Since Mistral appears to be having too much success lately I've decided to make their lives more.... interesting shall we say. Omake away.
Rise Of A King
You are no one. That is what I'd been told my entire life and something I believed until recently. I was no one until the Dread Winter came. For a full year, nothing save ice and cold made its presence known in my home. The ground hardened, the trees withered, and the rivers froze over, dooming many to a slow death either by the frost or the gnawing pains of hunger. Times were harsh and while the Lords and Ladies feasted in their castles, peasants were starving. There was plenty of food to be hunted in the forests and mountains, but those were the King's lands and none were allowed to forage or hunt in there. Any who did were declared a criminal and were either given a hemp necktie or were introduced to the Executioner's blade.
I watched my mother die as she gave food to her children before she fed herself. She may have been a bitter whore, but she was a loving mother through and through. Then my two brothers died, stabbed to death by some wandering captain who couldn't tell the difference between two village lads and some army deserters she was hunting. Finally, my younger sister died from some sickness that consumed her from the inside-out. She died crying tears of blood in my arms pleading alongside me with any God or spirit listening not to let her soul pass into the next world.
When I finished burying my family, I had nothing left to do but turn to my friends. Youths like me. Hungry, angry, and with nothing to lose. It started with quiet whispers. People being too afraid of being overheard and stopped before anything could truly begin. Then those same men being fed whispers of the way things ought to be were given ale and suddenly there were people spitefully speaking out in the open. If we have nothing at all, what would it hurt if we took from others? When you reach the bottom, the only way you can go is up after all.
Woodsmen in the village who fell trees on orders of the Royal Foresters began handing out axes while former Rangers taught others how to make bows and arrows. It took time, but we were prepared. Then I suggested a visit to the manor downriver from our village. The lord there had plenty and continued to grow fat off our suffering and had his men throw us out when we were weak.
I brought my ax, and with it felled the most men. The lord begged for his life but we didn't listen. Where was his mercy when we were suffering? Where were the Gods and spirits when we were at our lowest? We took his stockpile of food to feed ourselves but it wasn't enough. We needed
more. We always needed
more. The
hunger for
more never ended.
From there the situation escalated beyond control. We raided and attacked in all directions, men joining us as our infamy grew. It took time but as the foremost warrior due to my natural talent I became the leader. Under my leadership the men and women under my command actually thrived in the last days of the Dread Winter. Things were on the up and up relatively speaking.
And then the Dread Winter ended, and while the rest of the region celebrated, we felt fear. The only reason our group had survived as long as it did was because the Dread Winter stopped the nobility from mobilizing to stomp our brethren out. It was only a matter of time, but after they recovered they would come for us. Knowing this, we decided to take to the deep woods, where man feared to venture. As woodsmen, we were used to the forests and knew its secrets. From its darkness, we emerged to plunder and sow destruction upon the affluent.
During one of my more infamous walks through the forest, I encountered a particularly pompous noble with his bodyguard attempt to corner a peasant girl. He claimed to be descended from royalty and was exercising the privileges that came with such a distinguished position. Five minutes later his overinflated head was sent soaring away from his sorry excuse of a body. Though not before I recovered a circlet of brass from it. After dawning it, whispers began to spread of the coming of a new king. The Bandit King. From across the realm, outlaws have flocked to my banner.
While my followers lie content with the spoils we've acquired, I set my sights much higher. The core territories lie before us; rich bastions for the arrogant nobles and their ilk. For now they remain out of our reach, but I intend to change that. Mistral would be brought to heel. For within the darkness of the forests beyond civilization, we've fought monsters. And we became them.
My name is Hannibal, and I am the Bandit King.