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The First Hochmeister [Historical Character - Aegis]


Ibn Khaldun
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Mountain Village

 

𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

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"The man he was to become came into existence by sheer determination. The land of Men during his youth seemed like a man racked with illness, its separate parts rebelling and causing an ache that throbbed through the lands and threw men and women into disorder. Gaius came of age in a domain paralyzed, the crown of the realm - Al'Khazaar - had little communication between the various towns and fortresses spread out across Oren."

- Archmage Cataris, of the Ascended.

 

The land of Men, named Oren, existed as a relatively decentralized realm during Gaius Marius' upbringing. A monarchy ruled in Oren, but their authority withered especially with the introduction of the Undead scourge in the era of Aegis. The subterfuge of the Undead, coupled with attacks by necromancers and their thralls, caused a degeneration of the power of the monarchy and resulted in the rise of various warbands and political entities that sought to protect themselves in the localities they emerged in. Gaius Marius was born to a small family in a line of lumberers whose men also served as military levies & petty retainers in the northern hinterlands of the land of Man. Marius grew up in the wooded mountains that stood tall over Al-Khazaar to the south and flanked the Undead scourge to the east.

 

These hinterlands proved tough terrain for both the armies of Al-Khazaar and for the Undead necromancers and lent itself well to a motley of warbands and hedge knights who sought to protect their home and to thwart off raids from people of the lowlands. Marius, in his young adult life, enlisted with a group of hedge knights who named themselves Knights of the Flame. The Knights of the Flame, with their leader Rytto, built their bastion in the eastern part of the hinterlands near where the Undead established their foothold. This group of hedge knights that Marius originally fought for engaged in raids against Undead holdings or employed themselves in the defense of various villages within reach of the Undead.

 

The hinterlands, though rugged, had an untouched beauty about them. Rivers and streams carved entire valleys between the separate mountain peaks, water poured into waterfalls over varied elevation and welled up into pools in parts of the hinterlands to freeze over for much of the year. Pines, firs, and hemlocks covered many of the knobs, hills, & mountains of the northern hinterlands. The tree line in many cases looked like entire phalanxes, lending this region a certain sense of foreboding and reflected well in the culture and faith of the inhabitants found therein.

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We were essentially the rabble, though Rytto would make us believe we served a more instrumental purpose, and rabble only cut down what they threw themselves against or were themselves cut down. These raids and skirmishes merely served to fill charnel pits for the necromancers. When we lived, we lived as peons and peasants; when we rose again after death, we lived on as churls and thralls. The men of the hinterlands before the Teutonic Order lived a desperate and depressed life between the hard labor of the mountains and the fighting against an unending foe.

- Grosstrebber Tesawa, of the Teutonic Order, one of the first members under Marius.

 

Years of despondent skirmishing between the men of the Orenian hinterlands in the north and the Undead caused petty states to rise and hold their own against both the unnatural scourge that was the Undead and a Kingdom of Oren that sought to reconcile its north back under its political authority. At the young age of 16, Marius joined the Knights of the Flame and met the future core of his Sariants of the Teutonic Order. Rytto, a young and ambitious man himself, led this group of hedge knights throughout the hinterlands either employing themselves in the defense of the lands of Man against the Undead or heading off forays by Orenian troops into the north. These hedge knights would fight in pitched battles, losing the men in combat only to see them pitched against them in future engagements.

 

Marius and his circle of confidants and comrades grew disillusioned with the leadership of Rytto. They became bolder in speaking out against the group's strategy when it came to defending towns and combatting the Undead. Marius quickly became the face of the dissenting group within the Knights of the Flame, preferring ambushes and other irregular military tactics over pitched battles of shield-walls and line formations. The hedge knights quickly dissolved, with a faction of soldiers leaving with Gaius Marius and inhabiting the elevated vale of Nurem. Some notable names of the earliest Sariants or 'soldiers' in the Marian language included Mirtok deNurem, Alizyn, Viadar, Tesawa, & Glylith.

