Egilona Lerman is the daughter of making her a member of House Garfield.
Following the news from Bill Lovie that he was going to lose power in Lucerne Urven Lerman would attempt to lead his family in a retreat out of Lucerne but was resisted leading to the bloodbath that became the Lehaven Massacre where in dozens were killed before finally Urven retreated from Lehaven with his loyalists hours before the arrival of forces from Tree Hill arrived to stop him.
The Badger Rebellion You ever wonder how Tree Hill fell Franklin. You ever question how so many Orcs could just walk blindly across this kingdom and not a soul saw them. Maybe its time to start asking questions.
“After Tree Hill Sophia, nothing made sence. Why had the Orcs failed to complete the task? The orcs were meant to destroy Tree Hill, and then from there ransack southern Lucerne and hopefully damaging if not destroying Forks. When that went to hell I was forced to destabilize the region in other ways.”
— Bill Lovie to Sophia Lovie
Following the destruction of Tree Hill, it was the continued attempt by Bill Lovie to further destabilize the region and unable to understand why the Orcs hadn't destroyed Tree Hill completely and unable to meet with them he begin going back to his old trickery of creating bandits and using them to attack his own people. The Badgers of Lucerne were one of the many banditry groups he created, and they were especially dangerous as Bill Lovie sent Kieth Schwartz specifically to lead them, and he was a truly dangerous man and this was only made more dangerous by Kieth bringing his nephew Harry Schwartz, and fellow Circle of Magi member and demented psychopath Tobin Aven to act as commanders for him. Outside of this main leadership James Lovie also sent Luthor Clune who would be commanded to move against the principality of Limca using his family connections to have them support bandit movement against House Brent at Marburg. The Badgers were able to quickly gather forces through bribery, and intimidation of the small villages south of Castle Garfield, and from there begin raiding merchants and noblemen all across the province of Northern Hillsbrad. During this initial time the Badgers were able to turn Edmund Frotenhood to their side with the promise that he would gain the lands of House Tollsen following his siding with them, and desperate to remove his hated brother he would agree to assist them placing a powerful noble on the side of the Badgers. At first it fell under the responsibility of House Garfeild to deal with this problem and they went about this by calling in nearly all of their personal forces, and vassal forces and moving into the smaller villages searching for the Badgers. This would have great effect as they were able to find their way to the Badgers main hideout in the hills where they would attack it and kill many members of the Badgers, but unknown to them was the fact that the Badgers had been tipped off about the attack and most had fled including Kieth Schwartz westward where they were finding the work of Luthor Clune was going very well with the forces of House Haushka standing behind the Badgers.
“We all had heard how the Garfield's were dealing with a bandit problem, and we were all overjoyed that we heard they had destroyed the bandits after sieging their camp. Then to hear that Jedyon, and his mother were dead and a castle taken by the bandits led to a massive counter assault by the vengeful Hillsbrad forces.”
— Liam Greymane
Now realizing that House Garfield was an immediate threat to their movements the Badgers under the command of Kieth Schwartz would prepare to capture Castle Tollsen that was the seat of the small House Tollsen. Supported by his protection at Limca by the forces of House Haushka it was Kieth would use deception, and bribery once again to to bring about the capture of Rosomund Garfield, of whom he believed that once he captured her he could cause a chain reaction which would lead to all out war in the region. Sending a new arrival to his forces in the form of Fredrik Gurse to capture her from her home, he would march his forces to the site of Castle Tollsen where they would wait for Fredrik Gurse to capture Rosomund Garfield. Fredik Gurse was able to get within the walls of Castle Garfield and during the night kidnapped Rosomund of whom he quickly took during the night riding his horse ragged to Castle Tollsen hours away, and when he arrived he would be shocked by the reaction of the Badger leadership. With his prize in hand Kieth Schwartz would execute her without much consideration and quickly after and left her broken body at the edge of the road into Castle Tollsen where he knew the Garfield loyalists of House Tollsen would be quick to report this murder. Lord Gregor Tollsen's men would discover her body the next day and the loyal Gregor Tollsen would do what was believed he would do when he sent his eldest son Rymen Tollsen, and his wife Esla Tollsen to Castle Garfield where he would tell the Garfields about the murder of Rosomund Garfield.
