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I have returned, after a year away.
Just to make things clear: real-world history is completely erroneous when it comes to For Honor. For Honor exists in it's own universe, with it's own history, locations, events, and setting. As far as we've seen, thus far, the only real ties between the real world and For Honors' universe is that, before The Cataclysm, it was basically a parallel mirror of Earth, with its own twists and turns. After The Cataclysm, however, For Honors' universe went on a completely separate tangent and is completely exempt from any and all constraints of the real world. Which... tells us literally nothing that we didn't already know. The only solid information we have is that The Cataclysm occurred somewhere around the year 1000-1199 A.D.
For Honor's lore-history can be divided into 6 main sections. "Years B.A.D" stands for "Before Apollyon's Death", and "Y.A.D" stands for "Years after Apollyon's Death". What "modern day" is, when it comes to For Honor, is near the end (or possibly earlier) of what has been, so far, a seven-year-long war between all three Factions. You see this in the ending cutscene of the Story Mode, just before the credits roll, where Ayu, Stigandr, and Holden Cross have just finished spending a few hours telling each other each of their stories leading up to the aforementioned seven-year-long war.
If you see an asterisk placed behind listed Events that are clumped together, it means that I'm not certain of the exact order of said Events.
Timeline:
Pre-Cataclysm Era = A period of unknown duration, and at an unknown amount of time ago, wherein all Factions, supposedly, lived in peace and/or were isolated from each other.
Events:
N/A
Extras:
In this era, the empire which was lead by "Centurions" was what the modern Iron Legion traces it's lineage to. This ancient culture was believed to have been lost in "the destruction"- The Cataclysm. Remnants of it's grandeur still endure in the modern day in the form of reclusive enclaves in the wilds. This civilization lived in the region directly west of what would become modern day Ashfeld.
In this era, Valkenheim was the site of a vast Nordic Empire, only to be swallowed by the Cataclysm.
The Cataclysm = A period of unknown duration in which the entire planet was ravaged by apocalypse-level natural disasters, causing millions of deaths, and changing the topography of the world drastically. The populations of each Faction were decimated, and resources which supported their civilizations were suddenly in extreme scarcity. This marks the end of the previous era. It was not one event, but many. Lands rose and fell- the skies rained fire, ash, and worse things- and seas rose and then retreated.
Events:
Unknown Date - The region in which the ancestors of the Knights of Ashfeld lived was rendered a barren desert, causing them to expand east and southeast, into what would later be called "Ashfeld" and "The Southern Deserts", respectively.
Extras:
N/A
The Millennium of Bloodshed = A period lasting around 1000 years, almost immediately following The Cataclysm mainly consisting of near-constant warfare between the three main Factions. At first, it was about the struggle over scarce resources- the need to survive. Soon after, all Factions involved forgot what started the war in the first place, and were fighting for reasons that none understood. All anyone knew anymore was "those guys are the enemy, and we all hate each other".
Events:
Approximately 1000 years B.A.D - The Fall of the Last Sanctuary in Ashfeld. From what can be presumed, this was what can be considered the ultimate low-point for the Iron Legion during TMB. The ancestors of modern Ashfeld's Iron Legion held out for six years against 100,000 desperate, starving warriors. We can make the assumption from what we know the Knights consider a "Sanctuary" (basically, a very large, very fortified castle) that they had been reduced to a single fortress(which they then promptly lost) in the 1000-year-long conflict. The judgment must be made, then, that the Knights somehow managed to come back from this crushing defeat, and eventually pushed the Vikings and Samurai out of Ashfeld some years/centuries later- their ultimate victory. One has to wonder how genius of a leader there had to have been, back then, to manage a feat like that.
Unknown Date - The Vikings, lead by their powerful Lords, completely vanished, sailed across "the sea" (presumably to the east of the Austramar bay) and didn't return when the sea froze over. During this period, Vikings almost became a complete myth. Presumably, they were looking for less resistant lands to pillage. This might have been when they came into contact with the Highlander's culture on a far-off island, somewhere. Until they came back.
Unknown Date - The Knights of Ashfeld cleared Valkenheim of most of it's vast forests, revealing ancient ruins of the Warborn Clan.
Unknown Date ("Centuries Ago") - The Vikings returned from across the sea and reclaimed their ancestral lands of Valkenheim.
Unknown Date - The ancient Viking Lords officially yielded Ashfeld to the Knights, in the Geyser Fields to the northwest of Ignis mountain.
Extras:
N/A
The Degradation = A period of lasting from (Unknown Date) to 7 years B.A.D- it immediately followed The Millennium of Bloodshed. It was triggered by the Iron Legion successfully pushing all other factions out of Ashfeld. The Samurai secluded themselves deep in The Myre, and were rarely seen or heard from.
In this, all the main factions suddenly ceased their fighting- characterized by an uneasy malaise and tentative peacefulness. It is here that all three factions began to decay and rot in their own foundations, where gaps in their cultural foundations and infrastructure began to form.
Without the war to keep the civilizations "sharp", their respective strength and might started to fade. They would soon pale in comparison to the grandeur and might of their ancestors who fought in The Millennium of Bloodshed. The Degradation, reportedly, lasted "centuries".
---
The best estimate of how long The Degradation lasted is anywhere from four to two centuries. The Samurai are once said to have only resided in The Myre for five hundred years- that, despite living there for that amount of time, "we (presumably meaning the vikings and knights) still treat them like newcomers". Implying that the Dawn Empire only arrived on the continent five hundred years ago. This tidbit about the Samurai was made by Apollyon in one of the Observables in mission 2.5 - Reconnaissance. Given how Apollyon's tone changes in the intro to mission 3.6 - Apollyon, we can assume that all of the Observables are "said" just before the assault on her Blackstone Fortress.
So... a generous estimate would indicate that the Dawn Empire only got involved in The Millennium of Bloodshed during the last 100 years of it.
Events:
Unknown Date - Mount Rust, a volcano located somewhere north, in Valkenheim, erupted. The ash from the eruption settled over Valkenheim, completely. The Viking Clans lost sight of the sun for months, crops and animals used for sustenance died, and were given two years of frozen-over rivers. Thus, the Viking Clans had a common problem, and only one solution: to raid and pillage for food and resources. They were united in their need for food. And ever since then, they continued to raid Ashfeld, yearly. The Legions of Ashfeld, who's past Warlords of old had already crumbled to anonymous dust, had stagnated and become complacent. Thus, they were not ready, and could do little more than hide behind their collective shield. Such was their fall from grace.
40 years B.A.D - The last time that any Knight last crossed the threshold of Valkenheim's territory at Gränsgård.
*Unknown Date - Apollyon is born in the scrublands of Ashfeld.
*Unknown Date - Apollyon's birth-village is sacked and looted by viking raiders.
*Unknown Date - Apollyon becomes a Warden.
*Unknown Date - A block of obsidian is cut into the shape of a round table, high on the mountain just north of Ignis- in the volcano's shadow, and in the region of the same name. This is where the Blackstone Legion is first formed.
Unknown Dates - The Blackstone Circle once contained fifteen Commanders. Eight times, one would claim the title of Warlord of the Blackstone Legion, and would then be killed by the others for their perceived incompetency. Eventually, Apollyon took the title for the eighth and last time- leaving Seven leaders (including her) of the Blackstone Legion in their Circle.
Unknown Date - The Regal Legion is conquered and subsumed by the Blackstone Legion.
20 years B.A.D - The Iron Legion was on the verge of losing the rural areas (the scrublands) of Ashfeld to the Vikings, entirely.
Extras:
N/A
The Apollyon Period = A period lasting from 6 years B.A.D to 0 years B.A.D in which the Warlord of the Blackstone Legion, Apollyon, used her power to put a stop to the viking raids on Ashfeld, invaded Valkenheim and sent the Viking Clans into a famine, causing them to go to war with each other over food for a year, and bringing all Viking civilization to the edge of extinction. This started a domino effect, causing the formation of the united Warborn Viking Clans and the recreation of the Iron Legion.
