The Iron Kingdoms: Mercenaries

The Mercenaries of the Iron Kingdoms conduct war as a trade in an open market.  Primarily making their homes to the north of Cygnar in the small kingdom of Ord, Mercenaries are a facet of everyday life in Western Immoren.  A code as old as the Iron Kingdoms themselves rules their conduct, and in many cases these bands of sell-swords are more forthright in their dealings than most victuals merchants.  Violating this ancient Charter is a grave act which will ruin a Mercenary company for many reasons - the foremost of which is the reality that the Charter is accepted as law in almost all of the Iron Kingdoms

Mercenaries in good standing are accept contracts to conduct military action against other military forces.  Some of these contracts are from private individuals, but the main employers of Mercenary companies are the Iron Kingdoms themselves.  It's sometimes humorous to review a company's deployment history - though they never accept missions against the agency that first commissioned them, they very often fight against those they recently were employed by.  Unless of course that particular contract stipulated a "cooling down" period against the employer.

There are four big contracts that constantly attract new companies.  These are for major military forces, for the most part.  For example, the Highborn Covenant Contract is pretty much given to any Mercenary company who is fighting in occupied Llael, especially if they are hired by the Cygnaran government or the Llaelese government in-exile.  The Searforge Commission is a contract that any potential mercenary commander has to deal with if they want to hire Rhulic mercenaries.  However, the Four-Star Syndicate has a standard contract, and routinely hires companies of Mercenaries to conduct its more brazen raids.  Even the fleets of pirates on the Broken Coast have founded their own standard contract, called the Talion Charter.

In our particular neck of the woods, there are large movements of the Steelheads, an old and highly reputable Mercenary company.  Aside from a few smaller companies of great renown, it's this company you're most likely to encounter.  The Steelheads are very large, and have multiple deployments across a wide range of contracts - of course, they never violate the Mercenary Charter by creating a "conflict of interests".  However, there are whispers of soldiers marching out of Rhul...

The bottom line is that Mercenaries are employed as a matter of course by the military powers of the Iron Kingdoms.  They are motivated solely by profit, and governed by honor.  Non-military targets are never accepted, and civilians are never tortured, pillaged or extorted.  This is ancient tradition, and practical policy as well.  In many cases, Mercenary companies behave better than many national militaries.  It is for this reason the populace at large does not balk at such private armies.

Many laws, contracts and charters rule the Mercenary's life.  Yet, this code has a certain honor in it.  Many commanders never feel restrained by it at all, but rather they feel liberated from many other laws.  Though there are many strictures in the Charter, a clever Mercenary commander can find a lot of wiggle-room in the wording of his contracts.

The Iron Kingdoms: Protectorate of Menoth

The followers of a vengeful god have created a haven for themselves in Western Immoren.  Menoth, the True Creator of Man, has called forth his chosen.  In recent times, followers of the True Faith have heard the call of the Creator and migrated en masse to this new land, a holy land.  Now, the world shakes with the power of Menoth's armies, and the ranks of the believers continue to swell.

Once (and not so long ago), the the lands now known as the Protectorate of Menoth were a part of Cygnar. Following the Cygnaran Civil War in 484 A.R., Cygnar ceded the eastern portion of the capital city of Caspia.  The Menites renamed their portion of the city Sul, and the new kingdom on the eastern bank of the Black River began to flourish.  With their warcasters seemingly empowered by their Creator god, the worshippers of Menoth began a campaign of expansion that now includes lands as far north as the Llaelese city of Leryn.

The people who dwell in the lands of the Protectorate are invariably faithful adherents to the Canon of True Law, the holy writ of Menoth.  Almost all of the original inhabitants who lived in these lands were driven out if they accepted other gods, and as Menites from other kingdoms began to arrive and settle in the new promised land there became less and less room for the unbelievers.  Now the land is populated by fundamentalists, extremists and zealots.  The onward grind of the Menite war effort does not lack for enthusiastic volunteers.