 

Early formation of the Teutonic Order centered around the construction of a fortress on one of the peaks along the Vale of Nurem named Nuremburg. The Vale of Nurem was situated near the center of the hinterlands with a series of towns and bulwarks serving as a buffer between the early Teutonic Order and the Undead. Marius, who opposed Rytto during his time with the Knights of the Flame, would be nominated as the leader of the early Teutonic Order and served as Hochmeister or 'High Master' in the Marian language. He would initially nominate Alizyn as Ordenmarshall or 'Marshal of the Order' to serve as a commander of the military and administrator domestically. Alizyn would soon be replaced by Mirtok deNurem as Ordenmarshall. Various other ranks included Grosstrappier or 'Quartermaster' & Grosstrebbler or 'Treasurer' with Tesawa & Viadar serving these respective roles.

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"I must confess admiration for his cunning. That he managed to catch us unawares and submit us without a fight is unlike anything I have seen. If there is any man whose strategem is worth studying, it would be Marius'.

- Samuel Bealcrest, the chieftain of Sargoth who would later become Ordenmarschall and eventually the 2nd Hochmeister.

 

Sargoth, a town due west of Nuremburg, would become the first town incorporated into the Teutonic Order. Gaius Marius and his earliest Sariants took to submitting towns on their periphery to consolidate power, enlist more men, and build a cache of resources to further empower this new military order. The Teutonic Order engaged in guerrilla warfare, relying on both ambushes and night assaults, to capture towns. Marius made it a policy to grant employment in his ranks to men of military age, incorporating much of the population that he waged war against.

 

The town of Sargoth produced one of the most legendary figures in the history of the Teutonic Order: Samuel Bealcrest. Gaius Marius captured Sargoth in a night raid, arresting and slewing men in their beds and in their dens, until he reached the chieftain's home. Marius would serve an ultimatum to Bealcrest, urging him to surrender in peace in return for a position as Ordenmarschall. Bealcrest agreed to the terms and he and his remaining population would abandon Sargoth and move to Nuremburg. The labor from this mass migration helped expand Nuremburg and construct a number of necessary businesses and improvements.

 

With more and more towns being assaulted and incorporated, Marius used this disorder to rouse a number of hedge knight groups into his territory as they sought to try and respond in the defense of certain towns. Marius won a number of military engagements in the Snowy Fields region and reciprocated by besieging and razing a number of bulwarks. Marius began to employ tactics which could be interpreted as psychological warfare: burning black crosses on the soil of razed towns and forts and instituting a series of chants to be recited in unison in a dirge-like fashion.

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"By the time we arrived at Snowy Fields, we traded over a dozen of stories; all of them grim and full of premonitions. Were it not for the cold, our officers would have mocked us for quivering in our mail and called us craven. Although our chainmail did little to protect us from the cold, the fear of who we faced did demoralize us. The disfigured men who had fallen into their traps, dug out of frozen soil and shrouded in snow-covered fir needles, reassured us we had good reason for concern."

- Torrhen Elendil, from his diary as a footman of the Orenian army.

 

As the Teutonic Order grew in number and in influence in the northern Hinterlands, the Kingdom of Oren became more concerned with a consolidating entity that could rival its authority. King Edmund Perea would send troops to scout and learn more about the activity in the North. Marius, with the council of his Ordenmarschalls, would set out expeditions to set traps and study the movements of Orenian forces. He understood that his position could become precarious depending on the choices of the Kingdom of Oren and the Undead. The Kingdom of Oren also understood the complications caused by both the Teutonic Order and the Undead; they had been dealing with the covert manipulation of the necromancers that caused political embarrassments to them and their relations with the neighboring Kingdom of Urguan and the Rexdom.

 

Ordenmarschall Mirtok deNurem & Samuel Bealcrest advocated for an increased attention to diplomacy to deter the Kingdom of Oren from trying to engage in more military action. Marius took with him a party of Sariants to the deserts of the Orcs. In a humorous and merrily remembered diplomatic mission, the Teutonic Order would disrobe most of their heavy armor due to the desert climes and appear before the Rex Mogroka'Gorkil at Krugmar in a "half-naked" fashion. Marius would challenge one of the high-ranking Krughai, Ned-Lud'Gorkil, to a klomp or personal combat to earn the respect of the Orcs and receive an alliance from the Orcs. This diplomatic mission also resulted in the initiation of two of the most famous fighters of the Teutonic Order: Maur'Azog & Erik'Azog.

