IMPORTANT BRETONNIAN PEOPLE
Bretonnia has a rich and diverse set of heroes, villians and important characters. Some are still living and continue to grace battlefields across the Old World, others now inhabit the minds of Bretonnians as legends, for they passed from this world long ago. From the great founder of Bretonnia, Gilles le Breton, to the mysterious Green Knight to the dark-hearted wretch named Maldred, Bretonnia has produced some of the foulest warriors of darkness and some of the most shining examples of good.
Louen Leoncour, King Of Bretonnia:
The son of the despotic Sun King is a man of far greater moral than his father. Where his father was weak-willed, decadent and honourless, Louen Leoncour is strong, wise and knows the true meaning of honour.
Riding upon his great Hippogriff, Louen Leoncour is known as "The Lionhearted", inspiring great acts of courage amongst his loyal and bringing destruction and doom upon the heads of his enemies. The great king is a fine general and skilled warrior, but is also honourable, trustworthy and, if you make an enemy of him, restless in his pursuit of those who would bring suffering to his kingdom.
Above all else, Louen is a Knight, he abides by the laws of chivalry that all knights, wether Knight Errant or Paladin, must follow or face dishonour. Louen Leoncour is also skilled in the arts of commerce, justice, diplomacy, swordsmanship, equestrian skill and many other abilities that a ruler of a great realm such as Bretonnia must possess.
Gilles Le Breton, Founder Of Bretonnia:
Gilles Le Breton shaped Bretonnia from a warring nation of tribes and petty rulers into a unified, powerful realm. Through bringing the many tribes together under his banner, the great Gilles Le Breton gave Bretonnians hope against the Orcs who were pillaging, kidnapping and destroying where and when the foul Greenskins wanted to (Which was everywhere and always).
Also, of quite mentionable note, Gilles Le Breton was the first Knight of Bretonnia because he was the first to ever look upon the enchanting beauty of the Lady Of The Lake and one of the few to have the blessed lady talk to him. This sighting started the religeon of the Lady that is now the dominant and major religeon in Bretonnia.
The Orcs were not expelled from Bretonnia for a very, very long time after the death of this great hero, but he set in motion the nation of Bretonnia, the worship of the Lady and the eventual removal of the Orcish menace from our fair lands. Even the great Empire cannot claim to have its lands free of Orcs, but we can.
Maldred, Duke of Moussilon:
Maldred's story began when, in 2290 IC, King Jules the Just was slain in battle. With no male heir and only a daughter of royal birth left alive, the new king would be chosen if he completed a quest set by the daughter of the late King Jules .
Through lies and deceit, the foul Maldred managed to gain the throne by going on the Grail Quest and returning within months. Maldred returned with a golden chalice which was obviously magical, he claimed it to be the Grail, given to him by the holy Lady Of The Lake! The only person who could tell if it was the real Grail or not was the sorceress Morgaine, and she had disappeared in mysterious circumstances shortly before Maldred's return.
Claiming the throne for himself with the Grail, it looked as if the lying Maldred was going to rule the lands of Bretonnia with an iron-fisted and corrupt rule. The other Grail Knights, however, knew the Grail Maldred had brought back with him to be false, but could not prove their claims or find the missing Morgaine. The land was saved by mistake though, when a Questing Knight named Gaston de Geste discovered the prison Morgaine was held in and set her free.
Maldred's Grail was proven to be false when the Grail Knights, Gaston and Morgaine used magic to show the deceit of the false chalice. Maldred was then removed from power but managed to return to his city of Moussilon with Malfleur, the evil sorceress whom had aided his attempts at the throne and subdued Morgaine with foul magics. Both Maldred and Malfleur were stripped of their honour and Gaston was crowned as the new king.
The city of Moussilon beseiged by the new king Gaston's loyal knights for three years before the black city fell, not to the noble lances of knights though, but to the foul fate of the plague known as the Red Pox. The city was abandoned and evil spirits, vampires and Chaos forces are now rumoured to inhabit its dank, blood-stained streets.
The Green Knight:
The Green Knight is the stuff of legends, a valourous knight whom even the grim touch of death cannot stop. Stories tell of how even the removal of this shining example of glory's head will not slow his rightous fury, nor stay his blade that brings a quick and justified end to the unrightous.