This led to Jeydon Garfield the heir to the house, and the leader of their forces to travel to Castle Tollsen with a small force of men to retrieve his mother and find out what had happened to her at the same time. On the march to Castle Tollsen Jeydon would be ambushed on the road into the castle by Tobin Aven and killed. All of the men with Jeydon were killed outside of his wife Anrea of whom had accompanied her husband but her fate was worse as she would be raped by several of the bandits following the ambush, and then in this emotionally destroyed state she was forced to watch as the bandits took on the identity of the Garfield men as their clothes were taken, and the Badgers preparaed to use them to infiltrate Castle Tollsen. The group now dressed as House Garfield would come to the front gate and using Anrea as a vocal member of the group the Tollsens would allow them inside, and once the portcullis were raised to let them in the group would kill the guards within their reach before taking control of the gatehouse, and making signals for the main force Inside the castle they allowed in the rest of the bandits and took control of the castle, with little to no resistance. Once in control of Castle Tollsen they would strap Gregor Tollsen to a pole in the center of the main courtyard and he would be forced to watch as the bandits put much of the castle to the sword including one of Lord Gregor's sons. As if this was not enough they would burn down the ancient Tollsen Tree which spread smoke high into the air, and would bring about the attention of Rymen, and Elsa Tollsen of whom had went to the estate of House Frotenhood following their telling of House Garfield of the death of Rosomund Garfield. Seeing the smoke Rymen and Elsa would lead their small detachment of Tollsen forces alongside the forces of House Frotenhood led by Galbert Frotenhood, and his two sons Edmund Frotenhood, and Franzal Frotenhood of whom as a force would move towards Castle Tollsen.
Counter Attack[]
“I'm not sure what their endgame was. Did they not know that the moment they attacked that castle the entire state would be moving against them? Did they not know that several hundred bandits was going to be no match for thousands of loyal Lucernian soldiers? I guess what do I care why they acted like idiots.”
— Liam Greymane
With the fall of Castle Tollsen the entire forces of House Greymane were aware of the attack, and Liam Greymane would lead the charge to eradicate the Badgers. Calling for all the vassals of which were many tens thousands of men at arms and thousands of knights was not needed so he called on House Crowley, and several other houses to travel with him and deal with the bandits. As the army was growing Frank Brent would send his son Franklin Brent to join the army as Frank was best friends with Gregor Tollsen, and Franklin Brent would immediately answer this call with his force of Unwashed of whom Frank hoped that due to his involvement in the conflict Franklin would come to better understand the rigors of combat. The army camped south of Tollsen a month after the castle had fallen, and by this time the area around it and the southern section of Northern Hillsbrad was in flames from the work of the Bandits. House Garfield had made attempts to stop them now under the command of Andrew Garfield, but the Badgers had begun force-ably recruiting men from the villages, and had armed most of Castle Tollsen into their forces, and were using hostages to maintain their loyalty if needed. Finding themselves up against a little more then a thousand troops the forces of Liam Greymane spent another two weeks waiting for reinforcements from House Lerman of whom unexpectaly were sent northward to assist with the action. Dexter Hill, and Franklin Brent led their personal forces first in the vanguard and would be used as a lure for a large group of bandits that was burning across the province. The lure worked and they were brought into battle where they were overwhelmed by the entire army of Greymane of which now moved into a siege of Castle Tollsen.
“The Battle of Castle Tollsen was quick due to the fact that there was no actual battle. The Badgers didn't actually want to fight, they simply were cowards playing at the edges of society. There first taste of real fighting had been a bitter one.”
— Franklin Brent
As the Badgers were sieged in Castle Tollsen, they were damaged as a single man stood on the tallest tower and used Magi to torment the siegers with whispering in their minds causing many to be unable to sleep, and others to be forced to leave the battle completely. When this did not end the siege though Kieth Schwartz understood clearly he couldn't hold, and talks were starting amongst the forced men fighting for him that they should storm the dungeons and regain their hostages of which would allow them to turn on the Badgers. With this happening, Kieth Schartz would send some two hundred men of his forces (mainly the forced members of his forces) outside of the castle and he begin planning a full scale retreat. As this happened the two hundred men sent out of the castle would begin infighting as the Bandits were bullied by the forced members, and this led to some sixty of the two hundred (all of the true bandits) heading westward trying to retreat away from the siege. Seeing this Franklin Brent, and Dexter Hill would lead a charge of their forces into the sixty, while Liam moved the main army to attempt to stop a full retreat. Franklin Brent's Unwashed would wipe out the sixty bandits, while Dexter Hill killed many of the outriders that were retreating from the broken force. Liam reached the castle to late to stop the retreat, and Kieth Schwarts was able to pull out of Castle Tollsen with some two hundred men, while the remainder of the loyal Bandits were dead during the revolt that had taken place within the castle.
