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Author Topic: A Tale in Marienburg  (Read 1553 times)

Offline Ithikial

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A Tale in Marienburg
« on: March 17, 2007, 07:33:41 AM »
Um... new to the forums and I hope this is in the right place. If it isn't sorry mods.

Background for my army list that is available elsewhere on the forums. WFB fluff buffs please make sure it's accurate.  :smile2:   Also if anyone has any idea on Marienburg paint schemes (besides Mordheim ones) please tell me! Pics would be even better.

Cheers in advance.

The Marienburg Swamp Patrol

The independent City State of Marienburg survives through trade from both the open oceans and the River Reik. Unfortunately the entry to the port on both sides is swamp ridden for miles all around and home to many bandits, enemies and terrors that threaten the independence and very survival of Marienburg. If the trade of Marienburg is seriously disrupted or halted, the city’s survival is not assured and it’s many enemies will exploit it.

To help patrol the Wasteland Region of the Old World, the Marienburg merchant heads formed roaming patrols to constantly sweep the surrounding area and at all costs, keep the river clear of threats. One of these patrols would be lead by Lord Farlander, a young and rich aristocrat whose wealth was derived from a line of rich bankers. The Farlander family’s wealth began with the treasure hunting that occurred around Mordheim after the impact of the Wyrdstone comet in the Imperial Year 2000, when a young mercenary from Marienburg became wealthy in the damned city and was one of the few who did. After reading his ancestor’s journal from the family library on their Reik River estate, the young lord and heir to the family fortune was compelled to act for his city and state. When the call came around for noble leaders of these roaming river patrols, Farlander was one of the first to offer his services.

Given command of what was said to be the finest group of soldiery that Marienburg ever produced, Farlander saw they weren’t. Numbering around one hundred men and two cannon, the company was under the command of a Captain Kurt Rodgerskin, a career military man who was annoyed at being sidelined for paid mercenaries on more than one occasion in the past. When he learnt of Farlander’s family past he was less than impressed but dutifully accepted his appointment, eager to fight for his beloved City-State. A wizard in the local area by the name of Getafix also offered his services to the young general, saying he knew the swamps and wastelands like the back of his hand. Farlander took an instant likeness to the old man and took him and his skills on board, knowing he’d probably save his life one day. Another man also offered Farlander his services, Count Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom, advertising the fact he had travelled to the Grand Cathay in the east and back seemed a touch improbable to Farlander and Rodgerskin. How could a scrawny man with a Hochland Long-Rifle named ‘Mirabile’ and no people skills what so ever, possibly of made it through the lands of the vampires, the dwarves, orcs, goblins and ogres and back again in one piece? Though von Fontlebottom’s claim of travel to the east could neither be proven true or false, his claim of being of nobility could. No one in Marienburg had ever heard of him and many of the aristocracy of Marienburg had travelled through the empire. His title was indeed a fake, though von Fontlebottom swore on his family name that the princess he had saved from a band of feral orcs honoured him with the title. Regardless, the annoying man with the rifle continued to follow Farlander’s forces.

The Farlander family was not with it’s own problems; problems that the young general inherited with his command. The Farlander’s had always been followers of the cult of Sigmar. This caused major problems in a region where the God of the Sea and Trade, Manann, was predominantly worshipped instead. Worshiping the deity of the Empire, the same powers that Marienburg tried to remain fiercely independent from, caused much questioning on Farlander’s character and purpose. Yet Farlander himself, head of the family refused to re-cant his beliefs. So when a local travelling priest of Sigmar known as Luther the Chaste, offered his services a few days before the troops marched for the first time, the enemies of the Farlander family had new fuel for their cause to remove Farlander from any command.

When the troops marched on the Ides of March in the Imperial Year 2523, the Old World was still in a state of disarray, with the Storms of Chaos in the north still having a heavy impact on the Empire and their borders. With fewer troops in the south and west of the Empire Marienburg should have been safe and prosperous. However, the number of bandits and other evils had been sited and in greater numbers, given the sudden freedom of having little in the way of Empire patrols to thin there numbers like usual. Within three days, Farlander’s forces had their first engagement two miles south of Rutten on the border of the great forest that marked the start of the Empire. A band of mounted Knights had come under attack by a roaming band of orcs. Though they were probably from an Empire based Knightly Order mattered not for Farlander and ordered a great charge. The company attacked and saved the knights from certain death. Every orc was slaughtered for the loss of five men.

