Provincial
Defenders
Of
Wissenland
By Chief Scrivener Hannan
Wissenland,
2523 I.C.
During the
last months of 2522 I.C., a horrible disaster occurred on the border of
Wissenland. In the Grey Mountains, a
dwarf enclave called Khazid Grimaz fell to the machinations of orcs, goblins
and fouler creatures of chaos. The resulting
war that began with the destruction of the Khazid and continues with the
ingress of beastmen and undead to the Brightflow Gap has erupted into full
scale war right on the edge of the province.
Abandoned by the mercenary ogre clans that had already been paid for
their service, the people of Wissenland looked to the Countess Emmanuelle of
Nuln for an answer.
The doors of Nuln slammed shut, and
the Countess’s guard surrounded the city.
She has made it clear that the army of Nuln would defend Nuln, even
though that city is the capital of Wissenland.
And even though she is technically bound by oaths to the Emperor to
defend the province, she doesn't regard the rather rural and unrefined areas
outside the capital to be worth defending.
In her mind, if Nuln survives the next war, then so does
Wissenland. For all the folk of the
province that are not fortunate enough to live within the walls of the
city-state of Nuln, the future is grim indeed.
Independent
Organization
Yet the
people of Wissenland have survived this long with her indifference. They are long used to the way the nobles and
common folk of Nuln treat the people of the wider province. Long ago they realized that if they did not
defend themselves, then no one would.
There are those who keep watch on the Emperor’s lands, even if the
Countess herself will not. She doesn’t
bother with the affairs of Wissenlanders, and Wissenlanders don’t concern
themselves much with what happens in Nuln.
In the
small town of Eppiswald, a chapter of the Knights of Morr rose to prominence
during the battles around Khazid Grimaz.
The heroic Grandmaster of the chapter perished in those bloody combats,
but the new leadership is determined to defend Wissenland from this looming
threat before it comes to fruition and begins to overwhelm the land. To this effect, the Knight-Commander began to reach out to the
local militias, and units of fighting men pledged their service to the defense
of the land. Eventually, this militia
began to form a real army from the disparate regiments of troops that answered
the call to battle.
The Grey
Mountains and the River Reik
The new
army, led by Knight-Commander Barnabas Pech of the Black Guard of Morr, quickly
swelled in size. Aided by a company of
Imperial pistoliers called the Wissenland Bounders, the small force had great
intelligence on its enemies and was able to counter several small scale. The Knights were also able to reach out all
across Wissenland, and communities concerned with what would happen to them if
there was a successful invasion, gladly sent men to aid in the defense of the
province.
From
Eppiswald itself, a regiment of spearmen were raised, and forms the centerpoint
of the infantry line. Halberdiers from
Pfielsdorf and swordsmen from Heisenburg make up the rest of the fighting
infantry, but not everyone in Nuln is as apathetic to the plight of their
countrymen. A regiment of Gunnery School
cadets have brought a great cannon to Pech’s army, and together with a regiment
of handgunners from Wittenhausen form a formidable gun line.
The new
army needed a base of operations, and the abandoned and haunted Schloss
Bestrafe in the Brightflow Gap was a fantastic location for a campaign in the
Grey Mountains. After vanquishing the
undead horrors lurking in that place, the army took up residence there. The haunting would continue, but in a much
less dangerous way. Yet after this
victory and occupation of the area, the army gained even more allies. Dwarf refugees from the Khazid Grimaz made
camp not far from the Schloss Bestrafe, and the camp of the mercenary ogres was
never far away from Pech’s army until they turned against Imperial forces
suddenly and without warning.
A powerful
Imperial Battle Wizard named Sagan arrived at Schloss Bestrafe one day, and
explained that his sanctum was not far away.
The wizard and the Knight-Commander spoke long into the night, and a
mutual defense agreement was made. In
the days and weeks that followed, magisters from every school of Imperial
Wizardry made themselves known to the Knight-Commander. From that point on, the Provincial Defenders
had everything they needed. Soldiers,
will to fight, and now – magic.
It was not
long after that even stranger events began to occur. The wizards brokered a meeting with a strange
creature from the mountains that resembled a Halfling sized, bipedal
lizard. The creature spoke to the wizards
in a strange language, which Pech was told was Elven. It conveyed a prophecy of dire warning, and
provided intelligence on the greatest threats to the land. After demonstrating it’s good intentions, it
provided information relating to a large supply cache that Pech desperately
needed. The wizards assured the
Knight-Commander that the creature could be trusted, and the supplies were
obtained by the army and deemed safe.
Since then,
the Provincial Defenders have fought alongside the lizardmen from beneath the
mountains many times. The alliance has
resisted beastmen and undead advances for months. The lizardmen always disappear into the
passes soon after battle, but parley occurs occasionally, reaffirming the
mutual pact of aid between the two races.
Yet, ever greater the threat grows…and the alliance is outnumbered.