“I told you the truth back in Hillsbrad Lord Brent. I told you the truth and it is up to you whether you choose to believe me and the facts I bring to the table. I'm not forcing anything. Believe what you will.”
— Dexter Hill
With the Badgers at Tollsen defeated with their number mainly dead, and a small amount retreating westward with Kieth Schwartz, the threat was seen as all but gone. Liam would send the Lerman's after the retreating forces, while he led the main army into Castle Tollsen where he planned to spend several weeks rebuilding what was lost, and adding what he could to the area. Dexter Hill, and Franklin Brent would meet on the battlefield, and Dexter learned that Kieth Schwartz was leading the Badgers, and told this information to Franklin Brent of whom didn't fully believe him yet, but begin to seriously suspect Bill Lovie of nefarious actions, and also begin to further trust Dexter Hill. Logan Lerman, his two brothers, and his father would lead the Lerman forces into a fake chase of the Badgers, and Logan and his younger brother were shocked when they stopped their forces to camp, and were met while camped by the remaining Badgers. Logan, and Krandell Lerman attempted to fight them, but they were laughed at by both their older brother Faedra Lerman, and their father and after they started the Badgers also started laughing. Seeing this turn of events the brothers came to understand that they were working together with the badgers and that all the violence that had been done they had basically supported. Several dead bodies were passed across, and a mass grave was shown to Logan of which would be identified in case they needed to as the place they buried the remaining Badgers. One of the badgers a younger looking man introduced himself to Logan as James Nighting II. and had been sent by his family and revealed to Logan that despite his families prominent position they had become dire hard supporters of the Bill Lovie led regime.
Look at the world father. You were born into this land. You grew up here. These people swore their lives to you. How could you have done all of this? Look at everything you have done. You destroyed a city. Killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. Don't end it all here. Don't do this. For me father. For everything I supposedly mean to you. Don't do this.
I pulled my sword out of the poor man infront of me and collected myself around the rest of my men. A quick look told me we had lost very few if anyone in the charge, but looking to Edric Maul I knew my anwser would come quicker. "Edric what were our losses?"
"Simon took an arrow to the face, and Tohmen was slashed on the neck." Only two casualties wasn't terrible considering how many of them we had just overrun, but as I looked out onto the field and saw how many were in retreat I knew this was just the beggining."Probably more injuries, but we won't know that until after the battle Milord." As he spoke I spotted the personal banner of Dexter on the hill before us, and knew I wanted to have a chat with Dexter about what was the next plan for the complete defeat of the Badgers.
"Thank you Edric."He bowed his bloodied face at me and I turned towards the rest of my men. "Follow me men." As quickly as I said it I could hear the men trotting behind me as I made my way towards Dexter Hill of whom was stopped on a hill nearbye watching the retreat of the Badgers. Nearing him several of his men rode up the hill ahead of us, and spoke to him, of which the conversation was still going as I finally reached Dexter.
"A cousin of the man identified him."
"That will make for an interesting story. Where is this cousin now?"
"He was struck down by an arrow, but with his dying words he told me Milord."
"Then I suppose this information shall remain with us."
"What information shall remain with you Dexter?" I wanted to trust Dexter. He had never given me reason to think he was a liar, but the simple fact was that everyone I met made a special point to tell me not to trust him, and that had unfortunatly seeped into my thinking.
"Look out at the retreating Badgers Frank. Do you see the man carrying the banner? "
"Yes. I see him."
"Beside him is the man leading the Badgers."
"It seems obvious that the commander would be near the banner. What sort of..."
"Yes this would be obvious Franklin, but its the identity of the man that is interesting. I have learned from a dying man that the man leading the Badgers was none other then Kieth Schwartz."
"I do not know that name."
