Psionide
09-18-2015, 07:02 PM
Let me tell you my story of blood and fate my friends. I, Vicstan, entered this world of conflict as a Nordic child of the Steppe. I tried to make a life for myself in the kingdom of the Nords but they looked down on me and never gave me a chance to prove my worth to them.I cursed them and struck out to the new and foreign lands of the Swadian knights. Right from the start they accepted me, a barbaric outsider, and King Harlaus was good to me. I began my new life with a modest piece of land but land my own! King Harlaus saw me for what the Nordic Lords could not and eventually my king granted me the lordship of Ukxhall. Perhaps this proved too much a sleight for my former brothers, the Nords, to handle and the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥s declared war on us. My king questioned by ability to slay my kinsman but I proved to him that my true allegiance was with him and Swadia.
I razed many lands and keeps for my King and slew many Nords. My banner of the Bloody Bear struck fear into the hearts of my false kinsmen and I my name, Vicstan, became synonmous with brutal treachery and betrayal. However, was it not my own people who had betrayed me first? They called me such names as Vicstan Falseheart, The Bloody Nord, The Bloody Bear, or perhaps the one I actually came to think fondly of, Vicstan the Vengeful. So fierce was my wrath that I brought my marshal Count Deglas many victories over the Nords. So revered was I that Deglas offered me his own daughter's hand in marriage that I gladly took. Who could have thought a child of the Steppe would become a great lord of mighty Swadia?
We had the Nords reeling and constantly on the retreat. Their weak armies fell before our mighty cavalries and Nordic lands became Swadian soil. Eventually they withdrew all their forces to their last stronghold on the sea, Sargoth. We marched to their very gates and I could taste the nectar of victory over my former comrades. But behold! We were besieged by another, the Vaegirs! It would seem that the Nords had convinced them to finally come to their aid when they were on the brink of facing total annihilation. I implored my marshal to forget about the Vaegirs, that King Yaroglek's forces could not stand a chance and would simply be the next kingdom to fall to our might. However, my marshal is a patient warrior and prefers to strategize. To my dismay he called off our forces, worried about leaving our lands undefended in the face of the Vaegir assault. I was determined to crush the Nords and contemplated assaulting Sargoth with my own army. While many Nords called me traitor and disloyal, my allegiance to Swadia and King Harlaus was never put to question. For it was the Swadians who I owed everything to! I decided I would not disobey my marshal and my King and marched my forces to join up with my brothers against the Vaegir. Just as the Nords had fallen beneath our steel so would the Vaegirs!
As it turns outo the Vaegir were even less of a challenge than the Nords. Their armies melted before us and their screams and cries had sated my thirst for blood....temporarily. After the last stronghold of the Vaegirs had fallen to us I implored marshal Deglan to return our focus to the Nords so that we may finish them off before they had regained their once strength and glory once more. My marshal proved too battle weary and patient once again and insisted that he returned to mighty Suno to look after his own lands and to recoup his army's lost numbers. This time I would not be stopped or swayed and I was steadfast in my plans to make the Nords pay! I decided to bring my case before the King hoping this would not strain my relationship with my father-in-law too much.
Indeed, it proved to be a worthy cause! King Harlaus not only accepted but was so enthralled with my battleplans that he decided to confer the marshalship upon me, Vicstan the Vengeful! My father-in-law would have no choice but to bring his armies to Suno to assist me now lest he risk the wrath of King Harlaus, he who had banished many former lords for much less grievous crimes as insubordination. However, it is here that I believe the gods have decided to truly test me.
As we marched back through the harsh snowy terrain one of my most loyal and fiercest warriors, the she-devil Klethi, requested an audience alone with me. After Klethi was finished with her talk I realized why she had requested this meeting alone and in secret. What I called treason she called ambition. Klethi spoke to me of taking Sargoth and the lands of the Nords for my own! To create a new kingdom, one in which I ruled and answered to noone. This thought had never crossed my mind as I much was too concerned and content with complete destruction of the Nords. I attempted to explain to her that the other kingdoms would never be content with this blasphemous plan and that everything I had I owed to King Harlaus. Klethi, ever the cunning warrior, countered that with Vaegir lands now part of Swadia and Nordic lands on the cusp of being completely conquered, that Sargoth was buffered against all other kingdoms by our newly acquired Swadian lands. I questioned her that would mean being surrounded by the very kingdom I had sworn fealty to. While she said King Harlaus would certainly strip me of all lands and titles, he would never think to bring war to someone like me who had advanced his kingdom beyond even Harlaus' voracious appetitites. Perhaps he may even look for a common alliance! It is here I leave you my friends, as we march through the snows bound for the last holdfast of the Nords, contemplating destiny. Shall I take what I can? Do I dare leave another homeland yet again? Risking wrath for destiny and fortune? Or do I continue as I have for many a year in my position of power? Only the gods know the future but I know one thing, the walls of Sargoth will fall before me!