 

This diplomatic mission inaugurated the Teutonic Order into world politics. At the time of the alliance, the Rexdom waged war against the dwarven Kingdom of Urguan. The Teutonic Order would also learn about the Kingdom of Malinor with its host of wood, dark, & high elves. The Teutonic Order began to enlist other races in higher numbers, bringing in Elves and Goblins who proved good skirmishers and inclined to the kind of irregular warfare that the Teutonic Order engaged in often. The Gorkil clan of Orcs would make regular visits to Nuremburg, including historical characters such as Urara'Gorkil & Rex Mogroka'Gorkil.

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"Latz man culd klomp. Latz man wuz recklezz. Latz man made da bigbozz very imprezzed."

- Krughai 'Big Boss' Ned'Lud Gorkil after the first assault on Al'Khazaar

 

Al'Khazaar, the capital of the Land of Man, laid at the edge of the northern hinterlands where snow became rain & fallow land turned to arable soil. King Edmund Perea committed multiple expeditions, led by his Seneschal, into the north to survey the movement and progress of the Teutonic Order. As his military contingents returned, many times with wounded & dead soldiers, Edmund authorized the mobilization of a larger force to try to meet the Teutonic Order in pitched battle. This mobilization became apparent as border towns between Al'Khazaar & the northern hinterlands sought assistance from Marius, fearing their towns would be sacked by the Orenian army on the march.

 

Marius and his Ordenmarschalls saw an opportunity to deliver a significant blow to the Kingdom of Oren. They sent word to the Rexdom and requested some of their troops at Nuremburg. The plan would be to set out skirmishing parties to preoccupy the force marching north, while the bulk of the Teutonic Order would maneuver around and march on Al'Khazaar. The Sariants who made up the force marching on Al'Khazaar disguised themselves in cloaks and makeshift cassocks & surplices with the symbols of St. Daniel embroidered on them. The disguised monks of Saint Daniel earned the jubilation of the townfolk coming in and out of Al'Khazaar and joined the procession approaching the gates of Al'Khazaar. Marius disputed with the guards at the gate that they came to Al'Khazaar to bless the city and perform their religious rites and the Teutonic Order riled up the crowd to plea their case before the guards.

 

The gates of Al'Khazaar eventually opened to the Sariants in disguise and the procession continued. Marius' oratory skills won over the guards and persuaded the people to unknowingly usher in their enemy. The Sariants threw off their cloaks and cassocks and turned against citizen and guard. The Teutonic Order clashed with the city's militia and overwhelmed the defenses in their surprise assault. Though they did not have enough soldiers to reasonably hold the city; they took to pillaging the palace and ransacking merchant stalls & stockpiles. They constructed a large wooden cross and burned it upon the main plaza of the capital before departing. Marius left correspondence in the palace, addressed to King Edmund Perea, that warned him of worse to come if he decided to continue hostilities with the Teutonic Order.

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𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

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"I remember observing our cemetery at Nuremburg with a number of my men. All those attending intended to pay their respects to their fallen peers, except me. All I could imagine, with a dull ache of forlorn, is that these men might have their slumber interrupted one day. That my fellow man might wake, unaware and unwilling, to serve a cruel shepherd of cadavers- such an image does haunt me to no end."

- Hochmeister Gaius Marius

 

Al'Khazaar laid ransacked and bare behind Marius and his contingent of Sariants. The Teutonic Order received word of the defeat of the Seneschal's forces and made their way back north. As the soldiers marched the long road that split northward from Galahar, the Sariants called Marius to the front of their columns. The army halted before a lone figure, dressed in entrancing and wizardly robes that seemed to flow from head to toe. The figure, a gaunt man hidden underneath the robes, urged Marius to join him for a brief parley. Marius found himself face to face with the fabled Wandering Wizard.

