Order of the Knights of the Marcher's Path

Unrelenting Zealots of the Mettelagen

Get back up lads! This battle is over, but our will and determination to crush these heathens and heretics shall never die! They can slay each and every one of us but our dream lives on and as long as purehearted men of Hillen still breathe, nothing will stop our unrelenting fury.

— Grandmaster Metvin Offarhenge

The Order of the Knights of the Marcher’s Path is a Hillenist military order that has established its own state in the Mettelagen. They were founded with the intention to root out heresy in the region, a task that they have utterly failed at. Despite their constant setbacks and military disasters, the order has continued to recover, only to see itself crushed in another engagement.

History

The birth of the Order of the Knights of the Marcher’s Path was as disastrous as everything else that came after it. Born as a creation of disgruntled Ausselian and Ruekish Hillenists who grew tired of fighting their own brothers in faith, the order established itself in what their grandmaster at the time thought was a suitable location. Unfortunately for them, their newly claimed lands became the target of the Ruekish forces who were on their way to lay siege on Lipsig.

Participation in the Sarzin Conflict

Originally the order had planned to assist the Ausselians in what they saw as a righteous struggle against heretics, but they had hoped to assemble a force by 1543 AA. Instead, an army marching from the south had reached their lands by 1452. Flying the banner of the Duchy of Nordhei and of Rueken, the soldiers marched on as if the land was theirs already.

Now is our time. March with haste, ready your arms! We will meet up with our northern brothers and by nightfall, we shall all feast and be merry. God is with us, brothers! Let us show these heretics that despite our shortage of steel, the Lady of the Lake is our protector and Hillen will guide our sword-arm.

— Grandmaster Matthias Saloi Rebbe

Unwilling to let their fellow Hillenist brothers fight without them, the order assembled what few forces it had and rallied in support of Aussel. Despite their best attempt to coordinate an attack together with the allied forces near Lipsig, the order moved in to engage too quickly. Their Ausselian allies were unable to arrive in time, and the first military action taken by the young order of zealous warriors was met with disaster. Many of those who had been vital in the order's formation, including Grandmaster Matthias Rebbe, perished in the fighting. Those who survived fled away from the scene, but miraculously the order lived on to fight another day.
From that day on, the defining trait of the order had been made clear. No matter how batter or bruised they seemed, they would always be back to fulfill their role in the war to protect the faithful from unholy influences. Their actual effectiveness is dubious though, as many of their neighbouring countries in recent decades have fallen under the sway of the Baglamist heresy.

Founding Date

1542 AA

Type

Religious, Holy Order

Demonym

Pathsmen
Knight of the Marchers' Path

Leader

Metvin Offarhenge

Government System

Meritocracy

Economic System

Market economy

Official State Religion

Hillenēq Hūril

Location

Mettelagen

Official Languages

• Ausselian
• Ruekic

Neighboring Nations

• Confederation of the Ualish
• Grand Duchy of Aitwenk
• Peasants' Republic of Aussel

Related Ethnicities

• Ruekish