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A land of legend, mist, and mountain, rich in ancient forests, and graced with majestic, castle-studded rivers, Ehrengard was the heart of the Sacred Empire.
Called upon by the authority of the Sacred Emperor, the heralded land had poured forth its might in the service of the Unifier, forging it into the massive right flank of the three principle formations facing the Saxan defenders.
A fiery people, whose hardiness echoed the rock of the great mountains that rose proudly within their lands, their storied heritage went far before them onto any battlefield in Ave.
At their roots, they were a people that had tamed a dangerous wilderness. As older tribes had grown into kingdoms, they had demonstrated a courage and resilience that few lands could rival. As the Sacred Empire coalesced, and stability broadened, an aptitude had been shown for trade, learning, politics, and spiritual matters.
A burgeoning populace, thriving within prosperous trade leagues and urban communes, continually expanded the successes and influence of the Sacred Empire.
The prosperity also translated into force of arms. The lords of Ehrengard, its margraves, counts, dukes, abbots, and bishops, commanded knightly retinues significantly more numerous in scale than those of Gallea, or even Norengal.
The Sacred Empire spanned a great number of territories, including a number of powerful duchies, the kingdom of Boehman, a number of cities in the north of Lombar, and even the Kingdom of Paleria. The Sacred Empire had long possessed a formidable level of power, one that had often unnerved the Great Vicars in Liantenum.
Yet even in spite of the enormous strength available in the Sacred Empire, the mustering of a great military force was not always a certainty in the course of any war. The dukes and lords of Ehrengard often held to their own designs over that of the emperor.
Serving as Electors for new emperors, they tended to assert themselves much more independently than did the lords of other kingdoms. The climate was constantly changing in the Sacred Empire’s power centers, as the authority of the emperor versus that of the various princes and dukes shifted back and forth.
A few Sacred Emperors had enjoyed a near unity of authority, while others struggled to the point of outright civil wars to maintain a semblance of preeminence. As such, Ehrengard had never reached the kind of power that a contiguous unity might have brought to it, perhaps even reaching a level that could have rivaled Avanor itself.
The banners of Duke Manfred of Sachia, displaying two blue axe heads facing outward on a red background, and the ensigns of the powerful Archbishop Rainald of Maizen, were quickly recognized by several of the Saxan leaders on the opposing side of the battlefield. The sight dashed any slim hopes that some Saxans still held concerning the ebb and flow of intentions, loyalties, and acquiescence of the tumultuous Ehrengardian nobility with respect to the emperor.
Manfred’s family line, the Uelf, had long fostered coalitions that frustrated the plans of the current imperial family, the Staffes, which was now manifested in the person of the current emperor, Heinrich VIII. Archbishop Rainald himself, in his younger days, had lent great ecclesiastical authority to the powers countering the emperor, nearly having toppled the Staffes line in the process.
Ominously for the Saxans, their proudly waving banners and ensigns were now seen within the same host that included the presence of powers more traditionally loyal to the Staffes line. These included the Duke of Schueva, the Margrave of Holsheim, the Duke of Thurgian, the Bishop Thangbrand of Augenberg, and the King of Boehm.
Seen all together, the sight sent an unmistakable, daunting message to the Saxans who were more astute about Ehrengard’s power structures. The enormous force represented an Ehrengard that was standing in full strength behind Heinrich VIII, whose designs toward Saxany were now conjoined to those of the Unifier.
The center and left portions of Ehrengard’s host were teeming with several thousand spearmen, mixed in with several contingents of archers and crossbowmen. Equipped simply, with just conical helms and long shields, their short cloaks billowed and whipped about, caught in the morning’s alternating breezes and gusts as they tramped solidly towards the Saxan lines.
A number of banners marked the origins of many of the units, and it could be discerned that the Duchies of Baraban, Thurgian, Sachia, and the Margraviate of Holsheim had provided a great portion of the foot soldiers within the Ehrengardian forces.
The concentrated units of archers amongst them were easy to identify, as they were wearing distinctive, kettle-shaped helms. With a little scrutiny, the positions of the crossbowmen could also be ascertained, as they strode forward carrying their heavy weapons in both hands, telltale hooks hanging down from their belts for reloading the weapons.
The right side of the host of Ehrengard, where the striking part of an Ehrengardian force was often deployed, was the area that attracted the most attention and dread from the watching Saxan defenders.
A deadly forest of elongated spears seemed to crawl across the grassland, covering it like a dark tide sweeping menacingly towards the Saxan ranks. In the midst of this huge formation flew ebon banners, and within each was woven the image of a single, red blade. Many thousands marched proudly and boldly under the black and red ensigns, at the forefront of the right flank of the hosts of Ehrengard.
These were the Halmlander, greatly feared and despised far beyond the lands of the Sacred Empire.
Though nominally from the lands of the Duchy of Baraban, the Halmlander were a storied mercenary company, whose skill was more than equal to the high cost that it took to bring them into a war. Many infamous mercenary captains had led their great companies, serving under many kings over the years.
The legendary exploits of Mercad, serving a Norengal monarch, and Adoc, for a Gallean king, were two such examples. Now, a grizzled, brutal man named Gerhoch had come at the behest, and generous pay, of the Sacred Emperor, bringing his foreboding, ravenous horde along with him.
Overflowing in ferocity, and maintaining discipline in battle, the Halmlander’s mere presence had been enough to scatter more than one significant enemy force. Those that they fought knew fully well the dire consequences to villages and towns should the defenders fail to stop them. Even so, many forces had willfully chosen not to oppose the living plague, while knowing that the malignant horde would ravage their lands nonetheless.