 

The Wandering Wizard introduced himself as Availer and complimented Marius for his military achievements in a jovial tone. Though Availer brought himself to sound pleasant, the concern in his eyes cut through Marius and seemed to signal disappointment in his war in the Land of Man. Availer continued his panegyrics for a few more moments and stretched out an open hand to Marius. Confused, Marius grasped the hand firmly and felt his mind's eye flying high above the Teutonic Order's contingent. He could hear Availer's voice in his mind as he felt his mind's eye flickering through scenes of increasing horror and calamity while Availer warned Marius of what wicked potential could transpire if the Undead were left unchecked.

 

Availer unclutched Marius' hand and withdrew so he could collect himself. Marius turned around and found his men merrily amusing themselves as if only a minute had passed. Marius turned back to Availer and asked him what he sought from the Teutonic Order. The two of them agreed to an armistice between the Kingdom of Oren & the Teutonic Order and the Teutonic Order's military support against the Undead. The soldiers, along with their Hochmeister, returned to Nuremburg and received envoys from a newly formed group of mages known as the Ascended.

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He held in his hand lightning made solid. His jaw hung from one mandible, dancing up and down when he spoke and producing a cacophony most unearthly. He would always march with a dozen thralls, teetering on the balls of their feet as if prone to charge at a moment's notice. Brevias is the one name we knew him by; a necromancer of Iblees and profane enemy of all the living.

- Ordenmarschall Mirtok deNurem, remarking about a famed necromancer of the Undead

 

Necromancy, a magical art that offended the dignity of the dead and the sentiments of the living, came to the fore of the public imagination with the rise of the Undead. The Undead, a general term used to refer to worshippers of the Daemon Iblees, became an increasing issue for the races scattered across Aegis. Marius & the Teutonic Order encountered the Undead a few times already with stray necromancers terrorizing towns in the northern hinterlands. One such necromancer, Brevias, seemed to be enjoined with the task of harassing the Lands of Man. The Undead also formed a contingent of cultists known as the Black Hand to engage in subterfuge and sabotage.

 

The Teutonic Order, with its newfound mission given by the Wandering Wizard, began to deploy against the Undead in larger numbers. Marius sent his own covert agents to try and gather more detail on the Undead and their machinations. The Ascended mages, such as Shoi, also provided relevant knowledge on both the capacity of the necromancers and ways to combat them. The Teutonic Order developed projectile machines, such as onagers & ballistas, to help them engage the Undead at longer distances.

 

One of the most famous battles between the Teutonic Order & the Undead took place outside of Kramaroe. Marius recently learned that the Black Hand had a base of operations out of the tavern at Kramaroe. Marius divided his Sariants into battalions and sent them to occupy various buildings scattered across the town while he moved into the tavern. There, he came face to face with Brevias, and his motley band of Black Hand cultists. Marius and Brevias exchanged words, growing louder in argumentation and alerting the nearby Sariants who sprung into action. The Sariants took their shortswords and bucklers and moved from building to building to avoid the lightning that Brevias called down from the skies. The soldiers engaged both corpse and cultist in close combat as Brevias and Marius dueled with sword and magic.

 

Marius tore off what armor he could and threw them towards Brevias, hoping the metal would deviate the course of the necromancer's lightning. He brought his zweihander close to his chest and threw himself against Brevias, tackling him and pinning him against the bar. He brought the blade against Brevias' neck and ran it saw-like against his throat. As the necromancer's head came loose from his shoulders, the thralls outside curled in on themselves and became motionless. The Sariants routed the remaining cultists and watched with intrigue as more and more of the thralls collapsed into a mess of deformed flesh and brittle bones.

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The arms of our trebuchets that swung and threw their armaments looked like the great oaken arms of ents. The sling pouches whipped and cracked like lightning and made the fiery sight before us all the more captivating. The walls bowed before us, the parapets came off like the cap of a doddering servant who bent too low before his master.

- Sariant Titania, describing the siege of Nical.

