Story time ? Fuck it, story time. No beautiful pictures, but today I fuckin write. I wrote that garbage story in like 30 mins, and I'm like the worst writer ever. I also can't draw for shit, so well... :^)
What the "story" is based on:
One day in the Fall of 2011, three brothers, tired of the native experience of Warband, found a full server on the browser, they never thought there would be such amounts of players on a battlefield. They decided to give it a go, and downloaded the module, and each of them created their characters on the same account. Those three brothers would become Herlish the Foolish, Thorvic, and Algarn. Our paths forked then. While Herlish discovered the ways of the full-on force characters, and stayed on the DTV and siege servers, Thorvic and me joined Pecores, then Ecorcheurs (now known as OdE, Order of the Star in English). He stayed there and climbed up the ladder to become a leader of that clan, while I went into Risen, before applying for the mercenaries in what, 2013 ?. Shit got real there, I was accepted as an applicant for one of the most elitist clan at the time, didn't know how to do a lot of things, and barely spoke any English. To be accepted, I had to become better at everything, be it teamplay, awareness, aim, everything. I still played lightly armored archer builds at the time, focused on agility, until I was hired for the defence of a castle on Strategus, where I met Nikodin_HRE. That dude (or girl, no clue), could kill so many tincans by just shooting their bodies, and I was in awe of that. One person, basically changed my entire mindset about that class of mine, and I gradually got somewhat better, and was called for future sieges, where I met a fearsome foe : Druzhina archers. Everywhere, every single angle, they were here. A strat siege was more than a siege, it was a mind game, to guess where the enemy would put his head next, where they were aiming at, when would another archer peek another angle, etc... No matter the cost, I tried to face them, and got rekt so badly that DaveUKR, present to one of these sieges, told me (harshly) to take less risks because I was wasting ranged equipment and precious tickets. After that, I eventually died less, and turned into an asset for the defenders. The sieges got rarer, and I instead went to many other field battles, always finding the UIF archers against me. I eventually learned to respect them, the same way you respect an enemy for the challenge they put up unconditionally, every time.
After greatly improving my performance, I was accepted as a full member of Mercenaries, and never looked back. From that point to this day, I remained in this clan, and I truly hope to see all those old faces again, there are so many of them I haven't spoken to, nor even heard of again for so long that it makes me feel sad. These are the guys who allowed me to go through the harshest period of my life, and I hope they're doing alright out there.
Basically, thanks to all of these dudes for making me a better player, and a better person (perhaps) :
- Tuetensuppe (for being an amazing dude in general)
- Gingerpussy (yes, this one is controversial, but the dude was so outgoing on TS that I regret not hearing his voice for so long)
- Tyr
- BlueberryMuffin
- Haboe
- SirCymro
- Have at Thee (inspired me on how to be a better shielder)
- Herezy (taught me how to melee)
- Blackbow (taught me basics of archery)
- Mendro
- DaveUKR (harsh, but just, I hope he won't get his ass killed in Ukraine)
- Intermezzo (as harsh as DaveUKR, but also taught me how to be a better player in general)
- Fredom
- God so many other mercs that I can't remember all their damn names (Panzer, Youhou, SlickyRicky, and so many more...)
- Nikodin_HRE, (made me discover an entirely new playstyle that changed my gameplay)
- Uther Pendragon (for showing me the true way of strength melee builds)
- UIF archers (best enemies, never forget Jebac Mercow)
- Bagge (for being the best archer on EU, hands down)
The feels are real. I want to see those dudes on Bannerlord and reform the Mercenaries there.
From the French lowlands, 3 young brothers took arms for what they thought right, or merely wealth and wanderlust. The youngest, Herlish, fought for innocent virgins and viscounts, and often was found guarding castles and successfully beating back its invaders through sheer strength. The second brother, Thorvic, and the eldest, Algarn, both joined a band of Frenchmen, calling themselves ironically "Pecores", before joining groups of wandering mercenaries, ravaging the countryside, named "Ecorcheurs" (skinners in English). Both of these men learned how to wield their weapons better and went on with their lives, until the eldest, Algarn, left the company. He thought he had potential to go beyond all of this. To become better, to use his sight and skill with a bow to get more gold than he could have dreamt of. He joined a group of wandering knights, flying a blue banner, after he met their leader, Zaalback. He explained Algarn that he was trying to resuscitate an old, famous knighthood order, long forgotten since then. He took the young bowman, and made him realize he could become way better than he could have.
