Steel Wardens

The legendary defenders of Edgemourn

Introduction

"Our days are gone. The Wardens used to be the image of our kingdom, the embodiment of our culture and resilience. Those times are gone, but never will this memory fade from our hearts, never will the songs of the bards of Hrastgar's cease, never will the tales and whispers in Blackbourne fall silent, and never will my words be erased from these pages. Even as Edgemourn crumbles and our Order is no more, the Steel Wardens will forever live on as Archana's protectors."

— Muriel Proulx, writer, and former Warden

The Steel Wardens were a group of professional soldiers founded during Archana's rebellion and tasked to protect the kingdom's border at Edgemourn. Their feats were legendary, but they were disbanded once the war against the Artalgnian Empire was over. Despite that, all still remember the days the Steel Wardens made of Edgemourn an unbreachable fortress.

Structure

Despite the fact that the Steel Wardens were extremely organized and disciplined as soldiers, there was no official chain of command - the veterans taught the recruits, who then would teach other recruits in the future. They instead tried to have each individual focus on the best they had to offer to the team, as, in the end, in the battlefield they were all brothers, doing their best to defend their homeland.

That said, the Wardens often had a few figureheads, the best soldiers of their time, the ones who they all respected and looked up to. They were referred to as "the Council", as their wisdom and experience were often sought for counseling, and they were the ones who were trusted to strategize before a battle.

Public Agenda

During their first years, the Wardens' purpose was to liberate Archana from Artalgne. Since this operation's success, they have been trusted with the defense of the kingdom from invasions by land. From that day until the day they were disbanded, this was their objective, and in that, they never failed.

Assets

The Wardens had their headquarters in Fort Edgemourn. Equipped to house up to 200 soldiers but with enough space and equipment to train up to a 1000, the Fort eventually ran out of space as the organization grew, and so Edgemourn began to expand as a town. Their armory is equipped with a collection of weapons and armors of various metals, the best works from the Craftsmen Guild of Vilennor, and also a few other "toys" looted from the battlefield.

The Ward of the Sun is a round shield that belonged to King Charles Maine back when he lead the Wardens. Since the day he assumed the throne, the shield sat on the walls of Fort Edgemourn as a symbol to rally the men. With the disbandment of the order, the shield has been taken to Nouvemond.

History

During the 200 years that they operated, the Steel Wardens were all about protecting the integrity of the kingdom against outsiders. When they were founded during the days of Arcanopia, under the lead of Charles Maine, it was on them and the Silent Blades to conquer back the kingdom's independence.

Once that was accomplished and Archana was reborn as an independent nation, the Wardens were relocated to Edgemourn to defend the border. Not much changed since then, except for their size in numbers, which meant that they eventually expanded to need an entire town to grow with them in order to supply their activities. Their battle tactics changed and adapted, their equipment got upgraded, their training methods improved, but they always remained true to their calling.

It was after the war against Artalgne ended in the Battle of the Red Diamond and the Arcane Development Program took over the mantle of protecting Archana that the Steel Wardens were disbanded.

Disbandment

Five years after the Battle of the Red Diamond, the existence of the Steel Wardens felt ever more pointless. The ADP was tasked of creating new methods of protecting Archana and the Wardens had very few members remaining from the war, so the King decided it was best to disband the group. After that, Achard Lionhart, the hero from the Battle of the Red Diamond, went missing.

Click here to reveal spoilers for the campaign

Actually, the war ended because King Abraham II made a deal with Artalgne so that they would provide the Empire with all the discoveries made by the ADP in exchange for peace. Achard learned of this, which made him internally conflicted, both for the guilt of being called a hero when it wasn't him who ended the war, and because he knew that what the King did was treason, but he couldn't speak out the truth with no proofs. The disbandment of the Steel Wardens was an attempt to dissuade Achard from interfering, who then left to Artalgne in order to find evidence against Abraham and/or stop them.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

299 AE - Feb. 10th, 485 AE

Type

Guild, Fighter / Mercenary

Training Level

Professional

Veterancy Level

Experienced

Demonym

s. Warden; pl. Wardens

Parent Organization

Kingdom of Archana

Location

Fort Edgemourn

Notable Members

• Muriel Proulx

Related Ethnicities

• Archani