 

No name struck a nerve so severe with Marius than the name Nical. The Teutonic Order, in attending to the Undead threat, left a faction untouched within the northern hinterlands. The Nicali enjoyed the protection conferred by the Order in the region and began to insist on an independence that the Order did not take seriously while engaging the Undead. The Nicali eventually assumed the title of empire and earned the err of Marius and his Ordenmarschalls. Several diplomatic impasses resulted between the Teutonic Order and the self-titled Nical Empire as the Teutonic Order instructed the Nicali to strike their banners and desist from proclaiming independence in the North.

 

Marius and his generals began to recall soldiers from the lands to their east and returned to Nuremburg. They held a great assembly with soldiers and their families to decide their next decisions. In this assembly, disagreements emerged on whether to further pursue war with the Undead or to turn to statecraft and military actions to further consolidate the North. Both sides lobbied with Marius and made their cases; the party arguing for consolidation won their day in the assembly. The Teutonic Order initiated a series of infrastructure improvements connecting Nuremburg with towns who would concede power to the Order. Marius and his Grosstrebbler Viadar began the construction of Konigsburg; the famed capital of what would eventually become the Kingdom of Hanseti in Aegis.

 

Ordenmarschall Mirtok deNurem became the leading general in confronting the Nical Empire. He assembled a host of Sariants and moved to a wooded area outside the city of Nical. Mirtok made encampments within the woods and instructed the soldiers to fell sufficient timber to construct a whole assembly of onagers and trebuchets. The Teutonic Order besieged Nical and through bombardment and outflanking sallying forces over the next few weeks; the city fell and Mirtok ordered the city razed with the customary crosses burned on the crumbled walls. Mirtok's actions alarmed the Kingdom of Oren who had clandestinely invested resources in the founding of Nical.

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I guess repetition has forced me to read this. Just wow, this feels like a REAL historical book. I will make sure to follow this thread.

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𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

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We watched as an Orc, barrel-chested and cumbersome, threw his hands in the air in spirited protest. An elf, lithe and jittery, watched the Orc with an overwhelmed look on his face. The Hochmeister gripped his hands, seething with anger as the Sariants from Galahar recounted their experience. We knew that the die were cast the moment our brethren were accosted outside of Throdo Therving's tavern.

- Grossmissor Jorgen Reimer, recalling the meeting between Hochmeister Marius, Warlord Mogroka'Gorkil, & Warden Quazar at Nuremburg

 

Konigsberg, the capital of the Teutonic Order and great bastion of the North, grew into a bustling city within five years. The city, considered a jewel of Old Marian architecture, drew merchants and migrants who sought a cosmopolitan existence with the security bequeathed by a successful and storied military. Marius, with his Grosstrebler Viadar & Grossmissor (or Grand Judge) Jorgen Reimer, would issue more and more land in the north to loyal subjects and grant them the title of Landmeister or Master of the Land. Estates and villas began to dot the hinterlands as a political state emerged.

 

Meanwhile, in the world of Aegis, a new nation emerged positioned between the Lands of Man and the Lands of Dwed. The Kingdom of Alras, with High King Syrio Forel as their first leader, entered the world stages and caused other leaders to reconsider their attitudes towards what they felt were upstart kingdoms. The Kingdom of Oren began to entreat with Marius and the Teutonic Order with newfound scrutiny. Diplomatic impasses resulted in tension between Oren and Konigsberg, leaving Marius agitated and seeking arbitration both with the Wandering Wizard and the Ascended in Haven. Any attempts in reconciliation ended abruptly when Sariants, including Kai Achard, Ventraux, & Calanon Megildur, were assaulted in the Orenian town of Galahar.

 

When news of this assault reached Marius at Konigsberg, he ordered his Ordenmarschalls to move the majority of the Teutonic Order's military forces to Nuremburg which positioned them closer to their border with Oren. He sent emissaries to both Krugmar & Malinor and requested them to meet at Nuremburg to discuss responses to the incident at Galahar. Warlord Mogroka'Gorkil advocated for war, concerned that the Land of Man in disorder might provide the Undead with more thralls and that the disorder may affect fortunes for the other races. The Highborn Quazar, though reluctant to involve himself in war, conceded that Elvenkind needed to participate with trust that their partners would again reciprocate and help against the Undead. The three polities began to prepare for war and sent scouting parties to inspect the border between the northern hinterlands and Oren proper.

