"Always fighting each other, these Lyonens. Sometimes their schemes get so elaborate that they’re actually fighting themselves. Plenty of work if you have wits and discretion."
Lyonesse, formally the Dukedom of Lyonesse, is one of the founding dukedoms of Bretonnia that lies upon the north-western shores of that kingdom. One of the larger dukedoms following its annexation of Mousillon several centuries earlier, the lands of Lyonesse are infamously known for their rivalry not with the other Bretonnian dukedoms, but amongst their own nobility, even in comparison to the feudal conflicts which plague the other realms of Bretonnia. People blame the unusual geography of the dukedom for the prevalence of the internecine strife, particularly the profusion of excellent sites for fortifications, which deters rival dukedoms from waging war or pursuing feuds with the lords of Lyonesse. [1a]
It is very difficult to utterly defeat a Lyonen noble, so rivalries, once started between other Lyonen nobles, tend to continue for decades, if not centuries. This has resulted in a division within the lands that can never truly perish. Without any true outside threat to unite the scheming Lyonen Lords together, it is said that Lyonesse will be plagued with disunion for the rest of their history. Its current ruler is Duke Adalhard.[1a]
History[]
Origins[]
Thierulf, the Bretonni lord of the realm that became Lyonesse, took a lion's head as his heraldry after he and his brother slew a lion as children. From that day forward, each time he rode to war, he wore the lion's fur up over his shoulders and head, and it is recorded that he fought with the ferocity and heart of a lion.[2a]
Thierulf was the lord of the Bretonni of Castle Lyonesse and the surrounding lands by 950 IC, when he married Rosalind of Bastonne, sister of Gilles le Breton, and he became a strong friend of the heir to Bastonne, while the ties between the two realms grew strong.[2a]
Twenty-five years later, Gilles le Breton's father died and he joined his forces with those of Thierulf and Landuin of Mousillon to repel the Greenskin armies attacking their territories. Soon thereafter, Gilles and his friends were visited by the Lady of the Lake, the patron goddess of Bretonnia, who blessed them and anointed them as the first Grail Knights.
On the morning after the apparition of the Lady of the Lake, Gilles le Breton, Thierulf of Lyonesse and Landuin of Mousillon led their knights in a charge against a numerous army of Greenskins, and parted the tide, killing many enemies. The Orcs found themselves trapped between the Bretonni and the Great Ocean, and most drowned. Few escaped the fury of the blessed knights, and the lands were saved. Gilles then unfurled the standard of the Lady of the Lake upon a great mound of the dead and the people rejoiced.
After the Twelve Great Battles that saw the unification of Bretonnia, Gilles was crowned as the first king, and the dukedoms were organized. The first duke of Lyoness then became Thierulf of Lyonesse. He would die 164 years later while fighting Orcs under King Guillaume.
Skaven Invasion and the Mousillon Threat[]
Lyonesse would go on to form one of the larger dukedoms in the new kingdom, compromising much of the northwestern region of the realm. However, by 1813 IC, a massive Skaven invasion and Red Pox outbreak scoured its lands. Villages and hamlets were overrun and captured. Castle Brionne and Castle Quenelles were besieged, while many more dukedoms ravaged. Mousillon suffered greatly from the plague, but Duke Merovech d'Mousillon and his knights were spared. They rode out and assisted in driving the Skaven back below ground.[4a]
Several years later in 836 (1814 IC), at a victory feast, Duke Merovech lost his mind and challenged the king to a duel. Merovech slew the king and drank his blood, for he had become a Vampire. In the wake of this atrocity, Mousillon was invaded by the forces of the other dukedoms, and the northern territories of the duchy became a part of Lyonesse. It is even said that the invasion was triggered as much by Lyonesse's traditional rivalry with Mousillon as by Merovech's wickedness. Mousillon never truly recovered, and much of it fell into poverty in the following years.[4a]
Siege of Lyonesse[]
Early in the reign of Louen Leoncoeur, a great Norscan invasion came from the Skaelings led by Egil Styrbjorn. Styrbjorn's longships initially made landfall on the great island of Landri, off the coast of Lyonesse, located in the far north-west of the country. Though there were literally thousands of inlets that made up the archipelago that defined the north-western coast, Landri was by far the most significant of these barren isles, able to support a relatively large and modestly prosperous population. It was also reputed to have been protected by the Bretonnian goddess known as the Lady of the Lake, though this was soon proved an erroneous assertion, and though it was true that the people of Landri had often paid homage to the god Manann, offering sacrifices unto him that he might guard the seas from the fury of the Chaos Marauders, whatever supplications they had made to that god proved insufficient to protect them from Styrbjorn's brutal invasion.[3]
Those few amongst the people of Landri who had fought to the last were given an honourable death by the axe and the sword, in honour of Khorne, Lord of Battles. Those far more numerous who had begged and bargained for life were left impaled upon great brazen stakes to die by inches, their foul cowardice robbing them the dignity of honourable death.[3]
