Welcome to the continuing chronicles of the York mercenaries, the Bentwood Raiders.

Passing from shadow to shadow in the Kingdom of York, three freemen lived. None eager to succumb to the drudgery of life as a squire. Each sworn to a life of freedom, no matter the cost. These men lived in a place where subservience was a part of life simply because that was all most men knew. Not wanting to fall prey to such a miserable existence, these men found one another and banded together. At first, it was simply a matter of common alliances on the field of battle. Soon, however, they came to trust one another and realized that a common bond was between them and so they began the first steps toward unity. Shrouded in secrecy and myth, these men formed together into a band of mercenaries. Each independent but working toward the common good of the band. The original idea of a Mercenary band was slowly crafted in the careful, creative mind of our Sergeant of Arms, I'm a Dog Spanish guy (Amador de la Jolla). The idea quickly gained favor among those who were close to the Good Wright Bentwood and so was born the mercenary band of York.

Wright and Am-A-Dog decided to approach a few potential members with the idea and they received overwhelming encouragement. The first to sign on was the then nameless man commonly referred to as just John. He has since adopted the name Fergananym which is Gaelic for "nameless man." Oh well, some things never change.

Fergananym accepted a position as one of the founding members of the Bentwood Raiders and soon thereafter the bylaws were written and the first mercenary band of York was born. These events bring us to the present, November 1999.

*December 1999:

A little known Merc is making many posts and instigating much trouble among those who spend their time on the Tavern. Limericks and Poems spread dissent amongst fellow Adrians; the leader of the Bentwood Raiders, Wright Bentwood, introduces the empire as to what life with the Mercs will be like.

Oh, and incidentally, though the allegations have not been proven, it is widely assumed that the missing codpiece, known to be heavily laden with the crown jewels, was taken by one of the Mercs. Particularly one Wright Bentwood. Again, nothing has been proven and Wright has not been available for comment since the coronation feast where this theft was supposed to have occurred.

*January 2000:

Not much happening this month. We have submitted our bylaws to the King who is currently considering our petition to become an official Kingdom guild. We have some very interesting plans should he choose not to approve our request. Blackmail is such an ugly word! Watch out, your majesty.

*February 2000:

The Faire the Faire, what a wonderful time to display ourselves. The Mercs appear on the scene. The honorable Wright Bentwood distinguishing himself on the field of battle, fighting more yield steel fights than any other member of the kingdom. Equally impressive is his percentage of wins, which is much higher than those of his fellow combatants.

In the first weekend of Faire, it was Wright Bentwood first to appear on the field and challenge all who would come to a fight to the yield. Quickly obvious even to the most casual observer, Wright was hell-bent on not loosing even a single fight. Though fun was the intent, victory was foremost in his mind.

This was also the time for a leader to be chosen. So battle was fought to see who would lead. Fergananym and Wright fought hard for this honor. On the chosen day Wright fought five opponents, and Fergananym four, all to the yield. After being suitably warmed up they had a tremendous battle in which they charged each other. After five minutes of fighting Wright arose victorious and Fergananym accepted him as leader.

There were some subtle setbacks, but setbacks were all they were. First, Wright found that his helmet had suffered an irreparable blow in the first fight and he would have to borrow another. He found one, very similar to his own, with one slight difference: it didn’t fit him well. After a terribly grueling and intense battle with Sir Elric, the fight was called due to excessive bleeding on the field. Apparently, Sir Elric was less than happy about the torrential downpour of Wright's blood that was filling his helmet as Wright sat upon Sir Elric, screaming some incoherent blood call of death. Even when the fight was called, Wright was still confused as to why and challenged everyone, calling them all wimps.

In the final result, Wright was rushed to the nearest clinic and given seventeen stitches above the eyes. He was back in the ring and fighting for the final fight of the day, a mere two hours later.

The second major setback was a recurring one. Wright's armour, somewhat less sturdy than that of the other combatants, kept disintegrating under the immense strain placed upon it by his vigorous fighting style which could be more closely described, at least in the early fights, as brawling with armour. Added strain was constantly being placed on his armour resulting from a group of combatants who decided that they didn’t like the chain mail and were determined to destroy it before the Faire closed. They succeeded with a lot of help from Wright. Wright's armourer was, needless to say, disappointed in the way his chain mail was cared for. On the other hand, I’m sure that his armourer was considering a part-time job following Wright around repairing his mail.

Finally, the Faire had to come to an end, at which time the entire kingdom of York attacked Lady Merrywell's encampment. Lady Merrywell had a walled region that could not be breached. So confident were they that they had taken their flag to the battlefield. With speed and cunning, Wright and Q, a new prospect for the Mercs, sneaked up and captured the flag. However, this was early in the battle and when needing to rest, the flag was passed on to non-Mercs, who lost it to the other side. This time, Lady Merrywell was not going to be fooled. She hid the flag deep in her encampment behind the wall. This is where Serelle, another Merc prospect, earned her way in. She infiltrated the encampment and found the location of the Flag. At this time it was recovered quickly by Wright with the help of Captain Sir Tristan Thorne. So glorious was this fight that the Mercs all agreed to keep the flag and make it the sign of our forces. Also, because of her show of loyalty and bravery Serelle was made a full mercenary.

*March 2000:

A very uneventful month indeed. The only Merc to show up to the event at all was Fergananym and he didn't even fight in the lists.