"Kieth Schwarts is the best friend of our glorious king my friend."
"How could that be." There had never been any real truth to Dexter's story that our King had been the cause of the destruction of Tree Hill, but if his best friend was truly here then that would be damning.
"I have a feeling that the anwser to that question is further truth to what I told you of Tree Hill."
"But it just doesn't make any sense. Why would the King of Lucerne go to such lengths to destroy his own land." I saw briefly a look of disapointment across Dexter's face as I once again resisted what he was telling me.
"I told you the truth back in Hillsbrad Lord Brent. I told you the truth and it is up to you whether you choose to believe me and the facts I bring to the table. I'm not forcing anything. Believe what you will." With that he waved at his men, and they went riding down the hill towards the main force now entering the castle. I didn't know what to think right now, but I know that my father would have a better understanding of what was going on in the world.
After speaking with Krandell for some time he believed that he had also convinsed his brother that despite it being morally wrong they had no choice due to the oaths they had sworn to always serve and honor their lord and their king. Spending weeks riding around basically pretending to fight against the badgers Logan and his brother Krendall would stay very close keeping eachother company and this continues until the end of the Badger Rebellion when his father leads the Lerman forces back to Castle Tollsen which shows major signs of improvement under Liam Greymane and it is here that the Lucernian forces meet to discuss next steps.
Siege of Limca[]
“You think you had anything to do with the support you got here Franklin? It was all Karyl.”
— Coyle Ordos
Following the discoveries it was Franklin Brent IV. that travels to Marburg with Karyl Reyne where he meets with the leadership of the city in the form of his father and his fathers vassals and attempts to convince them that the bandits are funded by the king James Lovie and to give him more forces so that he might attack. Franklin stays several days in Marberg waiting for the arrival of House Ordos of whom is sending delegates there at the request of his father so that House Ordos can hear of what is happening, and while waiting he continues attempting to convinse them further about his designs. Franklin's cousin Kyle Darkwood arrives in the town by chance and Franklin attempts to convinse him to come with him to Limca but Kyle is cold to the idea telling Franklin how little there is to gain by going against the king in whatever violent attept he is making. After Kyle Darkwood leaves Franklin is disapointed in his continues failures and returns to his room where he finds Karyl waiting for him and not wanting her to see him down he barks orders at her which in his head he is disgusted at himself for the way he speaks to her but he feels a growing desire to touch her which scares him.
“My father said I was brilliant. My father always said I could talk the most charismatic man into giving me the coat off his back. Had my father lied about who I was? Was I notas great as he had said I was?”
— Franklin Brent IV.
Sleeping for several hours he leaves the room to go and find his father but is stopped by lord Deitrik Greentail of whom tells him that he has had a change of heart from his earlier refusal to assist Franklin and will send his son Estmar Greentail with a force of one thousand to support Franklin's movement and at this news Franklin feels better and goes to see Kyle but before he can its his sister Fiona who tells him that House Ordos has arrived at the city. Meeting with Coyle the day after Coyle agreed to allow House Brent to intervene its Coyle that lets slip to him that Karyl Reyne has been also moving in behind him and furthering his points to those he speaks, and Kyle Darkwood insults Franklin over the fact that he hasn't actually been convinsing anyone but actually it was Karyl. Furious at Karyl he storms to find her but she remains calm and tells him that she is his wife and she will do anything to help him, and she attempts to be physically intimate with him, but we discover that he is unable to touch her due to severe distress she touches him.