Styrbjorn had sent a force of Chaos Marauders ahead of the main horde to harry the Bretonnian forces of Duke Adalhard of Lyonesse, while the rest of his warriors moved inward, slaughtering and plundering supplies. Duke Adalhard met Styrbjorn's vanguard, but only succeeded in fighting them to a standstill. Skirmishes with the Norscans continued after that initial engagement, with the Northmen attempting to gauge the full strength of the Bretonnian defenders, and to hold them off while Bjarki and Kveldulf roved the western countryside, searching for the prophesied bride.[3]
The Skaelings had assembled into a wide advance, with a strong centre comprised of the mighty, heavily armoured Huskarls. As a predominately infantry army, given the Norscans' general mistrust of horses in the thick of battle, it was thought that the Skaelings would position themselves atop a high elevation, such as the great motte just behind their position, but instead they had marched forward to engage the Bretonnians in open battle.[3]
The field was seemingly poorly chosen; a wide, flat plain with little in the way of hills, rocks or trees to obstruct the charge of heavy cavalry. Thus, it was a theatre of war that favoured the Bretonnians' cavalry tactics. Duke Adalhard had intended to launch a single, devastating heavy charge that would cut through into the centre of the enemy horde, where Styrbjorn was thought to have dwelled, thus routing the Norscan invasion. The Pegasus Knights, however, could not deploy along with the rest of the army, due to the inclement weather.[3]
It was a simple strategy on the part of Styrbjorn's adversary, Duke Adalhard, but one that had nonetheless been exploited effectively by countless Bretonnian generals. The army of Duke Adalhard marched under the banner of Lyonesse, the Banner of Thierulf, depicting the legendary Bretonnian hero and Grail Companion of the great king Gilles le Breton standing victorious over a mountain of Orc corpses, framed by a halo of holy light.[3]
The Norscans unleashed their corrupted Chaos Warhounds at the charging knights, and the unbridled fury of the mutated Chaos beasts blunted the charge, slowing the Bretonnian advance. The Norscans, too, began to charge at their foes, though slowly, as though anticipating something, and overhead, a crimson light thundered into the sky. Here was the herald for the first phase of the Skaeling battle-plan; for the thundering crimson fire was the signal to unleash the blazing fury of Ereshkigal-Namtar.[3]
The Hellcannon's arcane payload of Daemon-fire smashed into the mass of knights, even as they themselves crashed through the Norscan battle-lines. Hundreds of knights were slain by the first barrage, burned and cooked alive in their own armour. Their flesh burst into flame along with tabards, banners and horseflesh, while blood boiled and burst in their veins, mingling with plate armour turned to quicksilver.[3]
The majority of knights who survived the barrage stubbornly renewed their pursuit of the now-retreating Norscans, despite the fact that it was very clear that the Northmen were attempting to draw the knights deeper into their midst. Only when they found themselves encircled by thousands of giant, black-armoured Chaos Warriors did the knights realize that they had been duped into charging the foe's centre, which had given away to them intentionally with little resistance.[3]
It had been a simple, yet excellently crafted ploy on Styrbjorn's part, and it was now clear that few Bretonnians would leave the field alive. The hammer had fallen, and the savage fury of the Northmen saw thousands of knights and yeomen alike slaughtered and torn apart. Even with that, concealed Chaos Marauders emerged out from under snowdrifts, roaring bestial war-cries as they leapt from their concealments and fell upon knights and peasants left on the rapidly disintegrating Bretonnian army's edge.[3]
The shining army of Lyonesse had been brought to its knees. The defeat of the enemy was assured now, and the Bretonnian ranks, gripped by fear, were already being torn asunder from within as elements of the army began to clamour for retreat. Nonetheless, Stybjorn had one last malignant hand to play; for his mighty Norscan war-mammoths had taken to the field.[3]
Towering beasts with rage burning in their eyes, touched by the madness of the Dark Gods, they smashed the ranks of Bretonnian and Norscan alike with earth-shattering force. A trio of the shaggy behemoths slaughtered hundreds of knights as Norscan Marauders hurled axes and javelins from their howdahs, slaughtering hundreds. Styrbjorn himself sat in one of these howdahs, surveying the glorious carnage with delight. At the sight of the Norscans' monstrosities, the remaining knights quit the field in panic.[3]
With their victory in hand, the eve was devoted to the enactment of the ritual to conceive Styrbjorn's Daemon-son. Eight of the tribe's mightiest warriors were sacrificed to Khorne for the ritual, having given their lives gladly in their master's service. Under the sight of Morrslieb and the Dark Gods, in the presence of Daemons and spirits who had crossed forth from the Realm of Chaos to bear witness, it was thus clear to Styrbjorn that his son would be favoured indeed, and so he took Haegtesse under the sight of the Witch Moon, and a Daemon-son was conceived.[3]
