Bannestan Hope

Bannestan Hope 'the Penitent' is an officer in the Legio Ardostum. He is a strong warrior and a great man by many accords, but according to himself he is accursed with eternal repentance for his ill-advised decision to rebel against his lords in the Cookie Wagon Rebellion. He is a man of duty and honor who lives for his family and his best friend Mennor Enkell.
Bannestan almost died during the Fight of Hälfelägel as he drew his accursed blade, the Celestilia, which made the Amagad sealed into the blade, Khrag Blackmind, takeover Bannestan's body.
==Borian War==
Bannestan was drafted into the Royal Army in 294 by David Lange. Before being drafted, Bannestan had been a lowly peasant working the fields outside the city of Tadaheim. He was a 'contract serf' to a wealthy peasant named Brownrigg. Brownrigg treated his contract serfs very badly. Contract serfs are people so poor that they have no option but to become someone else's serf usually for a limited time, thus they form a contract. When David Lange came to Tadaheim to form a new army, Brownrigg refused the call to arms. David threatened to flay Brownrigg if he wouldn't take arms. Brownrigg then offered a solution, that he would give one of his contract serfs to David which David approved of. Thus Brownrigg chose his cheapest and weakest man in the field and that was Bannestan.
===Einez===
During the travels of the Army Bannestan was assigned to, Bannestan got to eat actual food. He thought he was living the time of his life and thought that war was not so bad after all. After few weeks of waiting at the city of Einez, some of David's sellswords left to Olav Castle leaving Bannestan to be assigned to the Army of Mennor Enkell which was enroute to Hadia.
===Hadia===
In Hadia, Bannestan was assured that war had been the best thing he had ever experienced. Hadia was a beautiful city of incredible wine gardens, fruits and golden palaces clad in nice green vines. There Bannestan met a woman by the name of Cornelia. A middle-class woman that seemed like a goddess to Bannestan. He desribed her as a 'black haired tanned daughter of probably the King himself'. Cornelia saw Bannestan as a handsome foreign warrior. Bannestan had indeed become good-looking when compared to his old skeletal malnourished self. Quickly Bannestan and Cornelia got engaged and Bannestan promised to bring back the greatest loot he could.
===Levinburg===
Bannestan finally saw combat in the summer of 294 when the army of Mennor began to besiege Levinburg. Bannestan was exhilarated to finally take part in combat. Bannestan's role in the siege was cut short, when the assault was carried out by men of other companies than his. Bannestan's company was assigned as a rear-guard unit. During his time in the rear-guard he did witness a Borian soldier fleeing the castle being chased by two riders. The riders brutally impaled the Borian's back with a spear. Bannestan cheered the riders on, but couldn't help but think about the poor man who was running for his life. He put himself on that man's shoes and very well was frightened by the idea.
===Cookie Wagon Rebellion===
Midsummer, Mennor and King Jiri managed to merge their armies together and begin the Siege of Charlington. Bannestan's company, having rested well as rear-guard was fresh and put into the frontlines. It was around this time that the Tadaheim Troops, a name given to the men drafted from Tadaheim, began to grow spoiled. Bannestan was not the only one who thought that war was bliss and they got to eat all they wanted. They ate all they could and many men began to grow a bit chunky. Bannestan also noticed that he would be categorized on the chunky end, though not as much as others were. Ashamed, Bannestan tried to seriously get back into a good condition, but he still couldn't help the urge to eat the fine cookies handed out in the food wagons. Many Tadaheim troopers loved these cookies and the love was also shared with some of the Olian merceneries different from the sellswords of David. These men had been bullies towards the Waldisians who they deemed to be subhuman compared to the superior Alaronians and Worvians. The Tadaheimians, obviously upset at this, began to plan a revenge plot in which they would soil the mercenery beds. 
The rivalry took a dark turn when one morning, an Olian mercenery proclaimed that the much loved Cookie Wagons were now restricted from the Tadaheimians. Few Tadaheimians attacked the merceneries and killed few of them. Soon the fight grew into a skirmish. Bannestan joined his brethren and managed to kill one of the unarmored merceneries with his sword. Bannestan full of adrenaline didn't think twice about striking another victim. Confused as to what was going on, King Jiri ordered the Steel Order to subdue the chaotic squabble unarmed. However, one of the merceneries killed a knight of the Steel Order. This caused Heuteclere Nilsson, the Grandmaster of the Steel Order to also attack the merceneries with all their might. Bannestan was now very afraid. He thought of the Borian Soldier who was impaled by the Royal rider. He thought how he would now be that man. Bannestan then shifted his mind to Cornelia and cried out a shaky war-cry. He lifted his sword ready to strike his opponent down. Just as Bannestan was about to kill the man in front of him, he noticed that he was about to strike down what looked to be a young boy. In front of him was a boy clad in Steel Order armor and Bannestan couldn't bring himself to kill him. The boy, noticing how Bannestan was actually weeping, also hesitated. Bannestan lowered his weapon and fell on his knees. The boy spared Bannestan's life and took his sword. Bannestan was placed under arrest. The boy later proved to be Finlexas who eventually became a general in the Royal Army.
