Once the Federation was defeated at the Rhenn, Padishar took his message to the people of Callahorn, sparking an uprising that drove the Federation from the Borderlands. The Free Born movement survives, now encompassing all of Callahorn and beyond. But it is Padishar Creel and the image of the silver hawk that supplied the momentum.
Over a half century later, it was that distrust that prevented Callahorn from sending more than two regiments of the Legion to the defense of the Westland during the War of the Forbidding. The Southland Federation had belatedly realized the need for military strength and cohesion and was attempting to unify all of the Southland under its control. Callahorn no longer considered itself part of the Southland and declined the invitation to join the Federation, only to discover that the Southlanders were still advancing on their borders. Balinor Buckhannah’s son had died without issue, leaving the throne to a distant cousin, Quincellen Nall. A weak and cautious man, he was afraid that sending military aid to the Westland would leave Callahorn vulnerable. The Borderlands acknowledged their debt to the Elves for their aid during the siege of Tyrsis, but they felt that sending more of the Legion to the Westland would be an open invitation to their southern “allies” to invade. Undefended, Callahorn would be forced to accept Federation rule.
The two regiments were only a token force, but they were the Legion’s best, the Free Corps, under the command of Stee “Iron Man” Jans, and later, the Old Guard. In the ensuing battle, the Free Corps and the Guard were all but annihilated, but the Bordermen made the difference that allowed the Elves to hold Arborlon until the Forbidding was restored.
During Quincellen’s reign, the combined councils of the cities controlled most of the government. By the time his son held the throne, the king was little more than a figurehead. When the Buckhannah line finally died out, the monarchy was abolished. Control of Callahorn passed to the Council of Cities, a governing body made up of the representative leaders of Tyrsis, Varfleet, and Kern. Unfortunately, each group was focused only on the agenda of its particular city. Without a single unifying leader, there was no one on the council to look out for the best interests of Callahorn as a whole. The council devolved into feuding factions. The increasing pressure from the Federation intensified the divisions within the council. Preying upon the weaknesses of the factions, the Federation leaders frightened the council into becoming a protectorate of the Federation.
Though all records of that time were destroyed, it is believed that the council was assured that they would retain control of Callahorn. They were promised an alliance that would add the strengths of the Federation to the Borderlands in a situation that could only benefit both. They promised increased trade and military assistance. In truth, regardless of the promises, the council had little choice. By the time the papers were signed, the Federation army had already invaded Callahorn with only minimal resistance. Such a bold move would not have been possible during the heyday of the Border Legion, but the Legion, though still in existence, was a pale shadow of its former glory. In earlier times the Legion could have made such an invasion very costly for any enemy, but it had been thinned and weakened by a government that could not agree on anything, including proper management and support of its army. For years the funds normally reserved to pay and outfit the Legion had been gradually siphoned away to pay for more immediately gratifying programs. Historians who believe that Callahorn should have taken the field against the Southlanders forget that the Legion, as it stood, was so far understrength that any defense it mounted would have served only to anger the Federation, resulting in the complete destruction of the Legion as well as severe repercussions for the populace.
So it was that almost 150 years after they had first declined Federation rule, Callahorn, the last free country within the Southland territories, fell to the Federation without a battle. Immediately after the papers were signed, the Council of Cities and the Border Legion were disbanded. Any former councilors who complained too loudly simply disappeared. The country that had proudly served to protect the Southland from all invaders, the country that had never been occupied by any enemy, was itself invaded and occupied by the very people it had so diligently protected. The people of Callahorn found themselves outsiders in their own land as governors from the deep South took power.
The Borderlands did not fare well under Federation rule. Its farmlands sickened, its cities fell into disrepair, and its people were treated as second-class citizens of an occupied territory rather than respected allies. The tolerance toward other Races that had been the cornerstone of Borderlands philosophy was outlawed. Neither Elves nor Dwarves were welcome within Borderlands cities except as prisoners. As a result, Callahorn’s once thriving trade with the other lands evaporated. The combination of the loss of trade and the diseased farmlands led to a major decline in prosperity. Within the cities, the numbers of poor and destitute grew exponentially. Federation coffers were the only certain source of income, so the Federation became the main employer. In Tyrsis alone, there were five thousand Federation soldiers. Providing for their needs—food, weapons, clothing, and entertainment—became the largest single industry within the city. In Varfleet and Kern, locals were even recruited to provide the manpower to fill the garrisons. It meant a uniform and steady pay but required they accept and enforce Federation policy against their own neighbors.
Many in the Borderlands resented the occupation. They especially resented the loss of the basic freedoms that had been an integral part of life in Callahorn. Almost immediately after the Federation took power, pockets of underground opposition began to form. Their ultimate goal was to drive the Federation from the Borderlands. At the very least, they were determined to wreak as much damage as possible to make their occupation difficult. They called themselves the Free Born. The Federation called them outlaws.
