Shael Moghin
Del-Kamai’s Crusade in 547 aimed to take back Koronna from the rebellious moon worshippers that had kicked the Traazorites out. The war left the Koronnans reeling and the Northern Continent fearful after the Traazorites won early crucial victories against the Koronnans.
The Faeler world responded by raising large armies that they rushed to the aid of the Koronnans. They hoped to turn the tide of the Traazorite victories and throw them off the northern continent.
Each of the Faeler nations sent troops. Always loathe to have a large standing army, the Thormenalans authorized a massive expansion of their mercenary forces.
During this period, many now-renown mercenary companies formed. Many more were created and then destroyed during Del-Kamai’s Crusade or in the centuries that followed.
One of the forces, the Shael Mohgin, has left its mark on battlefields ever since. in Faeler, Shael Mohgin means Defenders of the Land. Their name comes from that time and their eagerness to rid the land of the Traazorite invaders.
The Shael Mohgin recruited from northern Thormenal and Haradel. They took most of their men from the knights of Haradel. Most of the original Shael Moghin carried large double-handed weapons, eschewing shields for the sheer ferocity of their blades. Their auxiliary troops started out carrying spears which were ubiquitous and easy to procure.
Missile forces came in the form of a crossbow, a weapon relatively new at the time. The ability to punch through Traazorite armor was very welcome in the Shael Mohgin.
The initial force marched to war against the Traazorite invaders five hundred strong. The hatred of the Traazorites mixed with the promise of lucrative pay swelled their ranks.
During the war, the Shael Mohgin acquitted themselves very well and were involved in two of the key victories that turned the tide of the war. Other troops noted their severe discipline and brutality on the field of battle.
Their combat style and the war depleted their numbers. They returned to the city of Altanus with barely two hundred fighters left. Instead of disbanding as many mercenary companies did, the Shael Mohgin took advantage of Thormenal’s offer to remain a mercenary company.
Shael Mohgin’s first leader, Kavek Elinris, found the idea of being mercenary both lucrative and adventurous. One hundred and fifty of his company that came back from the Crusades did as well, so they officially became a permanent Mercenary Company incorporated under mercenary law in Thormenal.
Kavek made his base in Altanus, where he had formally lived and central to where he had recruited his soldiers. As a mercenary leader without a war to fight, he now set about the difficult task of finding new employment and keeping his soldiers drilled.
During the war, they found the Traazorites broke up their spear formations with thrown weapons and their sakhazets. To counter this, Kavek suggested arming his spear blocks with pikes. They also began training extensively to fight different known military tactics.
Kavek secured a contract to chase down remnants of Traazorite forces running amok in the countryside of Koronna and Thormenal. The Shael Mohgin spent a couple of very lucrative years doing that, honing their fighting skills against the Traazorites.
Centuries came and went, and the reputation of the Shael Mohgin continued to rise. Though they didn’t have a spotless record, they proved to be a good investment for whatever government hired them.
The Shael Mohgin kept their reputation for no-holds-barred violence against their enemies. They became known for being heedless of their safety as they charged headlong into battle. There were instances of their enemies seeing the banners of the Shael Mohgin and crumbling before them as their charge was starting.
Though they may have had a penchant for outright violence on the battlefield, it was not their only defining trait. Off the battlefield, the Shael Mohgin enjoyed a peaceful reputation and became known for taking jobs from those that could not afford a full mercenary company. The Shael Mohgin would accept a contract in the case of a just cause.
The leader who developed this reputation commanded the Shael Mohgin between 836 and 852. Her name was Harlis Nirak. She led the company when there were few large-scale conflicts to keep the Shael Mohgin employed. Instead, she kept them busy with jobs from smaller employers chasing down monsters, bandits, and settling border disputes.
The Shael Mohgin finished these jobs quickly and efficiently, and the company was kept employed and busy. There is nothing worse for the local economy and crime than an unemployed mercenary company.
More recently, Thormenal hired the Shael Mohgin to help stem the tide of the Revivifier and the Kandoran forces that poured out of the Redstone Pass. As the situation deteriorated, Thormenal rushed to hire mercenary companies to defend Fort Redstone, which lay at the head of Redstone Pass on the Thormenal side.
The Shael Mohgin marched to Fort Redstone just in time to witness the remnants of the Ravenblades and the Black Steel Mercenaries retreating from the pass. With the Kandoran scouts right behind the fleeing forces, the Shael Mohgin rushed forward to provide safety for the Thormenalan forces.
The advance forces of Kandor broke on the pikes of the Shael Mohgin. The shattered remnants of the mercenary companies passed safely into Fort Redstone. Now, the real work of defending Fort Redstone began.
The defenders of Saltwall Outpost had bought Fort Redstone nearly two days to prepare their defense. It was just enough time for the defenders to bolster their forces with two more mercenary companies and several units of City levies.
Their crossbowman prowled the walls of the fort. The rest of the Shael Mohgin’s forces formed where they could do the most damage to the enemy: right in front of the gates where they could meet the assault of the Revivifier’s forces.
To lead the assault, the Revivifier chose elite heavy infantry armed with their signature jackal scythes. The Shael Mohgin, true to their nature, counter-charged headlong into them and slaughtered them nearly to a man. It was then the Revivifier sprang his trap.
Every Jackal Priest on the field turned their dark arts into raising the destroyed infantry even as a horde of mindless, shambling undead plowed into the Shael Mohgin. Caught between two undead forces, even the violence and skill of the mercenary troops could not win the fight.
The Shugrush, little grush, were ordered forward. Their pikes crashed into the undead forces, but with every casualty, the ranks of the Kandorans were reborn. The Shael Mohgin fought nearly to the last warrior on the field in front of Fort Redstone.
Very few of the Shael Mohgin survived the onslaught before Fort Redstone. The survivors were moved into reserve near Larmedin in case the Kandorans invaded Thormenal further.
Most of their senior leadership had fallen in the battle before Fort Redstone. The survivors voted Umolad Gorov as their leader. He now had the unenviable task of rebuilding the Shael Mohgin.
Umolad was present for the fight between the Ravenblade and the Black Steel Company. He witnessed the subsequent destruction of the Ravenblades’ headquarters in Larmedin.
Brileyn Sarlo had left a contingent of troops with the Shael Mohgin to assist at Fort Redstone. Umolad had not forgotten that even battered and broken the Ravenblades had fought with honor and tenacity.
Now, Umolad had a plan that would benefit both the Ravenblade and the Shael Mohgin. He traveled to the fishing village where Brileyn and her wife had kept an inn that served as the temporary headquarters of the Ravenblade. Here the company rest and refit. Umolad proposed that they tie the future of their two great companies together.
Both mercenary companies would benefit from the strength of numbers the combined force would have. Each company was tactically very different. Both Brileyn and Umolad were sure that their differences could provide might and agility to their formations rather than weaken them.
Both companies voted on the proposal, and the Shael Mohgin became an official part of the Ravensblade. Though the agreement may be temporary as both sides fought for the survival of their companies, they knew that it was the beginning of a very fruitful relationship.
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