Events:
5 years B.A.D - Hervis Daubeny defects from the Blackstone Legion, after only being a part of it for a single season, and forms his own mercenary Legion, shacking up in a small fort in the region called "Westhold". Said fort is said to have been controlled by ten different Warlords in the past ten years, prior. This triggers Apollyon to send her second-in-command, Holden Cross, to seek retribution from Daubeny as punishment for his betrayal. This results in the future Lord Warden being recruited into the Blackstone Legion.
Later that year, Holden Cross would send the very same Warden to reinforce the troops in the Sanctuary known as "Harrowgate" - the last Iron Legion Sanctuary in Ashfeld - which was being overrun by viking raiders. The Warden would single-handedly turn the fight around and help to send the viking raiders packing. After the battle was won, the remaining Iron Legion soldiers were too diminished to hold Harrowgate any longer after the fact. Apollyon's Blackstones had to take over, in what can only be called the complete erosion of the once-great Iron Legion. The deal was officially sealed in the Geyser Fields northwest of Ignis.
In that same year, the Blackstone Legion officially had the viking raiders on the run, and in the mopping up efforts, managed to bring the rest of the scattered legions under Blackstone control. All of Ashfeld was Blackstone property. The future Lord Warden was sent, along with the renowned Conqueror, Commander Stone, to clear out the remaining viking outpost in Ashfeld. Along the way, the Warden encountered deserters, which would serve as the initial spark of rebellion in her mind.
4 years B.A.D - After clearing Ashfeld of foreigners, Apollyon would send her Blackstones into Valkenheim in her quest for war. Holden Cross, Commander of the Blackstone Vanguard would lead the charge into Gränsgård, the "gate" into Valkenheim. They break through and execute almost all prisoners captured at the fortified gates.
Later on, the renowned Peacekeeper, Mercy, is sent to clear the way to the market-town of Sverngård on the eastern edge of Valkenheim's coast by infiltrating and clearing out the Warborn fort of Dalborg which stood in the Blackstone Legion's way.
Sverngård was one of the focal circulation points of the Viking Clans's total food stores, and in winter (the season in which the Blackstone Legion assaulted it) most of Valkenheim's food for the year would be stored in it.
The legendary Jarl of Sverngård, Gudmundr, would be killed in the battle by the Warden.
Upon reaching Sverngård, the Blackstone Legion sacked the town under the leadership of the future Lord Warden and burned a large portion of the seed grain stored there. Had all the food been burned, the Viking Clans would have united. But, the Blackstones left just enough for two-to-three Clans, therefore inciting civil war.
3 years B.A.D - The Legendary Raider rose up into renown and fame after coming down from the mountains, and joining the Warborn Clan during the year-long starvation-induced civil war that ravaged Valkenheim, caused by Apollyon. In that year's winter, he began his campaign to unite the Viking Clans under one banner by leading an attack on a village called "Grön"- liberating it from the cruel and borderline psychopathic hold of another Raider, named "Ragnar". A petty warlord among Jarls who prospered on the misery and famine of the people under his jurisdiction.
Eventually, in that same year, in a matter of weeks and maybe a month or two, the Warborn grew to encompass many other Clans, and eventually, only two independent Jarls remained. The Legendary Raider, and a psychopathic Berserker named Siv, who had holed up in the fortress of "Skällaborg". With many Warborn soldiers and leaders imprisoned and enslaved in Siv's fort, it was only natural that the Warborn Clans's next target was Siv's Bearclaw Clan. And so he did. Killing Siv in a duel, and uniting all of Valkenheim's sons and daughters under one banner.
This consumption of the Bearclaws into the Warborn yielded the freedom of Stigandr. A renowned Warlord, who would, from that point on, serve as the Warborn's Jarl, and lead all of Valkenheim's people.
In order to save face from being captured, and in order to prove himself worthy of leadership position, Stigandr, in the final month of the year, single-handedly lead an assault on Odingård, the site of one of Valkenheim's main shipyards. After clearing Odingård of Blackstones, killing their resident commander, Julius Salavander, the Warborn Clans were set to take back their birthright.
2 years B.A.D - The Warborn Clans's Jarl, Stigandr, spent the next few months, into the next year, making preparations to lead an assault on the Samurai. The newly-created Viking fleet sailed southward, across the Austramar bay, and landed at Kaiyo Kabe- one of the Samurai's naval forts on the northern edge of The Myre. It was one of the few places in The Myre where a fleet could safely come to shore. The huge gate that dominated the fort used to be a canal, before the sea-level receded. The Warborn Clans believed the ancient port to be poorly defended, and were hoping for some quick spoils. It quickly turned into a bloodbath. Bloody, but manageable. The Legendary Raider was able to turn the assault into a decisive victory. Especially after he defeated and killed the Samurai Champion, a Kensei named "Fujikiyo", who's legend had reached across the sea- even into Viking territory.
After finding a safe way through the death-trap known as The Myre, the Warborn Clans began their attack on the city of Koto, having to fight their way across Sanctuary Bridge. The Legendary Raider truly earned his name in that battle... as the Warborn's victory was secured through the death of the great Samurai Orochi: General Tozen. And his apprentices.
During the chaos The Great Raid, the Emperor's Champion, who had been imprisoned for three years for speaking out of turn, was freed by his Daimyo and a few others who saw the opportunity to do so. As the Champion and his fellow members of his Daimyo's House fought to push the Vikings out of one section of Koto, the Blackstone Legion, lead by Apollyon herself, intervened.
The Blackstone Legion's goal, it seemed, was to capture every Daimyo (twenty in all) they came across as they invaded Koto, bring all of them directly to the Imperial Palace, kill the Emperor and his family; then, Apollyon in the flesh told all of them that the Emperor was dead, and would ask each Daimyo if they wanted to rule.
Those who refused were promptly executed on the spot, while those who (more or less) accepted the "offer" were allowed to live. Five did. Apollyon cherry-picked one of these Daimyo, a renowned Orochi named "Seijuro", who she perceived to be the best among them, and gave possession of the Imperial Palace to him. The rest of the Daimyo who passed her test were taken out of Koto and dropped off in the wilds around the city with nothing but their weapons and armor.
By happenstance, one of the Daimyo who passed Apollyon's test was the Daimyo who the Emperor's Champion owed his loyalty to- a Kensei named Ayu. As it happened, all of the Daimyo that survived Apollyon's questionnaire were war-criminals- psychopaths, and sociopaths of all stripes and colors who would undoubtedly tear each other to pieces and take their respective swings at Seijuro in order to gain the late Emperor's throne.
Ayu, knowing all of this full-well, decided to put a stop to the impending civil war before it began. What Apollyon hoped would be a civil war that would take years, only took a few days. She had overestimated the resolve of the three Daimyo that Ayu killed (later remarking that they were liars and cowards), and underestimated the Samurai's unity. In fact, it was the common enemy in the form of the Warborn Vikings which were still plodding about The Myre that served as a catalyst for the Samurai to unite around.
After kicking the remnants of the Warborn's raiders out of their swamp, Ayu set about gathering what remained of the Samurai's armies who hadn't sworn loyalty to Seijuro and launched an assault on the Imperial Palace. With the Emperor's Champion infiltrating the "fortress within a fortress" and giving Ayu's army a way in, Seijuro was defeated in a duel with the Champion.
Apollyon might have thought that Seijuro would be executed. However, at this point, Ayu and the Champion had long-since determined that Apollyon was the true enemy, in this situation, and was the one who would have to pay for the bloodshed.
0 years B.A.D - After two years of preparation, the Samurai were ready to send an army into Ashfeld. After the Emperor's Champion scouted the way to Apollyon's fortress through the region of Aemilianus, the Dawn Empire's full military might, along with the newly reforged Iron Legion's, crashed down onto the Blackstone Fortress- which sat in the shadow of Ignis. THIS was the day that Apollyon died... and the day that the Seven-Year-War began.
Extras:
N/A
The Seven-Year-War / Age of Wolves = A period lasting from 0 years B.A.D to 7 Y.A.D in which all three main factions warred with each other in the wake of The Apollyon Period.
Events:
Unknown Date - A group of Centurions (presumably large enough to make a decent difference in the course of a full-on war) comes out of hiding and joins the Iron Legion's army, under the Lord Warden's leadership, against the Warborn Viking Clans, and the Dawn Empire Samurai.
