Matthew Steele/Biography (SH2 Path of War)

===Anarchy in England===
Sometime in the 11th century, a rebel warlord Lord Barclay rises up against the English court and militarily dislodges it from its power, forcing The King into hiding. His loyal servants are scattered in disarray, with their fates unknown. 
Such loyal members of the court are a loyal knight and his page, Sir William and Matthew Steele, who ride out some time later to look for the King's whereabouts. William decides to search at Barclay's castle, as Steele waits for him with fresh steeds. After an unlucky shot from a mangonel, Barclay helplessly witnesses as the two noblemen leave his territory unscathed on boat, eliminating a small coast patrol. Steele and William find shelter at Friar Jacob's small monastery.
=== From Page to Knight ===
As Steele arrives with William, he is left to take care of matters while William sails abroad to enlist a contingent of Flemish archers. Over time, Matthew learns the art of being a lord and builds a fiefdom of his own, while also preparing cloth as payment for the archers. Through messengers, it turns out however that William is nowhere to be seen, but a rampant Olaf Grimtooth is seen ransacking villages on the way to Steele. Remembering how Olaf devastated his homestead, Steele redoubles his efforts to protect his settlement. Soon enough, Olaf arrives with a scouting party and decides that a small group of berserkers should be enough to mop up the small village. Much to his dismay however, Steele manages to hold off the attack. 
After the siege, William arrives alone to Steele's surprise, telling him that he found a potential benefactor, Edwin Blackfly, who is held captive at Lady Seren's castle. As Edwin promises land and troop for his freedom, the two immediately ride off to Seren's castle and launch a two-pronged attack, carving a path through the numerous defense lines. As Edwin is freed, he joins their side and knights Steele for his deeds.
=== War in the Borderlands ===
The company travels to Edwin's newfound estate in the Borderlands. It is revealed to be a turmoiled place however, as not only outlaws and wolves run rampant in the area, but a once honoured war veteran Sir Grey is also trapped in his castle by nefarious forces from Pascal Deveraux and Angus McLoud. As Steele contains the problems, McLoud launches a two-pronged attack alongside Olaf, racing against each other for Steele's head. The attack is however thwarted and the Bull is forced to flee the lands for good.
In the meantime, Steele gets a letter from the King that he is alive and awards him the title of Royal Champion that previously belonged to Sir William. Withholding the information, he only informs the others about the King's well-being. Using the lull after the events, Edwin invites William to visit a far remote land, only later to be revealed a ploy in order to hand him over to Olaf. A desperate Friar Jacob informs Steele about the mischief.
=== Hanging by thread and Vengeance ===
Steele finds himself at a fortification near Jacob's monastery, where Olaf has set up camp. After a failed negotiation attempt to free William, Steele breaks in just in time to save William from death, who was being hanged by the fleeing Olaf. As William recovers, Steele stays back to rebuild Jacob's monastery and protects it from the opportune attacks of Edwin.
With Edwin's attempts thwarted, Steele decides that he puts an end to his bad deeds. Much to his like, Olaf has also stranded on a nearby shoreline who cannot do more but get a settlement built. Matthew strikes at both opponents, killing Olaf in his own fort and putting Edwin at the tip of the sword. The turncoat manages to talk him down the roof by spilling information about Lord Barclay's incoming army, ending up in the stocks instead.
Finally, Barclay makes an attempt to confront Steele himself. He probes the defenses with a few waves of knights and afterwards, he is ready to commence the main siege. Just as the trebuchets would fire, Lady Seren infiltrates Steele's castle and joins the defenders, while openly turning against the attackers. Even though Seren's men die a brave death, Barclay and the Hawk aggressively attack the fortifications, without success.
After the siege, Seren is overjoyed to reunite with William and reignite their romantic relationship. As she tells about the King's whereabouts in her Abbey, Steele contemplates whether he should join Barclay's side, tired of William's foolhardiness and his potential unharnessed.
== The Blue Path - Restoring Order ==
As Steele decides to stay with his true friends, they head out for the Abbey, a bastion of religion where rulers can be inaugurated by the church.
As Steele is entrusted with the Abbey's defense in order to fortify it against Barclay's attacks, the local Bishop manages to secure the religious relics from Barclay's grasp. Steele beats back Barclay's numerous attempts and reunites with the King. As Steele brings up how his hiding labels the King a coward in the eyes of many, the King spares him from the pike and draws faith from his valiant deeds, telling him that he is ready to appear once again.
After Barclay's siege, William rides off to the Hawk's lands fueled by vengeance, only to become trapped there by the Hawk's landholders. Steele immediately rushes to his aid and extracts him, using one of Sir Grey's castles as a foothold in the area. As the Hawk cannot leave his castle just yet and must rebuild a bridge connected to the mainland, Matthew uses the immediate chance to liberate much of the area from the Hawk's vassals: Duke de Montparnasse, Lord Beaufort and Sir Hugo Blanc.
With the bridge rebuilt, the Hawk and the Bull commence a joint attack while Barclay remains behind to secure the rear. With the attack not at full potential, the siege fails and both armies retreat battered. As Steele counterattacks and kills the Hawk in his keep, Barclay openly boasts about his superiority, while killing off a helpless Sir Grey that has arrived with fresh reinforcements. As Barclay returns to his stronghold, the King decides that the time has come to swat the fly in his home.
The King, William and Steele all form up outside Barclay's castle, but the attack is momentarily held back on multiple fronts. The King's army comes under attack from the relief forces of Angus McLoud, led by the clan lord personally, while Steele must work his way through multiple defense lines methodically and open the way for the royal army. As the Bull falls and Steele breaks in, the joint forces crack the courtyard open and the Hammer is forced to surrender, eliminating the last obstacle from re-establishing the King's rule.
== The Green Path - Striving for Power ==
With Steele abandoning William and joining the potent Lord Barclay's side, he immediately decides that the time to strike is upon them with the King's location known.
As Steele and Barclay head out for the Abbey, they find themselves facing a very well fortified stronghold. Barclay decides that a small decoy army should buy Matthew enough time to carve a path into the heart of the Abbey and finish off Seren, gobbling up the small resistance force and bringing the church under their control. Much to their annoyance, the King is nowhere to be found and Barclay must reconsider their next move.
Barclay decides that Steele should venture out and chop off another prominent head of the court, namely Sir William, while the Hawk is sent on a skirmish to bring order to the surrounding lands. Steele gladly agrees and sets up camp in William's homelands, who refuses to join them. Even though William relentlessly attempts to dislodge Steele, he fails to do so as Steele confidently gains a foothold, containing him in his own castle, while also killing off Sir Grey along with his relief army. William ends up finished off in his own keep.
After reuniting, Lord Barclay informs Steele that the King is ripe for the taking. As he attempts to usher himself in as the new King with the local Bishop, Steele furiously reminds him that they were to be equals. The three agree on a pact: whoever presents the crown to the principal first, should become king. Each lord then moves out to prepare for a joint final siege against the King.
With the armies formed up, the siege begins and each side breaks in with a superior army, which quickly turns into a race against time and each other. Barclay instructs his partners to fall back as he moves in for the final assault, but he is ignored. As all three armies arrive just about the same time, the King is dealt the killing blow by Steele's commando. 
Some time later, Steele is seen with the crown on his head. Deveraux and the Hammer kneel in front of him, with Barclay kissing his boot, legitimizing Steele's rule as the new English king.
Category:Character biographies