Bard’s Tales speak of ‘The hard men of the Guard’ as the thin line against the ancient evils of the Blackwood. The Blackwood Guard were formed in the Burning Age after the second Purim offensive north of King Johns wall. The defeat of the Bone queen death cult, marked the moment when those villains slunk back into the shadows of the Verge. But within a few decades, the Dark Forest was again a place where fear of the unknown was common. With terror spreading and the trade and welfare of the people drying up the Guard was reforged to clear the areas around the by ways past King Johns wall – and patrol up to and including the Kings Road. They collected men sought and received commissions from the Norn, the Valda, and Ethangar as the “Black Forest Guard”.

The first years were tough fighting where a platoon of companions would shepherd caravans from Aesenr, to Valda, to Hoelbrak to Ethangar and back again on a separate paths as well as the well travelled ‘Kings Road’. Eventually the regions stabilized and the companions began to range and fight further on the Kings Road. The Guard swelled to nearly a brigade (~3000 soldiers) within its first century. And a rotating shift of companies (~200 soldiers) would ride out to the forest’s edge and fight for several brutal months before returning to Hoelbrak or Telasaro (which would eventually become their base).

The Black Forest Guard has grown large enough to spawn an internal group of elites of some controlled number. Called the Road Rangers, these are special operative who train ruthlessly to remain at the top of killing performance and tactical planning, to handle isolated threats in the forest dark. Many of young men see these individuals as glorious adventurers and heroes of legend.

Advancing membership of the Guard has allowed the Rangers increase their own efforts in addressing various marked areas of ‘The Road’ stabilizing the area’s surrounding them. In accord with their brutal mandate, the Rangers internal rate of attrition may be seen, even by other special forces, as quite high. This is actually due to those recruits who cannot reconcile the silent honor and vicious efficiency of the elite force – typically this dissonance occurs on their virgin expedition. Individuals so affected tend to fall out the guard entirely – ‘transferring’ if possible to the regular rank and file. Any perceived loss of honor is contained within the Guard, and civilians who speak ill of these ‘drop outs’ actions will find they are still ferociously defended by nearly all veterans. “They SERVED! What have you done bagger!” Veterans of The Road expect the losses will remain high until the truth filters back into those Bards’ Tales romancing the thin line between civilization and savage horror.

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