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As we marched through the sewer, a few of the Sariants winced with disgust as they accidentally stepped into feces buried in a stagnant pond of water. One of them chuckled, which soon grew into a bellowing roar of laughter that the Hochmeister soon quieted with an upraised fist and a stern look. The Sariant who started the laughter remarked: "I'd get sh*t on my boot if it meant making my way back to sack Al'Khazaar again." I saw the Hochmeister crack a smile in the reeking sewage chamber filled with his mirthful soldiers.

- Sariant Icarus, recounting the second siege of Al'Khazaar

 

Marius and his allies wanted their first salvo in the war to have a demoralizing impact. The Teutonic Order deployed Sariants to scout the defenses of Al'Khazaar and capture anyone in the employ of the capital's maintenance. Through the intelligence that they gathered, Marius learned more about the city's waterworks that tapped artesian wells, had a connecting series of cesspools and sewage lines, and had entrances accessible from outside the capital along a series of rivers and streams running through the capital. The bulk of the forces in Nuremburg armed themselves for the city assault and set out at dusk alongside Orkish raiders and Elfish spearmen.

 

The army thinned its ranks and split off into battalions, assigned to specific entrances into Al'Khazaar's waterworks, and remained in hiding until scouts sent by the Ordenmarschalls instructed them to enter in the dead of night. Marius, zweihander in hand, took one battalion and sloshed through stagnant water and putrid debris navigating the sewers. Soldiers either found their exits unlocked, allowing for a stealthy entrance into the city; while others had to use makeshift hand-rams to batter down locked doors and gates. The growing racket drew curious glances from residents, but they only found soldiers on the streets working furtively to torch homes and buildings.

 

Al'Khazaar soon glowed like the light of the rising sun; erupting in flames and tension. The local guards, trying to make sense of the confusion, walked into urban ambushes and ushered frightened residents through the city. People began to flee from Al'Khazaar, raising alarm and harkening for soldiers residing outside the walls to enter upon ruin and disarray. Sariants, Orcs, & Elves worked in unison to both cut down soldiers and wrest control of the city's gates. Knights out of Galahar and neighboring towns found themselves soon locked out in darkness save for the light seen over the walls from burning rooftops.

 

The portcullis closing off the main road into Al'Khazaar began to open like the jaws of a dragon; the fire taking hold inside the capital casted its light over the pavement. The Teutonic Order began to march forth, their dreadful hymns drowned out by burning wood and the agony of conflict in the city streets. Sariants combatted the reinforcements outside Al'Khazaar and routed them at dawn. Marius, Warlord Mogroka'Gorkil, and Warden Quazar returned to Nuremburg with a successful start to their war and prisoners and booty in tow. This first engagement left the Kingdom of Oren crippled and many in Al'Khazaar confessing a loss in confidence in King Edmund Perea and his monarchy. Over the next few days, pamphlets of propaganda and pleas began to circulate through the Lands of Man urging people to consider joining the Teutonic Order and to pledge themselves to the a different kind of ruler.

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I remember Gaius facing me and away from the procession, matching my rolled eyes. He shared in my exasperation I felt about how the Ascended cloaked themselves in righteousness, but hardly did their effect in the grand scheme of things actually impress that sort of righteousness. That they asked us to fight harder, while they did not pick up much of the weight, always grated against my conscience. I suppose such a feeling would be improper at a funeral for one of their own who seemed to have been fighting against the very Undead they kept harrying us to fight more.

- Sariant Kai Achard, recounting the funeral for Sage Arcadius

 

The crown and authority of the Kingdom of Oren passed from King Edmund Peria to King Enor Sheffield after the second sack of Al'Khazaar. War between the Kingdom of Oren and the Teutonic Order consisted of a series of pitched battles typically fought around the town of Galahar. Most of these battles resulted with the rout of Orenian peasants, knights, and mercenaries. Marius sought to sway Galahar and other border towns to switch their allegiances and often refused to sack these towns in hopes of earning more and more of the trust of the people caught between the conflict between Al'Khazaar & Konigsberg. The Teutonic Order's guerrilla tactics became more refined through this period and caused embarrassment for Oren which resulted in a loss in confidence in the new Sheffield dynasty by other kingdoms including the Dwed. This loss of face would soon result in the sedition of the House of Tarus, based in Galahar, from the Kingdom of Oren.

