Germanic

Closely related to the Franks, the Germanic peoples and the Frankish peoples both started off speaking different dialects of German on the east side of the Rhine River. The Franks were a loose coalition of Germanic tribes who moved west across the Rhine and settled in Gaul. They fought for and against the Roman Army at different times, adopted many Roman military traditions and governmental traditions, and adopted Latin as their official language. The Germanic peoples are those who stayed on the east side of the Rhine until the fall of Rome. Genetically they are almost identical to the Franks but they kept the German language and retained most of their Germanic customs. Under Charlemagne, the Franks conquered most of modern France and Germany and imposed the Frankish language, court systems, and laws on the Germans. During the time of the Order (almost 150 years after Charlemagne), the Franks are still the dominant group but Charlemagne's Frankish Empire is already splitting into two kingdoms that are divided by language and culture. West Francia will become the heart of modern France and East Francia is already starting to be called Germania in some places. Germania (East Francia) is on the rise under Otto I and will soon become the dominant force in central Europe (later it will be called the Holy Roman Empire). Latin (or the Frankish version of Latin) is still the legal and governmental language in East Francia (Germania) but the large majority of people speak German as their native language. Because the Centurions help to protect all of central Europe, all Centurions speak Frankish (the official language of the order), and most speak German. (Regionally, some Centurions also speak Italian or Spanish, though both of these languages are still dialect versions of Latin).

This picture represents German warriors as they would have appeared in the 5th century A.D around the fall of Rome. Helms with wings and horns were not worn into battle because a blow to the horn could easily knock the helm off of the head. Ornamental helms were sometimes worn during ceremonies and were frequently used for tournaments in the late Middle Ages to make it easier to identify individual knights during the competitions.

Parent ethnicities