The Reformed Nauzica Brigade

[mmat 7461]

Tʜᴇ Nᴀᴜᴢɪᴄᴀ Bʀɪɢᴀᴅᴇ

The Honourable Nauzica Brigade, his Imperial Majesty’s personal shield

 

 

The Nauzican Brigade is an elite sect of the Imperial Legion. It is composed of the most experienced, veteran and skilled warriors in the empire who are charged with the duty of standing as His Imperial Majesty’s personal bodyguard detail and escort. Having throughout history shifted in prominence, the Nauzica was disbanded and eventually merged into the Deathshead Brigade, until its eventual resurrection at the behest of Philip I Frederick. This historic regiment, ripe with decrepit culture that now stands as a separate entity to re-emerge as the jewel of the legions, shall stand at the side of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and ensure he receives the utmost protection. The Nauzica are the sword and shield of the Emperor, his personal weapon.

 

 

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ENLISTMENT

To be selected by the existing commander of the Nauzica is the only path one might take into the Emperor’s guard. Inductees are chosen from the best the Empire has to offer in both weapon skill, discipline and marshall experience.

 

Upon being deemed worthy of full membership into the brigade, an oath must be sworn.

 

Quote

 

“I swear to be true to our Lord, our Imperial Liege, and His realm, to not be silent in the face of true evil that conspires against our homeland. I swear to raise my blade against any foe, righteous or wrong, against our Lord and our Imperial Liege, to not stand idle in the face of danger.

   

I swear to cast off any traitor be it friend or foe in honour of our Lord and our Imperial Liege. I swear this before God and men. I bid farewell to my former life and grace my newest with my shield and blade; stalwart and ever vigilant for our Imperial Liege.

   

On this, I kiss the cross.”

 

 

PETER SIGISMUND

IMPERATOR OF THE BRIGADE

 

DRAKEN LANCEFELD

COMMANDER OF THE BRIGADE

 

 

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RANKS

 

Imperator

The sacrosanct position within the brigade reserved solely to the reigning sovereign to whom all in the ranks owe allegiance. His orders are placed above all others and the duty of protecting him is the task of the brigade as a whole.

 

Commander

The Commander of the Nauzica is the acting authority within the brigade and leads it in action, deferring to his liege when ordered. When on duty no singular authority may deter the Captain of the Nauzica, nor His brigade from ensuring their task of safekeeping the Imperial Family aside from the imperator himself.

 

Captain

The Captain of the Nauzica acts as the right hand of the commander and contains the authority to induct other individuals into the brigade with the commander’s approval. Any individual drafted into the Nauzica at the behest of an Officer is henceforth charged with the responsibility of both training the Inductees and ensuring they are befitting the responsibility accompanying the participation of the Nauzica.

 

Nauzican Elite

The Elites are the best that the imperial bodyguard has to offer. Typically, they are tasked with the personal protection of the Emperor at court and otherwise, protecting him at home, as well as escorting him across the Empire and abroad. They are the veterans of the brigade and often help teach the newcomers. Rather than acting like a common soldier, these paragons are expected to maintain the most gentlemanly and courtly conduct throughout their affairs.

 

Nauzican Recruit

The newly drafted members of the brigade. They have not yet taken the oath necessary for full membership and must prove themselves worthy of the task. Nevertheless, they are still chosen from the best and most loyal men humanity has to offer.

 

 

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NAUZICAN JURISDICTION

 

Authority over Peasantry, Guardsmen, and Nobility in the Palace:

• Nauzican authority extends over the reach of peasantry and guardsmen alike- regardless of their rank.    

• Nauzican authority extends over the reach of nobility albeit it is confined to arrests until His Imperial Majesty decrees otherwise- action may only be enforced upon a noble with cause for concern- suspicion of treason.    

   

Authority over Peasantry, Guardsmen, and Nobility outside of the Palace:   

• Nauzican authority extends over the reach of peasantry and guardsmen alike- at the behest of His Imperial Majesty, the former without.    

• Nauzican authority extends over the reach of Nobility should they be suspected of treason- arrest is the maximum capability of a Nauzican, and can only be achieved at the behest of His Imperial Majesty.    

 

ARCHIVE

 

Spoiler

 

 

BATTLES

 

1487 — The Sack of Caer Mant

The inaugural major battle of the Nauzica Brigade, the Sack of Caer Mant was where the Hexer School of the Griffin’s uprising was quelled on behalf of Governor Benda Chivay. The stronghold of Caer Mant was devastated through siegeworks, with the Nauzican Brigade assuming the vanguard and thrashing the host of seditious Marked Men in bloody assault. The legendary duel between Prince Charles and Hexer Hieronymous of Lex is recorded in the song The Half-Hand Hexer, recounting Charles’ feat in maiming the Hexer against considerable odds.

   

1492 — The Battle of the Westgate

The most famous of the original Nauzica Brigade’s exploits, where under the joint command of Charles Henry and ver de Linde the detachment successfully held off the vastly numerically superior army of Marcus Antipatros (Coincidentally the paternal uncle of Charles’ future wife, Clara de Sola) in a narrow pass in Exeter known as the Westgate, thereby preventing the rebels against Emperor Audemar’s rule of the Province of Exeter from advancing to the region’s capital, Vesetta, and winning the revolt for the Horosids.

