Samuel

Sir Samuel now

> "Should the venerable King Henrinion die, the heart of the Kingdom would break. Should Sir Samuel die, the heart of the people would break" — Miro Varjangaria
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Samuel Berghof is a legendary knight, hero and man in the continent of Edelmaa. He is a celebrated hero in the Kingdom of Workhold and his own Grand Duchy. Sir Samuel lead magnificent military campaigns against his opponents almost always coming out on top. Sir Samuel is widely thought to be the greatest military leader in the entire history of Edelmaa. Sir Samuel is the father of KOMS, the most well known military unit in all of Edelmaa. KOMS literally means; Knight Order of Mighty Samuel, a bit egoistic, but that is granted.

Sir Samuel's upbringing was quite humble being of low class birth. Samuel's father was Jacob Berghof who in turn was the son of Veyr Berghof, a man who himself was a legendary warrior from the Unification Wars. What made Sir Samuel special, was his Hefaian blood, for Hefaians are almost extinct. This blessed Sir Samuel with longevity. Sir Samuel spent much of his time at old battlefields and libraries studying culture, war and politics. Samuel was eventually adopted by Brigadier Cassian Bell. Cassian saw brilliance in Samuel and gave Samuel proper education.

Sir Samuel would be taught well and would become a central figure in the upcoming wars of Edelmaa. Samuel had been largely raised in Jimrock held Edelmaa, as the Kingdom of Workhold had been annexed by Jimrock. Nevertheless, Sir Samuel held no loyalty towards Jimrock and would lead the Worvian Rebellion against Jimrock in the Worvian Revolutionary War. Sir Samuel's part in the Revolutionary War would grant him the titles of; Marshal of Free World, Baron and Knight. Immediately Samuel became respected and renown. Samuel also became the owner of the great Suomenlinna Castle.

Sir Samuel would briefly command the Royalist troops in the Edelmaa Great War, until declaring his own independent Kingdom of Hefaia. Samuel would win the war masterfully, sharing his victory with Jiri Baathúr and Samuel's previous protege, Octavio Perickard.

Sir Samuel would rule Hefaia brilliantly winning important trade deals with the Westlands. Sir Samuel would surprisingly accept the Perivarian Alliance with Charles Perickard, that effectively made Samuel a puppet king. It is thought, that Samuel would later usurp Charles with KOMS and Soliar Varjangaria, but this is unwknown as the subsequent Borian War was a defeat for Charles and the Kingdom of Boria as a whole. Samuel, though contributed very little, lost all. His realm was annexed to the Kingdom of Workhold and he was made into an autonomous grand duke.

Sir Samuel now rules his realm largely unseen, bitter of his undeserved defeat in the Borian War and his largest blunder by joining the Perivarian Alliance.

## Birth

Samuel was born in 11 September 67 in the city of Antikea. Samuel's parents were Jacob Berghof and Lady Almira Remarck. Samuel's parents were of wealthy peasantry, but what made Samuel's blood special was his lineage. He was the grandson of the last Hefaian, Veyr Berghof and lady Prisca Perickard. Samuel was thus the great-nephew of Samuel Perickard and had some noble blood in him. As a Hefaian, Samuel was blessed with incredible resilience, strength and longevity for which he was praised in his locality.

Samuel studied a lot of history and war in his youth and often talked to soldiers and veterans of the city guard. Some of them had been veterans of the Unification Wars, which intrigued Samuel even more. They told Samuel stories of great battles against the King of Edelmaa himself and how they fought under the banners of Levi. Some very old soldiers, told stories of even Olia and Jimrock. One man by the name of Barend, who had been a soldier in the Army of Tilithea, fought against the Küyan, the Emperor Jimer Adletur's armies. Barend was by far Samuel's favorite interlocutor. Barend, once wounded after the battle, saw Emperor Jimer himself slowly gallop victoriously next to him. Barend was awed by the magnificence he saw that day. This story, much to Samuel's incredulity, took place over 400 years ago.

Samuel's curiousness to war was of common knowledge in his locality, but one thing to be tested was his prowess in warfare. Samuel was an avid dueler, having been taught by various sellswords and wanderers who passed by the locality. By the time Samuel was 18, he had a ludicrous tally of 5 wins in his resume. When Samuel turned 14, he was adopted by Brigadier Cassian Bell of the Charlington Brigade.

Cassian saw Samuel as a prodigy of war and did everything he could to groom Samuel to become the hero of Workhold, to be the man to uphold peace in Edelmaa, as unlike Cassian himself, Samuel doesn't experience as fast senescence. Samuel would quite literally become the immortal hero of Workhold. Samuel received a very good education in the art of war and combat. Cassian also realized, that in order to make Samuel a proper military leader and remain as such, Samuel should know the ways of politics and tutored Samuel to become a good diplomat and a politician as well.