The Green Knight is one of the wonders of Bretonnia, and he inspires awe and fear in equal measure amongst the enemy. Not many people know the origins of the Green Knight or who exactly he is, or why he is gifted with the power to withstand death itself. Wether it be a gift, a curse or the result of some magic spell gone awry, the unique power that the Green Knight possesses will not allow him to leave this world as of yet.
Beyond his combat prowess and magical or otherwise powers, there are few other things known about him. Besides that he wears armour that is coloured a deep-sea green, hence his name, and that he unquestionably fights on the side of good.
Repanse de Lyonesse:
Repanse was but a seventeen year old sheperdess, but her fate was to save Bretonnia. Dark days dawned on our fair land as a mighty Chaos army arrived on our shores on black, twisted boats. The invaders came from beyond the Sea Of Claws, and were led by a mighty Chaos Lord, who butchered all that he faced.
Louis The Brave led an army of Bretonnian's finest Knights to battle with the horde, but the gods of Chaos are powerful and bestow great might to their followers. The great king Louis was slain and his army all but destroyed, Chaos reined supreme as villages and citys were razed, inhabitants butchered and the great city of Couronne was beseiged by the dread forces of Chaos. Brave knights were massacred by unstoppable odds around the city as they sold their lives protecting the villages that surrounded Couronne.
All was not lost however. Repanse was walked amongst the ruins of a destroyed town when a celestial figure appeared before her, it was none other than the Lady Of The Lake. "Repanse, Repanse, rid my land of these foul foes, for they do offend me with their presence!" said the Lady Of The Lake, before vanishing into thin air. Repanse, fueled by her vision, donned a slain knight's armour, and took a scared warhorse that had somehow escaped the slaughter as her mount. She also took a fine sword from the destroyed Grail Chapel and took a tapestry from the rubble, she fastened the tapestry to a lance she had found and rode towards the great horde of Chaos.
The Knights who had fled battles or somehow survived the destruction of towns were aimlessly wandering the countryside, these disheartened Knights rallied to her banner, vowing to follow this damsel to death or glory! They saved many towns from destruction, and many smaller forces of Chaos were crushed under the hooves of this sheperdess and her force of mighty Knights.
The Chaos horde was finally cast out of Bretonnia when Repanse de Lyonesse and her Knights cut through the rear of the horde mere moments before the gates of Couronne were to fall to the enemy. Finally, Repanse came face-to-face with her adversary, he was at least twice the size of a man and weilded a massive Chaos-blade, swirling and alive armour covered his body, except for his head, which was a mutating skull covered with mouths and eyes. The Chaos Lord raised his mighty weapon above his head but was momentarily stunned by Repanse's radiant aura, giving the brave young woman time to behead him! The horde of Chaos fled and was destroyed by victorious Knights.
Louis the Young, heir to the throne but too young to claim it as of yet. Bestowed the dutchy of Lyonesse and full Knighthood upon the young Repanse. She rules her dutchy to this day.
Baron Odo d' Outremer:
Odo was one of the many Knights who went to war with the evil Saltan Jaffar. Odo was amongst the Knights to rout Jaffar's forces in Estalia and pursue them through the desert lands back to Araby, the homeland of the foul Saltan. Odo never tired in his pursuit of the enemy, finding them, challenging them and defeating them not matter where they hid. Odo never faltered despite the merciless sun, persistant thirst and various other troubles in the desert lands.
The valourous Odo respected courage and honour in combat and although many of his foes did not care for either, one opponent he met showed both in high quantity. A warrior named Suliman met him on the open battlefield and both men dueled for many hours, neither using dirty tricks, neither fleeing from the field of combat. Odo eventually bested Suliman but was so impressed by Suliman's skill and courage, he let the saracen live. Suliman hated the Jaffar anyway and the two men became firm friends. When Odo returned home, Suliman followed as a brother-at-arms and a respected warrior.
Roland le Marechal:
Roland is the defender of the Marches Of Couronne which mark the border between Bretonnian, Marienburg and the Empire. The land, whilst rightfully the Bretonnian's property, is disputed by both the people of Marienburg and the Empire, many armys have battled on and for this land. So far though, Roland has been successful in the land's defense. Roland's lands are covered in forest and untamed wildlands.