Unknown Date - The Shinobi, a previously unknown society of spies, assassins, and warriors comes out of hiding in order to assist the Samurai of The Myre against the Warborn Viking Clans and The Iron Legion Knights.
Unknown Date - The Iron Legion begins to draw troops from the likes of veteran gladiatorial arena fighters, to fight in the war against the Warborn Viking Clans and the Dawn Empire Samurai.
Unknown Date - The Warborn Viking Clans draw on the contractural help of the Highlanders to join in the seven-year-long conflict.
Unknown Date - A large influx of Aramusha join the armies of The Chosen.
Unknown Date - A large influx of Shamans join their kin in the war against the Knights and Samurai.
Unknown Date - Mount Ignis erupts.
Unknown Date - The Zhanhu join the Wu Lin (where they were and why they weren't present to start isn't said).
Unknown Date - The Hitokiri come down from the mountains and joined the Samurai in their fight.
Unknown Date - The Black Priors, motivated by their religious icons (Vortiger and Erzebet) aid the warriors of Ashfeld.
Unknown Date - The Jormungandr come out from their reclusion and join the Warborn in their fight, in the name of the Gods.
Unknown Date - The Warmonger — a fanatic inspired by Apollyon's ideals — crashes the party.
Unknown Date - The Gryphon rises against the Warmonger's tyranny.
Extras:
The Age of Wolves is, basically, what we (the players) experience in the multiplayer Faction War. You know? That thing that everyone decided not to care about. The Seven-Year-War, as we're playing it, takes place before the meeting between Ayu, Stigandr, and Holden Cross in the ending cutscene of For Honor's Story Mode. And they did eventually achieve peace between the three nations.
Characters:
The Lord Warden:
"The Warden has travelled to Ashfeld to lend her blade to a worthy cause. It has proven challenging".
The Warden was a young woman who had joined the Warden academy, because she believed in it's ideals. But she wasn't going to be defending the weak, fighting for what's right or for peace in The West's desert hills. So, she traveled eastward, to Ashfeld, to find a worthy cause to fight for. After all, Ashfeld is the place to seek your fortune.
So, when she arrived in Ashfeld, and ran into Hervis Daubeny. A fellow Warden who seemed to have a ragtag bunch of mercenaries. For a few weeks, she lived in Westhold Castle with her fellow mercs.
Then, Holden Cross showed up and used his forces to crush Daubeny's castle. As you know, the Warden was brought into the Blackstone Legion fold through getting Knighted by Holden. I suspect that that custom is what happens when one legion is defeated by another- the victor is free to demand anything of the loser. Including their death.
The Warden suddenly found herself with a much more powerful legion that seemed to be getting things done very effectively. When she was sent to Harrowgate to reinforce the failing Iron Legion ranks, there, she was surprised to see that the famed, legendary Iron Legion was getting it's posterior handed to it. News hadn't been getting to The West very often, in recent years. Then again, the bureaucratic types, there, didn't really care what happened in Ashfeld, so long as food was still being shipped from the farms, near the volcano. Despite having to save it, she still had a lot of respect for what the Iron Legion stood for. Of course, when the Blackstones had to take over Harrowgate, and thus subsume the Iron Legion, the Warden was not informed.
She wasn't really told that the Iron Legion was being consumed and absorbed into the Blackstones. Then again, she didn't really ask, either. When Stone joined the Blackstones, she didn't think much of it. Maybe he was a bit fond her, she didn't question it.
However, as she was sent to clear out the last Viking-occupied outpost in Ashfeld, she heard of talk of deserters. This was surprising to her, as these deserters were Iron Legion deserters. During the mission, she brings this up to Stone, as the idea of Iron Legion soldiers deserting seemed absurd to her. What she didn't know was that these soldiers were actually deserting the Blackstone Legion- they were trying to avoid having to submit to Apollyon's rank and file, since the Iron Legion was absorbed. Unlike the Warden, these deserters knew full-well how dangerous and destructive Apollyon was.
Stone, for his part, was confused by the Warden's lack of understanding of the situation, at first, and feigned ignorance when they both confronted the deserters. Even pretended to be just as confused and angry as the Warden. Perhaps, he was trying to keep the Warden from finding this stuff out the hard way.
When Apollyon came out of nowhere, and exercised her famed "Laws of Selection"... the Warden then understood the state of things in Ashfeld. But she couldn't exactly bug out. Not after having taken her oaths to the Blackstone Legion. For valor in battle and honor in service, after all. Doing so would be a death sentence. She'd seen how Daubeny had been treated for deserting the Blackstones.
The Warden's thought process after Mission 1.3 must have been something along the lines of: "oh. Well, I, uh... I kind of screwed up, didn't I? Well, whatever, it's probably fine, right? How bad can Apollyon and her Blackstones be?". She would soon find out.
The idea of forging into Valkenheim, exacting retribution for the yearly raids on Ashfeld, wasn't particularly great to her, but she was excited for more combat. What better target than the Vikings? If they were strong enough to raid Ashfeld every year, then it would at least be challenging. And putting a stop to the raids seemed good, too. Fast-forward to the sacking of Sverngård... and the Warden would have to quickly learn not to choke on her own foot.
Sverngård wasn't a proper fortress. It was barely deserving of the name, "military outpost". It was just a market town. Civilians. Merchants. In the Warden's mind, she thought that they would simply attack a few large fortresses to make an example and make it clear that the Blackstone Legion and Ashfeld were not to be trifled with, anymore. Instead, they were there to induce famine throughout Valkenheim.
That was the last straw. The Warden deserted, and went rogue, going into hiding. Establishing her own band of fighters. They used guerrilla warfare against Apollyon's forces. The Blackstone Legion, after the sacking of Sverngård, would put down many other rebellions. But not the Warden's. Four years later, she was joined by Holden Cross, Stone, and Mercy. It was then, that they officially recreated the Iron Legion, and began recruiting other disillusioned Blackstone soldiers. Little did she know, but her rebellion was only allowed to continue because Apollyon decided to let it do so. She, like she did with the vikings and the Samurai, pitted her own people against each other, and cherry picked the Warden's rebellion as being the best opponent for the Blackstones.
When the Emperor's Champion was captured spying on her recruitment drive, the Warden saw an opportunity. She figured that, if she could secure the Samurai as an ally, it would be one less thing to worry about when they brought the fight to Apollyon's castle. "The enemy of my enemy", and all that. So, she had a duel with the Champion, and managed to get on friendly terms with him. She granted the Samurai's armies passage through to the Blackstone Fortress.
She knew that she should have probably made this unspoken agreement more clear to her new Iron Legion, but there was work to be done. When Iron Legion and Dawn Empire forces began to siege the Blackstone Fortress, it would require all of her attention.
When the siege ended, and the two armies found themselves facing each other, the Warden and the Emperor's Champion weren't present to stop the bloodshed. It didn't help that the vikings decided to take that moment to run in and start killing. Thus: the Iron Legion, Dawn Empire, and Warborn Viking Clans would fight for seven years. A war that the Warden didn't start, but was forced to command in as the new Lord Warden. Gods know she wanted to end it.
Holden Cross:
"A practical man of limited ambition but of endless talent. Apollyon's second-in-command and one of Ashfeld's Lawbringers. Holden Cross carries out the Blackstone Legion's judgements".
I suspect that Holden, unto and including the sacking of Sverngård, is going through something of a mid-life crisis. He was a part of the Blackstone Circle, second in command to the Warlord of the Blackstone legion. He, basically, was vice-president of all of Ashfeld. He is one of the greatest Lawbringers to have ever lived, and helped put an end to the Viking raids on Ashfeld.
What else is there to do? By the time he met The Lord Warden, he'd already reached the peak of his career. Mercy, in her own analytical way, seems to be rather convinced that he'd lost his way. His thoughts, throughout most of the Blackstone Legion's activities in Valkenheim must have been something along the lines of, "well. This seems to be it. This will be my legacy". He was only going through the motions. His life, at this point, was completely made up of: "carry out the Blackstone Legion's judgements. Do as Apollyon says. It's not like there's anywhere else to go, anymore".
