Guardsmen Militia
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The Guardsmen Militia (abbr. Grd) are a peasant militia active in the borderlands of Yew. They have acted as the in-character authority of the province for some time now, especially since the collapse of the Crossroads of Yew.
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About the Militia
In the dawning of the Europa shard, a number of veteran players decided to make a guild of roleplayed roughneck guardsmen. They were tired of the classical guilds that existed, who were almost exclusively either Knights, Paladins or plain Murderers. They wanted something different, with another feel to it, another atmosphere. Thus, the concept of the Guardsman Militia sprang to life. The founders nabbed a few ideas from here and there; medieval and fantasy town guards were used as raw-models, Shadowclan of Catskills admittedly, and real-life militaries provided great resources.
The guild's concept proved a great success and within two years of its founding it could count more than 275 members on its roster, a feat that hasn't been accomplished by any other roleplay guild to date. Now, seven years after its establishment, the Guardsmen Militia remains one of the largest guilds on the shard.
Brief History
The Guardsmen Militia was founded by one Damien Lumberton, in the lands now known as Felucca. Their primary role was to protect the travellers of the Kings' Highway, and guard the realm of Yew to the best of their abilities. The Militia's ranks swelled rapidly, and eventually merged with several smaller groups, such as the Yewish Templari and the Naval Garrison. When the lands divided, the Guardsmen moved to Trammel to aid in the subjugation of the new territory. This proved a golden age, as the Militia's power and influence grew. The new territory brought with it new enemies, however - the Militia finding itself in almost constant conflict with the Crimson Rogues and cultists of Liberi Fatali. It seemed that as one foe fell, more would rise to take their place. The Guardsmen were pitted against Undead hordes, Orcish warbands, wicked Elves, wandering Easterners, and many more. Given their countless enemies, and the many challenges put before them, it is something of a cruel twist of fate that Yew's darkest hour would come from an external, and outwardly neutral force. The Meer. This catlike and demonic race cast a cataclysmic spell on the Deep Forest, in an attempt to foil the plans of Lord Blackthorn warping the once beautiful terrain into a vast and troubled fenland, infested with vicious beasts, and haunted by plague.
This crisis saw much change in Yew, political as well economic. In a bid to control the troubled town the Great Council sent a man of their own to govern the province; Guy D'Mirio. D'Mirio took the rank of Major within the Milita, per the Council's demands, and soon announced his plans to disolve the long serving guard force. Displeased with this turn of events, the Militia assumed power in a junta and ousted the unwelcome Major. D'Mirio fled back to Britain, and would soon vanish, rumoured to have been assassinated. This state of stratocracy would stretch on for some weeks, until after much deliberation and private exchanges with Britain the Guardsmen's officer elite were elevated to aristocratic station; Sergeant Klion D'Gar foremost amongst them taking on the newly created rank and title of Lord Protector.
Guided by this latest regime, the Militia would prevail against the very elements. Now able to not only defeat it's internal enemies, and drive out it's alien foes - but to take on the accursed swamp itself, digging canals to drain the fettid waters and restore the city to its former glory. Yew has emerged from the war-torn and troubled isolation of its past, but found only bloodshed in the land outside it's borders. Its position within the Kingdom shaky, its loyalties disputed, and its allies few. Due to its absence from the Kingdom's wider political stage, Yew and the Militia had been in a possition of de facto neutrallity in the rebel-loyalist conflict that had ravaged Britannia in recent decades. Under the Protectorate, however, Yew had emerged as a significant force in the King's service, throwing its weight fully into the loyalist camp - hitherto dominated by the Duchy of Trinsic. In the beginning the Militia and Duchy were keen allies, forming a united front against the Republic of Vesper and an emergent Cove. However, philosophical, cultural, and religious differences soon tore their bond assunder, plunging the two greater loyalist cities into a war of their own. Even after a controversial stalemate, relations continued to sour. The Guardsmen Militia and people of Yew found themselves at odds with one and all - setting the tone for years to come.
The grey-kilts found themselves on Crusade against drow-harbouring Trinsic, fending off a Vesper-sponsored peasant uprising, fighting a war of betrayals with Cove, and ultimately attempting to reclaim the long occupied and ever embattled Minoc beside their (often sole) ally, the Britannia Guards. Their defeat in that war would be followed by a second campaign years later, resulting in the recapture of the town and the secession of much rebel territory. Whilst this "border war" raged the people of Yew would be subjected to a campaign of terror by foreign agents, stricken by vegetable blight, and pushed to brink of civil war. Economic freefall followed. During the course of that conflict the Lord D'Gar dissappeared, resulting in a new period of martial law.
Some months later the People's State of Yew would be established with Militia help, stripping petty landlords and noblemen of their estates and privellages, placing power in a civic executive, and allowing the people of Yew to elect their leaders for the first time. Both the Militia and Church would remain at the heart of this new establishment, however. Under the People's State the citizenry of an enlarged Yew found a new lease of life, with the province's archaic infrastructure reworked, its economy revitalised, and its traderoutes re-opened. Whilst the city of Yew prospered the Kingdom of Britannia came close to ruin, following the brutal massacre of the Great Council. The sole survivor, the Elven Lord Casca, would create a new puppet Council and abruptly proclaim himself King pro tempore. Under Mayor David Brooker and Captain Bladius Dart the Militia and people of Yew were quick to declare his rule illegitimate, and soon formed the core of a movement to depose him. This all came to a head in the "Battle for Britain" in which the Militia, bolstered by patriotic youths, successfully lead a grand army of peoples from accross Sosaria to overthrow Casca. The tyrant would escape, alas, and launch a counter-campaign over several months before being defeated by Lady Dawn.
