Fallen Company

The Fallen Company was a large mercenary company operating between the Battle of Vorgebirge in 502 and their integration into Talor in 553. The Company was originally Lacrive's contribution to the alliance opposing the Tungrids during their invasion of Varhold.

## Composition

The Fallen Company, at the time of its formation, was twenty-five thousand strong. These were the second and third sons of minor Lacrivian nobility and their entourages and personal units, led mostly by battle-hardened commanders taken from the high nobility. These troops were Lacrive's elite, scorning those who fight from afar or from horseback. The entire force was made up of heavy melee infantry, with no archers or cavalry. The Fallen Company was led by the Lacrivian Duke Valentin Bousquet, one of the most powerful landowners in the kingdom.

The Fallen Company was made up of the Lacrivian factions opposed to the coup d'etat conducted by the Ardouin dynasty ten years earlier - it is arguable that King Jerome never intended to let the Company back into Lacrive, as it seemed a convenient way to cull the troublemakers.

## Equipment

Given that these troops were armed and armoured by the richest men in Lacrive, their equipment was the best. Though the style sometimes varied, every man in the Fallen Company wore plate armour over chainmail vests, topped by full helmets and patterned surcoats. They were armed with medium shields and one-handed blunt-force weapons like axes and maces, designed to smash through other heavy infantry as was the Lacrivian way.

## Battle of Vorgebirge

At Vorgebirge, Bousquet was sub-commander to the Varholdian general Kurt. When the allied force was discovered by the Tungrids, the Lacrivians were sent to the open left flank of the force, with their right flank anchored by lighter Varholdian levies, where they deployed as a line twenty ranks deep. The Tungrid horse archers harassed the Lacrivian flank for the duration of the battle, using a combination of armour-piercing bodkin arrows and sheer force of numbers to pick holes in the Fallen Company.

Once the allied force reached the bait infantry the Tungrids had left to entice them, the Lacrivians acquitted themselves admirably. When the force was committed and the cavalry had fled, Tungrid heavy cavalry charged into the rear of the allied line and, as per their reputation, the Lacrivians were the last allied forces on the field before long. While all other allied forces routed and fled, the Fallen Company professionally conducted a fighting retreat, withdrawing into the forest. The Tungrids stopped harassing them when Adagan judged they were no longer a threat, and the Fallen Company began to head back to Lacrive.

## Aftermath of Vorgebirge

After a head count, it was revealed that only eighteen of the twenty-five thousand Lacrivians survived the battle (though this is disputed, as some accounts say that several Lacrivian units fled and went into hiding out of shame; this theory is supported by evidence of Lacrivian influence in the area up to two hundred years later).

The commander Bousquets had been injured badly in the battle and survived several days before being buried by his men in a forest grove. A new commander, Godefroy Le Maitre, was elected by the majority and he led them south toward Lacrive.

After a month's march through the remains of Varhold and through Dalfore, the force arrived at the Merkata River, the northern border of Lacrive. They were opposed at the border by the army of the king, Jerome Ardouin, who decreed their exile due to the loss of Vorgebirge.

The Fallen Company was rightly dismayed, but Le Maitre kept his head and refrained from attacking the smaller and less experienced royal army, instead ordering the company north once more.

## Mercenary Operations

Le Maitre stopped at the Dalforean centre of Helnas, requesting settlement for his men. He was turned away by the mayor on the grounds that the city could not support so many new mouths. The mayor did suggest becoming a mercenary company in the service of Dalfore - the country was under threat from both the Tungrids, who at this point had made it to the unoccupied land directly north of Dalfore, and from rogue detachments of Spurmen and Varholdians who were previously part of the allied force at Vorgebirge. The latter was more dangerous, as they had, unlike the Tungrids, been actually raiding across and towns several leagues north of Helnas had been recently looted by them.

Le Maitre took up the offer and received the first pay chest from Delfar two months later. The Fallen Company made their camp two leagues north of Helnas in the ruins of Imona, naming their fortress Avisir Post. Over time the Company established more fortresses in the area - these reached as far north as Angog Post, in the heartland of Krasnar.

Despite being a national disgrace, the Fallen Company remained a beacon of professionalism in Lacrive, and young men seeking their fortunes flocked to the banner. By 510CE, the Fallen Company was at eleven thousand men, and five years later recorded fifteen thousand total. Though they were under the employ of Dalfore, the Fallen Company went above and beyond in playing the local policeman in the area. They prevented hostilities between countries by their mere presence, with Posts in several countries acting as armed deterrent.

## Settlement in Talor

This was not to last. By 550CE, the original Fallen Company were all gone, replaced by younger men who had never seen true war. The Company grew lax, encouraged by the corrupt and lazy Dalforean Minister Haervui.

Things took a turn for the worse when, in 553CE, Haervui expelled the Fallen Company from Dalfore in a fit of rage. In his own words: "[They] are nothing but hired brigands, brought to my land in shame and shaming it still by their stench of war!"

The Fallen Company, uprooted once more, was invited into Talor by the Cyng Dagheard the Welcoming on condition that they be split between settlements to ease the burden. The commander of the time accepted and the Fallen Company was, after fifty-one years of service, disbanded and dispersed between a dozen towns in the Talorian region of Vestr.

## Legacy

The Fallen Company, in Lacrive, is currently regarded as a shining example of Lacrivian resolve and unwavering courage in the face of insurmountable odds. Recent Kings of Lacrive have downplayed the importance of Vorgebirge's outcome, reasoning that it was good for Varhold to collapse, especially given Lacrive's current war against many of the countries that used to form Varhold.

The Fallen Company had another unexpected legacy: tales of the mercenary band had filtered down and been amplified in the country of Tianguo. News of their expulsion in 553CE was one of the major driving factors in the Tianguo invasion of southern Dalfore several years later, an event that changed the political landscape of the Trade Lake.

The tales of the Fallen Company gave rise to the Tol d'Gadfreuy, a collection of myths and fairy tales featuring a number of prominent Company chavaliens.

## List of Famous Fallen Company Chevaliens

* Pierre Chizau - Led Astarcia to victory in the Red Plains War
* Theodred Blydnas - Part of the Guerr-en-Exile
* Maohrdred Blydnas - Part of the Guerr-en-Exile