However, this would begin to change.
When Apollyon spared Ragnar's life, Holden was surprised. Caught off guard. He'd thought that her Laws of Selection only applied to Knights. He, up to this point, thought that the entire point of the foray into Valkenheim was to wipe out the Vikings and secure a safe future for Ashfeld's people. Genocide. He must be very much a nationalist. He wouldn't have become a Lawbringer if he didn't have a pride for the Knight's laws and civilization.
But, when Apollyon started her schemes of "showing the Vikings who they really are" and breeding Ashfeld's enemies to be more and more dangerous, Holden must have realized that Apollyon's goals would only bring ruin to everyone. He wasn't a fan of the Vikings or Samurai, but Apollyon's plans would inevitably bring Ashfeld into the line of fire and endanger it's citizens.
All for the sake of some perverse idea that war is, somehow, a good thing. Yeah, when Apollyon took control of the Blackstones and made her intentions of creating war everywhere perfectly clear, Cross went right along with it. "War is the natural state of our species", must have struck him as: "Knights should be attacking it's enemies actively, not cowering behind their shields". At the time, he thought that the goal was to destabilize the other factions and give Ashfeld time to become greater and more powerful without the viking raids constantly hacking the society's knees, every year.
When he met her, he already trusted The Lord Warden, and regretted her departure from the Blackstones. When she made her rebellion against Apollyon public knowledge, it didn't take much for Holden to see an opportunity in it. In addition to everything else that's already been said: "how gargantuan of a task would it be to undermine and strike at the heart of the most powerful Legion in Ashfeld? Very". The challenge gave him the spark, and when the Seven-Year-War began, it gave Holden a purpose once more.
In the fourth year of the Age of Wolves, the Warmonger had come, and the stalemate of the conflict was upheaved. In that time, Holden Cross had worked with many people, seen many places, and fought many enemies. He'd grown as a person, leaving behind the malaise of his prior mid-life crisis. He now has a title, people to lead again, and a cause to fight for.
Commander Stone:
As a Conqueror, Stone understands the term "beaten dog", very well. He was an ex-convict, after all. Only earning his freedom after being conscripted into the Iron Legion's military. And shining bright as a diamond in the rough. When he reached his renowned status, it wasn't as great of an honor to be made Commander of the Iron Legion's forces as it could have been, since said Legion was on the verge of being destroyed. So, put in charge of a failing military force, and having to make due with what he was given, Stone's disappointment at only being given a single Warden as reinforcements for when the Iron Legion's last Sanctuary was being sieged, was immeasurable. He must have figured that, "hey, well- if we do get destroyed, today, at least I can say I didn't screw up with a clerical error, like those damned Blackstones".
But, he was pleasantly surprised to see that this Warden was no slouch. The siege was broken, and the vikings were pushed back. The Iron Legion was going to be subsumed by the Blackstones, but Stone couldn't find much of a reason to care, at this point. They only put him in charge of the Legion's armies when the damn thing was about to be mobbed by viking savages.
When the Warden's naivety and lack of understanding about recent events in Ashfeld became apparent to him, Stone defaulted to his usual tactic of: "roll with the punches; assume the role". He sort of just went along with the Warden's tiny crusade of going after the deserters, and did his best to delay any outright revelations for his new friend. He liked the Warden- she simply seemed like a decent person, and a good soldier. She was the main reason why he joined the Blackstone Legion, anyway. Her being the only positive relationship he actually had, at this point.
The deserters made his job easy for him when they decided to jump the pair. Though, the cat somewhat came out of the bag when Apollyon showed up. After that little incident, he went ahead started explaining what exactly the situation in Ashfeld was like. Though, he suspected she'd already figured it out.
When the Warden deserted, Stone was the first join her, when he had the opportunity. She was his best friend (or the closest thing to it), and he didn't particularly care for the Blackstones, too much.
Mercy:
"Mercy is efficient. She doesn't waste any movement or words. She is a natural predator".
From the way Mercy behaves, it becomes apparent that it must take an extremely specific kind of personality in order to be a Peacekeeper- the secretive organization which works to stop as many conflicts between the Legions of Ashfeld from happening as possible.
My diagnosis? There is very strong evidence to suggest that Mercy is a high-functioning psychopath.
She speaks extremely little, has an understanding of conventional morality, is analytical, talks to herself when alone, keeps a constant mental list of all the people she works with and seems to always think of said people while on her missions- making judgements and noting all occurrences, and is prideful in her work. Like all psychopaths, she is incapable of sympathy or empathy, and is only truly concerned about herself. Her interests, her advancement, her preservation.
Any sympathy she displays will be feigned - the logic, in her mind, being "hm. I should probably comfort this person, shouldn't I? It won't cost anything and it'll probably make manipulating them easier in the future" - and those around her will most likely think of her as being charismatic. If she ever does chose to interact with others. Her job as a Peacekeeper probably doesn't provide much time for socialization. And she's probably okay with that. Psychopaths are excellent actors, and are always hedging their bets. In the mind of someone with this condition, every single thing around them is either an asset or detriment. An ally or obstacle.
Things such as gratitude, loyalty, or love, to a psychopath, are always either nonexistent, or are turned up to eleven and made into an extreme, depending on the circumstance. And, yes, I am somewhat referring to the Anime concept of a "Yandere". Though, it's not very important. Or common.
When she comes across the bodies of hanged Blackstone soldiers, she remarks that when other soldiers see the corpses of their friends, they would "cry, and cringe, and rage". She comments that, sometimes she would pretend to share their grief, while on other occasions she would simply wish that she did.
From this, she seems to be aware that there is something "wrong" with her, and has a desire for said abnormality to not be the case. There is a disconnect between what she feels is right and wrong, what she reacts emotionally to, and what other people display. She's aware of this difference, and like any psychopath, will adhere to the moral conventions of society because doing so furthers her goals. She will, at least sometimes, attempt to imitate the emotional reactions of others around her in a bid to see if she actually feels something in response to certain situations.
To her, the only thing stopping her from committing a serious of gruesome murders is: A) the potential legal consequences, and B) the reward for doing so not being worth the risk/effort. If neither of those conditioners were in place, nothing would stop her from doing so. Certainly not emotional or moral dilemmas. It's all about consequence.
I suspect that part of the reason she became a Peacekeeper in the first is because she wanted to have an excuse for not having to constantly adapt to social cues. Social cues which she isn't fond of following, anyway.
Mercy seems to be slightly obsessive over her job. She repeatedly recites mantras to herself, such as "Doubt is death; Doubt is Death", and "Service is Life; Service is Life". Whether she taught herself these things and uses them as motivation for her role in the Blackstones, or if these things were impressed upon her in Peacekeeper training is unclear.
When Mercy deigns to tell The Lord Warden what the true purpose of the Blackstones in Valkenheim was, the Warden comments: "I think you know". This seems like a very specific line, meant to communicate a specific point. Mercy isn't actually a part of the Blackstone Circle. Nor is Stone. If she was, why would the Warden have to have made that comment? If she were part of the Blackstone Circle, of course she would know. So, what does this mean? Well, Mercy must have a reputation for coming across information that she isn't supposed to know. She always keeps tabs on everyone around her, and being a spy, it's only natural that she go snooping about. On Apollyon, she says, "Apollyon's darkness will cover the world, I think", and "we will leave this place a ruin".
No one else comments this, so she must be, either have figured out Apollyon's goals and motivations from her speech, or have gone snooping about in Apollyon's plans.
But, why would she do so? Surely, if she were found out, the punishment for doing so would be grievous. Well... what if it wasn't? She's a Peacekeeper. Maybe she has the pre-ordained right to scrounge up any information about and in the Legion in which she serves. "What they know could destroy legends... or create them", after all.
When the future Lord Warden deserts the Blackstone Legion, it is unclear what exactly makes Mercy go along with him.
On The Warden she says, in Mission 1.5, "I wonder who will betray that Warden", "Holden trusts that Warden. Well... maybe", and "that Warden is a decent person".
On Holden, she says, "Holden has lost his way. It's sad".
On Commander Stone, "Stone is trustworthy, I think. Rude, but trustworthy", and "Stone would be dead if not for that Warden. Hah".