   

1498 — The Battle of Ronda

At the hamlet of Ronda, the Nauzican Brigade suffered an emasculating defeat at the hands of Emperor Audemar. Commanded by ver de Linde, the Brigade attempted to ford the Rond river at the stroke of dusk in an attempt of ambushing Audemar’s own camp and capturing the Aeldinic emperor.  Their feint was uncovered by forward sentries, who promptly stirred the armies from their slumber and apprehended the Nauzican skirmishers in pitched conflict. The battle ended in gristly defeat as an entire contingent of the brigade were massacred.

   

1536 — The Battle of White Mountain

The last battle in which the Nauzica Brigade were commanded by Ser Vulpes Roke, the Nauzica Brigade served with distinction in safeguarding the Emperor’s life. They managed to preserve perfect order throughout the onslaught, not losing a single soldier to the dwarven legions.

   

1558 — The Battle of Dogger Bay

Led by the Nauzican youth Michael Sunfield, the Nauzica Brigade prevailed over Rurikid rebels and Dreadlanders. They commanded from the rear before charging into battle to mop up the retreating enemy forces.

   

1559 — The Sack of Seahelm

The Nauzica Brigade played an instrumental role in the swift victory at Seahelm. Captain Drevin de Sarkozy was charged with leading the imperial vanguard into the city. Nauzicans served with distinction as they decimated the enemy force in a fierce blitz, leaving only stragglers in their wake.

   

1561 — The First Battle of Baranya

In the Baranya Valley, the combined Nauzica Brigade and levy of the Duke of Carnatia suffered a loss at the hands of Krajian dissenters. Coming on request for the Duke of Carnatia’s efforts in repelling the incursion, the newly christened Ser Michael Hightower led the cavalry in joint with Ser Thomas Ashes, only to be repelled back by the light mounted skirmishers of the Hetman Sveneld, and forced to retreat south.

   

1562 — The Second Battle of Baranya

In the spring of 1562, the Krajian insurgents attempted another raid upon the County of Kvasz, in order to replenish their food supplies after the winter and to prepare for a full assault south. Ser Michael Hightower commanded the Nauzican cavalry along with Prince Henry Joseph, flanking

   

1563 — The Battle of 'aelaa Alththuluj

Led into battle by Ser Michael Hightower who since the Sack of Seahelm had taken over as commander of the Nauzica. With the empire stretched to the limit Ser Hightower orchestrated a brilliant defense in the field which bought the Empire much needed time to regroup in the lull after the battle was considered a draw. Lacking the drive it held before the battle the Southern Axis crumbled and the Empire was no longer under threat. Although not considered a victory in terms of battle Ser Hightower took charge of the situation and avoided what could’ve been a disastrous blow for the empire.

   

1565 — The Battle of Krajia

Upon the news of Nauzican Bradshaw’s, commonly known as Zaza, capture, the Nauzica Brigade led by Ser Michael Hightower marches north in attempted rescue. Later joined by the Carmatian headed by Ser Rickard Barrow, the swelling force successfully breaches and pillages the fortified rebel stronghold of Krajia.

   

1567 — The Standoff upon the Eroch River

After hearing of John Owyn, Prince of Alstion’s capture during the Watchman’s Riot of 1567, the joint forces of Lothar, Archduke of Lorraine and Ser Rickard Barrow, who commanded the Carnatian and Erochlander levy, marched south from Metterden in order to intercept the dreadlander party. Ser Michael Hightower joins the armed group with a contingent of Nauzicans, where the Imperial forces crush the rebel band and successfully rescue the Prince of Alstion.

   

   

   

 

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    “True gold does not fear the test of fires.”

— Tom Wettlock upon his mount to the Nauzican John Montney, before the great flames of Seahelm

   

The time of the establishment of the Nauzica Brigade can be attributed to the onset of the Hexer Uprisings in the Aeldinic province of Agathor. There, in 1487, the exiled prince Charles Henry of the House of Horen found himself charged by his host the governor Benda Chivay to quell an arcane insurrection in the prefecture of Nauzica. The governor invested the young pretender a body of two-hundred archers, one-hundred men-at-arms, and two dozen demi lancers to serve as his personal escort. Along with this host, Charles was granted command over the Bullion Band, a landsknecht-mercenary company led by the infamous cavalier and minstrel Frederick ver de Linde. The Prince of Alstion and ver de Linde soon grew to be close companions in their travels hunting down seditious practitioners of maleficium. Their exploits on the field of battle earned them immense renown; it was not long until the Audemar, Emperor of Aeldin, son of Horos the Usurper, caught wind of their feats. In an uncommonly merciful ploy to secure the Horen claimant's allegiance and neutralize him as a threat, Audemar had the pair and their armies return to Nova Horos, the seat of the Horosid usurpers, to serve the empire as a vanguard.