Realising the birth of the Skaeling Daemon-child would herald great devastation for Bretonnia when father and son inevitably returned to its shores, Morgiana Le Fay, the Fay Enchantress and leader of the Cult of the Lady, charged one of her disciples, Anara, to prevent this from coming to pass. To this disciple, she afforded the aid and protection of the Grail Knight Reolus, a warrior reckoned by many within Bretonnia and beyond to be amongst the most elite swordsmen of the Old World.[3]
The two travelled to Castle Lyonesse, where Adalhard's army had fled. Joined by a contingent of knights, the Bretonnians crept into the Skaeling camp under the cloak of magic, while Styrbjorn and his warriors rejoiced and celebrated their great victory in the lands of the horsemen, the tribe's skalds regaling them with the saga of the berserker, Knut the Bloody.[3]
The Bretonnians succeeded in capturing Haegtesse, along with the unborn child. When he realised this, Styrbjorn flew into an apocalyptic rage, his god-touched bellow carrying easily through the winding halls of the fallen temple of Landri, rallying the Norscans to battle. Eyes ablaze with the fire of Khorne, Styrbjorn vented his anger upon the assailants, hacking men from crown to sternum as he frantically attempted to prevent the Bretonnians from fleeing. Ultimately, however, the Chaos Lord's prize was stolen away from him. Burning with fury, the Skaeling Champion of Khorne swore that he would slaughter every last man, woman and child of Bretonnia in order to save his son.[3]
Norscan longships began sailing from their rallying point on the Isle of Landri, making beachhead upon Lyonesse's shore once again. The sight of the dreaded sails of the Skaelings, combined with the utter terror the devastating defeat suffered by the duke's army caused, led the peasantry to almost riot in their fear, as many frantically attempted to book passage to the island stronghold of Castle Lyonesse.[3]
The Norscans sacked the townships of the Lyonesse mainland, plundering the settlements for supplies with which to carry out their coming siege of Castle Lyonesse; they created siege ladders, battering rams and makeshift catapults. A barrier was formed around the island, created by lashing hundreds of longships together, while all the while hundreds more made beachhead, unloading their cargo of bloodthirsty warriors and feral Chaos beasts.[3]
First Assault[]
When the last thousand warriors made it ashore, the vast horde of High Jarl Egil Styrbjorn had finally gathered, and the Champion of Khorne led them in a blood-curdling war-cry. The Norscans began the siege of Castle Lyonesse by building a defensive emplacement for the mighty Hellcannon that had been instrumental in their prior victory far out of range of the Bretonnian trebuchets. Its power would now be all the more necessary for the coming siege.[3]
The first Norscan offensives were intended to probe and weaken the defences of the great citadel; the opening wave consisted of blood-maddened berserkers. Though the thousand-strong wave of blood-crazed warriors was utterly defeated, they had inflicted grievous casualties upon the defenders -- 19 knights and 200 peasant levies had been slain. Though Castle Lyonesse had stood unconquered for nigh 1500 years, no man was quick to forget the bloody defeat the Bretonnians had already suffered at Styrbjorn's hands, and some began to whisper it was better simply to give the barbarian king that which he sought.[3]
Regardless, the battle looked set to continue. With the second assault, the fury of Ereshkigal-Namtar was once more unleashed. The Daemonic fire of the Hellcannon lanced into the battlements of the castle, reducing the topmost towers to molten rock, sending flaming debris in all directions and killing hundreds of men-at-arms. The next barrage was just as devastating, and though Castle Lyonesse had stood undaunted against the hail of cannonfire of the Empire's warmachines, not even its ancient stone could withstand the power of raging Daemons and Dwarf-craft.[3]
Realising that the siege would end in defeat unless the enemy's artillery was neutralised, the Grail Knight Reolus led a sortie forth to destroy the Hellcannon, which succeeded, banishing the Daemons that had been bound to the Daemon Engine's iron and steel. Nonetheless, this was but a mere setback to the grizzled Styrbjorn, for though the Hellcannon was no more, the Bretonnians had revealed a damning truth when their priestess parted the seas that their champion might lead his sortie; the waters of the strait were but thirty feet deep. As masters of the sea, this knowledge would proven devastating in the hands of Norscans.[3]
The Norscan offensive began once, and with even greater lethality. The next wave was filled with heavily armoured, blood-crazed Chaos Warriors and grizzled veterans eager for the chance to die honourably in battle. The Norscan warriors smashed into the defenders on the battlements, reaping a hefty toll from the Bretonnian knights.[3]
While they were ultimately driven back, yet another wave was all too ready to attack, affording the Bretonnians no breathing room from which to recover. The defenders were thus forced to quickly shore up their defences, in spite of mounting casualties and weariness. Regardless, the true blow of Styrbjorn was not marshalled on the walls of the fortress, but rather in assigning a special task to Bjarki and a cadre of Skaeling warriors. Having "questioned" prisoners of war, the Norscans had uncovered the existence of a secret route into the castle.[3]
