“Glory, my lord? I would find glory in marching alongside you, hewing down my countrymen, and looting shoulder to shoulder with your sainted knights? Perhaps. Perhaps I would. But this old fort is the glory given to me. I have a charge to guard it still, and can abandon it at no cost. You have enemies beyond your rivals for the throne, my lord, whether you ken it or no. And it is my duty to the Empire of Lyssan to see that this fort stays guarded against them, for the day they will surely march again.
May the gods smile upon you, my lord. Know that even as you march to war, you are watched over. The Eagle’s Guard has a duty, and that duty shall never be betrayed.”
– General Klaus Drendt, to the Contender Emperor Gustav Heiner
You will find them on the frontiers of the empire, manning the oldest fortresses. They watch over roads that no army has marched for a hundred years, yet they keep their swords as sharp as if war would break out the very next day. They have not fought for a generation, yet veterans of a dozen battles speak of them with respect. They are The Eagle’s Guard.
Each of the contenders have tried to gain their fealty. The Wolf offered them fame and glory. The Hawk plied them with riches and power. And what The Vulture offered them, none could say. Of all the contenders to visit The Eagle’s Nest, he remained there the longest. It is said that when he left that oldest fortress, that the general embraced him as a brother. Yet all the contenders rode away alone. None have found the key to make The Eagle’s Guard abandon neutrality and march from their posts. The fate of Lyssan may be decided on the day they do.
