Rothach Family/Vallyn

A Decade of War (SEI)

The youngest of the Rothach twins Vallyn travelled to the South East Island shortly after his 18th birthday. The young man bears a jagged scar along his face running from his left temple down his cheek ending at his jaw, a gift from his Cousin Farrin for interfering in an unfairly matched duel. His hatred of Farrin is unmatched, he found his reckless cousin's attitude and actions to be offensive and the injury he suffered at his hands only spurred him on to train harder and fight.

The idealistic youth sought to find honour and prestige in war and so found himself fighting for Taselak, the outnumbered but tactically superior Realm that fought on the SEI. There he began his training in war, but the tactics used and constant warfare has dimmed him, driven him to harsh beliefs. The constant looting, pillaging, and destruction has driven him closer to his anger and hatred. He beliefs in his Oath and the constant warfare that he has found. Honour and Duty are all he has left and he drives towards them, regardless of the cost now. He has abandoned the ideals taught by Nighthelm believing that Brutality, Force, and Destruction are necessary to be successful in war and in leadership. That whatever is tactically sound must be done -- regardless of the cost to the people.

Thus he has begun to find a harshness, a coldness within himself and fallen into that which many may call evil. But he knows the truth of it's righteousness, that his honour, integrity, and oath justify whatever he must do to complete his duty.

A Bitter Sea (Dwilight)

Vallyn has arrived in Dwilight and found himself alone except for his few loyal servants and several of his comrade in arms from the South East. The family has disenfranchised him effectively -- after a decade of war Vallyn has become harsh and cold. Envious of Phellan's success and reput within the family Vallyn has set his eyes upon a great prize. Taking what gold he could extract from the family he plans to find Lordship, Conquest, and Glory in this new fresh land. In Madina he has found a society where raiding and pillaging as he is use to is free to be had. And the man has a lust for such things. Thus he prepares to gather his forces, bid his time, and prepare to forge a great army that will be the bane of all those who have ever doubted his abilities.

The Scarred Admiral

With the failure of Madina's Lord Admirals and devestation of her armies at the mass of monsters that have struck the isle of Madina the Baron of Laraibina found himself with the ripe opperunity to take charge of the crumbling military of Madina. Approaching the Duke Kolya and Doge Abbot, Vallyn offered his services to fill the Lord Admiral position.

Upon doing so he rallied the forces of Madina for a strike at the Beasts in Lugagun. After a disasterous failure where Vallyn found his men alone upon the fields against a vastly superior horde of monsters the Lord Admiral nearly was killed, left for dead by the Beasts. Several of his own wounded men dragged him to safety and tended to him until they could carry their wounded Lord back to Madina Gardens -- there the Lord Admiral took to task the Marshals and Leadership of Madina who had failed to follow their Orders and pass along the messages to the knights.

A second campaign was launched with the new Marshal Sage Meadowcrest commanding the Madina Ducal Guards and with the Expeditionary Fleet of Madina disbanded due to it's utter failure in Lugagun. There forces under Lord Admiral Vallyn and Marshal Sage utterly crushed the Hordes in Panabuk and made a successful 2 day march into Lawataling during the winter months, striking down a second mass of creatures that had slaughter the population there.

Thus has begun the rise of the Lord Admiral's in his attempts to rebuild the forces of Madina and salvage the Realm from destruction by the hostile beasts that have ravaged it since it's inception.

The Lord Admiral's Plan

A reforging of the core Madinan Army was a priority of the Lord Admiral's after the initial rebuking of the beasts. The Lord Admiral devised -- and taught -- his strategies to the new Madinan nobles under his command. Marshal Sage became the new Govenor of Madina City as the previous Govenor became Doge. Sire Kolya assigned the Lord Admiral direct command of the forces and announced a state of Emergency, granting additional powers to the man who had sought such authority for years.

A new campaign was launched by the Lord Admiral, one of concise and careful movement. The Madinan forces began the slow process of fighting back the beasts. Vallyn who had little patience for the precisions of diplomacy and less for the squandering of troops and wealth began to place pressure on the Madinan Grand Council for funding for troops. The army began to grow slowly the first few years, the efforts of the Lord Admiral brought at first a few regions under the control of the Madina -- they secured the regions they had held previously and expand some. By the time his initial plan had set into effect the Madinan war machine had grown -- troops that had been recklessly thrown away by previous commanders were saved by the battle tactics of the Lord Admiral.

Strong infantry guarding the excellent and deadly archers of the Republic massacred the beasts that arose to cause problems -- few encounters truly saw the infantry engage in prolong fighting. Taking advantage of the strong bows and arms of the Madinan forces the Lord Admiral managed to ensure that few beasts got close enough to make the army worry. Along with patience -- even at the cost of production and the miserable lives of the peasants -- the Lord Admiral ensured the safety of his forces above all else. He was known to wait for a day or longer to ensure that no member of the Guard was left behind or unable to make the battle. By doing so he ensured the survival of his forces, reducing the massive loss of life that had crippled the earlier Madinan Armies who would fight to the last man, leaving no forces at all to defend the Isle.

Eventually the Republic secured the Eastern Isle up to Bol. Following this the Doge - now Doge Tacin - revoked the state of Emergency. However by now the Grand Council had come to believe they could secure the Western Isle as well. So in the third and fourth years the Lord Admiral began the task of securing the Western Isle of Madina, Isle Fatmilak. There they fought long and hard but the Lord Admiral secured the regions with the aid of the army -- many times splitting his forces so that one portion would be defending the western edge, while the other would hunt down the incessant and never ending beasts that awoke. Finally the army had achieved that which was set out upon years ago -- during the founding of Madina. They had secured both Isle's and with remarkable ease despite the vast amount of undead and beasts that besieged them. Many Realms still struggled against the onslaught whilst Madina, under the guiding hand of Lord Admiral Vallyn, had secured their borders fully.

A Call for War

• to come