Without ties to homes of their own, the Halmlander gave great advantage to those who sought their services. Unlike regular levies, and those contingents under feudal obligations, the Halmlander could be kept for overly extended periods in the field, as long as wages were paid when promised. Their home was wherever they were, and a king who had coffers full enough could depend on the Halmlander from the start to the finish of an entire campaign.
The mercenaries were men who had fled from the law, fortune seekers, heretical clergymen, disloyal knights, and other rootless men who found a haven in concentrating together as one force. Together, all past histories no longer mattered, and they could enthusiastically indulge in bloodlust and rapaciousness.
They were men that needed to be constantly employed in a state of war. If they were not being used, they often turned upon the very populaces that they dwelled amongst.
The history of Gallea, Norengal, Ehrengardian principalities, and many other lands could testify to the horror of the ravenous appetites for blood and violence that the Halmlander possessed. Such was the menace, and chilling deadliness, of the Halmlander.
Bearing their long lances, the foot-soldiers of the Halmlander were spurred forward by the few rogue knights that helped to command their great company. The seemingly innumerable shafts with their deadly points served to create a dense hedge of protection for the force of mounted knights that was coming up just behind them.
The knights comprising the force located in back of the Halmlander, on the farthest right of the Ehrengardian force, were truly among the most prime warriors in all of Ehrengard.
The symbols of the Duke of Schueva, from which the imperial Staffes family line had come, the Duke Leopold of Aestrius, and the Duke of Baraban, from whose lands the Halmlander themselves had been hired, were visible on the shields, surcoats, and pennons amongst the great knights.
Imperial banners, showing a great, black dragon, with wings outstretched wide, set against a field of gold, flew from the contingents from Schueva, as their widely renowned Duke possessed the unique honor to display the imperial ensigns.
There was a sense of elegance to the attire of these greater knights. A good number of their helms were fashioned with an aesthetic fluting, whose graceful contours beautified a design that carried great practicality, resulting in perhaps the strongest helms found in any realm. Others wore helms with full iron visors affixed to the brow, protecting their entire faces. A few still wore older, conical designs, which had little more than a nasal guard extending down for facial protection.
Over their mail coats, several knights wore finely fashioned surcoats, complete with “V” shaped necks, and drooping, pendant sleeves. Exquisitely crafted swords rested in gilded sheaths, tied into belts whose ends were split into slits, and then knotted together in a fashion common across the lands of Ehrengard.
Their shields were largely of the variety prevalent among Ehrengard’s knights. Broad in width, with the two top ends rounded and extending downward, they narrowed gradually into a narrow, curved bottom that evoked a shorter, wider rendition of the elongated kite-shields carried by so many of the foot soldiers.
Even their robust war stallions carried an elite aura about them, many being covered in quilted trappers, richly colored to match the colors on their riders’ shields and surcoats.
The majestic appearance of knights was not limited just to those in the rear on the right side of the line, but were spread among the other mounted elite of Ehrengard that followed the masses of infantry in the center and left.
The imperial dragons flying in the center of the formation heralded the presence of Heinrich VIII’s most powerful Oath Knight, Markward of Augenberg. The powerful, proud form of the great knight sat astride a regal war steed, covered in a spectacular trapper, fashioned entirely of glinting chain mail.
Markward wore a fully encompassing great helm, surrounding his face and all parts of his head with iron, a new style of helm that had just started to be crafted and used. He was surrounded by a host of lower-ranking Oath Knights, all of whom were bonded to Emperor Heinrich.
Not far from Markward, was the Archbishop Anno of Colgonach, one of the Empire’s greatest ecclesiastical princes. Like Markward, he was also mounted on a great warhorse that was clad in a full mail trapper.
A distinctive type of leather mitre-cap, with two vertical extensions, curving gradually to rounding summits, one rising in the front and one at the rear of the mitre-cap, crowned his iron great helm. The mitre-cap was snow-white, with curling red patterns interwoven on it. The two facings in the front and rear were curved slightly outward on the edges of the great helm, forming an open space between the two extensions.
The cap was held in place by a circular base that wrapped tightly around the top of the helm, with a white cloth mantling hanging down in the rear, covering the back of the great helm.
The Archbishop was a vision very different from that of a humble rural clergyman or monk, the latter two striving to distance themselves from the temporal world. His tall stature was covered from head to foot in a finely fashioned suit of mail, surmounted by a blood-red, sleeveless surcoat that was split up to the waist in the front and back.
He carried a mace with flanged head that was not intended for any act of faith. One would have presumed that the mace, in a great stretch of the proper intentions, addressed the commonly held belief that the clergy of the Creator should not shed blood. Such a notion was imminently refuted by the presence of a prominent sword, fit with an ornate pommel, resting in a finely-crafted, silver gilt scabbard hanging outside his surcoat at his waist.
Like many of the martial bishops and archbishops of Ehrengard, Archbishop Anno had brought a mighty contingent with him, and would not hesitate to lead them into the thick of the fighting.
Though a few drops of water could do little to alleviate a parched desert of dismay, the notable absence of black spear blades on white backgrounds amid the Ehrengardian host was a welcome recognition among the Saxan leaders.
The Order of the Sacred Lady, whose fierce monk-knights bore forth the legendary, black spear blade ensigns during their countless struggles, had evidently not deemed the Saxans to be apostate foes of the Western Church.
It was an exceptional absence in light of the great force arrayed against the Saxans, as the Order’s high masters had gained the status of Imperial Princes during the reign of Gerard III, the grandfather of the current Emperor, Heinrich VIII.
With the apparent cohesion among the great princely and ecclesiastical powers of Ehrengard, the addition of the Order of the Sacred Lady to the force would have been nearly too much to bear for a defending army whose apprehensions were already being pushed to their outermost limits.
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