Gardibhaal d'Arrth, Commander of the Eagle Banner Company
Gardibhaal Arrth grew up as part of a military family in the southern Heartlands. He would later move on to Rafalquor were he would establish himself as a capable leader of men and warrior working as a mercenary.
In 427 YoU he would take over the command of a then small mercenary company known as the Eagle Banner. While the company had a solid core he took it to the next level by hiring morskani and looking for priest of Ylfgaar to increase the men's moral and sense of purpose. Over the next decade the company became the prime example of a well drilled military force and grew steadily in numbers until boasting up to 300 soldiers.
The Eagle Banner became known as a stoic and disciplined troop capable of offering services from simply security to a fully capable infantry battle force used to secure the frontier of Rafalquor. Highly trusted many merchants often hired small bands of the newly organised army to protect caravans travelling between Rafalquor and Eversted. Often payments travelling long distances would be accompanied by members of the Eagle Banner as they proved to be reliable and trustworthy.
With the raise in prestige of the mercenary company also came the raise of their leader, who in 432 YoU was promoted to a noble of Rafalquor.
In 441 YoU newly declared lord Baellinger of Elandirill hired a small security detachment for his diplomatic journies. He also made inqueries to hire a significant force to reclaim his land if need be. Despite all information available about the self proclaimed dutchess of Elandirill Alvery Vestergaard and her companions pointing towards a serious challenge, Gardibhaal d'Arrth wasn't one to shy away from danger. Trusting in his men's capabilities and Baellinger's promise of securing a large army to quickly take hold of the ursurped town, Gardibhaal accepted the contract.
In late summer of 442 YoU it became evident that there was no peaceful solution to be had with the dutchess forcing Baellinger assemble his army east of Eversted. Gardibhaal d'Arrth was seen by most of the gathered officers and warriors as the most influential advisor for the lord of Elandirill. His men became the personal guard for the lord, but also overlooked and secured the provision carts of the army. Gardibhaal's expectations for discipline were enforced as much as possible also on other troops that joined the army, though the badly trained militia and arrogant knights of the Realm were still hard to control and rely upon.
The campaign soon became a disaster even though at first it seemed to go well as no resistence was meet for five days after the army moved west from Xander's Market into the territory of Elandirill. From the fifth night on the raids and ambushes started. Losing a third of his men as well as nearily all the supplies for the army in that night Garrdibhaal realized how hard the fight would actually be. He suggested to retreat and regroup, but Fildarel, the elven advisor of lord Baellinger warned against the idea of expecting the untrained and undisciplined troops to be better prepared on the second attempt. Thus Gardibhaal agreed to push on despite supplies running low.
While the next day was calm it made his woes larger. Overconfidence started to spread through the army once more and only his own company maintained discipline. Contrary to that the three dozen knights that joined Baellinger would charge some wood elves skirmisher that were clearly only provoking them to do exactly that. The commander of the Eagle Banner wasn't sure if he should feel relief that none of them returned after chasing the enemy into the hills, but he also knew that their enemy was actually gaining the upper hand.
With another nightly raid killing all the elves in Baellingers force tensions kept growing and nights became scary as the foe was capable to see them while their vision was impared. Lack of sleep and provisions exhausted the army when after ten days on the road they finally reached the battlefield.
Hoping in their numbers being sufficient to overcome the roughly 150 defenders of Elandirill, Gardibhaal devised a plan to use the remaining 700 warriors in three lines. He knew that the defenders would not sit and wait as Baellinger's army had more ranged forces, so he hoped to bled the clansmen and elves out as they attempted to break the lines. Militia men were the first, followed by two blocks of veterans from the war against the Hiynduril Forest elves. The two blocks were keeping an opening in the middle where the clansmen were tempted to charge through to meet the third and final line of Eagle Banner mercenaries who took up a position on a hill protecting Baellinger.
Contrary to other officers Gardibhaal d'Arrth wasn't surprised by the ferocity and magical attacks of their enemies. He expect their exhausted forces to be overwhelmed or even to break. He still relied upon the discipline of his soldiers to withstand the incoming attempt to get Baellinger and thus buy enough time for the remaining forces to surround Alvery's troops and slowly grind them down through sheer numbers.
As a faithful of Ylfgaar Gardibhaal welcomed the challenge of battle even as the enemy's champions charged the hill. Lighting stirkes and heavy clad clan warriors threatend the right flank, while skirmishing lighter clans warriors challenged the left. The main attack though was lead by Alvery's companions. From his intel he recognized what must have been Dorn Brashard weapon master of the dutchy and Keijo Artanis, Alvery's half brother who was sought as traitor to the Realm for fighting previously for the Hiynduril elves. Proving their reputation to be true both cut through his soldiers, yet the third companion he couldn't regonise for he only saw him briefly before a sphere of pure black surrounded the warrior who then rushed into Gardibhaal's guard engulfing them in the darkest night. Not able to see his enemies the commander only withstood the incoming attacks due to his magical armor.
His hopes to slow down the enemy long enough were quickly destroyed as bare moments after the fight for the hill began he heard Baellinger painful scream, followed by panicked shouting of men set to protect him. Gardibhaal realized that Alvery had sneaked through the lines and had killed the lord right admist his protective detail. The battle was lost.
Knowing that the army would break at any moment commander d'Arrth offered to surrounder and retreat his surviving company from the battle for the promise of safety from the dutchess. While she denied him the opportunity to also take the baggage carts that contained the gold for the armies mercenaries, she did grant him save passage. Thankful he retreated his company from the battle leaving the remainder of lord Baellinger's forces to be defeated.
The retreat though came at a high cost. Nearly all of his men perished due to having no supplies left. Those that went venturing off the road to find food ignored his warning of undead roaming the lands of Elandirill and were never seen again. Some lost hope and rather returned to Elandirill to surrender to captivity. Only two of his soldiers were strong enough to reach Xander's Market with him, utterly exhausted. Lord Baellinger's campaign to reclaim Elandirill was a costly lesson for Gardibhaal but he himself rejoiced the memory of a worthy battle and incredible feat of beating death on his retreat. He also gained a lot of respect for the champions of Elandirill, promising himself to never underestimate them again.
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