At first the Movement, as the resistance was commonly known, was fragmented and ineffective, doing little real damage to the Federation. But then a charismatic man named Padishar Creel took control of the largest cell within the Movement. He began to consolidate the separate groups into a well-organized force with specific goals. The more effective Movement became a serious problem for the Federation; its elimination became a top priority. The Seekers used every weapon at their disposal to eradicate the Free Born. Using information gained through a spy, they brought them to bay at their stronghold atop the Jut in the Parma Keys. Federation propaganda claimed the battle a clear victory, ending in the destruction of the Movement and the death of their leader.
In fact, the Free Born survived reports of their demise, escaping the Jut with very few casualties. They returned, allied with several thousand Northland Rock Trolls, to join the Westland Elves in their fight to stop the Federation invasion of the Westland. The resulting battle for the Rhenn Valley became the definitive battle of the Federation War, though it was the destruction of the Seekers and other Shadowen that actually turned the tide, rather than the arrival of the Bordermen. The Free Born and their Troll allies did make it possible for the Elves to hold the line long enough to rout the Federation army once their morale was broken by the violent demise of the Seekers and their creatures.
Victory at the Rhenn marked the beginning of liberation for the Borderlands. Heartened by the defeat of the Federation in the West, the people of Callahorn followed Padishar Creel and his Free Born in a revolt that drove the Federation from Callahorn. It marked the end of an era; from that time forward Callahorn would never again consider itself part of the Southland, and its people would never again give up their freedom without a fight.
Almost a century later, their descendants were forced to prove the strength of that vow. Recalling the courage of their ancestors and the legendary Border Legion, they met the Federation’s second invasion with an army of Free Born determined to live free or die. With the help of the Elves and Dwarves, the courageous Bordermen drove the Federation back to the South, where the Federation–Free Born war still rages. Though the war remains undecided, the Free Born
have already won an important victory: Callahorn stands free.
The Border Legion of Callahorn
The spirit of freedom inherent in the people of the Borderlands was epitomized by the warriors who defended that freedom for centuries—the Border Legion of Callahorn. A precision fighting machine, it was famous throughout the Four Lands for the skill and ferocity of its fighters. The Free Born of today owe most of their traditions to the men of the Legion.
Originally formed by the first King of Callahorn, the Legion was the first professional standing army assembled within the Southland. Memories of the devastation caused by the Northland army during the Second War of the Races were still fresh in the minds of the survivors and their children. If Callahorn was to stand against such a foe, it had to have protection provided by an army that was both skilled and courageous enough to face even Trolls. The Legion became that force. In the 650 years of its existence, it was never defeated in battle, though its troops sometimes fought to the last man to claim that victory.
Unlike the militias that had formed its core—and that still protected the Southland cities—the Legion had to do more than defend a single city. It had to protect the entirety of the Borderlands as well as provide the first line of defense against any assault directed at the Race of Man and the rest of the Southland. The Legion achieved all that and more. In times of need, units of the Legion often traveled to other lands to drive out raiders or bolster existing defenses. No foe ever survived contact with the Legion to reach the Southland. They faced invasions from tribes of fierce Northland Rock Trolls intent on plundering cities and villages, roving bands of Gnome Raiders, and of course, the return of the Northland army. They prevailed or held the line in every case.
The Free Corps of the Border Legion
The Free Corps is probably the most famous single unit in the entire history of the renowned Border Legion. It was also the most controversial. The regiment only survived for thirty years, but in that time it established a reputation for valor that has never been matched. With their distinctive gray and crimson uniforms set off by the wide-brimmed hats with a single crimson feather that became their trademark, the Free Corps stood apart from every other regiment. It has been said that the courage of the Corps was matched only by their arrogance, but if this is true, it was an arrogance earned with blood.
At full strength, the Free Corps numbered between six or seven hundred men, but unlike other units of the Legion, there was no rotation. Soldiers of the Corps had no other home and no other occupation. From the moment they joined until the day they died, the Free Corps was their life. The name came from the promise made to every man who joined: Once within its ranks, they were free of their pasts. Within the Corps, there were no questions, no recriminations, and no need for explanations for anything that had come before in their lives. Murderers, cutthroats, and thieves, cheats and soldiers broken from other armies, those high born and low, men with honor and men who had none, all came together with one thing in common—the need to escape their pasts and begin again. Only service with the Corps could give them that. As a member of the Free Corps, each was created anew as a free man, dedicated to protecting the lives and freedom of others.
Life within the unit was usually short. The Free Corps were the shock troops of the Legion. It was they who were always first into battle, and first to die. They were considered expendable and had the highest casualty rate of any unit within the Legion. But to the men of the Corps, death was the only certainty of their existence. What mattered most was to meet it with honor, in glorious battle, covered with the blood of the enemy.
The soldiers received rigorous training in an unusually wide variety of weapons. It was an inside joke that a member of the Corps would sooner sleep with his sword than with a woman, since he was certainly able to trust the sword more. The men of the Corps were said to be the finest fighters on horses in the Four Lands. Most of them had mastery of at least five different weapons.
Time and time again, the Free Corps survived seeming suicide missions, facing odds and forces that would have destroyed any other unit. They pulled victory from defeat so often it became expected. When the Elves called on Callahorn for aid against the Demons of the Forbidding, initially only one token unit was sent: the Free Corps, under the command of the legendary Iron Man, Stee Jans. They were later assisted by a second unit.