The Marechal is a wise tactition and has won many battles, in his time he has even expanded Bretonnia's borders through force-of-arms. The Marechal is always at the forefront of the battle, leading his retinue of Knights the glorious victory after glorious victory. Although his lands are small, too small even to be called a duchy, his deeds help protect Bretonnia from Orcs, Empire invaders and worse.
Tancred, Duc de Quenelles:
Tancred is the Duke of Quenelles and a famous general. He led his army to victory at the battle of La Maisontall where the evil lichemaster Heinrich Kemmler was defeated. The necromancer escaped however, much to Tancred's anger. The hateful Kemmler hides amonsgt the Grey Mountains, plotting the downfall of humanity and scheming about evil deeds.
Tancred is noted for his persistance, he vowed long ago to hunt down the lichemaster and destroy the necromancer and his foul followers of decay once and for all. To aid Tancred in his brave quest, King Louen Leoncour gifted Tancred with many holy relics and weapons that are potent against the Undead.
Bertrand The Brigand, Gui le Gros and Hugo le Petit:
Bertrand is a legend amongst the peasant folk of Bretonnian and amongst the more just and noble dukes and lords of Bretonnia too. Tales say that Bertrand was a poor peasant who came from the lands of Bergerac. Like all of the tales of him however, wether it is true or not is unknown.
Gui le Gros and Hugo le Petit are Bertrand's friends. Gui le Gros carries a tankard of the finest wine (given to them by thankful lords or taken from decadent ones) to boost the spirits of the men and Hugo is always there to help out Bertrand in times of need.
The tale, as told by the peasantry of Bergerac, goes like so. Bergerac was a small feudal domian in the forested heart of Bretonnia near the Massif Orcal. All was well in Bergerac until the baron went of to complete the Grail Quest, he never came back, but that was quite a long time ago. While the baron was away, Orcs raided and destroyed the unprotected lands that he left behind, things looked grim for the poor people of Bergerac.
Bretonnian custom shows that the baroness should have sent out her son to earn his spurs as a Knight Errant by driving the Orcs from his father's lands. Or offer her daughter's hand in marrige to another man who was willing to do it in the son's place. The baron's son was a cruel coward who hid inside his castle and cared not for the common folk. Indeed, he was known as a dark hearted man who hated the common man.
A hero was to emerge however, as the ploughman Bertrand was known as a great shot with the bow and a man with a lion's heart. It was even rumoured that the baron's daughter loved Bertrand, but she was locked within a tower by her own mother and brother, who did not want their sister or daughter living with the commoners.
While the baroness and her son spent their money on fine wines, art works and sumptuous goods for themselves. The peasants were left to fend for themselves. Luckily for them, Bertrand was given leadership of the community and he organised archery practice everyday for every able bodied man. He also made sure that watchmen were posted at every avenue of possible Orcish attack, his leadership was so great that he even managed to train and equip the peasants so that they were able to throw back the Orcish attacks for good!
Now that the Orcish menace was gone, the baroness and her son saw a chance to increase their wealth. They raised taxes and tithes so that all of the surplus that had been gained by the removal of the Orcish menace was now spent on the whims of the baroness and her son! Rumours spread that the old baron had returned but died of poison that the greedy baroness had slipped into his food. Also, tales of how she was a descendant of the dark lord Maldred or one of the other lords of Mousillon, city of lost souls were told far and wide. She also shunned the Grail Chapel and allowed it to fall into ruin. Certainly these were signs of a decadent and corrupt noble.
Fate was cruel to the evil nobles though, as during some dark Chaos ritual that they performed for some grim reason something went wrong. A one-eyed Daemon with a thirst of blood was summoned and devoured the baroness and her son, and ruined the castle in a blood-fueled rage. It may have been the end for Bergerac's people if not for Bertrand, who saved his love, the baroness's daughter, by shooting the Daemon in the eye before it devoured her, causing the creature to drop her, Hugo caught her and took her out of harms way. Bertrand then killed the Daemon with many flaming arrows and the beast was killed inside the burning castle.
Bergerac had no castle, no ruler now and thus Bertrand led the peasants and his new wife (Bertrand and the baroness's daughter got married!) through the Bretonnian countryside. Now, Bertrand and his fellows travel around Bretonnia, righting wrongs and sticking up for the common man. Bertrand helps good lords fight off evils, the only pay he expects is a barrel of fine wine for Gui le Gros and a year of no taxes for the peasantry of the area!
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