Just to make things clear: real-world history is completely erroneous when it comes to For Honor. For Honor exists in it's own universe, with it's own history, locations, events, and setting. As far as we've seen, thus far, the only real ties between the real world and For Honors' universe is that, before The Cataclysm, it was basically a parallel mirror of Earth, with its own twists and turns. After The Cataclysm, however, For Honors' universe went on a completely separate tangent and is completely exempt from any and all constraints of the real world. Which... tells us literally nothing that we didn't already know. The only solid information we have is that The Cataclysm occurred somewhere around the year 1000-1199 A.D.
For Honor's lore-history can be divided into 6 main sections. "Years B.A.D" stands for "Before Apollyon's Death", and "Y.A.D" stands for "Years after Apollyon's Death". What "modern day" is, when it comes to For Honor, is near the end (or possibly earlier) of what has been, so far, a seven-year-long war between all three Factions. You see this in the ending cutscene of the Story Mode, just before the credits roll, where Ayu, Stigandr, and Holden Cross have just finished spending a few hours telling each other each of their stories leading up to the aforementioned seven-year-long war.
If you see an asterisk placed behind listed Events that are clumped together, it means that I'm not certain of the exact order of said Events.
Timeline:
Pre-Cataclysm Era = A period of unknown duration, and at an unknown amount of time ago, wherein all Factions, supposedly, lived in peace and/or were isolated from each other.
Events:
N/A
Extras:
In this era, the empire which was lead by "Centurions" was what the modern Iron Legion traces it's lineage to. This ancient culture was believed to have been lost in "the destruction"- The Cataclysm. Remnants of it's grandeur still endure in the modern day in the form of reclusive enclaves in the wilds. This civilization lived in the region directly west of what would become modern day Ashfeld.
In this era, Valkenheim was the site of a vast Nordic Empire, only to be swallowed by the Cataclysm.
The Cataclysm = A period of unknown duration in which the entire planet was ravaged by apocalypse-level natural disasters, causing millions of deaths, and changing the topography of the world drastically. The populations of each Faction were decimated, and resources which supported their civilizations were suddenly in extreme scarcity. This marks the end of the previous era. It was not one event, but many. Lands rose and fell- the skies rained fire, ash, and worse things- and seas rose and then retreated.
Events:
Unknown Date - The region in which the ancestors of the Knights of Ashfeld lived was rendered a barren desert, causing them to expand east and southeast, into what would later be called "Ashfeld" and "The Southern Deserts", respectively.
Extras:
N/A
The Millennium of Bloodshed = A period lasting around 1000 years, almost immediately following The Cataclysm mainly consisting of near-constant warfare between the three main Factions. At first, it was about the struggle over scarce resources- the need to survive. Soon after, all Factions involved forgot what started the war in the first place, and were fighting for reasons that none understood. All anyone knew anymore was "those guys are the enemy, and we all hate each other".
Events:
Approximately 1000 years B.A.D - The Fall of the Last Sanctuary in Ashfeld. From what can be presumed, this was what can be considered the ultimate low-point for the Iron Legion during TMB. The ancestors of modern Ashfeld's Iron Legion held out for six years against 100,000 desperate, starving warriors. We can make the assumption from what we know the Knights consider a "Sanctuary" (basically, a very large, very fortified castle) that they had been reduced to a single fortress(which they then promptly lost) in the 1000-year-long conflict. The judgment must be made, then, that the Knights somehow managed to come back from this crushing defeat, and eventually pushed the Vikings and Samurai out of Ashfeld some years/centuries later- their ultimate victory. One has to wonder how genius of a leader there had to have been, back then, to manage a feat like that.
Unknown Date - The Vikings, lead by their powerful Lords, completely vanished, sailed across "the sea" (presumably to the east of the Austramar bay) and didn't return when the sea froze over. During this period, Vikings almost became a complete myth. Presumably, they were looking for less resistant lands to pillage. This might have been when they came into contact with the Highlander's culture on a far-off island, somewhere. Until they came back.
Unknown Date - The Knights of Ashfeld cleared Valkenheim of most of it's vast forests, revealing ancient ruins of the Warborn Clan.
Unknown Date ("Centuries Ago") - The Vikings returned from across the sea and reclaimed their ancestral lands of Valkenheim.
Unknown Date - The ancient Viking Lords officially yielded Ashfeld to the Knights, in the Geyser Fields to the northwest of Ignis mountain.
Extras:
N/A
The Degradation = A period of lasting from (Unknown Date) to 7 years B.A.D- it immediately followed The Millennium of Bloodshed. It was triggered by the Iron Legion successfully pushing all other factions out of Ashfeld. The Samurai secluded themselves deep in The Myre, and were rarely seen or heard from.
In this, all the main factions suddenly ceased their fighting- characterized by an uneasy malaise and tentative peacefulness. It is here that all three factions began to decay and rot in their own foundations, where gaps in their cultural foundations and infrastructure began to form.
Without the war to keep the civilizations "sharp", their respective strength and might started to fade. They would soon pale in comparison to the grandeur and might of their ancestors who fought in The Millennium of Bloodshed. The Degradation, reportedly, lasted "centuries".
---
The best estimate of how long The Degradation lasted is anywhere from four to two centuries. The Samurai are once said to have only resided in The Myre for five hundred years- that, despite living there for that amount of time, "we (presumably meaning the vikings and knights) still treat them like newcomers". Implying that the Dawn Empire only arrived on the continent five hundred years ago. This tidbit about the Samurai was made by Apollyon in one of the Observables in mission 2.5 - Reconnaissance. Given how Apollyon's tone changes in the intro to mission 3.6 - Apollyon, we can assume that all of the Observables are "said" just before the assault on her Blackstone Fortress.
So... a generous estimate would indicate that the Dawn Empire only got involved in The Millennium of Bloodshed during the last 100 years of it.
Events:
Unknown Date - Mount Rust, a volcano located somewhere north, in Valkenheim, erupted. The ash from the eruption settled over Valkenheim, completely. The Viking Clans lost sight of the sun for months, crops and animals used for sustenance died, and were given two years of frozen-over rivers. Thus, the Viking Clans had a common problem, and only one solution: to raid and pillage for food and resources. They were united in their need for food. And ever since then, they continued to raid Ashfeld, yearly. The Legions of Ashfeld, who's past Warlords of old had already crumbled to anonymous dust, had stagnated and become complacent. Thus, they were not ready, and could do little more than hide behind their collective shield. Such was their fall from grace.
40 years B.A.D - The last time that any Knight last crossed the threshold of Valkenheim's territory at Gränsgård.
*Unknown Date - Apollyon is born in the scrublands of Ashfeld.
*Unknown Date - Apollyon's birth-village is sacked and looted by viking raiders.
*Unknown Date - Apollyon becomes a Warden.
*Unknown Date - A block of obsidian is cut into the shape of a round table, high on the mountain just north of Ignis- in the volcano's shadow, and in the region of the same name. This is where the Blackstone Legion is first formed.
Unknown Dates - The Blackstone Circle once contained fifteen Commanders. Eight times, one would claim the title of Warlord of the Blackstone Legion, and would then be killed by the others for their perceived incompetency. Eventually, Apollyon took the title for the eighth and last time- leaving Seven leaders (including her) of the Blackstone Legion in their Circle.
Unknown Date - The Regal Legion is conquered and subsumed by the Blackstone Legion.
20 years B.A.D - The Iron Legion was on the verge of losing the rural areas (the scrublands) of Ashfeld to the Vikings, entirely.
Extras:
N/A
The Apollyon Period = A period lasting from 6 years B.A.D to 0 years B.A.D in which the Warlord of the Blackstone Legion, Apollyon, used her power to put a stop to the viking raids on Ashfeld, invaded Valkenheim and sent the Viking Clans into a famine, causing them to go to war with each other over food for a year, and bringing all Viking civilization to the edge of extinction. This started a domino effect, causing the formation of the united Warborn Viking Clans and the recreation of the Iron Legion.
