The Northern Resistance
The Northern Resistance
The Blackwatch, or the Northern Resistance as it is less commonly known, emerged from the ashes of the Battle of Mohrladen Hold. Their history is as tumultuous as the lands they hail from, full of strife and rebellion, a mirror of the harsh and unforgiving world they inhabited. From a band of remnants of a human army sent from Mercadia, they fought valiantly at Morlahden Hold, standing against the merciless onslaught of the Shadowclan as it bore down on the Elven capitol of Arandor. Under the determined leadership of General Ironmantle, the first to bear the name Grayson Ironmantle, they held the line against the grim tide. But their bravery was not met with the support they had hoped for. Following the aftermath of the battle, in late 16668, the Kingdom of Mercadia sought to capitalize on the conflict, seeking to expand its borders and establish an outpost as a buffer against the aggressive cultists of the Desolate Bog.
The outpost was intended to stem the tide of cultists, who had swelled their numbers by taking in survivors from Olverton, and refugees from Ameresh. But the venture was marred by problems from the start. The Blackwatch found themselves ill-supplied, their resources strained, while the Mercadian nobility squabbled among themselves. Forced to forage from the land and shelter in makeshift tents, they found themselves fighting off cultist incursions and bandit raids on a regular basis.The frustrations of the Blackwatch reached a boiling point, and they broke their ties with Mercadia, declaring themselves a wholly separate entity. But their act of rebellion did not win them friends amongst the other races. The Elves, ever suspicious, saw their declaration as a power grab, an attempt to seize control of nearby Elven territory, and they withdrew further into Arandor, their aid to the Blackwatch only minimal.
The Dwarves of Karagard, ever pragmatic and focused on self-preservation, fortified their mountain home against further incursions by the Shadowclan. They expanded their fortress under the mountains until a great port sat on its eastern edge, effectively isolating themselves from the turmoil above. The Blackwatch now stand alone amongst the four races of the realm, a group of hardened warriors defined by their resilience and their refusal to submit to any outside control. It is rumored, however, that not all who grow up under the shadow of the Northern Resistance remain there. There are whispers of desertion, of Blackwatch members or descendants of members slipping away to Tilverton, and even back to Edana.
Today, the Blackwatch continues to uphold its independence fiercely, their resentment for the powers around them still burning strong. They are a testament to survival against the odds, a beacon of stubborn defiance in the face of a world that has offered them little but strife and hardship. Even so, they endure, carving out a harsh existence in the northern wastes, ever watchful, ever resistant. Their legacy is a complicated one, forged in the fires of conflict and marked by betrayal and abandonment. But it is a legacy they carry with pride, a testament to their resilience, their tenacity, and their undying will to survive.
