The Battle of Redlee is a famous tale among the Elves. Lore speaks of a time of panic among the Elves, when their King was kidnapped, and their society began collapsing in on itself. Only the valiant efforts of the Holy Knights of Iomedae prevented their civilization from falling completely to pieces.
Ever since, the Knights of Iomedae have held a revered position among the Elves- treated with as much respect as a fellow Elf, rather than being looked down upon as a lesser being. If a Knight of Iomedae asks an Elf for a favour, that Elf will go to fair lengths to help the Knight.
However...
The Order of Iomedae tells a very different story. A much darker, very much more brutal saga, of mistakes, atrocities and new beginnings.
According to the Order’s records, the Battle originally began as a regular skirmish, in a mid-sized town built on the Redlee Crossroads. A group of Drow were harassing the locals of the village, and they asked the Church for protection. The Church agreed, and sent a Contingent to the village.
They repelled the Drow without sustaining serious injuries for some time.
Several weeks later, however, word came that the Elven King was going to visit Redlee, to make an alliance with the Humans that lived nearby. The Contingent stationed there, at roughly the same time, noted that the Drow they were fighting were remarkably more powerful and skilled.
The Church sent out a Legion to guard the village while the King was there. High Warrior Restintue accompanied them as their Commander, while the Oracle, Her Lady’s Voice On Earth, Lestantui, accompanied to pass on a message to the King.
They felt safe enough. After all, this many Warriors could hold off anything short of a small army, correct?
Unfortunately, they underestimated the Drow- or rather, the sheer numbers they had to call upon. When the Elven King came to Redlee, the Drow attacked. They brought along all the allies they could spare- Trolls, Orcs, Goblins, even a pair of young Dragons.
The Legion did not go down easily. Thousands of Drow and allies fell beneath their blades and storms of arrows. Hundreds fell for every member of the Legion that fell.
But alas, no man could hold out forever. Eventually, even Restintue, the mightiest Warrior in the town fell, leaving no-one to stop the Drow from stealing the King away.
Only two Elves made it out of there alive that day. The Elven King was bundled away, a messenger dispatched to carry their diamonds of a ransom- half the kingdom to be officially turned over to them in return for the return of their King. And one lone Elven Ranger, who hid when he saw the last of the Legion being overrun. He flew back to the Church to carry word.
The Drow assumed that, with their mightiest Warriors gone, the Church would stay uninvolved with the fight.
Unluckily for them, this assumption was proven to be false.
When an Elven Rogue stumbled into their Church, nearly dead after a failed attack on a Drow village, the Church seized on the opportunity. They organized an alliance with the Elven Trackers- Rangers who had a lot of experience with the lands.
And they mapped out the entire continent. They marked every single Drow village; every single Troll habitat; and every Orcish warcamp.
Then the Order went to war.
They marched upon the closest Drow village to their Church. Their armour gleamed in the sunlight, their golden shields proudly bearing the crest of Iomedae as they descended beneath the Earth and slaughtered the Drow.
Every Drow Warrior in the village was killed, felled by a Paladin’s blade. Every Drow Wizard, or Sorceror, or Ranger was put to the sword. Any Drow that could pose a threat was summarily and lawfully executed.
Only the women that had not taken up a weapon, the young children, and the oldest Drow were spared. And when their work was done, the Order moved on to the next village.
The Order systematically mowed down every Drow in their path for the better part of a month. They slayed every Troll, every Orc, every Goblin they could find in their path.
Five weeks later, after the Drow had been systematically decimated, Iomedae ordered the Order to stop. They immediately did so, and moved to Arreandue, the largest Drow village in the continent, and demanded that the Drow hand over both Kings- the Drow King and the Elven King.
The Drow refused. They drew all the remaining Drow in the continent back to their largest village, and began fortifying it against an invasion. They refused to hand over the Elven King until their demands were met.
Their hands tied by their Goddess, the Order was ordered to do no more.
Until two dozen Paladins, men and women who had seen too many of their comrades killed, decided that they would commit a necessary evil.
They took off their golden bands, leaving their shields a dull grey. Grimacing, the group acknowledged that what they were about to do was a grim task.
And then they descended into the Drow Village to wreak their havoc.
They snuck in through a small side gate, where Drow would go in and out of, in search of food. They brought along with them bags of healing potions, in case they took too much damage.
And then they began their slaughter.
They left only the children and Drow too feeble to pick up a weapon untouched. Their blades whirling, they advanced upon the Palace, killing any Drow who could potentially be a threat behind them.
Thousands more Drow fell before them that day- whether it was by hand-crossbows they appropriated for the task, or by their swords and shields.
Eventually, they reached the Palace. Even the Elite Royal Guard was no match for these high-leveled Paladins, and they too soon fell underneath the sheer power of the Paladins.
And then the Paladins were in the Palace. They split up- one group went to rescue the Elven King, and the other went after the Drow King.
In the end, they accomplished both tasks- they rescued the Elven King, and they slew the Drow King. They suffered heavy casualties, though. Only four of these Paladins survived the assault, and it left its’ mark on each.
They sent the Elven King, armed with the finest weapons and armours they could give him, out through the side door, so that his memories of the Order would not be tarnished.
And then, the four left the village, their hearts heavy with the knowledge of what they had done. In time, each of the four would move on to a new profession.
Sylvika and Tressiti, two of the Paladins that had participated in the attack on the Drow King, soon found that they rather liked this feeling of power- this ability to wield divine power for their own ends. They left the Order to start up their own- the Blackguards, a group of fallen Paladins that wielded divine power from Evil gods for Evil ends.
Jayrahn, the Paladin that found his heart the heaviest, soon repented, and gave up the sword. He settled down in a monastery, determined to record matters of history, so that the mistakes of the past would not be repeated.
And Ferral, the Paladin who had personally rescued the Elven King, attempted to repent. However, he found his heart to be too dark- his attitudes affected the other Paladins, leading them into temptation. In an effort to do what he could, he formed the Grey Guards- Paladins who had been touched by the darkness, and as such were unfit for regular duty. The Grey Guards work in secret, doing their Lady’s work using grimmer methods that regular Paladins could not stomach.
The lore is told, even to this day. Their legacies live on- the Blackguards have risen to become a mighty force, the Scribes are still transcribing all they can to this day, and the Grey Guards are still an unseen presence, the hidden left fit of the Church.
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