Cameliard Allegiance

CAMELIARD ALLEGIANCE

  • Pronounciation: cuh-MELL-ee-ahrd
  • Words: “Quod Necesse Est,” (By Whatever Means) 
  • Colors: Green, Black, Silver 
  • Symbol: The White Hart
  • Patron: Aureus Lady Luck, Emrys, Sarai, Eldrea
  • Cultural Majority: Briton
  • Leader: Praetor Hector Leodegrance
    • Legate Bedivere (step-brother and heir)
    • Celeste Maxdottir (Step-mother, Magister [court adept]) 
  • Seat: Gwyneth

Cameliard is an Allegiance that has reached back to  the culture of ancient Tiberium to survive in these times. They are pragmatists, those who have made the choice to do the hard thing instead of the easy thing. They are unified in effort for the good of the community, and have few compunctions about taking necessary steps toward that goal. The sacrifice of the few supports the many.  

  • Camelaird is practical and realistic; they take the world as it is, not as they wish it would be. 
  • Cameliard carries on King Uther Pendragon’s ambition and his drive to succeed
  • They believe that the good of the group outweighs the good of any individual
  • They live by, “Everyone serves. No-one quits. Here you have a place.” 
  • They are implacable in conflict, relentless and ruthless. They strike hard, fast, and seek to win conflicts quickly to avoid the casualties of a prolonged battle. 
  • They know that a battle fought on even terms is a battle lost.

In 146 AR, Cameliard’s capital is the city of Gwyneth; they also control the tower of Tor Amech . Many other nearby settlements and resources are unclaimed by any Allegiance.  

CAMELIARD CULTURE

  • A rebirth and restructuring of ancient Tiberian culture. 
  • All efforts focused toward the economic and military welfare of the House. Service before self. 
  • You fight, you craft, you scribe, you learn, or you labor. 
    • If you can’t, you assist. 
    • When you can’t anymore, you teach your craft to the next generation. 
    • When you can’t teach anymore, the House supports you as a Revered Voice, telling the stories of your life and those of the House
  • The Last Gift: a last act or task, allowing a citizen to provide useful service to the House–willing or otherwise
    • Culture of storytelling, both as education and entertainment, so when the Last Gift comes, it is as a Revered Voice
    • Lesser crimes punishable by a temporary period of enforced labor of up to a year. 
    • Major crimes punishable by conscription into the Legio Mortus: the Legion of the Dead. Criminals–especially the violent– give their Last Gift by serving as shock troops in the front of the line of battle. 
  • Hierarchy
    • Praetor: Elected senior military and civilian authority, First Among Equals. 
      • Roughly equivalent to Briton Lord, Brynn Clan Chief, etc. 
      • Elected to 10 year term. 
      • Currently Praetor Hector Leodegrance, son of Malcolm Leodegrance
    • Magister: senior Adept, appointed advisor to the Praetor on magic & religion. 
      • Currently Magister Celeste Maxdottir
    • Aedile: appointed senior civilian authority for trade, crafts, finance and economy
      • Currently Vorin Forgefire
    • Legate: senior military commander (general) of a settlement, campaign, or force
    • Tribune: senior civilian authority (magistrate) of a settlement
    • Prefect: authority for a particular subject (smithing, agriculture, training, etc); subordinate to Legate/Tribune, as appropriate
    • Centurion: equivalent to a Knight, elevated position of military command & honor; Subordinate to Legate
    • Optio: non-military equivalent to Centurion; subordinate to Tribune