Events:
5 years B.A.D - Hervis Daubeny defects from the Blackstone Legion, after only being a part of it for a single season, and forms his own mercenary Legion, shacking up in a small fort in the region called "Westhold". Said fort is said to have been controlled by ten different Warlords in the past ten years, prior. This triggers Apollyon to send her second-in-command, Holden Cross, to seek retribution from Daubeny as punishment for his betrayal. This results in the future Lord Warden being recruited into the Blackstone Legion.
Later that year, Holden Cross would send the very same Warden to reinforce the troops in the Sanctuary known as "Harrowgate" - the last Iron Legion Sanctuary in Ashfeld - which was being overrun by viking raiders. The Warden would single-handedly turn the fight around and help to send the viking raiders packing. After the battle was won, the remaining Iron Legion soldiers were too diminished to hold Harrowgate any longer after the fact. Apollyon's Blackstones had to take over, in what can only be called the complete erosion of the once-great Iron Legion. The deal was officially sealed in the Geyser Fields northwest of Ignis.
In that same year, the Blackstone Legion officially had the viking raiders on the run, and in the mopping up efforts, managed to bring the rest of the scattered legions under Blackstone control. All of Ashfeld was Blackstone property. The future Lord Warden was sent, along with the renowned Conqueror, Commander Stone, to clear out the remaining viking outpost in Ashfeld. Along the way, the Warden encountered deserters, which would serve as the initial spark of rebellion in her mind.
4 years B.A.D - After clearing Ashfeld of foreigners, Apollyon would send her Blackstones into Valkenheim in her quest for war. Holden Cross, Commander of the Blackstone Vanguard would lead the charge into Gränsgård, the "gate" into Valkenheim. They break through and execute almost all prisoners captured at the fortified gates.
Later on, the renowned Peacekeeper, Mercy, is sent to clear the way to the market-town of Sverngård on the eastern edge of Valkenheim's coast by infiltrating and clearing out the Warborn fort of Dalborg which stood in the Blackstone Legion's way.
Sverngård was one of the focal circulation points of the Viking Clans's total food stores, and in winter (the season in which the Blackstone Legion assaulted it) most of Valkenheim's food for the year would be stored in it.
The legendary Jarl of Sverngård, Gudmundr, would be killed in the battle by the Warden.
Upon reaching Sverngård, the Blackstone Legion sacked the town under the leadership of the future Lord Warden and burned a large portion of the seed grain stored there. Had all the food been burned, the Viking Clans would have united. But, the Blackstones left just enough for two-to-three Clans, therefore inciting civil war.
3 years B.A.D - The Legendary Raider rose up into renown and fame after coming down from the mountains, and joining the Warborn Clan during the year-long starvation-induced civil war that ravaged Valkenheim, caused by Apollyon. In that year's winter, he began his campaign to unite the Viking Clans under one banner by leading an attack on a village called "Grön"- liberating it from the cruel and borderline psychopathic hold of another Raider, named "Ragnar". A petty warlord among Jarls who prospered on the misery and famine of the people under his jurisdiction.
Eventually, in that same year, in a matter of weeks and maybe a month or two, the Warborn grew to encompass many other Clans, and eventually, only two independent Jarls remained. The Legendary Raider, and a psychopathic Berserker named Siv, who had holed up in the fortress of "Skällaborg". With many Warborn soldiers and leaders imprisoned and enslaved in Siv's fort, it was only natural that the Warborn Clans's next target was Siv's Bearclaw Clan. And so he did. Killing Siv in a duel, and uniting all of Valkenheim's sons and daughters under one banner.
This consumption of the Bearclaws into the Warborn yielded the freedom of Stigandr. A renowned Warlord, who would, from that point on, serve as the Warborn's Jarl, and lead all of Valkenheim's people.
In order to save face from being captured, and in order to prove himself worthy of leadership position, Stigandr, in the final month of the year, single-handedly lead an assault on Odingård, the site of one of Valkenheim's main shipyards. After clearing Odingård of Blackstones, killing their resident commander, Julius Salavander, the Warborn Clans were set to take back their birthright.
2 years B.A.D - The Warborn Clans's Jarl, Stigandr, spent the next few months, into the next year, making preparations to lead an assault on the Samurai. The newly-created Viking fleet sailed southward, across the Austramar bay, and landed at Kaiyo Kabe- one of the Samurai's naval forts on the northern edge of The Myre. It was one of the few places in The Myre where a fleet could safely come to shore. The huge gate that dominated the fort used to be a canal, before the sea-level receded. The Warborn Clans believed the ancient port to be poorly defended, and were hoping for some quick spoils. It quickly turned into a bloodbath. Bloody, but manageable. The Legendary Raider was able to turn the assault into a decisive victory. Especially after he defeated and killed the Samurai Champion, a Kensei named "Fujikiyo", who's legend had reached across the sea- even into Viking territory.
After finding a safe way through the death-trap known as The Myre, the Warborn Clans began their attack on the city of Koto, having to fight their way across Sanctuary Bridge. The Legendary Raider truly earned his name in that battle... as the Warborn's victory was secured through the death of the great Samurai Orochi: General Tozen. And his apprentices.
During the chaos The Great Raid, the Emperor's Champion, who had been imprisoned for three years for speaking out of turn, was freed by his Daimyo and a few others who saw the opportunity to do so. As the Champion and his fellow members of his Daimyo's House fought to push the Vikings out of one section of Koto, the Blackstone Legion, lead by Apollyon herself, intervened.
The Blackstone Legion's goal, it seemed, was to capture every Daimyo (twenty in all) they came across as they invaded Koto, bring all of them directly to the Imperial Palace, kill the Emperor and his family; then, Apollyon in the flesh told all of them that the Emperor was dead, and would ask each Daimyo if they wanted to rule.
Those who refused were promptly executed on the spot, while those who (more or less) accepted the "offer" were allowed to live. Five did. Apollyon cherry-picked one of these Daimyo, a renowned Orochi named "Seijuro", who she perceived to be the best among them, and gave possession of the Imperial Palace to him. The rest of the Daimyo who passed her test were taken out of Koto and dropped off in the wilds around the city with nothing but their weapons and armor.
By happenstance, one of the Daimyo who passed Apollyon's test was the Daimyo who the Emperor's Champion owed his loyalty to- a Kensei named Ayu. As it happened, all of the Daimyo that survived Apollyon's questionnaire were war-criminals- psychopaths, and sociopaths of all stripes and colors who would undoubtedly tear each other to pieces and take their respective swings at Seijuro in order to gain the late Emperor's throne.
Ayu, knowing all of this full-well, decided to put a stop to the impending civil war before it began. What Apollyon hoped would be a civil war that would take years, only took a few days. She had overestimated the resolve of the three Daimyo that Ayu killed (later remarking that they were liars and cowards), and underestimated the Samurai's unity. In fact, it was the common enemy in the form of the Warborn Vikings which were still plodding about The Myre that served as a catalyst for the Samurai to unite around.
After kicking the remnants of the Warborn's raiders out of their swamp, Ayu set about gathering what remained of the Samurai's armies who hadn't sworn loyalty to Seijuro and launched an assault on the Imperial Palace. With the Emperor's Champion infiltrating the "fortress within a fortress" and giving Ayu's army a way in, Seijuro was defeated in a duel with the Champion.
Apollyon might have thought that Seijuro would be executed. However, at this point, Ayu and the Champion had long-since determined that Apollyon was the true enemy, in this situation, and was the one who would have to pay for the bloodshed.
0 years B.A.D - After two years of preparation, the Samurai were ready to send an army into Ashfeld. After the Emperor's Champion scouted the way to Apollyon's fortress through the region of Aemilianus, the Dawn Empire's full military might, along with the newly reforged Iron Legion's, crashed down onto the Blackstone Fortress- which sat in the shadow of Ignis. THIS was the day that Apollyon died... and the day that the Seven-Year-War began.
Extras:
N/A
The Seven-Year-War / Age of Wolves = A period lasting from 0 years B.A.D to 7 Y.A.D in which all three main factions warred with each other in the wake of The Apollyon Period.
Events:
Unknown Date - A group of Centurions (presumably large enough to make a decent difference in the course of a full-on war) comes out of hiding and joins the Iron Legion's army, under the Lord Warden's leadership, against the Warborn Viking Clans, and the Dawn Empire Samurai.