 

Outside San'Jezal, one of the most memorable battles occurred between the Kingdom of Oren (joined by Dwed allies of Urguan) and the Teutonic Order (joined by Orcish allies of Krugmar). The battle exemplified Orcish martial skill and the drill discipline of the Sariants as both proved stalwart in this pitched battle that occurred in the deserts outside the Krughai fortress of San'Jezal. The Orcs & Sariants routed the Dwed and the Orenian forces, capturing a number of prisoners and waging a series of small battles as retribution in the mountains of the Dwed. This battle resulted in peace being arbitrated between the Teutonic Order and the Land of the Dwed and the conscription of a number of famous Dwarves into the Teutonic Order including Dain Farhammer and brothers Aandie & Arbrek Starbreaker.

 

During this period, the Ascended identified a necropolis belonging to the Undead. Ascended mages including Shoi & Aliciana sent word to the various polities in Aegis, including the Teutonic Order, announcing this discovery. They also found the defiled body of their most important sages, Arcadius, on the outskirts of this necropolis. Many of the leaders of the land, including Marius, came together to mourn the fall of Arcadius and revived discussions on organizing campaigns against the Undead. Hochmeister Gaius Marius & his Sariant Kai Achard committed to more attention to the Undead once they resolved the debacle in the Land of Man.

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𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅗𝅥𝅘𝅥𝅯𝅘𝅥𝅮

 

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I saw it in his eyes - that derision that comes with constantly struggling. He looked like he neared the very precipice that I fell from, after having taken the wrong path towards utterly destroying my sense of self-confidence struggling to inflict defeat. I could tell Marius saw that precipice and knew the toll that this war had taken on his psyche, on his soul.

- Enor Sheffield, recalling the meeting with Hochmeister Gaius Marius.

 

Enor Sheffield, with the widowed Lady Dawn Perea, implored Marius to meet them for diplomacy. The three of them would meet in the following week in the Kingdom of Alras, which maintained neutrality in the current conflict, and found themselves together after the marriage of High King Syrio Forel & Shoi of the Ascended. Enor Sheffield capitulated his crown to Hochmeister Gaius Marius, crowning him King of Oren, and ordained him sole ruler of the Land of Man. The Teutonic Order, at Konigsberg, received word of Marius' ascension as King of Oren and organized parlay with the House of Tarus who soon declared open rebellion.

 

Ezekiel Tarus & Gaius Marius met in Galahar after earlier attempts at diplomacy failed. Marius, to the surprise of many of his colleagues, suggested splitting the Land of Man between the Galaharians and the Teutonic Order. Tarus agreed to the terms and the two agreed to a judicial and political split into a biumvirate; two equal kingdoms ruling over the Land of Man. Thus began the reign of the Kingdom of Hanseti (Old Marian: Birodal Hanzeh) and the polity that would eventually resolve itself as the Kingdom of Renatus/Salvus. The biumvirate's early success relied on a common enemy - the Undead.

 

Hanseti, in the era of Aegis, consisted of all lands north and east of Galahar and north of Al'Khazaar. Marius and the Teutonic Order, in creating the delineation between Hanseti & Renatus, consolidated all of the lands of greater elevation for their kingdom. Over the decades since the founding of the Order, a distinct ethnic identity steadily emerged which became the Old Hansetian culture. The Old Hansetian culture grew to uniquely value hardiness and discipline as masculine virtues and altruism and a stern nurturing femininity for women. Out of this proclivity for the harsher climes, hardiness, and discipline; industry and metalworking were valued over traditional agrarian life. The early Hansetians were insular in their attitudes toward others and had an early schism internally over monotheism and polytheistic belief systems. Marius and the Order conceived of themselves as strongly monotheistic, but did not have much of the overt symbolism indicative of later polities in human history such as the Canonist Church or the Order of the White Rose.

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