A proud member of the Free Corps of the Border Legion.
The Free Corps fought valiantly at the Battle of Halys Cut, and again at Baen Draw, always in the vanguard, always covering the retreat with their lives.
The Mystery of the Iron Man
They called him the Iron Man. His name was Stee Jans, and he commanded the Free Corps of the Borderland Legion during the War of the Forbidding. As with most members of the Free Corps, nothing was known of the fire-haired warrior before he joined the Legion as a young man. He rose quickly through the ranks, a difficult task in a unit where death was more certain than promotion.
Stee quickly gained a reputation for being a skilled fighter, a brilliant tactician, and above all, a survivor. When he was only a corporal with seven months in the Corps, his patrol stumbled on a large force of Gnome Raiders in the village of Rybeck. Despite the vastly superior numbers of raiders, they held for three hours. Of the twenty-two men in the patrol, only Stee Jans lived to fight again. It was the beginning of the legend of the Iron Man.
From that time forward, it seemed that Stee was incapable of dying. His men took heart from his invincibility and followed him wherever he led. Stee was equally devoted to his men. Even after he gained command of the Free Corps, he insisted on sleeping where his soldiers slept and eating what his soldiers ate. He accepted no privileges from his rank, but always met his responsibilities head-on. No matter where the Corps was sent, Stee always scouted the area personally. He claimed that he wanted to know everything about the place where he might die.
The battle for Arborlon was the last for the Free Corps, but not for Stee Jans. He was offered a command by the Elves, and was offered another regiment by the Legion. He refused both, preferring to work as a freelance instructor. Many said he had outlived too many of his men and was looking for death; others claimed that he was just too good to be held back by the limitations of a formal command.
He did return to Arborlon to train a special unit of the Home Guard for Ander Elessedil, and to the Legion, but only to instruct special units. But after his work with the Legion, the Iron Man disappeared from all records.
A few years later, a mercenary known only as the Weapons Master became the bane of the Gnomes in the Border Wars of the Eastland. The Dwarves he trained became the first of a crack unit of fighters who turned the tide of the Wars and drove the Gnomes back from the Dwarf territories. The man, calling himself Garet Jax, had no equal in hand-to-hand combat and was said to be skilled with every weapon ever developed in the Four Lands.
Some time after the end of the Eastland border wards, he reappeared in the South, fighting in the civil wars then raging between member states of the Federation. Occasionally fighting as a mercenary warrior, occasionally as an assassin, he always achieved his goal, whether it was the defeat of an army or the defeat of a single foe. He never lost a fight. His mounting death toll soon made him unwelcome in the Southland.
Garet Jax befriended Jair Ohmsford, rescuing him from Gnome captors and joining his quest to cleanse the Silver River, He told Jair that he believed the boy would lead him to the most important battle of his life. Jair later wrote: “He was looking for the one opponent that would be a match for him, the one battle that would test the full measure of his skills. He told me there was no point in being a Weapons Master but to test the skills the name implied. I wonder if he meant to die.”
It seemed to Jair that nothing could defeat Garet. He faced the might of the Kraken at the fall of Capaal and was pulled into the chill waters of the Cillidellan by the great beast—only to emerge virtually unscathed. There was no sign of the beast.
&nbs
p; But at Heaven’s Well, Garet Jax finally found his match. A Jachyra, identical to the one that had killed the Druid Allanon, guarded the Well. No mortal had ever slain a Jachyra without the use of magic. The Weapons Master faced the deadly creature in a pitched battle while Jair completed his task. There were no witnesses. When Jair reemerged from the Well, Garet Jax lay dead. The Jachyra was nowhere to be found.
Garet Jax, the Weapons Master, may also have been known as the Iron Man in his youth.
The Croag, the pathway leading to the spire at Heaven’s Well collapsed before Garet’s body could be removed. He still lies at the site of his last battle with his greatest foe. Jair wrote, “Perhaps it was best that the Weapons Master be left where no other mortal could follow.”
He died as he lived—a man of mystery. No one can be certain that Stee Jans and Garet Jax were names for the same man, and no one but Garet knows if he actually won his last battle. But perhaps there is no question after all—for he finally won his death, on his terms.
Only two defeats mar the history of the Legion: the fall of Kern, and the defeat by the Federation. In both cases the Legion was prevented from taking the field—though in the case of the former, it was that city’s Legionnaires who provided the necessary diversion to allow Kern’s evacuation.
The secret of the Legion’s success lay in its organization. Unlike the volunteer militias that had previously guarded most cities, the Legion was a true professional army. Its soldiers were paid for their time and were drilled and trained to be the finest fighters in the Southland. At full strength, the Legion consisted of five divisions of approximately one thousand men each. During normal conditions, at least one-third of this force was on duty at any given time, spread out throughout the duty stations within the kingdom, while the other two-thirds rotated out to their homes and secondary occupations. In times of war, the entire force could be called to duty within a matter of days.