Letter from Mendicant Anhangar (3 hours, 10 minutes ago)
Fallen King of Everguard, Karibash ka Habb, Duke of the Dark Mountains, Margrave of the Shrine of Seeklander, Marshal of the Twilight Wardens;
Timidity is the insidious enemy of prowess, and what is fear, but an internal emotional manifestations of timidity? Those who pursue prowess naturally do not fear competition of arms and soldiery, but revel in the glory and majesty only found in proving your adroit worth. You do not fear us because you recognise this truth as a Man-At-Arms.
You are not impressed? Very well, but I have fought in the north and I found the soldiery in the north to be lacking in prowess. The saxons held themselves superior, but I have bested them not by sheer weight of numbers as you did, but through valour and superior craft in the art of war. The Astrumese hold yourself superior in martial matters but you in turn were bested by the Averothoi who combined the warriors of Thulsoma with the soldiery, chivalry and campaigning prowess of Averoth to form a force unbeaten in the field of battle. One that destroyed Astrumese pride and chivalry so concisely on the fields of Ygg d'Razhuul that you would never again face Averoth alone, but only with the allied armies of the Church. My Chevaliers have never known such defeat and humiliation as you have, we have never been proven inferior in battle or indeed in war. You declare that you derive your strengths as a knight from a God of war, Aurvandil however derives it's strengths in martial combat through our own hard fought and hard won prowess, even were you to display yourself superior then your victory would be sullied through having attained such prowess, your key to victory, through a means that are not your own. What pride can you have, as a knight, if your skill is granted to you by a higher power rather than having been forged by your own virtue and ardour? A knight who owes his success only to what has been given to him, and not what he has duly earned can never hold himself with the same respect or honour that he would to a knight who forged themselves through virtue of their own, self given prowess. A man who has been given prowess, can never believe himself to be equal or superior to a knight of lesser prowess who has earned that prowess through labour and exertion in the martial arts.
What can I say to a people who profess themselves to be little more than mercenaries and warriors? We are Chevaliers, were you are mercenaries, our highest virtue is our honour, your highest virtue is your price in battle, our codes of behaviour dictated by our honour, your behaviour dictated by whatever you are paid to do. You are warriors barbarous wielders of the sword and lance, when we are knights, you are mere combatants by your own skill with the sword and lance, whilst we are soldiers by our valour and chivalry, such is the vast gulf between those who are mere men swinging a sword, and those who are pursuing honour and prowess as the making of a man.
Men of the sword and lance should not fear one another, but rather hold mutual admiration and respect, and in turn honour the prowess of their opponent. That is why you do not fear us, for fear is unbecoming for a man of prowess and it is unbecoming of one who undertakes a life in pursuit of its attainment.
Mendicant Anhangar
High Sovereign of Aurvandil
Duke of Candiels
Margrave of Candiels
Letter from Karibash ka Habb (just sent)
(Personal message to Mendicant Anhangar)
High Sovereign Mendicant of the Commonwealth of Aurvandil,
You seem to have a false image of my person. Though I am an old noble of Astrum, I am a Toren man. Though my heart lies with Astrum, still my heart lies with my own people. I did not best the Saxons through superior forces. I bested them through fear. When they learned of my skills, they laughed. They told me I was wrong. And when I said the fables go that my unbreakable shield arm was given to me by Tor, they laughed and said that I was the son of a fallen god, and that their Holy Mother Haruka would prove me wrong. They never did. My shield arm never broke. Instead the walls of Valkyrja which I helped build were broken and shattered as were the Saxon people. Astrum was indeed bested by the Averothians, leaders and strategists of their joint army. But there is a problem with that statement.
Averoth was a Toren land. Those were Toren who fought proudly for their lords. And though there were Toren in Astrum who fought against their brothers, it is still good for only the powerful survived. Yes, Saxons were there, but the Toren leaders in Averoth helped make their armies strong.
Your Chevaliers have never known defeat? How are they warriors? One may pride himself on his learned skill and ability. Swordsmanship, marksmanship, strategy. These are not the traits of a true warrior, but merely a skilled fighter. I do not derive my strengths as a fighter from Tor. Tor is dead. Has been for many years now. My skills and strength were taught to me, as all Toren, by other Toren. We are constantly improving, training, fighting. No boy entered battle without a thorough education in both one and two handed swordsmanship, archery, axe wielding, spear work, shield work, and unarmed combat. No boy left a military academy in the Stronghold without all those and further education in tactics, logistics, and grand strategy. And afterwards we would apprentice under elders to learn advanced skills and then hone those skills in battle. So my pride in my abilities is well deserved, for it is through my own hard work and perseverance and ability to survive 60 years of war that I am still here.
So no, my skill wasn't given to me by Tor. That is the gift of the Toren people. What Tor once gave us, and what the Stars give us today, is will. By the will of the Stars I cannot fall. And that is what makes me superior to your greatest Chevalier. You say you have not known defeat? Why, the Toren have known defeat. Be it against foreign peoples or our own brothers, we have all seen defeat. But when the Chevalier sees defeat, that is when it shall be shown they are inferior. When a single Chevalier without his brothers around him is met with a superior enemy force, we shall know who is more powerful. He will be scared. He will be afraid of what is to come and his mind will be clouded and he will die. That does not happen to a Toren man. Where the Chevalier will fight only what they can win, the Toren will persevere. Where the Chevalier will deem it suicide, the Toren will find glory. Where the Chevalier seeks victory, the Toren seeks carnage, bloodshed, and terror. I do not know which of our peoples are more skilled in battle, but I know the Chevaliers would never last in the South-East. Your great skills with a blade will not serve you well if tears stream down your face after receiving a mortal wound. You do not know defeat because you are scared. And when faced with defeat a Chevalier will run while the Toren will see down his foe until the Stars are pleased. Your armies may march in step, but when a Toren man meets a Chevalier the Toren will always win.
You call us mercenaries and sellswords. Yes, we are. When we could have, as a people, laid down and become gentle farmers we said no. We peddled the greatest skill we have. Your virtues are honour, valour, and chivalry. You go into battle to prove such. We do not have virtues. We fight because it is our way of life. You say we are men swinging a sword while you are Chevaliers. I say you are children seeking ideals while we are the thing that you fear at night.
You say men of the sword should hold mutual respect. Please tell me when the Chevalier are men.
Karibash ka Habb
Duke of the Dark Mountains
Margrave of Shrine of Seeklander