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loginThey fought side by side for months, campaign after campaign. The order of the Risen warriors however started to meet a lot of difficulties, with food and money becoming scarce, as their outposts fell to armies from the East. A choice arose, as a massive army of mercenaries, bearing black banners and various armors and weapons, passed by. Algarn, pushed by hunger, but also by his lust for money, deserted.
He followed the army, and when the time of settling for the night came, he went and asked one of them how to join. The man was named Phase, and while he looked like an agile warrior, a surprisingly large sword was sheathed in its scabbard. Phase took at look at Algarn, and told him that while he was young, he definitely showed potential. They both walked back to the camp, and stopped in front of a tent. Phase told Algarn to wait, and entered. Three minutes later, a slender, bizarre-looking man wearing a brigandine got out, and invited the archer in. The young man took a seat as the person who appeared to be the leader took a glance at his armor and weapons. Algarn was wearing a brigandine with aketon and a kettle hat, and had a short sword hanging at his belt, near his quiver of arrows and his bow.
"My name is Tueten, and I'm the chief of this band. Phase told me you're interested for some work, but how far would you go to get some gold ? I used to be a bandit, just like you, until I decided that kings offer more money than mere dead peasants. The problem is that you don't seem ready to fight our battles yet".
A man in the corner of the room, with a thick eastern accent, rose and added : "I mean, look at this, you look so young you probably never fought a real man. You use your bow to stay away from them, you do not know what pain is, nor you have ever watched a man die by your own hand". He got closer to the fire, and Algarn could see the frightening scars on his face.
"Well, Dave, first you also use a crossbow, and you also should let the young lad a chance to prove himself. Like Phase said, he might be promising after all".
After some more discussions, Algarn was accepted into the company as a recruit, and was led to a campfire with three french mercenaries. One, had black skin and was smoking some strange plants, with a curved bow and a sword at his side, the one sleeping already had a large poleaxe next to him, and the last one had some massive moustache and was sharpening some throwing axes.
- "Blackbow, I told you not to smoke that crap when we're about to sleep"
- "Oh fuck off Mendro, you know I can't sleep without some. Hey, you, come over here, who are you boy ?"
Algarn explained how he got here, and blackbow laughed. "You think you're the real deal because you got involved in some raids ? Look at me, kid, I went into way more than you did, and if I'm here today, there has to be a reason to that. You better sleep well, because tomorrow, you'll get your ass to the shooting range so I can see what you got".
At dawn, after a loaf of bread and some chicken, he took his longbow and went to the firing range with Blackbow. There were targets at different ranges, and Blackbow said "I was young once, and I could hit all of these, but now, I'm old and there are some things I can't do anymore".
Algarn managed to hit targets up to 30m, but missed the rest. Even worse, at the last target, the arrow went into the knee of some random adventurer passing by, who then screamed "I WILL REPORT YOU, BITCHBOY !!!". It was humiliating for him, but Blackbow said, "you know, I've seen worse. Alright, go show that heretic what you can do with a staff". These were the last words Algarn heard before he got beaten for two hours straight by a superior warrior with some incredibly strange footwork. The heretic was spinning his staff so fast the young bowman was confused and missed the blocks all of the time.
At dusk, his body was covered in bruises, with even some multiple open wounds caused by the beating.
-"Well, while you're tough to kill, that won't lead you far where we're going. We're sailing to Calradia in a few days, so better rest, heal up, and keep training because the Grey Order won't have the mercy I had".
-"The Grey what ?"
- "Order." Said Tueten as he came in the tent, surprised by the amount of wounds on the young man's body. "They're enemies from the East, we don't need to know more, we get paid for their heads. Oh, and before I go, you better do what Herezy told you to do, or you won't last long on the walls.