Karyl attempts to console him as he breaks down as he was shown to be so weak, but he won't let her and he leaves her alone, and gathers his men. Following this Franklin Brent marches at the head of the force from Marburg he has been able to gather northwards towards the town of Limca where Dexter Hill has told him the remaining forces of the Badgers have gathered under the command of Kieth Schwartz. Meeting with the force of Dexter Hill outside of Limca he discovers the army of Limca having gathered outside the walls and sends out a scout with a white flag which leads to a meeting between the forces of Franklin and the forces of House Haushka. Meeting with Lord Swen Haushka and his brother Ottkar Haushka he and Dexter are finally vindicated when they discover that Kieth Schwartz stands with them openly revealing his presence among the army of House Haushka. Following the discussion the forces of Franklin Brent place the town under siege while the forces of House Haushka launch attempts to break the siege but are repulsed through the work of Dexter Hill whose cavalry push back any attempt to break the siege. Karyl Reyne arrives at the siege camp several weeks into the siege and Franklin is suprised when he is quite excited to see her, and for a moment he wants to reach out and touch her but before he can he is overcome by his fears and pulls back. Karyl and Franklin spend time in his tent where they discuss what has happened during the weeks of the siege and Karyl gives him advise of what he should do advising him to turn Swen Haushka against Kieth Schwartz through trickery and trusting her advise Franklin raises a white flag bringing the two sides to discussion. Meeting with the leaders of the Limca rebels including Kieth Schwartz its Franklin who is prepared to use the advise given to him by Karyl but as they speak Franklin mentions in passing that William Lovie III. is at Forks and Kieth stops the entire debate immediately. Demanding more information on this Franklin says that once the Siege of Limca is over he has been asked to travel to Hillsbrad to join the meeting with House Greymane and the Grand State of the Westerlands where their decision on whether to support William will be made. Kieth without warning orders Lord Swent Haushka to stand down and surrender, but forces favorable terms for House Haushka and the Principality of Limca stating that in return for this favorable term then House Haushka will support the prince at Forks. As the terms are agreed over its Kieth who asks to speak to Franklin separately and unable to get Elsa Tollsen to not go with him she joins them for this final talk, and going far enough into the field that no one can hear them Kieth tells them the truth of the Badger Rebellion. Elsa is held back by Franklin as she tries to kill Kieth for clearly being responsible for the death of most of her family, and then without apology or any attempt at gaining forgiveness Kieth wishes them good luck and to tell the prince what he has told them, and then he pulls out a rock and disappears into nothing. Returning to the remaining rebels they accept the surrender of House Haushka on the terms agreed upon and following this Swen gives Franklin information on the location of a Badger hideout and then has his son Ottkar join with Franklin alongside several hundred Haushka troops.
“You are coming with me Tobin. You tell the truth and I'll let you go. I promise.”
— Franklin Brent IV.
Following this information the forces of Franklin Brent move towards the location given to them by Swen and traveling the road he talks things over with Ottkar who does a good job at explaining why they did what they did in supporting the King. Arriving at the hideout they would surround the entire camp with their forces while Franklin, and Ottkar moved in on the hideout with an elite force of a hundred knights. Entering the camp the Badgers led by Harry Schwartz would attempt to surrender, and a discussion opened up about accepting their surrender, but when it seemed like they were going to allow them to live it was Ser Poliver of Brent that discovered the imprisoned Edmund Frotenhood and removed the coverings from his mouth. Allowed to speak Edmund would reveal the depths of violence committed on the orders of Harry Schwartz and the other badgers in the camp and unable to talk his way out of it Franklin would execute Harry on the spot. The remainder of the badgers in the camp were also executed with only Edmund being taken prisoner back to Hillsbrad where he would be tried and decided what his fate would be. Among the rescued prisoners was Esla Tollsen of whom would be offered assistance in returning to Castle Tollsen and her family but instead rejected this and took a horse alone heading to her childhood home of Highgarden. Tobin Aven would be taken prisoner during the assault on the hideout and taken back by Franklin Brent to Hillsbrad in order to testify as to what the actions of James Lovie had been.
Final Meeting[]
“My brother what our father says is wrong. We are wrong. I will let Lord Greymane the truth of this and I shall accept whatever punishment I must. I cannot. I will not accept to be on the wrong side of what is right. I cannot.”
— Krandell Lerman
During this meeting Logan is once again impressed by Liam Greymane and after the meeting ends he is approached in private by his brother who reveals that he will be telling Liam about what actually happened and concerned that this action will lead to the imprisonment of his entire family he goes to his father and tells him what is going to happen and at his words his father quickly has his brother imprisoned and sent back to the Lerman seat of Lehaven. The chapter ends with Logan having betrayed his brother now in an extremely emotionally devastated state but returns with his father to Lehaven where he is overjoyed to see his uncle Wren again of whom is the man that Logan sees as his true father and the man he knows will tell him the truth of everything.
Death and Destruction[]
"The world was already dark before that day. I felt it happening all around me, and as the floor shaked from them moving on the floor below us, I just held Ashley tight. I knew what was going to happen to her, and I knew I couldn't let her die. I would do everything I could to keep her safe."
