Huebald's Unworthy
The Army of Lyonesse
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Adalhard of Lyonesse
Noblity
Pegasus Knights - Knights of the Blue Isles
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Cornuaille, Knights of the Marshal, Heirs of the Crimson Lion (errant)
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Red Manes
Men-at-Arms - Wardens of the Straits (polearms)
The Army of Carcassonne
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - The Fay Enchantress (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Theugard the Ox
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - White Order (grail guardians)
Peasantry
Peasant Bowmen - Narbonne's Archers
Battle Pilgrims - Blessed Brotherhood
The Army of L'Anguille
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Inez Babineaux (Lore of Beasts)
Damsels of the Lady - Meline the Fortunate (Lore of Beasts)
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Grasgar, Theralind's Champions (errant), Fearless Brotherhood (errant)
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Babineaux Gendarmes
Men-at-Arms - Levy of Gertomme, Levy of Bertold's Abbey
Peasant Bowmen - Band of the Pink Cap, Pheasant Feathers
Field Trebuchets - Watchmen of Hatton Hill
The Army of Bordeleaux
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Alberic de Bordeleaux
Paladins - Thibaut of Cornett
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Order of the Trident, Knights of Pitroi, Servants of Virtue (errant)
Peasantry
Peasant Bowmen - Dun Hunters, Levy of Oyster Bay, Sal's Pigeon Pluckers
Field Trebuchets - Lascon's Vengeance
The Army of the Vanaheim Marches
Command
Prophetess of the Lady - Ada the Prioress (Lore of Life)
Paladins - Hector of Stira
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of Redfort, Chartan's Vagabonds (questing), Raven Helms (errant), Band of the Giant's Head (errant)
Peasantry
Mounted Yeomen - Lacroix's Scouts (bows)
Foot Squires - Lay Brothers of Fremont
Spearmen-at-Arms - Spears of Casson Motte (shields)
Peasant Bowmen - Crew of Sunken Shelly, Jacq's Troll Featherers
Battle Pilgrims - Shavepates of Mersille (Reliquae of Sir Bors), Bearers of the Prophecy
The Army of Estalia
Command
Bretonnian Lord - Bohemond of Toronne
Nobility
Knights of the Realm - Knights of the West Reach
Peasantry
Foot Squires - Aerie Shrine Guardians
Agents
Paladins - Jean-Clement the Saracen, Pierre of Aldoire, Cedric Culder, Maxense Babineaux
Damsels of the Lady - Margaux the Sage (Lore of Beasts), Ada the Scholar (Lore of Life)