   

This new and sumptuous company of soldiers was christened the Nauzica Brigade, a regiment and company in service to the Empire of Aeldin. Charles Henry had no intent of betraying his new liege; already used as a pawn prior in countless Aeldinic civil wars, he contented himself with this pardon and bore no indignities over his birthright. Yet the ambition of Frederick ver de Linde knew few bounds. Sowing the seeds of dissent, he inflicted the young prince the notion that he could challenge the might of Aeldin and reclaim his father’s rightful position.

   

Their rebellion in the early winter months of 1498 collapsed within a year’s time. The expected de Sola detachments needed so desperately for the Horen claimant to prevail had arrived after the Battle of Ronda, where Emperor Audemar decisively prevailed over Frederick’s armies through the tactical brilliance of a double envelopment. The skulls of the avaricious Lieutenant ver de Linde’s along with thirteen of his senior officers were sent to the Horen prince’s camp; forced into exile in face of this staggering defeat, Charles fled to the continent of Athera in hopes of gathering fresh hosts to press his claim once more, leaving his wife and infant son at Governor Benda’s palace. Yet he would arrive in King Andrew’s court to only be forced to the cloisters, the paranoid sovereign wary of the prince’s intentions. Henceforth, the might of the Nauzican Brigade had dwindled; once a standing army, it now consisted of ill-more than a minor retinue in service of The Old Pretender Polycarp, Prince Charles’ new moniker as a friar of faith They took a new sigil thereafter, fourteen skulls on a black field in honor of those defiled at the Battle of Ronda.

   

Yet in 1526 with the ascent of Polycarp’s son, John Frederick, to the title of Holy Orenian Emperor, the Nauzican Brigade was once again granted imperial authority. At his coronation, the whole corps was on duty at the Cathedral of Saint Lucien, being formed into two guard companies in homage to the brigade’s roots. Under the helm of the veteran knight Vulpes Roke, ardent Horen loyalist, the Brigade once-more attained a level of distinction they had lost in exile. It was remarked that the band of soldiery lingered to the Emperor as wraiths, their presence never unnoticed by the courtiers of Praha Palace.

   

When Vulpes had expired of natural causes, the emperor’s baseborn son, John of Peremont presided over the palace guard. His ineptitudes, missteps, and greed had caused a decline in the corps’ ability; choosing to restyle the force as the Impera Brigade to appease Vailor natives, he lost the support of many veterans of the band who cherished their Aeldinic heritage and replaced them with the unsavoury sons of Felsen’s political elite in turn for bribes. John Jrent was exiled and the Nauzicans disbanded in 1546, after the imperial bastard and the corps were found embezzling city funds.

   

For ten years, the security of the imperial line and the palace of Ancelcourt was left to watchmen and conscripted courtiers of the palace. This martial atrophy was not noticed until the reign of John II, where incessant dreadlander raids managed to threaten the governance of the state. In an effort to restore order in court and defend the imperial household, he proclaimed the Nauzican Brigade to be reinstated once more, and charged Ser Drevin de Sarkozy as its Captain. Composed of of noble cadets, various members of the gentry, and a smattering of lowborns, the Nauzican Brigade now serves with utmost distinction and discipline as stalwart honorguard and task force of the Emperor.

   

The fledgling brigade took great prominence during the Rurikid Uprising of 1557, performing skillful flanking and maneuverability against the enemy during the infamous Battle of Dogger Bay, where the young Michael Sunfield, later to be the 5th Captain of the Brigade, led a devastating front against the Dreadlander encamped line. Later in the war, the Brigade took leading role in the capture of Seahelm in 1559, overwhelming the city’s defenses and butchering the Rurikid levy in mass massacre.

   

For the remainder of John II’s reign, the Nauzicans remained as palace guards; with the Emperor’s unwillingness to enter vassal conflict or even external conflict, the Brigade saw little action. The Krajian Revolt of 1560 led to Nauzica’s reentrance into the battlefield once more, however the battles were mere skirmishes in comparison, and majority of the fighting would be had by the Emperor’s loyal northern vassals. The Brigade soon dwindled in size from its compared bolstered ranks of years’ past.

   

With John II’s abdication in 1567 and his son, John III, taking the throne in his wake, the Brigade command was granted to his brother, the Prince Alexander Sigismund, in replacement for the stepping-down of Ser Michael the Aengul. With time comes change of course throughout the next 15 years many reforms would be made to the Nauzica including its brief inclusion in the order of Alstion then in 1579 it was integrated into the Imperial Legion.

   

After the passing of John III, assassinated by what is presumed to be a descendent of the High Elven purists, and then John IV via the unorthodox northerners who took offence to the Imperial Liege - the official declaration of our previous Liege’s funeral’s set upon: 1585; 13th of Deep Cold. -  The Nauzica was to be re-founded at the behest of Philip I with his uncle, Prince Philip Louis, to take the reigns of the Nauzica Brigade and bring it back to its righteous glory and stand stalwart against anyone individual aspiring to harm the imperial family

 

 

[Mj. 697]

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