-Logan Lerman
On the day of the retreat of Bill Lovie out of Lucerne his supporters had been warned that he might be forced to abandon Lucerne and if this happened they should leave. Urven as one of the closest people to Bill Lovie had been warned, and this led to him warning his followers of whom were advised to flee Lucerne otherwise they would face retribution from William Lovie III. who was out for blood. For the most part all of House Lerman would listen to his call for retreat, but when Urven told his family he was moving the house to meet with Bill Lovie his wife resisted this move. Urven for the first time was resisted, and he reacted the same way he did when Wren had resisted his moves, and this resulted in a brutal fight between husband and wife which was interupted briefly by Krandell of whom tried to stop his father. Krandell was helpless to stop his father and with his resistence gone Urven would be free to go back to his wife, and Rhellia would be killed during their argument, and upon seeing his mother killed Krandell struck his father. Father and son would engage in a brutal fight, and it would only be stopped when Krandell fell to the ground dead from a knife wound leveled against him by his brother Faedra Lerman.
Escape[]
"The escape from Lucerne wasn't something I ever want to go through again. Horses chasing us as we tried desperatly to run away from the things we had done. My brother screamed with a fiery scream that sent chills up my spine as he engaged those chasing us. The only thought that kept me moving was the fact that I had to keep my sister alive."
-Logan Lerman
The moment that the call went out to round up the members of House Lerman it was Urven that called the family to a quick meeting where they decided as a group that they needed to leave the land and follow Bill Lovie into his exile. Several members of the leadership of House Lerman resisted this call and they were quickly executed, and thus the remainder alerted their servents and families that House Lerman and all of its controlled members were leaving the Valley of Lucerne. As the house abandoned the land it was the insanity of Faedra Lerman that would leave them nearly destroyed. Following the murder of Krandell it was Faedra that had fallen into first depression, and then eventually his mind had shattered in order to survive and he became a dark man with severely distrubed thoughts. These thoughts would pull him towards his sister Ashley of whom he begin to intimidate and threaten on an almost constant basis. The only thing that protected her was the fact that she was protected by both her brother Logan, and the Dragon Knight Paul Modin of whom had come to love her as a daughter.
"He walked up and just stabbed him. There was no reasoning with him. Screaming at him as he moved he had little to no recegnition on his face. I looked to Logan to help me and I saw him cowering in the corner in utter fear and dispair. I wanted to not blame him for that but his weakeness would ruin so many lives."
-Ashley Lovie
As House Logan exited the lands of Lucerne it was the actual Lermans themselves that were some of the last to leave and Ashley would remain in the home of Paul Modin alongside her brother Logan of whom both wanted to remain behind and escape their family. Faedra would learn of this through a servent and would arrive at Paul's house, and as soon as Paul opened the door it was Faedra that stabbed him through the head and begin killing Paul's family while Logan fell to the ground too shocked to even move. As Faedra raped and murdered Paul's youngest daughter it was Logan that pulled Ashley out of the house and towards the escaping horses. He would hide her in one of the carriages, and then he rode inside the carriage to conseal her even more. As people heard the screams from Paul's home the call to stop House Lerman went out, and House Lerman escaped only an hour before they were surrounded by a lot of people. Everyone believed Faedra would be dead but days after they were out of Lucerne he arrived at the meeting point and was covered in blood from the people he had killed escaping.
Krandell Lerman's death would destroy whatever remained of Faedra's humanity.
"It was all ruined, and our survival was now all I could focus on. I hid her everywhere I could, but in the back of my mind I understood it was just a matter of time until someone discovered that she was hidden in my room."
-Logan Lerman
Logan stayed alongside his sister Ashley as they made their way to Orleans and upon arriving there he tried to protect his sister as the men of the Circle of Magi became more and more wild in their desires. Logan failed in his attempt as when he was taking some of the more normal men on secret gatherings to try and organize themselves, his sister was captured from her hiding spot in his room by his brother Faedra and then locked in a dungeon deep in one of the many forts throughout Orleans. His brother taunted him into believing that she was dead, and this basically destroyed his will to resist, and following this he became steadfast in his duty of gaurding the sothern gate, and organizing the food production within the city.