I razed many lands and keeps for my King and slew many Nords. My banner of the Bloody Bear struck fear into the hearts of my false kinsmen and I my name, Vicstan, became synonmous with brutal treachery and betrayal. However, was it not my own people who had betrayed me first? They called me such names as Vicstan Falseheart, The Bloody Nord, The Bloody Bear, or perhaps the one I actually came to think fondly of, Vicstan the Vengeful. So fierce was my wrath that I brought my marshal Count Deglas many victories over the Nords. So revered was I that Deglas offered me his own daughter's hand in marriage that I gladly took. Who could have thought a child of the Steppe would become a great lord of mighty Swadia?
We had the Nords reeling and constantly on the retreat. Their weak armies fell before our mighty cavalries and Nordic lands became Swadian soil. Eventually they withdrew all their forces to their last stronghold on the sea, Sargoth. We marched to their very gates and I could taste the nectar of victory over my former comrades. But behold! We were besieged by another, the Vaegirs! It would seem that the Nords had convinced them to finally come to their aid when they were on the brink of facing total annihilation. I implored my marshal to forget about the Vaegirs, that King Yaroglek's forces could not stand a chance and would simply be the next kingdom to fall to our might. However, my marshal is a patient warrior and prefers to strategize. To my dismay he called off our forces, worried about leaving our lands undefended in the face of the Vaegir assault. I was determined to crush the Nords and contemplated assaulting Sargoth with my own army. While many Nords called me traitor and disloyal, my allegiance to Swadia and King Harlaus was never put to question. For it was the Swadians who I owed everything to! I decided I would not disobey my marshal and my King and marched my forces to join up with my brothers against the Vaegir. Just as the Nords had fallen beneath our steel so would the Vaegirs!
As it turns outo the Vaegir were even less of a challenge than the Nords. Their armies melted before us and their screams and cries had sated my thirst for blood....temporarily. After the last stronghold of the Vaegirs had fallen to us I implored marshal Deglan to return our focus to the Nords so that we may finish them off before they had regained their once strength and glory once more. My marshal proved too battle weary and patient once again and insisted that he returned to mighty Suno to look after his own lands and to recoup his army's lost numbers. This time I would not be stopped or swayed and I was steadfast in my plans to make the Nords pay! I decided to bring my case before the King hoping this would not strain my relationship with my father-in-law too much.
Indeed, it proved to be a worthy cause! King Harlaus not only accepted but was so enthralled with my battleplans that he decided to confer the marshalship upon me, Vicstan the Vengeful! My father-in-law would have no choice but to bring his armies to Suno to assist me now lest he risk the wrath of King Harlaus, he who had banished many former lords for much less grievous crimes as insubordination. However, it is here that I believe the gods have decided to truly test me.
As we marched back through the harsh snowy terrain one of my most loyal and fiercest warriors, the she-devil Klethi, requested an audience alone with me. After Klethi was finished with her talk I realized why she had requested this meeting alone and in secret. What I called treason she called ambition. Klethi spoke to me of taking Sargoth and the lands of the Nords for my own! To create a new kingdom, one in which I ruled and answered to noone. This thought had never crossed my mind as I much was too concerned and content with complete destruction of the Nords. I attempted to explain to her that the other kingdoms would never be content with this blasphemous plan and that everything I had I owed to King Harlaus. Klethi, ever the cunning warrior, countered that with Vaegir lands now part of Swadia and Nordic lands on the cusp of being completely conquered, that Sargoth was buffered against all other kingdoms by our newly acquired Swadian lands. I questioned her that would mean being surrounded by the very kingdom I had sworn fealty to. While she said King Harlaus would certainly strip me of all lands and titles, he would never think to bring war to someone like me who had advanced his kingdom beyond even Harlaus' voracious appetitites. Perhaps he may even look for a common alliance! It is here I leave you my friends, as we march through the snows bound for the last holdfast of the Nords, contemplating destiny. Shall I take what I can? Do I dare leave another homeland yet again? Risking wrath for destiny and fortune? Or do I continue as I have for many a year in my position of power? Only the gods know the future but I know one thing, the walls of Sargoth will fall before me!