Brotherhood of Bronze
The Brotherhood of Bronze is a chivalric military order founded in 294 S.E. and a significant military and political presence in the Pilgrim States. They began as a charity designed to help guide pilgrims to the Mashiq from Auloa and were based in the Falerian city of Bellacre. They later rallied around Lady Alysaria the Lioness and participated in the First Pilgrim War. Following the war, they were officially recognized by the Kingdom of Jeharoa as a knightly order and tasked with overseeing the defenses of the Kingdom, the Pilgrim people, and the greater alliance of the Pilgrim States. Since the end of the First Pilgrim War, they have been the leading military faction within the Mashiq and the favored order of the Pilgrim elite in Jeharoa.
Structure
The Brotherhood of Bronze is led by the Lord Commander and a group of senior captains and generals beneath him. They are a knightly order, with knights and mounted men making up the majority of their forces and petty recruits and squires acting as support staff. The order also includes a number of priests of Ezrahil, who preside over services before battles, use divination to determine the actions of the enemy, and act as medics during combat.
Public Agenda
The public agenda of the Brotherhood of Bronze is to safe guard the passage of Auloan Pilgrims to the Mashiq and the Pilgrim States. The Brotherhood has other tasks that have been assigned to it, such as maintaining the security of the region, but this first duty supersedes all others. To that end, the thought process of the Brotherhood's leadership has been that in order to secure safety for those Auloans traveling to the Mashiq, they must therefore serve as the vanguard of the Pilgrim States. To this end, they have become the elite military unit in charge of the defenses of the Pilgrim States and of the capital of those states, the Holy City of Jeharoa.
Assets
The Brotherhood of Bronze has several castles and outposts in the Mashiq that are under their direct control. In the Holy City of Jeharoa, they are based out of a villa called the Bronze Barracks, while their international headquarters is located a few hundred kilometers south at the castle of Migdalmark.
History
The Brotherhood of Bronze was founded in 294 S.E. as a chivalric order that would help guide faithful followers of the Heavenly Council to the holy sites of the Heavenly Codex located across the Sea of Brassin the Mashiq. At this time, pilgrimage to the Mashiq was overseen by the Qartagonians, a people that did not universally embrace the teachings and gods of the Heavenly Council. Many Auloans felt that they allowed non-dragonborn travelers to the Mashiq to be ambushed by pirates or bandits or even that the Qartagonian Emirates themselves preyed upon Auloans.
In 306 S.E., a group of young nobles began assembling a force of adventurers, mercenaries, and pilgrims together with the hopes of taking on the weakened Qartagonian Emirates and establishing their own kingdoms and fortunes in Nioa. One of these nobles was Lady Alysaria the Lioness, a young noblewoman who was actually the niece of the founder of the Brotherhood of Bronze. The Brotherhood pledged themselves to Lady Alysaria's and became her personal guard and company of elite soldiers. They also swore themselves to a particular deity, the Truth Deliverant and Goddess of War, Ezrahil. The Brotherhood then joined the First Pilgrim War participating in many famous battles and winning many victorious whilst being led by their fearless Lady Alysaria.
Eventually, the war came to an end in 311-312 S.E. and the newly crowned Queen of Jeharoa, Queen Alysaria I, had all the members of the Brotherhood knighted and gave them a new charter and headquarters in the captured castle of Migdalmark. They would continue to oversee the safe passage of Pilgrims from Auloa as well as be in charge of the Kingdom's customs houses and defense initiatives. This gave the Brotherhood a great deal of credibility and capital and it became clear that they were now the dominant political and military force in the region, with the express backing of the Queen of Jeharoa and without any of the duties normally assigned to a professional army. They continued to carry out campaigns against the Qartagonians, even planning a second expedition into the Marrow Desert to take the city of Qartago itself. However, they also had to continue to guide pilgrims to the Mashiq, a still dangerous task, though now a far more lucrative one.
Today, the Brotherhood remains a substantial force in the Mashiq and the public face of the Pilgrim States's military and diplomatic forces. However, their public confidence in the current leadership of Queen Theodosia I appears to be shaking, and as they chafe under her concerns, they have become more bold in their provocations of the newly restrengthened Qartagonian Emirates.
The Lioness Wills It
Founding Date
294 S.E.
Type
Military, Knightly Order
Alternative Names
The Bronze Brothers; The Lionmen
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Demonym
Brothers (of Bronze)
Leader
Deities
Location
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Comments