When Samuel was 23 years old, he and Alfarius were surprised to know, that Workhold was under siege by the forces of Jimrock who had landed under the personal command of Küyan Jimer himself. The stories of Barend began to set back in, especially the ones which Barend described Jimer's mass pillages and massacres. Samuel and Alfarius joined the Worvian army, but in vain. The small Worvian army fell within weeks and the entire mighty realm of Workhold was subjugated under the terrifying Empire of Jimrock.

Samuel, together with Alfarius fell into depression and began to drink a lot. They spent their time with women and drinks.

## Revolutionary War

In 90, Samuel's favorite tavern, the Bearsden tavern, was wrecked to bits by the garrison left by Jimrock. Samuel was absolutely livid and called upon Alfarius to finally begin a mutiny against the occupiers. Samuel thought, that they are dead in their minds anyway so why not try to die valiantly. Samuel, without rest, gathered a force of rebels and managed to make contact with the old king, King Levi who sanctioned the rebellion. Without wasting anytime, Samuel wanted to meet the garrison army in the field. Samuel decided to fight the largest of the garrisons, which was located in the Scale Manor which it used as its base. Samuel thought, that by defeating the largest garrison, the others could be easier to defeat in detail and it would be harder for them to comprise a meaningful defence. Samuel hastily marched his force of peasants, old soldiers and veterans into the fray.

The Battle of Small manor field began in early morning of 5th of February 90. Samuel was facing Lorinc Therún, an indecisive poor excuse of a commander, who was easily bested by Samuel who defeated him using simple shock and awe tactics. However, even though the battle was a resounding victory for Samuel, King Levi lost his life during the fighting. This was a strategic disaster for Samuel, as the entire rebellion was centred around Levi. Fortunetaly, few days later, just before Samuel disbanded his army, Levi's son Henrinion sent a letter informing Samuel that he would take up the mantel as the rebel leader. Delighted, Samuel reorganized the army and ordered his men to go into cities and declare an open rebellion.

Samuel began the Worvian Revolutionary War, with the Eastward Campaign. He knew the importance of the Eastern Coast, as it was the richest and most fertile land of Edelmaa. It was also the breadbasket of the Garrison army. The Eastward campaign was quick and bloodless and ended in few weeks. By the time Samuel reached Fon, he received news of Jimer himself landing in at Leowell in the west. Samuel hurried his army there and after a long march was decisively beaten in the Battle of Mothengard River. Now defeated, Samuel marched his battered army to Charlington which was soon besieged by Jimer.

Jimer left his forces to besiege Charlington, whilst he would himself go to capture the Midlands. This proved to be a mistake as Samuel exploited this. Samuel immediately sallied out and destroyed Jimer's encampment. Jimer, furious knew he couldn't afford a battle against Samuel with his remaining troops decided to wait. Both armies settled for the winter and took action in the following year.

The two armies met in the Moltenland. By this point, the Worvian troops had become hardened warriors and their resolve was hard as steel. Jimer's men on the other hand had been battered, but their morale was still very high due to the presence of Jimer himself. Samuel decided to put all eggs in one basket and rushed Jimer's bodyguard cavalry. During the intense combat between Samuel's bodyguard and Jimer's bodyguard, the elites of the both armies, Samuel was struck in the arm by Jimer. Samuel was quickly saved by his guard captain Maakor Silven who struck Jimer away demounting Jimer. Samuel quickly rose up and tackled down Jimer's standard bearer, which lead Jimer's army to believe that Jimer was slain and a mass rout began winning the day for Samuel.

### Post War

After the end of the Revolutionary War, Samuel was knighted a knight of Workhold and the Marshal of the Free World. Samuel was also granted the Suomenlinna as his personal residence.

## Antebellum

After the war, Sir Samuel married a kitsune named Carmel and had three children with her; Sicarius Berghof, Marnum Berghof and Calgar Berghof, which all grew fox ears, odd. Samuel and his family lived his life lavishly in Suomenlinna from 93 to 120, when he began to vigorously train his personal regiment, the 1st FWA Regiment 'Drunkards' into the unit we know today as the KOMS. This unit became the most skilled and powerful unit in all of Edelmaa. Samuel granted the original command of KOMS to Soliar Varjangaria.

