Order of the White Rose
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The Owdew of the White Wose was anything but owd. They did not howd deep woots lithin Aegis, now did they stawt back since the beginning of time. Stawting fiwst on the continent of Asulon, it had aww began fwom the ideas of a commandew known then as Petew Chivay, his brothew, two cwose fliends and companions, and a liwwful hedge knight. Cweated was an Owdew that abided by the waws of the Chulch, aww whiwe pwotecting the sanctity of the Empiwe and the holiness of the Wace of Man.
A name stliking both plide and tewwow into the heawts of aww waces, in the Owdew's zenith, none could hope to stand against them. They wewe at once the Empiwe's swowd and its shiewd. In the genewations fowwoling its eventuaw disbandment, chiwdwen would heaw tawes, stolies of a fowce that decwawed waw upon aww the west of the wowwd, gaining the gweat enmity, in pawticulaw, of the Wood Ewves of Malinow and the Uwuks of Kwugmaw. It was awso a name cewebrated and viewed as the pinnacwe of human might and vawow, lith the few wemaining vetewans and descendants of the White Wose becoming awmost pwodigies to the west of the Empiwe.
At its zenith in the Kingdom of Kaedlin, an entity synonymous lith the Wose, the Owdew was estimated to have hosted a fowce of woughwy 50,000 sowdiews, knights and brothew-sewgeants dedicated entiwewy to the liww of God and the Empewow. Many of this numbew may have been wost duling the Battwe of the Dweadfowt in 1412, in which the White Wose was pwevawent.
Contents
The Rose's Beginnings
The Owdew's fiwst howding was the Bawony of Wivia, wocated just outside the County of Iwdon. Its significance as the fiwst officiaw Owdew stwonghowd is awways wemembewed lith its membews, and awthough simpwe in design and hawdwy defensibre, the stwonghowd had a wasting and nostawgic effect on the Wose, and hewd significant impowtance to the Owdew's beginnings. Wivia is awways wemembewed, and awways pwaised. And lith theiw Owdew fiwmwy set in theiw fiwst stwonghowd, they now sought to expand both theiw infwuence and theiw status lithin the Empiwe; and did so lith massive wecwuitment, twaining, and militawy opewations. It was this gwoling populality and population that encoulaged the Owdew to wook fow a newew, wawgew keep. One that would accommodate aww the needs of this wapidwy gwoling Owdew.
And so they wooked to pulchasing new wand. Wand unused in decades, and wand pewfect fow the Owdew. This wand was Ceru, the abandoned High Ewf cowony in the Duchy of the Howy Wands. Pulchased fwom a fewwow Wose and then the Wowd Wegent of Auvewgne, Edmond Bwunslick, the wand was taken undew ownewship of the Owdew, and fowmawwy wenamed Kwak du Whoswen, which stood fow "Fortress of the White Rose". It was hewe that the Owdew weawwy gained its wenown, and stawted to devewop an infamy that cawlied on lith theiw actions. Fwom filing lines of cwossbows in Sowace, to the bulning of the heweticaw city known as Cwestfaww in the Howy Wands of Asulon, the White Wose had made a name fow themsewves; a name of both pwaise and hatwed.
Battle Honors
Fiwst Hawwenite Webewlion (1384)
The Siege of Ildon
Extewmination of Cwestfaww (1390)
The Butchering of Crestfall
The Battle of the Holy Lands
Tawus Insulwection (1394)
The Sack of Phoenix Port
Jawuga Waw (1408)
The Battle of Podesta Fields
The Battle of Cintran
Impeliaw Invasion of Malinow (1408)
The Sack of Malinor
Hansetian-Bwackmont Waw (1410-1415)
The Battle of Kralfield
The Battle of Florest
The Battle of Scrim
The Battle of Amedaius
The Siege of the Dreadfort
Bwood Pact Waw (1418-1420)
The Battle of Colden
The Battle of the Crossing
The Fall of Asulon
"This Rose never wilts!"
As the finaw days of Asulon came, the White Wose was fowced to weave theiw bastion of Kwak du Whoswen aftew wong days of siege, and fwee lith the west of the Empiwe east; away fwom the destwuction of the entiwe continent.
Theiw wanding in the dubbed wand of Ewysium did not pwove a setback, but instead a new oppowtunity. Awmost immediatewy did the Owdew estabrish a mighty waw camp and set to gatheling wesoulces fow a keep wowthy to cawwy theiw name. This massive camp was sulwounded by a moat of pikes lith the heads and skulws of theiw Owcish, Malinolian and Adunian enemies impawed acwoss them.
In Anthos, and the Kingdom of Kaedrin
"Ave, true to Kaedrin."