Unknown Date - The Shinobi, a previously unknown society of spies, assassins, and warriors comes out of hiding in order to assist the Samurai of The Myre against the Warborn Viking Clans and The Iron Legion Knights.
Unknown Date - The Iron Legion begins to draw troops from the likes of veteran gladiatorial arena fighters, to fight in the war against the Warborn Viking Clans and the Dawn Empire Samurai.
Unknown Date - The Warborn Viking Clans draw on the contractural help of the Highlanders to join in the seven-year-long conflict.
Unknown Date - A large influx of Aramusha join the armies of The Chosen.
Unknown Date - A large influx of Shamans join their kin in the war against the Knights and Samurai.
Unknown Date - Mount Ignis erupts.
Unknown Date - The Zhanhu join the Wu Lin (where they were and why they weren't present to start isn't said).
Unknown Date - The Hitokiri come down from the mountains and joined the Samurai in their fight.
Unknown Date - The Black Priors, motivated by their religious icons (Vortiger and Erzebet) aid the warriors of Ashfeld.
Unknown Date - The Jormungandr come out from their reclusion and join the Warborn in their fight, in the name of the Gods.
Unknown Date - The Warmonger — a fanatic inspired by Apollyon's ideals — crashes the party.
Unknown Date - The Gryphon rises against the Warmonger's tyranny.
Extras:
The Age of Wolves is, basically, what we (the players) experience in the multiplayer Faction War. You know? That thing that everyone decided not to care about. The Seven-Year-War, as we're playing it, takes place before the meeting between Ayu, Stigandr, and Holden Cross in the ending cutscene of For Honor's Story Mode. And they did eventually achieve peace between the three nations.
Characters:
The Lord Warden:
"The Warden has travelled to Ashfeld to lend her blade to a worthy cause. It has proven challenging".
The Warden was a young woman who had joined the Warden academy, because she believed in it's ideals. But she wasn't going to be defending the weak, fighting for what's right or for peace in The West's desert hills. So, she traveled eastward, to Ashfeld, to find a worthy cause to fight for. After all, Ashfeld is the place to seek your fortune.
So, when she arrived in Ashfeld, and ran into Hervis Daubeny. A fellow Warden who seemed to have a ragtag bunch of mercenaries. For a few weeks, she lived in Westhold Castle with her fellow mercs.
Then, Holden Cross showed up and used his forces to crush Daubeny's castle. As you know, the Warden was brought into the Blackstone Legion fold through getting Knighted by Holden. I suspect that that custom is what happens when one legion is defeated by another- the victor is free to demand anything of the loser. Including their death.
The Warden suddenly found herself with a much more powerful legion that seemed to be getting things done very effectively. When she was sent to Harrowgate to reinforce the failing Iron Legion ranks, there, she was surprised to see that the famed, legendary Iron Legion was getting it's posterior handed to it. News hadn't been getting to The West very often, in recent years. Then again, the bureaucratic types, there, didn't really care what happened in Ashfeld, so long as food was still being shipped from the farms, near the volcano. Despite having to save it, she still had a lot of respect for what the Iron Legion stood for. Of course, when the Blackstones had to take over Harrowgate, and thus subsume the Iron Legion, the Warden was not informed.
She wasn't really told that the Iron Legion was being consumed and absorbed into the Blackstones. Then again, she didn't really ask, either. When Stone joined the Blackstones, she didn't think much of it. Maybe he was a bit fond her, she didn't question it.
However, as she was sent to clear out the last Viking-occupied outpost in Ashfeld, she heard of talk of deserters. This was surprising to her, as these deserters were Iron Legion deserters. During the mission, she brings this up to Stone, as the idea of Iron Legion soldiers deserting seemed absurd to her. What she didn't know was that these soldiers were actually deserting the Blackstone Legion- they were trying to avoid having to submit to Apollyon's rank and file, since the Iron Legion was absorbed. Unlike the Warden, these deserters knew full-well how dangerous and destructive Apollyon was.
Stone, for his part, was confused by the Warden's lack of understanding of the situation, at first, and feigned ignorance when they both confronted the deserters. Even pretended to be just as confused and angry as the Warden. Perhaps, he was trying to keep the Warden from finding this stuff out the hard way.
When Apollyon came out of nowhere, and exercised her famed "Laws of Selection"... the Warden then understood the state of things in Ashfeld. But she couldn't exactly bug out. Not after having taken her oaths to the Blackstone Legion. For valor in battle and honor in service, after all. Doing so would be a death sentence. She'd seen how Daubeny had been treated for deserting the Blackstones.
The Warden's thought process after Mission 1.3 must have been something along the lines of: "oh. Well, I, uh... I kind of screwed up, didn't I? Well, whatever, it's probably fine, right? How bad can Apollyon and her Blackstones be?". She would soon find out.
The idea of forging into Valkenheim, exacting retribution for the yearly raids on Ashfeld, wasn't particularly great to her, but she was excited for more combat. What better target than the Vikings? If they were strong enough to raid Ashfeld every year, then it would at least be challenging. And putting a stop to the raids seemed good, too. Fast-forward to the sacking of Sverngård... and the Warden would have to quickly learn not to choke on her own foot.
Sverngård wasn't a proper fortress. It was barely deserving of the name, "military outpost". It was just a market town. Civilians. Merchants. In the Warden's mind, she thought that they would simply attack a few large fortresses to make an example and make it clear that the Blackstone Legion and Ashfeld were not to be trifled with, anymore. Instead, they were there to induce famine throughout Valkenheim.
That was the last straw. The Warden deserted, and went rogue, going into hiding. Establishing her own band of fighters. They used guerrilla warfare against Apollyon's forces. The Blackstone Legion, after the sacking of Sverngård, would put down many other rebellions. But not the Warden's. Four years later, she was joined by Holden Cross, Stone, and Mercy. It was then, that they officially recreated the Iron Legion, and began recruiting other disillusioned Blackstone soldiers. Little did she know, but her rebellion was only allowed to continue because Apollyon decided to let it do so. She, like she did with the vikings and the Samurai, pitted her own people against each other, and cherry picked the Warden's rebellion as being the best opponent for the Blackstones.
When the Emperor's Champion was captured spying on her recruitment drive, the Warden saw an opportunity. She figured that, if she could secure the Samurai as an ally, it would be one less thing to worry about when they brought the fight to Apollyon's castle. "The enemy of my enemy", and all that. So, she had a duel with the Champion, and managed to get on friendly terms with him. She granted the Samurai's armies passage through to the Blackstone Fortress.
She knew that she should have probably made this unspoken agreement more clear to her new Iron Legion, but there was work to be done. When Iron Legion and Dawn Empire forces began to siege the Blackstone Fortress, it would require all of her attention.
When the siege ended, and the two armies found themselves facing each other, the Warden and the Emperor's Champion weren't present to stop the bloodshed. It didn't help that the vikings decided to take that moment to run in and start killing. Thus: the Iron Legion, Dawn Empire, and Warborn Viking Clans would fight for seven years. A war that the Warden didn't start, but was forced to command in as the new Lord Warden. Gods know she wanted to end it.
Holden Cross:
"A practical man of limited ambition but of endless talent. Apollyon's second-in-command and one of Ashfeld's Lawbringers. Holden Cross carries out the Blackstone Legion's judgements".
I suspect that Holden, unto and including the sacking of Sverngård, is going through something of a mid-life crisis. He was a part of the Blackstone Circle, second in command to the Warlord of the Blackstone legion. He, basically, was vice-president of all of Ashfeld. He is one of the greatest Lawbringers to have ever lived, and helped put an end to the Viking raids on Ashfeld.
What else is there to do? By the time he met The Lord Warden, he'd already reached the peak of his career. Mercy, in her own analytical way, seems to be rather convinced that he'd lost his way. His thoughts, throughout most of the Blackstone Legion's activities in Valkenheim must have been something along the lines of, "well. This seems to be it. This will be my legacy". He was only going through the motions. His life, at this point, was completely made up of: "carry out the Blackstone Legion's judgements. Do as Apollyon says. It's not like there's anywhere else to go, anymore".
However, this would begin to change.
