Ravenblade (Lieutenant)
A mercenary company first formed around the time of the Great War, the Ravenblades are some of the most reliable and sought warriors on the northern continent. Being in high demand, the Ravenblades take warrants all over Isarshael, and their diverse membership reflects their transience. By tradition, there is always a core of women warriors from the Faeler kingdoms, so that should the leader fall, a candidate is ready to immediately assume command.
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The Ravenblades
Ornia Develin came of age in a house full of older brothers. Although she could whip any of them in a
fight, she found herself fifth in line for her father’s title and, lacking patience, set off on her own. She
joined a freeband, Korlav’s Kinsmen, at the age of eighteen and never again saw the manor house in
which she had been born.
Suffering a mortal wound from a recent escapade, Korlav on his deathbed named Ornia as his successor. Likely she would have taken leadership anyway. If the band had voted, she would have won and if anyone had challenged her, she would have beaten them.
The band needed a new name, but instead of tying it to herself, she dubbed them the Ravenblades, a sign of her devotion to the goddess Sylvia. For the next thirty years, the Ravenblades served patrons across the Faeler kingdoms, and served them well.
As part of the opening moves in the Great War, the Electors of Larmedin hired Ornia and her band and tasked her to form a Free Company, making her a Captain in the Army of Thormenal. In the negotiations surrounding the company’s charter, Ornia insisted on two provisions that set the Ravenblades on their course for centuries. First, it required that the company remain independent of any nation, an arrangement sought after by many Free Captains, but only available to those wielding enough bargaining power. Second, and Ornia was quite insistent, she required that the company always be led by a woman. These warriors have became known as the Daughters of Develin, devoted to Ornia’s memory and determined not to bring discredit to her legacy.
During the course of the Great War, the Ravenblades won much renown and Ornia ended her career as a well-pensioned Thormenalan general. Now, three hundred years later, the Ravenblades are one of the most reliable such groups on the northern continent. This being a time of peace, the company is at freeband strength, led by a former Falkaaran ducal officer named Valeyn Thakel.
Being in high demand, the Ravenblades take warrants all over Isarshael, and their diverse membership reflects their transience. By tradition, there is always a core of women warriors from the Faeler kingdoms, so that should the leader fall, a candidate is ready to immediately assume command. Unlike many freebands, warriors in the Ravenblades bear a common heraldry, a sword held in a raven’s talons. When called upon, the band’s leader will assume the rank of Captain and muster enough troops to swell the ‘blades to a Free Company. Such days may indeed be upon us…
Suffering a mortal wound from a recent escapade, Korlav on his deathbed named Ornia as his successor. Likely she would have taken leadership anyway. If the band had voted, she would have won and if anyone had challenged her, she would have beaten them.
The band needed a new name, but instead of tying it to herself, she dubbed them the Ravenblades, a sign of her devotion to the goddess Sylvia. For the next thirty years, the Ravenblades served patrons across the Faeler kingdoms, and served them well.
As part of the opening moves in the Great War, the Electors of Larmedin hired Ornia and her band and tasked her to form a Free Company, making her a Captain in the Army of Thormenal. In the negotiations surrounding the company’s charter, Ornia insisted on two provisions that set the Ravenblades on their course for centuries. First, it required that the company remain independent of any nation, an arrangement sought after by many Free Captains, but only available to those wielding enough bargaining power. Second, and Ornia was quite insistent, she required that the company always be led by a woman. These warriors have became known as the Daughters of Develin, devoted to Ornia’s memory and determined not to bring discredit to her legacy.
During the course of the Great War, the Ravenblades won much renown and Ornia ended her career as a well-pensioned Thormenalan general. Now, three hundred years later, the Ravenblades are one of the most reliable such groups on the northern continent. This being a time of peace, the company is at freeband strength, led by a former Falkaaran ducal officer named Valeyn Thakel.
Being in high demand, the Ravenblades take warrants all over Isarshael, and their diverse membership reflects their transience. By tradition, there is always a core of women warriors from the Faeler kingdoms, so that should the leader fall, a candidate is ready to immediately assume command. Unlike many freebands, warriors in the Ravenblades bear a common heraldry, a sword held in a raven’s talons. When called upon, the band’s leader will assume the rank of Captain and muster enough troops to swell the ‘blades to a Free Company. Such days may indeed be upon us…
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