*April 2000:

The day was calm and all in attendance at the King’s court were in moderate to good spirits. The events of February's Faire seemed to be wearing off and things were in the beginning stages of recovery.

This day was one of celebration for the Bentwood Raiders. Their leader, Wright Bentwood was to receive a special honor from his majesty, King Raffe. Wright was to be knighted this day. This was, however, no ordinary knighting ceremony. Wright was to be granted a prerogative knighthood. A prerogative knighthood is one in which the King and Queen bestow upon an individual the title of Knight. Each Royal Couple may grant one such knighthood during their reign. Typically it is awarded to someone who has, in their opinion, shown behavior above and beyond what is expected of all citizens of York in an effort to improve the Kingdom and the Empire. And indeed, Wright had performed with great courage during the Faire. He fought in every single armoured combat scenario and did so with zeal. Beyond that, he ambitiously and exuberantly displayed his arms and armour to all of the on-lookers, especially the children. He graciously explained the purpose, history and effectiveness of his various arms. Additionally, Wright used his personal contacts to help gain and confer information between the organizers of the faire and those liaisons appointed by York. All in all, through his efforts, there was seen benefit to York and, indeed, to all of Adria. As such, he was to be furthermore known as Sir Wright, leader of the Bentwood Raiders, undisputed champion of knightly rules armoured combat throughout the kingdom of York and an all-around pretty cool fellow!

And so, in splendor becoming ceremonies of York, Wright Bentwood knelt before his King and Queen and received the highest honor they can bestow upon an individual, as he became Sir Wright Bentwood of York. With his title came an additional favor from the King and Queen. Sir Wright was asked, quite to his surprise, to become a member of the king’s guard. Now, it should be noted that the king’s guard and the Mouseketeers are two very different organizations. Quite taken aback with surprise and somewhat overwhelmed by the generosity being shown to him by their majesties, Sir Wright graciously accepted this unexpected honor.

Unfortunately, he was forced to later decline the position as it came in direct conflict with the mercenary code. But hey, it’s the thought that counts, right!

This month sparked another special occasion; Amador de la Jolla ran his gauntlet, fighting over 20 opponents in sets of two. Although taking many injuries, he stood tall at the end and the Mercs donned him Sergeant of Arms of the Mercenary armoury.

*May 2000:

Well, once again the Mercs have succeeded in making an impression on the Kingdom with the introduction of The Lamb, the first kingdom pub. Q quickly takes over The Lamb as proprioter-ess due to her talent of making the patrons happy.

Not wanting a month to go by without some kind of controversy, we declared war on Howie. Quickly the populace corrected us claiming that we had declared war on Sir Elric. Of course, we didn’t correct them, but the truth be known, we declared war on Howie, not Sir Elric! Oh well, it’s not important.

Not long after making this declaration of war, Sir Elric was quick to call a meeting of his peers, the Pirates of Penzanoops, the Corsairs…oh well, the pirate weenies from York! He successfully recruited the majority of their population. So serious was this challenge taken by Sir Elric that rumor has it he stole away from that month’s events early so that he could make secret communication with those who were not in attendance at the event. Rumor further indicates that he did not even wait to get home before he began making his calls to war.

"Sir Elric, woudst thou be sweating something, perchance?"

Next was Alaric Thorne, an excellent fighter who was noticed for taking victories his first time on the steel field. In fact, the fifteen-minute battle victor was he, with an impressive 24 kills. He also has many supplies and is generous in making them available to the ranks. His gifts are smiled upon, but due to the heavy fighting early in the day his gauntlet is postponed. He is in good favor due to his excessive bribery.

Banner War

War. What can we say—it’s what we live for.

First, knowing that Howie was looking for support in his upcoming war, we captured Rolling Thunder, York’s superhero. Next, we undertook a trip to faraway lands. York was nervous though, knowing the Mercs would be there in force. So after having words with some Imperials about the rights of free men to choose which side they want to fight for, it was not clear whom the Mercs would support. These fears were not in vain, for Sven of Chesapeake did have contact with the Mercs about having the whole band fight against their homeland. Unfortunately, their treasury could not support our fee and we fought for York. However, we did sell them a supply of archery gear and one of our two new surprises: manlets. Fresh from the Merc shop. They led the charge across the field. The Mercs lined up on the left flank and needless to say crushed it. However, the right flank held against many foes, no doubt due to Alaric's positioning, with his spear unit. We crushed Chesapeake and the Dragon Mist horde. They asked for it too, for they actually tried to capture and hold Serelle !!!!

Afterwards, all partied at The Lamb, in which it was rumored that a 20-foot monster turtle attacked Sir Wright in the dark and dragged him into his underground layer. The rumor that he got drunk and fell in a turtle hole is totally without merit.

The Mercs also made some side money, by being hired for guard duty for the feast later in the evening. Alaric also increased some of his personal wealth by accepting the position of herald at the war due to his boisterous personality.

The next day also went successfully for the Mercs as Alaric distinguished himself by winning the champion’s ren battle of the war.

This night was finish with another show of strength by Kreig when he defended himself semi-successfully from the rest of the Mercs for being too "pouffy". He didn’t end up in the stocks but he had the pouff spanked out of him.

*June 2000

The Emperor and Empress comes to visit. They immediately like the party feel the mercs have and go out with them to their mundane hang out, the Red Lion. At which pictures that will be used later in bribery were taken. It is rumored that the Mercs gained favor with the Empress and she hires them for a secret job that might be revealed later.