CAMELIARD HISTORY

  • 104 AR: Malcolm Leodegrance is knighted by Prince Madoc Ambrosius; Sir Malcolm granted lands, title, and the heraldry of the White Stag. 
  • 111 AR: Hector Leodegrance born to Sir Malcolm and Dame Amara in Drakenhold. 
  • 126 AR: Dame Amara dies in the early days of the Red Death plague. 
  • 128 AR (April): Prince Madoc sends Sir Malcolm and a large force from Drakenhold to Calderon City, with orders to rescue King Uther Pendragon, Queen Igraine, and young Prince Arthur
    • Sir Malcolm arrives 2 days after the Fall of Calderon, by which time the Royal Family is dead or missing and the city is overrun by ferals.
  • 128 AR (November): Sir Malcolm turns his troops around and must fight every step of the way on the return to Drakenhold. When they arrive, the castle is in the grip of the Red Death, just as Calderon had been months before. Sir Malcolm sends scouts in to rescue Prince Madoc, Princess Winnifred and their two daughters; neither the scouts nor the royals return. 
    • After two days of fighting off ferals pouring from Drakenhold, Sir Malcolm orders the gates shut and barred, and the entire settlement burned. Thereafter, he has the unofficial epithet Sir Malcolm “the Torchbearer” Leodegrance. 
  •   129 AR (April) As the remnants of Sir Malcolm’s forces retreat south from Drakenhold, they stagger into a clean, well-organized refugee camp led by a Norn noblewoman: Celeste Maxdottir. 
    • Celeste has information and resources; Malcolm has troops and military leadership. 
  • 130 AR: A new Allegiance is formed, reviving the ancient name of a pre-Tiberian Kingdom: Cameliard. Celeste and Sir Malcolm are married, and as a wedding gift, Celeste gives Malcolm a secret: the hiding place of Alhazred, Mor’Leth adept who experimented on civilians during the worst of the Red Death. 
    • As part of the foundation of Cameliard, Tiberian culture, naming conventions, and hierarchy are installed as the culture of the Allegiance, to aid with identity and organization and unity. 
  • 133 AR: The siege of Gwyneth. After 6 months of siege outside the city, Praetor Malcolm is assassinated in his bed by infected minions of Alhazred. After ruthlessly suppressing the Red Death outbreak in his forces, the 22 year old Hector Leodegrance is acclaimed as Praetor on the field of battle. 
    • Celeste Maxdottir, Hector’s step-mother, retains her position of influence and is appointed Magister of Cameliard by the new Praetor.
  • 134 AR: Praetor Hector orders flaming artillery used on the city of Gwyneth, earning the epithet of Torchbearer as his father before him. Sections of the city are systematically burned until the smallfolk, enslaved by the mad Mor’Leth, turn on Alhazred in force and open the gates from within. 
    • Alhazred is captured alive and turned over to Magister Celeste Maxdottir for interrogation. 
    • As soon as the gates are opened, Cameliard forces immediately swarm the city, extinguishing the fires they had set only hours before. 
  • 135 AR (January): Over the winter, Alhazred is interrogated by Magister Celest; his lab is destroyed, but over 100 infected test subjects in various stages of the Red Death are discovered in the seemingly-endless catacombs beneath the city. 
    • (February) Alhazred is publicly executed in the center of the city of Gwyneth; Celeste announces that Alhazred’s Last Gift to Cameliard is an alchemical treatment that, if administered soon after infection, can prevent the spread of the Red Death. It is not a vaccine or a cure– but it is an incredible boon to the people of Brittanis. 
    • (March) A Fomorian raid attacks in force from the coast; Praetor Hector offers the infected a choice: execution for the good of all to prevent them turning feral, or officially take the knee to Cameliard and give the Last Gift on the battlefield. 
      • Every single one of Alhazred’s test subjects take the knee. They are armed and armored out of Gwyneth’s substantial stores and march out against the Fomorians singing. 
  • 142 AR: The ruins of Calderon continue to be a festering boil in the heartland of Brittanis. The broken streets and buildings of the former capital hide raider nests, skraeling warrens, and at least one Fomorian encampment. 
    • Praetor Hector appoints his step-brother, Legate Bedivere Maxdottir, to lead up efforts to cleanse the former capital.

MAP: 

  • Dark Green: Cameliard
  • Light Green (north): Avelorn (friendly) 
  • Dark Blue (northeast): Clan Dumnonni (rival) 
  • Light Blue (South): Gwent (neutral) 
  • Green (South): Seridane (rival) 
  • Tan is unclaimed settlements