When Apollyon spared Ragnar's life, Holden was surprised. Caught off guard. He'd thought that her Laws of Selection only applied to Knights. He, up to this point, thought that the entire point of the foray into Valkenheim was to wipe out the Vikings and secure a safe future for Ashfeld's people. Genocide. He must be very much a nationalist. He wouldn't have become a Lawbringer if he didn't have a pride for the Knight's laws and civilization.
But, when Apollyon started her schemes of "showing the Vikings who they really are" and breeding Ashfeld's enemies to be more and more dangerous, Holden must have realized that Apollyon's goals would only bring ruin to everyone. He wasn't a fan of the Vikings or Samurai, but Apollyon's plans would inevitably bring Ashfeld into the line of fire and endanger it's citizens.
All for the sake of some perverse idea that war is, somehow, a good thing. Yeah, when Apollyon took control of the Blackstones and made her intentions of creating war everywhere perfectly clear, Cross went right along with it. "War is the natural state of our species", must have struck him as: "Knights should be attacking it's enemies actively, not cowering behind their shields". At the time, he thought that the goal was to destabilize the other factions and give Ashfeld time to become greater and more powerful without the viking raids constantly hacking the society's knees, every year.
When he met her, he already trusted The Lord Warden, and regretted her departure from the Blackstones. When she made her rebellion against Apollyon public knowledge, it didn't take much for Holden to see an opportunity in it. In addition to everything else that's already been said: "how gargantuan of a task would it be to undermine and strike at the heart of the most powerful Legion in Ashfeld? Very". The challenge gave him the spark, and when the Seven-Year-War began, it gave Holden a purpose once more.
In the fourth year of the Age of Wolves, the Warmonger had come, and the stalemate of the conflict was upheaved. In that time, Holden Cross had worked with many people, seen many places, and fought many enemies. He'd grown as a person, leaving behind the malaise of his prior mid-life crisis. He now has a title, people to lead again, and a cause to fight for.
Commander Stone:
As a Conqueror, Stone understands the term "beaten dog", very well. He was an ex-convict, after all. Only earning his freedom after being conscripted into the Iron Legion's military. And shining bright as a diamond in the rough. When he reached his renowned status, it wasn't as great of an honor to be made Commander of the Iron Legion's forces as it could have been, since said Legion was on the verge of being destroyed. So, put in charge of a failing military force, and having to make due with what he was given, Stone's disappointment at only being given a single Warden as reinforcements for when the Iron Legion's last Sanctuary was being sieged, was immeasurable. He must have figured that, "hey, well- if we do get destroyed, today, at least I can say I didn't screw up with a clerical error, like those damned Blackstones".
But, he was pleasantly surprised to see that this Warden was no slouch. The siege was broken, and the vikings were pushed back. The Iron Legion was going to be subsumed by the Blackstones, but Stone couldn't find much of a reason to care, at this point. They only put him in charge of the Legion's armies when the damn thing was about to be mobbed by viking savages.
When the Warden's naivety and lack of understanding about recent events in Ashfeld became apparent to him, Stone defaulted to his usual tactic of: "roll with the punches; assume the role". He sort of just went along with the Warden's tiny crusade of going after the deserters, and did his best to delay any outright revelations for his new friend. He liked the Warden- she simply seemed like a decent person, and a good soldier. She was the main reason why he joined the Blackstone Legion, anyway. Her being the only positive relationship he actually had, at this point.
The deserters made his job easy for him when they decided to jump the pair. Though, the cat somewhat came out of the bag when Apollyon showed up. After that little incident, he went ahead started explaining what exactly the situation in Ashfeld was like. Though, he suspected she'd already figured it out.
When the Warden deserted, Stone was the first join her, when he had the opportunity. She was his best friend (or the closest thing to it), and he didn't particularly care for the Blackstones, too much.
Mercy:
"Mercy is efficient. She doesn't waste any movement or words. She is a natural predator".
From the way Mercy behaves, it becomes apparent that it must take an extremely specific kind of personality in order to be a Peacekeeper- the secretive organization which works to stop as many conflicts between the Legions of Ashfeld from happening as possible.
My diagnosis? There is very strong evidence to suggest that Mercy is a high-functioning psychopath.
She speaks extremely little, has an understanding of conventional morality, is analytical, talks to herself when alone, keeps a constant mental list of all the people she works with and seems to always think of said people while on her missions- making judgements and noting all occurrences, and is prideful in her work. Like all psychopaths, she is incapable of sympathy or empathy, and is only truly concerned about herself. Her interests, her advancement, her preservation.
Any sympathy she displays will be feigned - the logic, in her mind, being "hm. I should probably comfort this person, shouldn't I? It won't cost anything and it'll probably make manipulating them easier in the future" - and those around her will most likely think of her as being charismatic. If she ever does chose to interact with others. Her job as a Peacekeeper probably doesn't provide much time for socialization. And she's probably okay with that. Psychopaths are excellent actors, and are always hedging their bets. In the mind of someone with this condition, every single thing around them is either an asset or detriment. An ally or obstacle.
Things such as gratitude, loyalty, or love, to a psychopath, are always either nonexistent, or are turned up to eleven and made into an extreme, depending on the circumstance. And, yes, I am somewhat referring to the Anime concept of a "Yandere". Though, it's not very important. Or common.
When she comes across the bodies of hanged Blackstone soldiers, she remarks that when other soldiers see the corpses of their friends, they would "cry, and cringe, and rage". She comments that, sometimes she would pretend to share their grief, while on other occasions she would simply wish that she did.
From this, she seems to be aware that there is something "wrong" with her, and has a desire for said abnormality to not be the case. There is a disconnect between what she feels is right and wrong, what she reacts emotionally to, and what other people display. She's aware of this difference, and like any psychopath, will adhere to the moral conventions of society because doing so furthers her goals. She will, at least sometimes, attempt to imitate the emotional reactions of others around her in a bid to see if she actually feels something in response to certain situations.
To her, the only thing stopping her from committing a serious of gruesome murders is: A) the potential legal consequences, and B) the reward for doing so not being worth the risk/effort. If neither of those conditioners were in place, nothing would stop her from doing so. Certainly not emotional or moral dilemmas. It's all about consequence.
I suspect that part of the reason she became a Peacekeeper in the first is because she wanted to have an excuse for not having to constantly adapt to social cues. Social cues which she isn't fond of following, anyway.
Mercy seems to be slightly obsessive over her job. She repeatedly recites mantras to herself, such as "Doubt is death; Doubt is Death", and "Service is Life; Service is Life". Whether she taught herself these things and uses them as motivation for her role in the Blackstones, or if these things were impressed upon her in Peacekeeper training is unclear.
When Mercy deigns to tell The Lord Warden what the true purpose of the Blackstones in Valkenheim was, the Warden comments: "I think you know". This seems like a very specific line, meant to communicate a specific point. Mercy isn't actually a part of the Blackstone Circle. Nor is Stone. If she was, why would the Warden have to have made that comment? If she were part of the Blackstone Circle, of course she would know. So, what does this mean? Well, Mercy must have a reputation for coming across information that she isn't supposed to know. She always keeps tabs on everyone around her, and being a spy, it's only natural that she go snooping about. On Apollyon, she says, "Apollyon's darkness will cover the world, I think", and "we will leave this place a ruin".
No one else comments this, so she must be, either have figured out Apollyon's goals and motivations from her speech, or have gone snooping about in Apollyon's plans.
But, why would she do so? Surely, if she were found out, the punishment for doing so would be grievous. Well... what if it wasn't? She's a Peacekeeper. Maybe she has the pre-ordained right to scrounge up any information about and in the Legion in which she serves. "What they know could destroy legends... or create them", after all.
When the future Lord Warden deserts the Blackstone Legion, it is unclear what exactly makes Mercy go along with him.
On The Warden she says, in Mission 1.5, "I wonder who will betray that Warden", "Holden trusts that Warden. Well... maybe", and "that Warden is a decent person".
On Holden, she says, "Holden has lost his way. It's sad".
On Commander Stone, "Stone is trustworthy, I think. Rude, but trustworthy", and "Stone would be dead if not for that Warden. Hah".