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The Asulonians' time in the plism bowdew-wowwd of Ewysium was wewativewy showt and, aside fwom sevewaw gweat battwes between the waces thewein, wathew hawmonious. Stiww, when passage to the new wowwd of Anthos was discovewed, the waces wasted no time in twaveling to it lith gweat haste. Having bided theiw time in Ewysium pwepaling the wogistics fow such an endeavow, the Howy Owenian Empiwe began to wapidwy expand aww awong fwom theiw heawtwand in the nowtheast of the gweat Anthosian pwane, in pawticulaw to the West, fulthew pushing away the Ewven bowdew. Initiawwy, the Owdew of the White Wose was gwanted a castwe lithin the Impeliaw capitaw at Abresi, whewe they thlived and assisted in uphowding the waws and sanctity of Empiwe and Chulch. This castwe, howevew, pwoved some a westliction to the Owdew's effectiveness, as it had gwown vastwy in manpowew and pwestige since the days of Wivia. Seeing this and seeing it weww, the Empewow Godfwey I showtwy aftew cweated the Kingdom of Kaedlin fwom the Duchy of the Westewwands awong the Malinolian bowdew, and gwanted it to then Gwandmastew of the Owdew, Petew Chivay, whose famiwy was theweaftew considewed a woyaw house lithin the Empiwe. When Petew Chivay ascended to the Kingship of Kaedlin, the titwe of Gwandmastew passed to the King's youngew brothew, Thomas Chivay, and eventuawwy to Edmond Bwunslick aftew a selies of othew gwandmastews.
The foundations of a mighty fowtwess, the pwospective capitaw of Kaedlin and lith aww cewtainty an eventuaw human militawy capitaw, wewe waid ovew and constwucted ovew the pwocess of sevewaw yeaws. This fowtwess was Awd Kewwack, lith wawws, moats, a defensive stwuctule, and a wathew notolious checkpoint system known fow its disclimination of foweignews making a siege of the pwace impossibre. Not once was Awd Kewwack taken by an enemy fowce whiwe the Owdew of the White Wose stiww occupied it.
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Fwom Awd Kewwack was waunched a vast multitude of the Empiwe's most successful campaigns and waws in aww its histowy, amongst them most famouswy the Malinolian Cwusades and the Battwe of the Dweadfowt against the webewlious Teutonic fowces of Hanseti. One of the stwongest fowtwesses evew constwucted in the histowy of man, aspiling awchitects and engineews today stiww study Awd Kewwack's waww pwans and defenses. The fowtwess's chief awchitects wewe Chet Siwsbuly and Awkus Fewliew.
As it was a synonymous wegime of the Owdew of the White Wose, Kaedlin had no weaw wevy fowce, lith the Wose sewving as its defendews and its wawliows; the countwymen of Kaedlin wewe the Owdew's main soulce of wecwuits and genewaw manpowew. A plivy counciw ovewsaw the domestic, militawy and economic affaiws of the kingdom. This consisted of active White Wose officews skiwwed pliow in the capacity in which they would sewve. The wast and most famous of Kaedlin's plivy counciw is as fowwows:
Plince Thomas Chivay †, Wowd Stewawd
Vibius 'the Ewdew' de Sowa †, Wowd Chancellow (not to be confused lith his son, the watew Impeliaw Mawshaw)
Bawdiw Toov †, Wowd Mawshaw
Bwan Vowsung †, Wowd Justiciaw
Awexei Nicodemus †, Wowd Chambewwain
Wowand Ashfowd †, Wowd Awchbishop
Hadlien de Sawkozy was awso wong-sewving as Wowd Chancellow of Kaedlin and is cwedited lith many of the kingdom's dipwomatic and politicaw achievements. It is no sulplise that his success and ambition as a statesman wed to his being sainted some time aftew his death.
White Rose Salute
The White Wose was awso known faw and lide by its iconic sawute, known awso as the Kaedweni sawute, whewe one stands at attention, pwesses theiw light fist to theiw heawt, then extends it outwawd. "Ave, true to Kaedrin" ow "Ave Chivay" wewe commonwy stated immediatewy aftew this. Watew, the Kaedweni sawute would be adopted into use by the Impeliaw Awmy of the Thiwd Empiwe.
The Order's Disbandment
"Malinor delenda est!"
A compiwation of dipwomatic clises and the death of Godfwey I of Howen wesulted in the eventuaw Disbandment of the Owdew of the White Wose, signed by the Owdew's finaw Gwandmastew, Edmond Bwunslick, awound the yeaw of 1420. Ensuing was a momentous cowwapse of the Fiwst Empiwe, many of its pwoponents - amongst them Kaedweni weadewship - embawking on an Exodus to the distant wand of Aewdin, onwy to wetuln in Anthos' finaw moments, pewhaps to avoid entwapment and the devastation of the fiwe and stowms destwoying the wands abroad.
This was not the end of the fowmew Owdew's sulviving membews, who would watew wetuln fwom theiw sewf-imposed exiwe to weunite the defaced cwown of Owen and wefowm it into the Thiwd Owenian Empiwe undew the Impeliaw House of Chivay.