The young recruit took some time to rest, and tried to heal with difficulty his wounds and his pride. 3 days later, they left for the Eastern lands, but then got informed by pigeons that the cities of the Holy Roman Empire were being assaulted, and archers were needed desesperately. Algarn took this opportunity to ask Tueten to go fight on the walls, and he accepted considering the dire situation. Algarn headed to the castle of Derchios, and saw the massive armies afar, swarming the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. As the reinforcements Algarn was part of closed in to the castle, he noticed a very strong, independant-looking woman wielding a longbow just like his, armored with a heavy aketon. He couldn't resist to ask what her name was, and she replied with a german accent : "Nikodin. That's my name. I'm here to take out their plated warriors". "Wait, plated warriors ?" Algarn asked. "Nothing had been said about this in the deal.".
- "Do you know the tragedy of archers ? That's not a story these lords would tell you. They would get so accurate lords would praise them and hire them to defend their castles, but one day, people forged better armors, and while they were accurate, they couldn't kill the carapaced men with their measly arrows. They could save others from mailled soldiers, but not themselves against plated warriors. Ironic."
-"It is possible to get this power ?"
-"Not from weak archers."
They finally arrived in the castle, as one of the armies was closing in. After 8 hours of march, they finally stopped, and set a camp a couple hundred meters away from the castle. Algarn was on watch duty that night, and saw torches lit one after another in the darkness, and sounded the alarm. He grabbed his bow in a hurry, as the defenders gathered in the courtyard and crossbowmen reached the wall. The attackers closed in with ladders, and a siege tower, and suddently, arrows came and decimated the crossbowmen. Algarn peeked through a gap, and saw his targets : monstruous men wearing plates and kuyaks, grey shields and banners, wielding scimitars and steel picks. He opened fired and couldn't take the soldiers out by firing in their torso, because of how well protected they were. He gave up, and tried to locate the archers, and checked the upper level of that siege tower. He saw nomadic archers with curved bows, decimating the garrison of the castle. As he readied to fire, one of these archers realized and shot first. The last thing Algarn saw that night was a siege tower crowded with bowmen. The bodkin arrow hit him in the head, but miraculously bounced off his skull.
When he woke up, the siege was lost. He was one of the rare survivors, and was found lying among the bodies of dozens of men, bearing a massive scar on his head. He was taken prisonner, and put into the dungeon's cages. The door opened, and the guard stepped aside for a familar face to appear : that archer he saw last night. His name was Bagge, and said that he was too young to die in such a way. He set Algarn free, and asked him to come see him when he would be done treating his wound.
Hours later that day, he came to his tent, and asked Bagge the reasons behind his liberation.
-"I've seen many bloodbaths, I've seen so many young men who died for what they thought was right, what do you fight for, archer ? Wait, no, first tell me your name to begin with."
-"My name is Algarn, and I am a mercenary, that should tell you enough."
-"So you aren't buying any of that honor and glory in death bullshit ? Well, that's unexpected. But I'm pleased to see there are some people who aren't going to judge me for what I do because they don't fight for anything else but themselves. And when it comes about the reasons of your liberation, I will confess something to you, young man : either let your enemies leave free so they learn a lesson and don't come back, or kill all of them. I am not an evil man, therefore I am chosing to let you go freely."
- "What of my equipment ?"
- "I fear that the only thing left of your former equipment is your bow, because my men took the rest as spoils of war."
Algarn left the castle, with a mere tunic, and found a dead eastern archer in the pit of the castle, probably killed during the attack. He took his armor off, it was some well-crafted mail, with a red cloak attached to it. He also found a large knife next to the body, as well as a veiled helmet, which would come in handy now that his face had been scarred.
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loginHe rode back to the town of Dhirim, where he asked where to find his band of mercenaries, and he learned that his fellow mercenaries were beaten by the hordes, and fell back to Narra. While he was on his way to reunite with the others and to announce Tueten the castle had fallen, the learned that the Grey Order was declared victorious after all the lands from the Holy Roman Empire fell.
When he reached Narra, he went straight to the tavern to see his leader drinking and having fun with the others, yet as soon as they noticed him, everyone went quiet over his newly aquired armor, and above all else, his scar. He told Tueten his story, and was accepted as a soldier in the company. Then, for years, Algarn worked with the company, fighting bandits for meagre rewards, killing rogue knights and bringing their heads to the unsatisfied lords, but also trying to turn himself into a stronger man. He wanted to one day, be able to take on his revenge on these men of metal and on these archers from the East.
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