SlothfulChronicler

In the year 556 of the Runtallian Calendar, a war broke out in the eastern frontier of the Kingdom of Runtallia between the eastern overlord, Duke Gaverone Walruse of Regalia, and the barbarian chief-thane known as Dariun Drunzelle of the Shiradonii tribe, one of the Four Great Tribes of Norsmund, a nation that borders the Kingdom, deemed to be the land of brutes and savages. As the Duke of Regalia marches with his army to defend the disputed land of Kurlon, the barbarians have taken such an opportune moment to launch another incursion near the eastern border of Regalia near the town of Flendle, with the intention of dividing his army. However, despite accepting the town and the surrounding local lords' territories as lost cause in the war in favor of Kurlon– a newly discovered territory bountiful with veins of iron and other minerals– the Duke tasks his third son, Lord Velmund Walruse, along with his retinue, the Order of the Raven Knights, to fend off the attack. 

Now faced with the plight of defending the border town against a 5,000-strong Norsmundi army with his few yet skilled knights, along with an ill-equipped and undermanned militia, Lord Velmund has no choice but to fulfill his duty as a noble, relying upon his wits and his few but capable retainers to survive his first battle at the tender age of sixteen summers and winters. Contrary to his timid, youthful, and innocent appearance, however, lies his sly and scheming nature, evident by his fondness of dark magical arts specializing in illusion spells. Nevertheless, he himself has no idea of what he is capable of, and what he is destined to become.

Meanwhile, further east at the frontier with Norsmund, a plot hatches to ensnare the Duke within the clutches of his treacherous vassals. Not only his life is threatened by these schemes, but his sons Theo and Varus as well. With this scheme put into motion, the Duke and Velmund's siblings, Varus and Theo, would taste fate's twisted humor, with the former meeting his demise in a blaze of glory amidst the field of battle, and the latter two vanishing in incidents shrouded by mysteries. With the death of the patriarch of Regalia and his heirs' disappearance, the young lord who was initially third in line for the succession of the ducal seat became its temporary occupant. And thus, the tale of him and his court begins…

CHAPTER RELEASE:

January 1st at 12:00 UTC

Lord Raven's Court

<p>The City Watch of Regalia is an independent military organization from the Regalian Standing Army, operating exclusively behind the walls of the city as the sole law-enforcement unit with the duty of peacekeeping. The City Watch is comprised of 1,000 professionally-trained guardsmen, responsible for solving crimes, apprehending criminals and settling minor disputes among the peasantry, freeholding commoner class or otherwise referred to as the yeomanry, and the lower nobility. The group is also employed to man the watch towers, to collect tolls at the gates, to patrol the city's immediate vicinity, and can act as a local defense force for sieges, riots or insurrections against the city. During the event known as the 'Regalian Uprising' on the autumn of the year 547, the City Watch played a significant role to quell the rebellion upon the absence of reinforcements from the standing army, although at the cost of half of its original numbers at the time. Since then, the Duke has decreed the guardsmen to be well-versed in urban warfare and non-lethal subjugation. </p>

<p>Similar to the Regalian Standing Army, the men of the City Watch are issued standard armaments comprised of a mail paired with gambeson worn underneath it, a kettle hat and coif (or gorget for men-at-arms), a pair of leather-based greaves, iron gauntlets, and pauldron for armor; a halberd as main weapon; and arming sword, shortsword or daggers for sidearm, in addition of a club for non-lethal apprehension. Due to the factional agreement among the eastern lords on an embargo of arms trade between Estveine and the neighboring regional and foreign territories in order to regulate the infighting among the nobility, the Duke of Regalia– the eastern overlord and leader of the established Estveine Faction– obtained sole monopoly over weapons and armors in the east, owing it to the fact that Regalia has two large iron mines, not accounting the ones from Kurlon. Hence, the mail and helmet are two common pieces of armor used by almost every men-at-arms of Estveine, also partly due to them being material-cheap and effective, distinguishable only from the crest of the noble house owning the army or garrison, which is engraved upon a surcoat, tabard, tunic, gambeson or other forms of military uniform.</p>

Information for Public Disclosure: The City Watch