The Mercenaries

The Mercenaries is the fourth Saga of Naturellescraft as well as the longest. It showed the rise and fall of the Mercenaries and further established the character of Brandon Huxley.
Synopsis
With Captain Rampage gone, those who had once follwed him found they had no leader. Without anything to do they wandered lethargically throughout the Pirate Cove Rampage had once commanded. A strong leader would approach the pirate remnants, Alexander O’Daniel. Alexander reformed the pirates and made them mercenaries. Instead of being petty thieves now they had purpose, Alexander planned to use these mercenaries not just to get money from the highest bidder but to also take over Naturelles.
===Templars Thrive===
After the bout with the pirates, Templar Abbot and Templar DePaul decided to go on a journey. Before Abbot left Naturelles, he put Beetleguese Vandeer in charge of the Templars, promoting him to Master Templar. While in Vandeer's care, the Templars rapidly grew and gained vital experience. Brandon Huxley would ascend to the rank of Knight and train a squire, Qugr. Qugr and Huxley became the best of friends with Huxley constantly training Qugr in the cabin Huxley built for himself in the icy wilderness. A mysterious youth arrived in Naturelles shortly after Rampage was defeated, William Biltmore. Biltmore was Rampage's son who like Huxley had come to Naturelles to find him. Biltmore was a troublemaker who was quickly following in his father's footsteps until the Templars decided to train the young troublemaker. Biltmore was originally Vandeer's apprentice but Vandeer found the youth too troublesome and handed him off to Huxley to train after Qugr was knighted. Huxley and Biltmore originally feuded and disliked each other, but over time they came to understand each other, both having had similar fathers. Biltmore would become like a son to Huxley and Biltmore would see Huxley like a father. The Templars grew exponentially and soon they would need to ready themselves for war.
Mercenaries Rising
While the Templar grew, the mercenaries grew as well. The pirate remnants led by Alexander O' Daniel formed The Mercenaries and built an elaborate castle north of the Pirate's Cove. These mercenaries trained day and night honing and perfecting their combat skills, they would even eclipse the Templar in terms of swordsmanship and agility. Brandon Huxley would grow suspicious of these warriors after a rumor went about town that Alexander O'Daniel had slain Father John, the local pastor. Brandon Huxley hired a local detective to spy on Alexander but the detective proved to be rather gullible and told Alexander who hired him and for what purpose. When Alexander confronted Huxley about this, the two got into a scuffle and from that day on would forever be rivals. Alexander would take it to the next level however...
Prisoners in Peril
The Mercenaries revered who they believed to be their original founder, Captain Rampage. When the Mercenaries constructed their castle they dug up the graves of Captain Rampage and Seamus Huxley and moved them into their castle. When Brandon Huxley returned one day to the Pirate Cove and saw his Father's remains taken, he grew livid. Brandon attempted organized a team of Templars to go to the Castle so he could retrieve his father's remains. However, only Brandon's friend, Lief Elwood and William were available, so reluctantly he took them. Brandon located where they had moved his father's remains but before he could do anything, the mercenaries surrounded the group and they were taken hostage.
The trio were crammed into cells and left there to rot for days. The Mercenaries kept constant watch on Huxley and his friends, often taunting and humiliating them. Huxley refused to submit to the Mercenaries and proclaimed he would die before he revealed anything about the kingdom of Naturelles. Realizing they were getting nowhere, the Mercenaries decided to hurt Huxley's psyche rather than hurt Huxley physically. The Mercenaries hung Biltmore and Lief Elwood before Huxley's eyes, forcing him to watch. After watching two of his closest friends die and Alexander laughing the whole time, Huxley was a broken man. He sobbed in the cell for days and refused to eat. Rather than let him die in the cell, the mercenaries threw Huxley out their front door, but not before gouging out his right eye. Expecting him to die, the mercenaries thought little of him, but Huxley determined to get revenge upon the mercenaries who had done this, crawled back to Stonegate, finally arriving there a week later, delirious and near death.
===Disintegration===
After a week in bed and coming close to dying several times, Huxley finally awoke in a doctor's office. Huxley fell into a depressed and nearly catatonic state. Huxley contemplated suicide by jumping off the brow of Vandeer's under construction ship, the Hulk, but Vandeer managed to talk him out of it. Eventually, Huxley managed to find the strength to pull through by talking to his closest friends, Vandeer and Qugr. Huxley at last became happy again but only after vowing to never die in order to avenge his fallen comrades. Another tragedy would hit Huxley, when one day, Qugr would wash up on the shores of Ostacre, dead and flash frozen, the work of Die Kalt Grad. Huxley was once again nearly of the verge of catatonia but Huxley would be reminded of the friends he had when Abbot and DePaul would return from their journey ready to fight against the mercs. With the wise old Abbot once again there to whip Huxley into shape, Huxley honed his skills in anticipation of a fight with the Mercs. At last, when the Hulk was completed Vandeer devised a plan to attack the Mercs and run them out of Naturelles for good.
===Assault===
The Order of the Templar gathered aboard the massive ship, the Hulk and Vandeer maneuvered it across the sea into the Mercenary territory. From the shore, the Hulk bombarded the castle with cannon fire while Templars rushed forward to drive out the mercenaries. Inside was chaos with swords flashing and swears words flying left and right. Alexander O'Daniel stood on a balcony e;elevated above the battle watching as his men and the Templars fought to the death. Vandeer suggested that him and Huxley take Alexander together, but Huxley, determined to avenge his comrades, rushed forward to engage Alexander one on one. In a heated sword fight, the two proved equals in combat. Alexander taunted Huxley, mimicking Biltmore, in order to make Huxley furious and reckless. This proved advantageous as Alexander managed to outmaneuver Huxley and corner him against a wall. With Huxley realizing he was trapped and his strength ebbing due to Alexander's assault Huxley thought fast and pulled a risky move. Huxley pulled out hand off his sword and reached into his cloak to pull out a dagger. As Alexander struck the sword out of Huxley's hand, Huxley managed to stab Alexander in the wrist, causing Alexander to drop his saber. Huxley quickly snatched the saber and impaled Alexander through the right eye, the same eye Alexander had taken from him. With their leader gone the mercenaries lost their morale and attempted to flee, none made it. After a grizzly battle, the mercenaries had at long last been defeated, but one could not help but wonder, at what cost? The Templars had grown strong at had reached the point where they could face off against the true enemy, Die Kalt Grad.
Category:Sagas
Category:Naturellescraft