Crusade

It was to be an extermination. The holy fist of the Empress crushing the unruly denizens of the outer reaches. But that was not to be. The armies of the Empire had stopped their forward movement, some even beginning to back-pedal. They were being slaughtered on foreign terrain, crushed so far from home. Distant continents, alien environments, and hordes of men and women ready to fling themselves upon the pikes of the Empire. The Third and Seventh armies had been all but destroyed, as hundreds of thousands of assailants slowly bled the life from them.

The Thirteenth Exodus of the Empress, as she called the war being waged now, was turning out to be a bloodbath. Already the losses on both sides were appalling, numbering easily in the millions. The Empire was involved in too many campaigns was the common speculation, that the Empress had kicked a hornet’s nest, and her soldiers were the ones being stung.

They were involved in campaigns against too diverse a range of enemies. Barbarian hordes, well-disciplined soldiers, nomadic horsewarriors, all slaughtering in shocking numbers, all because of their hate for their empire. And now, a new threat approaches, from far to the north. More malicious than anything the Empire had faced yet, born from a small religious community, they struck from where no-one would have expected. The priests, about a hundred strong, struck out from their monastery, with no weapons, and began a steady recruiting of the people in the towns around to their faith. But their faith was a twisted one. Once the priests had recruited enough people, they began upon a crusade, annihilating the nearby towns and cities. Those that they conquered were given an ultimatum; join them as part of their peasant army, or receive the gift of salvation from their god. Of course, this was less desirable than it might seem.

But now, the Empress has only one option, and it’s one she has dreaded for some time. The old Emperor, in his time, had one particular force which he had held of the highest regard. Loyal to a fault, fearless, and more skilled than any army to grace the Empire to date, this is an elite force. They remain loyal, their every vow to protect the Empire held in high regard, yet the Empress does not trust them. How could she? They are Old Guard, the ones sworn to protect personally the man she had overthrown in a violent and messy coup, in which the army in question had taken losses.

But she’s left with no choice, as the threat presses her hand to play. And so she must revive the army, which had been too long in action, as slowly she ground them to a dwindling death in the most violent and hopeless campaigns. Yet, after a few weeks of relief, they are to be sent into another hopeless conflict. She knew this may well be their last war, a final march towards glory, in the name of a person only a few of them had ever met. They were the Seventeenth Army, calling themselves the Bonehunters, and this was to be their last Crusade.

((Anyone’s welcome, hopefully some people would like to join. You can be a character in the Bonehunter army, either an archer, crossbowman, or infantryman. We’re heading to the north, as the backstory implies, and everyone in the army is a battle-hardened veteran, so no recruits. If you wish to be a captain [lieutenant or higher, anyone can be sergeant/corporal] then please state so. I only want so many. If you’re interested post in OOC thread at http://www.roleplaygateway.com/crusade-ooc-t4961.html.))