Making camp that night, Farlander was introduced to the leader of the Knights and was pleasantly surprised. The Knights were known as an order known as ‘The Nine’ and led by a passionate man named Cromwell, known as the Champion of the Nine. They were based in Marienburg, not the Empire and fought for peace, stability and justice wherever they rode. They were a tiny Knightly order and numbered only nine full members at anyone time, though were always attended to by young squires wherever they went, eager and willing to take the place of any fallen knight. The number of knights never exceeded nine, yet they never vanished entirely, giving the aura of invincibility wherever they were known. Cromwell and his men knew differently however and Cromwell even admitted he was not the founder of the order and was sure not to be the last. Upon being questioned on who was the founder by Captain Rodgerskin, Cromwell replied that he simply did not know for the order’s earliest records had been stolen from their Chapter House in Marienburg many years ago and that it was a secret mission top recover these transcripts and records with all haste.

Cromwell made a pact with Farlander and Rodgerskin, he and his knights would remain with their Marienburg force in return for any aid to that the Nine required during their travels in hunting down their lost history. After a night and day of deliberation, Farlander agreed knowing this probably meant he would be forced to follow the knights outside of the Wastelands and possibly into the lands of the Empire, Bretonnia and beyond. This could cause some problems back home though he was willing to take the risk. He couldn’t explain it but he had a drive inside him to follow the knights and help them complete their centuries old quest. When the troops marched the following day, Farlander rode at the head of the column alongside the knights. The protection of Marienburg needed to continue…
'Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.'
Napoleon Bonaparte

Offline wissenlander

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Re: A Tale in Marienburg
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2007, 07:26:39 PM »
Welcome to the forums.  You posted this in the correct spot, so no worries.

I like the background for your army.  The command structure has some tenuous ties to one another, but it has a good feel to an ad-hoc army.  It's got intrigue, politics, and some troubles that may pop up, which is the nature of Marienburg.  I think your knightly order has a bit of a Brettonian ring to it, but it's different from other Empire orders, so it's original. 

The paint scheme of Marienburg is red and I believe yellow?  I'm not too sharp on my history of Marienburg.  If you use the search function and type in 'Marienburg' you should find some info that would prove helpful.
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Offline Rufas the Eccentric

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Re: A Tale in Marienburg
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2007, 08:34:52 PM »
Quote
The paint scheme of Marienburg is red and I believe yellow?
I thought is was blue and orange.  However, after the Elector Count of Nordland brings the little Marxists Burgomeisters to their knees, it will go back to a proper blue and yellow.

Good work so far.  In spite of my obsession with recapturing Marienbug for Nordland, it is an interesting setting for fiction, as it allows one to merge disparate elements including Bretonnian knights.  Basically if you can imagine it, then it probably exists in Marienburg.  Also GW does not really seem to do much with the city making fair game for others.
Sigmar on a sling, the stuff some people come up with. . . .

Offline Midaski

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Re: A Tale in Marienburg
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2007, 10:35:19 PM »
I thought is was blue and orange.  However, after the Elector Count of Nordland brings the little Marxists Burgomeisters to their knees, it will go back to a proper blue and yellow.

I have just realised where all this animosity comes from.

The main difference is the colours of yellow going to orange.
Now orange to me smacks of a tan, and Marienburg is obviously a seaside resort, and they are such miserable jaundiced (? :icon_wink:) buggers in Nordland that they are getting upset over not being able to go to the beach with their buckets and spades.

I have been having a word with Grutch and we are pleased to announce that the Marienburg Tourist Board will be now be giving a discount to visiting Nordlanders, with the appropriate identity passes and visas of course, of 10% the same we allow to all Old Age Pensioners on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Of course with the devious nature of certain timber merchants there will have to be body searches at the frontier border posts for concealed weapons, so an invasion force cannot be sneaked in. :engel:
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Offline Rufas the Eccentric

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Re: A Tale in Marienburg
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2007, 02:54:51 PM »
I prefer to do my tanning in Tilea.  :closed-eyes:

I hope the Honorable Imperial Tax Collector has read the epilogue to the Whom Do You Serve post and is taking good care of my customer service Ogres.

Ithikial:  Looking forward to the next installment.
Sigmar on a sling, the stuff some people come up with. . . .

Offline General Lee Stupid

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Re: A Tale in Marienburg
« Reply #5 on: April 05, 2007, 01:02:13 PM »
Quote
I thought is was blue and orange.  However, after the Elector Count of Nordland brings the little Marxists Burgomeisters to their knees, it will go back to a proper blue and yellow.
  :icon_twisted: Heeheehee
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