## Edelmaa Great War

At the beginning of the Edelmaa Great War in 170, Samuel was already 103 years old, Samuel however, took the role of the Marshal of Workhold with excitement. He longed for war. He began with organizing the armies in the East for he knew that the garrisons in the west would fall too quick and would be pointless to organize. He also began to mobilize a defense in his home island of Ili-Hefien.

In late summer of 170, Samuel was invited to the discussions of the Marquesses's peace. Samuel objected to even the idea of negotiating with the Peasants, but he still came to the negotiations. There he constantly vetoed all possible resolutions and when it seemed that the treaty was going to pass Samuel stormed out proclaiming secession from the Kingdom of Workhold. This was bad news for Workhold and surprised the Royalists. Quickly Samuel was replaced with Kenrith Silven. Samuel retired to his home castle, and though technically at war with Workhold, he didn't want to do anything against them yet. He secretly cheered for them to win against Jiri Baathúr and the Peasants after realizing that the Marquesses's Peace didn't work and thought about coming back to the aid of the Royalists, but decided against it.

In late 171 Samuel began to form an invasion plan against Workhold for he was scared that if he didn't do anything his island would be invaded and he would not receive his sovereignty. This invasion was a daring one, for he really only had his 1000 man strong KOMS and the very poor Hefaian Army. Samuel invaded the city of Muede, Meta-Gudur partially and sent a small unit to Leowell. He soon countered the forces of Abe Perickard and Artorias Varjangaria. However, Abe and Artorias split their armies. Abe tried to get behind Samuel's army through Meta-Gudur but ended up dying in the Battle of Meta-Gudur. Samuel then used a simple trick to fool Artorias by confiscating many scarecrows and such and arming them. This made Samuel's army seem way bigger than Artorias'. After the news of Abe's death reached Artorias, Artorias thought it was over and surrendered to Samuel. This became known as the Deceit at Lion's Road. Samuel, sensing Artorias' diplomatic prowess decided to treat him with hospitality. However, Artorias escaped. Samuel ended up not caring and joined the Kerry's Farm negotiations. There Samuel was persuaded to join the Great Coalition to fight against Jiri Baathúr's brother Jamur Emetur who had landed in Graille and sought to re-establish the Colony of Jimrock.

Samuel served as the Main Commander of the Great Coalition Army and played a big factor in defeating the Army of Jamur in the Great Battle of Ravaged manor field. During the battle, Samuel's second son Marnum was killed by one of Jamur's commanders. Samuel was visibly saddened by these news, but sucked up the tears as he knew he couldn't look weak in front of his men.

After the Battle, just like promised in the Treaty of Kerry's Farm, Samuel gained his independence and was promised by the new King of Workhold, Jiri not to be harassed by Workhold. Samuel demanded to take the Varjangaria family as his captives into Ili-Hefien which was approved by everyone. Samuel did this, as he knew the value of Artorias' diplomatic prowess and the possible geniusness of Artorias' offsprings. Samuel also thought, that the Varjangaria family would face exile or even death having defeated Jiri in the Battle of Ravaged manor field. Samuel then once again retired to his castle and wished to live rest of his life peacefully.

## Antebellum (Borian War)

During the second Antebellum period of Samuel's life, he spent it further tutoring his sons and conversing with the Varjangarias. Artorias Varjangarias' son, Soliar Varjangaria, turned out to be a very good soldier who was personally taught by Samuel. Samuel made Soliar to become a tactical master and a skillful fencer. Later, Samuel anointed Soliar as the Lord-General of KOMS.

## Borian War

Samuel was approahced by Charles Perickard, to join the Perivarian Alliance, which sought to unite the Kingdoms of Hefaia and Olav to fighter together against Workhold, if Workhold was to invade one of the kingdoms. Samuel accepted, but later Charles pushed for more deals. Charles wanted to form a Borian alliance, were the 'old houses' the houses of Berghof, Varjangaria, Perickard and Niskain would unite and conquer back Workhold. Samuel decided to accept, but secretly sought to betray the Perickards after their victory against Workhold.

Samuel helped little during the drafting of the invasion of Workhold and left much of the planning to Soliar. Samuel's participation in the Borian War was very insignificant and minimal, but much to Samuel's outrage, he lost most.

During the Muede Peace negotiations, as all of the Perickard leadership was killed in the Battle of Eion Valley, only ones to face any retribution was Octavio Perickard and Samuel Berghof. Octavio was punished by paying heavy tithes to Workhold, whilst Samuel's realm, Hefaia was to be annexed into Workhold. Samuel knew, that King Jiri only sought to do this in order to gain access to Samuel's elite warriors, the KOMS. And thus, the Grand Duchy of Hefaia was established.