Bonawar

Knight Bonawar, of the fallen House Bonawar. He was one of the most well-received commanding officers among the second prince’s subordinates. Of the three victorious battles that preceded the founding of the Iblia kingdom, two were thanks to Bonawar. He later pledged allegiance to House Felim, commanding a legion of 46 thousand soldiers. Knight Bonawar, has almost 200 members in his household.

## Personality

He has a straightforward demeanor and impressive reputation.

## Background

The relationship between House Felim and House Bonawar actually went far back, Bonowar's ancestor actually being a baron. However, due to an incident at Windbury that caused House Bonawar to lose their peerage, he was left with just a knight's manor in Southern.

He was one of the most well-received commanding officers among the second prince’s subordinates. Of the three victorious battles that preceded the founding of the Iblia kingdom, two were thanks to Bonawar.

One involved the elimination of the noble army of the first prince's faction. Bonawar had commanded a ragtag bunch against the army, which had numbered 18 thousand, and still managed to emerge victorious after three months. The battle led to the crumbling of the army and the eventual extermination of the houses involved on the enemy’s side. If the battle had not ended as it had, the first prince would have had influence over Southern and could even threaten Winston’s peace.

The other battle was when the second prince led his troops to attack the Melein duchy for the first time, only to be defeated by the Fiercegale legion. At the time, Duke Melein led his troops in pursuit of the second prince. When the second prince was at his wit’s end, Bonawar, who had been sent there with some food, managed to arrive in time to save the second prince. The second prince had already given up all hope and even excused himself by saying he would go to Duke Fisablen's to borrow soldiers for a comeback, intent on leaving the mess of a battlefield to Bonawar. However, the situation did not faze the knight and he ordered the logistics heavy-armored troops to pick another spot and set up camp while he reorganized the remnants of the army. He used the opportunity when Duke Melein pressed his pursuit to cut off their path of retreat and managed to turn the battle in their favor. It ended with Bonawar's victory and the extermination of all 8000 of the enemy. Duke Melein managed to escape but with only ten riders from his personal guard.

Despite being such an accomplished tactician, Bonawar had always been the target of the second prince's jealousy and oppression given his straightforward demeanor and impressive reputation. When the time came to entitle the nobles who had contributed to the kingdom’s founding, despite his contributions, which qualified him for peerage at at least the level of baron, the second prince requested he pay a hefty sum to fill the kingdom's barren coffers before he could be entitled and enfeoffed land. It made him leave with anger and coop up in his manor for a long time.

## Story

Since the the Northland group encountered Bonawar’s group en route to Windbury, Baron Felim had spent a few days looking for his whereabouts in the city and finally managed to locate him. After asking about his situation, the baron learned the knight was not faring too well.

Just like how Baron Felim had been, Bonawar was trying hard to revive his house. It was too bad he wasn't as recklessly brave as Baron Felim.

He had come to participate in the tournament because he didn't have much of a choice. As he put it, he was there to 'sell himself' and find a decent house to serve. The 50 or so young men he had at the manor had a really hard time defending it. Southern had been ruined by the war between the second highness and Duke Melein, and the province was overrun by beggars and deserters-turned-bandits. Even though he came from an accomplished military family, he was helpless before the thousands of bandits and had to consider the safety of the women and children in his manor.

That was why Bonawar finally decided to try his luck in the tournament. Any choice that made his house safe was a good one. Given his lack of martial talent, he didn't think that people would actively recruit him, so he could only rely on those who knew his reputation to come to him.

It was too bad that he had been refused an audience with the queen, whose time was far too precious to spend on a knight. He was similarly unable to meet Duke Fisablen, who was busy with his own matters. On the third day, he traveled around to socialize with the nobles of Southern with whom he was familiar. While they did recognize his talents, given Iblia’s horrid state, there wasn't much room for him to use his skills.

It was at that moment that Baron Felim made his visit and even came over for the next few days. When Bonawar found out that House Felim had formed a legion of 46 thousand in The Northlands, he was finally convinced. Baron Felim made it a point to mention that, the house’s new legion was one constructed with lots of effort and funding, so the baron wasn't willing to just throw it away. Bonawar’s style of command was cautious but effective, so Felim felt he was the perfect man for the job.

Felim was completely elated when Bonowar pledged allegiance to his household. He held banquets for three days straight. Lorist was present throughout and even made some suggestions. He offered to have Reidy, Josk, and a thousand of his own guards go along with the baron’s own guard to transport the knight’s family to their new home safely after the tournament concluded.

## Abilities

Knight Bonawar was a different kind of officer. He was raised to the art of war based on the traditional tenets of the Krissen Empire. He focused on military regulation and efficiency, and monitoring casualties.

While he was a one-star-gold-ranked knight, he wasn't particularly talented in battleforce training. In other words, he was only a talented tactician.