Knightdom of Tendra

"""“Somewhere in the world there is defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory.”"

The Knightdom of Tendra is is an aristocratic imperial nation created in the wake of the collapse of the Scarlet Moon Empire and is largely considered responsible for the final chapter in its history. A climactic war with the empire, combined with a subsequent distrust of solitary authority figures left the Tendra a kingdom without a king. Keen to avoid the mistakes of the past the Knightdom swore to govern themselves through cooperation and by upholding the tenets of justice and virtue that had made them knights to begin with.

593: Secession and Foundation
Witnessing firsthand the decadence and corruption that had taken hold of the Scarlet Moon Empire, Sir Oskar Hawkswood, the greatest knight of the age and wielder of the legendary blade Holy Avenger was ordered north to Anoi-Lao, home of the peaceful Tortle fishing colony long since displaced from their homeland.

His mission, to bring back any and all wealth to the Empire. A man of great honour, Sir Hawkswood rode into the snow at the head of his company of knights knowing he faced an impossible dilemma. If he did not perform his duty, he would have betrayed the oath he made as a young man to uphold the Emperors word. If he performed the task however, his honour as a knight would be forever sullied. Torn between two oaths the company vanished into the white wastes and for a time were considered lost.

To the Emperors horror, two years later Sir Hawkswood returned. Not with the spoils of war, but with sword in hand. Denouncing what the throne had become he harried the northern borders of the Empire for a year, inflicting considerable losses on an army who in truth supported the legendary knight and hampered all efforts to confront their idol. After a campaign of great success, Emperor Barbarossa XI settled on a plot to remove the thorn from his side once and for all. He ordered what few soldiers remained loyal to him to withdraw to the capital at Scarletia, once they had arrived three days later they were to execute every man, woman and child in the city. Whether he intended to go through with it or not nobody can truly know but Sir Hawkswood could not take the chance. He rode south at the head of a large host, bolstered by soldiers of the empire who, upon hearing the emperors edict and not wishing to see their families killed, joined without hesitation.

As the forces lay siege to the city the moment had almost come, with time running out Sir Hawkswood offered the only thing he could in exchange for the lives of the cities inhabitants, his own. Emperor Barbarossa XI opened the gates and gladly welcomed in his enemy, naming him oathbreaker and taking the knights famous sword. As Barbarossa proudly boasted of his success he gave the knight one last order. Denounce his campaign, order the treacherous host outside the gates to surrender their arms and all inside the walls would be spared. Sir Hawkswood spoke softly and against all odds it was not his sword that toppled the empire, but his words."“A knight needs not sword nor shield to enact justice, nor does a man need the title sir to do the right thing. To each of you I ask this, who are you? Do you serve an emperor, coin or the gods? Or do you serve your neighbor, decency and friends. I die knowing the answer, I pray you find yours.”"

Barbarossa himself swung the sword that killed Sir Oskar Hawkswood and in so doing brought the history of the Scarlet Moon Empire to a close. It is said not a soldier present raised another blade that day and when the gates opened the knights that had first rode into the north with their friend took his body and left, once more back into the snow. Shortly afterwards, they buried the body on the site Sir Hawkswood had made his fateful decision to oppose the Empire and built Westerberg with his remains at the foundation. The Knightdom of Tendra was born.

813-828: The Trinity War
When war came, the Tendra had largely remained absent from the affairs of the north. Maintaining the tenets of chivalry and honour they had pursuited no expansion of their borders but when the Kyoshi Shogunate began harassing farmers in the Knightdoms western reach the knights answered the call. With much of the war taking place north of the shield mountains, both forces were largely oblivious to the rising military might of the Hexan Confederacy to the south. When they entered the fray, the Tendra had no choice but to engage on two fronts. Over the fifteen years of the war the Knightdom began embracing new strategies. Faced with oblivion if defeated their were some that believed the lofty ideals of the past had to be cast aside to survive the crisis. War may have blackened the honour of the Tendra but they endured and when peace came they had secured their lands, but had the cost been too great? The retaking of Montlés, razed to the ground by the Shogunate at the onset of war is still sung of by northern bards as a force led by Sir Dryden Gask, the youngest member of the High Table at the time, beat three times their number to reclaim the lands taken and show their enemy they weren't to be taken lightly.

Geography
The geographical features of the Tendra, a mountainous country located in northern Aletrias. The Knightdom is famous for the beauty and uniqueness of its landscapes. The climate is arctic to subarctic, with cool summers and cold winters.

The Tendra is well known for the Shields mountain range in the south and south west and outside its capital, Westerberg. It has multiple remote settlements including Montlés and Ravenrock to name a few.

Politics
The High Table is the decision making body of Tendra. Comprised of the thirteen greatest knights of the age as selected by their peers at the Conclave of the Lance. To achieve a place at the table one must conduct themselves with chivalry and virtue and many do not ascend until the later years of their life, though decisions can be agreed on more slowly than other nations an emphasis on unity and comradely drives talks and the needs of its subjects always placed before the needs of the lords themselves.

Notable Tendrans

 * Sir Oskar Hawkswood
 * Sir Dryden Gask
 * Sir Harald Ravenrock
 * Sir Noah Stosk
 * Sir Dayne Hawkswood