Difference between revisions of "Category:The First Company"

While Isandra Haze might be the household name among those of Yaralon, yet it is not without the aid of her generals and soldiers that she could have become the legend that she was and is. So gather round children and let me tell you a tale… the legend of the First Company.

Have you ever considered, how it was we became the warriors that we are? Do you think that that each of us is born with a sword in hand and a death wish? If so you’d be sadly mistaken. If we have one thing in particular to be thankful for, it is the land. Why would we thank these accursed lands where monsters breed and plants choke? Because surviving made us strong, and if there’s one thing the First Company was, it was a band of the hardiest survivors, each in their own way.

Of the first few I will name Isandra’s five closest friends and generals. The first of which was Maleum Holt, the master of the horse. It is said that horses bred by him and their descendants are the fastest and sturdiest in all the lands, and when it came to mounted combat none could stop him or the soldiers under his command. His charges in battle were loud and demoralizing like thunder and his strikes as swift as lightning. None could escape him and none could outpace him. Stranger still was his choice in armaments. Most mounted cavalry you’ll hear about in the lands use spears and sabers, but Maleum, that man, was a master of the flail and of the rope. Some say his flail swung so fast that would could hear the wind itself cry out in pain when he swung it. Needless to say enemies struck by him were sent flying, I’ve heard tell that he even killed a demon with a single strike. To this day, adherents to his fighting style are some of the physically strongest of our warriors, and when you hear their horses charge it’s already too late to defend yourself. It is said that those who adhere to his values have a hoof with a lightning bolt running through it emblazoned on their saddles.

Next, we have one of the more mysterious members. Nobody knows from whence Hedrick the Olde came from, simply that when the wizened man spoke, it felt like the world listened. The man looked old enough to keel over any day, or so said anyone who’d ever seen him, and yet he was as strong as any man in his prime. However, what truly made him so scary, and so powerful, even more so than the powerful magic the man employed, was his wisdom and wit. It is said he could gaze out onto a battlefield and spot every environmental threat. He could tell you what rocks would hide you best from ambush and which way the wind would blow your arrows. He knew what water was clean, and at a single glance he could tell you what weapon a man wielded, and how well he wielded it at that. It is said in battle the elements leapt forth for him as if he’d inherited the very spirit of the world. Each battlefield was sculpted by his hands. His allies found the earth beneath them solid and sturdy while his enemies were hounded by the winds themselves. If there was ever one to still be alive it would be him. It is said that after he passed on his wisdom to his proteges, who still carry on his traditions, he simply disappeared never to be seen again. Whether he is dead or simple wreaking mayhem somewhere else it is unknown. What we do know is that there has never been a man as wise, or a Defier as loved by the elements as him. To this day, it is said that those who adhere to his values wear a bracelet with a single stone bead on it, to remember the solid earth he blessed his companions with.

Next is Mariana Finch the Stalwart. If there was anyone who one could look to among the First Company to have your back in a fight it was Mariana. As much a mother to her soldiers as she was a general She was perhaps one of the least bloodthirsty of the bunch, though also the most willing to fight. A master of tower shields and heavy armor, it was said that her mastery over weapons was perhaps the most flexible as it mattered not what weapon she wielded and no one could wear her down in combat. Some say that her shield had more dents in it than the armor of anyone within thirty paces of her by the time a battle was through. She and her soldiers were the first defense of Yaralon's army, an impregnable wall of metal sworn to the protection of those they loved. It is said that when off the battlefield she was also Yaralon’s finest chef. Saying that she founded some of the staple recipes from Yaralon's meager and distasteful plant life, namely stone bread, and mud hopper stew. It was said that anything she cooked filled not only the body, but the soul. It is also said that she defeated three assassins after Haze with not but a rolling pin when she was underestimated as just a cook. Soldiers who share her ideals, even now, of defense and compassion are said to carry her symbol on their shields, a small riveted heart with a raised fist within it.

Then we have the Finnegan twins… Darvon and Shala, a brother and sister, the two were an inseparable pair. Legend goes that they were so fast that most enemies they fought were unsure of which of them was where at any given moment. Supposedly Isandra had saved the twins from a life of slavery as entertainers and they’d pledged their lives to her service. If you think that one person swinging two knives at you is scary, you’ve obviously never seen two trained people somersaulting over each other fighting as one. It is said that the two were so close that one could throw a knife within a hair’s breadth of the other without either fearing for the other's life. Using acrobatics, speed, their numbers, and complete and total trust in each other, the twins felled many a stronger opponent seemingly dancing through them in a dervish of blades. Outside of battle, it is said that the two spent most of their time harassing other members of the army, though in hindsight it was said that they were the only cheery faces in some of the grimmest times. Those who adhere to their values today generally always fight in pairs and wield a weapon in either hand, some of the most agile warriors from Yaralon follow in their footsteps. These followers of the Finnegans have tattooed on them a pair of hands clasped around a shared dagger.

Lastly we have Rashi’m Hurvault the Hammer. If Maleum's flair made the wind cry, than it was Hurvault’s hammer that made the earth quake. Wielding in his hands, a maul that was said to weigh as much as the twins combined, he swung it with such ease that most thought it must be hollow. It is said that when a gate needed smashing, or a defense needed breaking Hurvault’s hammer was the first raised to the cause. He stood as tall as any Lotharro and was twice as strong. When he and his soldiers walked they let out such fierce shouts that the enemy often blanched and fled before there was even a chance for battle. Outside of battle, he and his soldiers were known for their proficiency in crafts when it came to building anything from houses to walls. It is often said that anything built by a Hurvault’s hammer will last generations past Raskalarn. Not only known for brute force, but for control, it is said that the man could crush a stone to gravel in his hand, and just as easily cradle a child with the tenderness of a gentle breeze. He was perhaps the most devastated at the loss of Isandra and to this day it is said his descendants are the first to come forth whenever it is mentioned that there is a fracture to be explored. Those who adhere to his ideals are said to wear a miniature hammer necklace.