===Eion Valley===
Bannestan was acquitted just before the Eion Valley campaign began. Jiri was short on troops and decided to pardon the few rebel survivors of the Wagon Rebellion. Bannestan was incredbily humbled and swore to serve not only Jiri but his shameful Tadaheim unit with the clearest sense of duty. Bannestan repented very much for thought he owed his life to the Tadaheim Troop, King Jiri and the Royal Army, for they saved him from horrible servitude and gave him his life including his future wife. Bannestan and the rest of the Tadaheim Troop began to repent on their unit's shameful deeds and their were now fueled with devout fervor in the upcoming battle to prove themselves worthy of the pardon. In the Battle of Eion Valley, Bannestan was placed only three men away from his commanding officer Mennor Enkell. This was the greatest honor Bannestan could wish for. His commander charged with brilliance and dexterity and his men followed suite. Bannestan crashed into the forces of Paul Royar and after some swinging around he found his first opponent. He clashed with his first true foe and fought hard. The Borian seemed to be afraid, but Bannestan thought that he could kill him in an instant and not hesitate. Bannestan managed to feign a backstep successful which the Borian tried to counter with a deep lunge. Bannestan managed to quickly side-step next to the Borian's exposed flank and pierced his sword deep into the Borian's ribs. The Borian fell to the ground and began to cough blood uncontrollably. Bannestan was prepared to leave the man to die, but he couldn't. He pitied the man and actually wanted to help him, but Bannestan realized his own situation. There was no way this man could survive and Bannestan quiveringly dealt the Goup de grace upon the Borian. 
Bannestan rose back upon and swept away a single tear that had flowed to his cheek. Then Bannestan began to aid his comrades. When the duel between Rexton Scale and Paul Royar began, many men stopped fighting all together in order to awe at the battle. Bannestan was one of these. He couldn't believe men like these existed. After Rexton had brutally slayed Paul, the fighting recommensed however not for long, for the Borian's began to surrender. Bannestan personally captured two Borian soldiers which he was very proud of. Soon, they reallized that KOMS had arrived. They were charging down a slope towards Bannestan's men. Bannestan, who didn't know much about KOMS, stood his ground. Impressed by this show of bravery, Mennor commended Bannestan and made him his personal aide and later second-in-command. When the KOMS crashed upon the Tadaheim Troops, Bannestan managed to dodge the attack. He quickly collected a hook-like weapon from the ground and toppled one of the knights. A fierce duel ensued. Bannestan, maybe because he was too ignorant to be afraid, managed to stay absolutely calm and parry all of the Knight's attacks. The Knight, who might have been a rookie or other wise too high minded, began to waver. The Knight was abashed how this lowly soldier could hold on for so long. Bannestan used the hook to tackle the knight and immediately leaped on top of the knight in order to grip him. Bannestan overpowered the knight and took him captive which made him the most renown soldier of the Tadaheim Troop.
After the battle, Bannestan served as a prison guard and held strict order in the camps not to harm the prisoners. He cared for the enemy that was captured and became a liked man among the enemy. After the war he became a officer in the Royal Army.
==Antebellum==
Bannestan became the second-in-command of the Tadaheim Troop after Rexton refused the position. Mennor was very proud of Bannestan and showered him in gifts and expensive gear. Bannestan's equipment is one of the best in all of Edelmaa, in fact more so than Mennor's own. This is because Mennor knows that his fighting skills are clearly inferior to those of Bannestan's. In the Winter of 294, a month after the War, Bannestan returned to Tadaheim to meet Mr Brownrigg. Brownrigg welcomed Bannestan back and told him that the plough has been waiting for him. After seeing all the loot Bannestan had collected, he wanted to confiscate all of it, citing that Contract Serfs were property so their property was also his property. Bannestan followed with a right hook to Brownrigg's face breaking his nose and other cheekbone. Bannestan continued with letting all of Brownrigg's serfs to go free and offerred them a job as his personal, but voluntary servants in the castle Lohensloss. Not a single serf refused and they began to live quite lavish lives as Bannestan's servants. Bannestan then, after redeeming his final freedom, rode to his fiance in Haid and promised to hold the greatest wedding in all of Edelmaa to his wife.
Bannestan and Cornelia would be married in the summer of 295 inside the great castle Lohensloss that was the base of the Tadaheim Troops and the new home of Bannestan. The castle was also owned by Prince Diarmud who loved Bannestan's story, so he invited many significant people to the ceremony including Princess Karin and Prince Mick. The party was excessive especially for a former serf. Mennor was the wingman of Bannestan and the two of them would become mega bros throughout the years. Mennor would even become the godfather of Bannestan's firstborn child. This friendship is the most unforeseen one, since Mennor is a psychotic rapist and Bannestan is a caring swashbuckler.
Bannestan, though tasked with recruiting and training newcomers to the Tadaheim Troops, went to spend his honeymoon with his wife in the glorious city of Antikea. Much to Bannestan's surprise, his replacement as the drill instructor was the very boy-knight that spared his life in the Cookie Rebellion, Finlexas. Finlexas would become good friends with Bannestan and they would form this trinity of bros with their superior officer Mennor.
==Fortudatum Crusade==
Bannestan partook in the Fortudatum Crusade and worked as the second-chief of the Legio Ardostum. As Bannestans's master, Mennor Enkell, was busy commanding and managing the Army assigned to him, Bannestan worked as the direct commander of the Legion. Bannestan commanded the Legion spectacularly during the Battle of Riodina, where the Legion managed to punch through the Glissarian infantry with ease. Bannestan, just like he had sworn, didn't personally kill anyone instead capturing many prisoners.
Satisfied with the victory, the Army encamped and rested at Riodina for three days, after which they began their advance into the Castle Hälfelägel. The army stumbled upon their vanguard, which was completely massacred. Bannestan was shocked to find so many men of the Royal Army dead and so fast seemingly from nowhere. It was soon discovered, that it was an Amagad Prince who had attacked and destroyed the brigades. The Amagad Prince attacked Bannestan and his men and the Fight of Hälfelägel had begun. Bannestan saw many of his friends die, and in a fit of rage drew the Celestilia. The accursed blade he had acquired. This action was thought to initially kill Bannestan as Bannestan was takenover by Khrag Blackmind. However, when Khrag sheathed the blade back to its scabbard, Bannestan recovered. 
Category:Characters
Category:Living