Worship of other gods is outlawed in the Protectorate, which is problematic given the state of affairs with the more open-minded Kingdom of Cygnar.  No other god is above Menoth, and it's not uncommon for travelers who are openly reverent of other deities to be murdered by angry mobs frothing with religious zeal. Indeed, few are the fools who travel to the Protectorate without Menoth in their hearts.

The other Iron Kingdoms keep the Protectorate at arm's length, diplomatically speaking.  It's a state of open war with all other kingdoms as far as the Menites see it, and this does much to continually widen the gap between their new state and the other nations of Western Immoren.  As things are now, the state of affairs is only poised to worsen.  Yet even as the other Iron Kingdoms are forced to deal with them militarily, the might of the Protectorate of Menoth grows with each new pilgrim that finds their way to Menoth's holy land.

This short treatise is the second part outlining one of the Iron Kingdoms background for our players who have been on the edges of the club's game.  Check out the earlier background segment for Cygnar, then choose a warcaster and help us build a fantastic narrative!

The Iron Kingdoms: Cygnar

The Iron Kingdoms has been riven with warfare for hundreds of years.  Nations have risen and fallen to the might of the sorcerous constructs characteristic of that world, Immoren.  Today I'm going to go over a few of the basic points dealing with one of the "superpowers" of the Warmachine world, the Kingdom of Cygnar.  They call Cygnar the crown jewel of the Iron Kingdoms, and rightly so as it is hands down the center of learning and the arts throughout the known world.  Of all the places one might visit in the entirety of Western Immoren, the Kingdom of Cygnar is almost assuredly the most hospitable and cosmopolitan.

Cygnar is located right in the middle of the Western Immoren coast, and controls many islands in the Wailing Sea.  The Nightmare Empire of Cryx infests the western isles leading into the Sea of a Thousand Souls, and wages a constant war with Cygnar.  The Kingdom of Cygnar shares its southeastern border with the Protectorate of Menoth, and on the north the Kingdom of Ord and the belligerent Empire of Khador are it's neighbors.  The Bloodstone Marches form the wilderness to the east, and it is rumored there are monstrous warriors from a distant land making the Marches their home.  Truly, Cygnar is surrounded on all sides by enemies who would stamp it out if given the chance.

The people of Cygnar are nothing if not courageous, however.  They have cultivated their arts and sciences and are really the only egalitarian and cosmopolitan kingdom in all of Immoren.  King Leto, the current monarch, presides over the kingdom from his fastness at the ancient city of Caspia.  He is supported in his decision making and the rulership of his people by the Cygnaran Royal Assembly.  Despite the constant state of war, advances are being made all the time, and Cygnar is without a doubt the most humanitarian of all the Iron Kingdoms.

Science has made huge leaps in Cygnar to the extent that all of their warmachines and other arms rely on advanced technology.  Rifled cannons, armor penetrating rounds and even huge electric arc generators are the province of the army of Cygnar.  They boast some of the most advanced warjacks in Immoren, and when compared to those of the other Iron Kingdoms the superiority is apparent - most Menite and Mercenary 'jacks are simply the cast off old models of the newer, more advanced models from the Cygnaran Armory.

The Menites might argue that Cygnar is a bed of slithery and vile apostates, but the fact is that Morrow is a more tolerant god than Menoth.  Save the hardliner Creationists, most Cygnarans venerate Morrow as their saviour and protector.  Morrow is a more caring and forgiving god than Menoth, and it's much better as a "state" religion, although official Cygnaran activity is never undertaken as the will of their god but rather all the states' moves are secular in origin.  Taken from almost every standpoint in Immoren, Cygnar stands tall as the mightiest bastion of light, law and good in the entirety of Caen.

This short treatise is meant to bring up some of our folk who have been lingering on the periphery of Warmachine to catch up on some of the background.  With the new Iron Kingdoms RPG hitting the shelves this year, we want to make sure everyone has a cursory knowledge of the goings on in Immoren!  New narratives will be built, more warcasters will join the fight - soon Warmachine will have a huge intertwined campaign continuity here at the Wargate!  Stay tuned for more treatises on the lands of Western Immoren!