Beatrice Lynwood

*“I am a haunted woman. I am haunted by Scaevola’s screams. I am haunted by Brennen's laughter. I am haunted by my suspicion that we are furthering the cause of something that deserves to be scrubbed from the face of the earth. I am haunted by the conviction that those bent upon the Reich's eradication are little better than the Hexenjägers. I am haunted by the clear knowledge that, in the end, evil always triumphs.”*

-Beatrice Lynwood

## History

A young soldier in the Arendurian Empire, Beatrice Lynwood wandered from allegiance to allegiance, fighting alongside bandits, rebels, and mercenaries alike. In spite of her past as an Arendurian soldier, or perhaps because of it, she hated following orders and never lasted in one chain of command for very long.

By the time New Arendur came into existence, Lynwood had a reputation as a tough and fearsome soldier. She was one of the first recruits into the Arendurian Army, which she joined out of solidarity, and swiftly rose to become captain of the prestigious First Company, once led by General Farcraft himself. Lynwood often clashed with the Illuminated and with General Arcanus, but was respected for her tough-minded leadership. She inspired loyalty amongst her men, and never presumed to hold herself above them. There were worries that the First Company was beginning to look more like a cult then a military unit, and that its soldiers were loyal to their commander, not to the country. These complaints were squashed when Tan Blackhand pointed out that these problems had existed under Farcraft's command as well, and that the cult of personality of the First Company was part of what made it such an effective fighting formation.

## Personality

Beatrice Lynwood was a shrewd and tough woman who got along well with other soldierly types and chafed under authority. She had an inconsistent but stubborn moral compass and strongly resisted carrying out what she saw as illegal orders.

## War of the Philosopher-Kings

Beatrice Lynwood led the First Company at the forefront of the battles of the War of the Philosopher-Kings, coming to grips with the elite Spark Brigade of the Northern Imperial Army. Her unit suffered huge casualties, and in time she began to question what Arendur was fighting for.

## After the War

Beatrice Lynwood was regarded with suspicion over her increasingly vocal anti-Arendurian sentiment, and her sympathy to the Carcosai. Nonetheless she was a patriot till the end, and led the First Company bravely against the Reich. When Scaevola opened the gates to the Hexenjägers, she was appalled by his disloyalty, but she never joined the chorus of voices accusing him of cowardice. She understood exactly why Scaevola had done as he did, and having witnessed him plunge his hand into the fire during the attempted assassination of Brennan, she began to hate Scaevola's self-righteous detractors more than she did his treason.

Lynwood was pardoned for her role in the war, but she was removed from power and the First Company was disbanded. It was decades later that Scaevola secured permission from the Office of the Gauleiter to reform the First Company, and by that time Lynwood had passed away of natural causes. Prior to that time, she wrote military memoirs and acted as an adviser on military matters, until Scaevola's government cast her aside and censored her books, deeming her an embarrassing relic of the past. Outraged, Lynwood began to realize the evil inherent in Scaevola's regime, but her sentiments were too little, too late.