Bjarki and his warriors made their way to the mechanism that operated the castle portcullis, slaughtering their way through the opposition they encountered on the way. A score of Sveinbjorn's dragonships arrived, sailing the shallow strait and through the portcullis, each ship with a hold filled to bursting with bloodthirsty berserkers too long denied the glory of slaughtering their foes in the name of Khorne.[3]
With the arrival of these warriors came the sounds of deafening trumpets, heralding the coming of the great war-mammoths that had wrought such havoc on the battlefield amongst the knights of Lyonesse just three weeks prior. Stomping their way across the shallow strait, carrying yet more warriors in their howdahs, the mammoths would allow the invaders to bypass the walls entirely.[3]
Like living battering rams they hammered open the mighty gates of the castle, allowing the elite of the Norscan army -- Styrbjorn's mighty Huskarls, each a powerful Champion of Chaos in his own right; massive giants encased in unholy Chaos Armour festooned with bloody trophies and fetishes declaring their brutal piety -- to charge into battle. With contemptuous ease did these warrior-kings slaughter everything that stood before them, hacking through armour, flesh and bone. However, the Huskarls eventually met their match in the Grail Knight, Reolus. Many attempted to earn further glory by slaying the living saint, and all failed.[3]
For his part, with massive battle-axes in hand, Styrbjorn slaughtered his foes in their scores, a bloody god of war astride the battlefield, his twin axes wailing and screaming as they hacked off limbs and heads from bodies with every swing. With every life he took, the warlord roared and bellowed, laughed and sang; revelling in the screams of the dying, the geysers of blood streaming from the severed necks and the pleasing sound of shattering bones as he crushed their skulls and tore asunder their bodies under his axe blades.[3]
The Norscans' assault forced the remainder of the Bretonnian army to retreat to the inner keep. From then on, the Norscans besieged that building. In the surrounding area, the Norscans had desecrated the sacred temple of Manann that stood on the outskirts of the island, slaughtering the knights who protected the holy place, before murdering the venerable priests and tearing down the statue of Mannan in honour of their blasphemous gods, eliciting cries of outrage and sacrilege from the defenders on the battlements of the keep.[3]
Egil Styrbjorn stepped forward from the endless ranks of his bloodthirsty country-men, his weathered, bearded face ritualistically painted a Daemonic red under his massive horned battle-helm in honour of his god Khorne. His stride was that of a man supremely confident in his ability, of a man who had slaughtered whole races single-handed, and who had trod entire nations underfoot.[3]
Halfway before the keep of Castle Lyonesse he bellowed his challenge, his voice reverberating with unholy power. To oppose him stepped forth the holy knight Reolus, legendary Grail Knight of Bretonnia, whose very eyes burned with fay-light. In his hand the anointed warrior held the mighty blade Durendyal, which sang with holy might. The two demigods of war faced each other, separated by a mere twenty paces. What happened next was a glorious battle, one that would live long in the songs and legends of Bretonnia regardless of the outcome. Despite many blows that would have killed any other man, the Chaos Lord pushed through his wounds and killed the Grail Knights. Thus, the child was brought out as promised, and the Norscan army left.[3]
Geography[]
"If their Duke cared to unify them, they would be unstoppable. I cannot decide whether that would be good or bad."
- —Sir Gaston, Artoin lord.[1a]
A map of Lyonesse.
Lyonesse is one of the largest Bretonnian dukedoms, sprawling along the north-western coast of the country. The coast is rugged and has many small islands. The offshore currents are tricky for newcomers but predictable enough for natives to handle easily, and the islands have better harbours than the mainland coast. As a result, most of the coastal villages of Lyonesse are actually offshore, scattered throughout the islands.[1a]
Inland, the dukedom splits in two, though both areas consist mainly of arable land. In the north are the original lands of Lyonesse, the domain of Thierulf, first of Gilles le Breton’s Companions. In the south are lands that used to be part of Mousillon. The northern area is dotted with the hills that locals call Mottes. These landforms are roughly circular, normally less than a hundred feet high, with almost level tops and very steep sides. Openings in the top lead into a complex of caves that invariably reaches a drinkable underground river. As many people have noted, they could have been designed as a place to put a castle, but they appear to be entirely natural. These days, every motte has a castle or the ruins of a castle on top of it.[1a]
The southern area largely lacks mottes, but the land is crossed by dozens of small rivers which frequently enlarge into small lakes. Many of these lakes have islands of a suitable size for building a castle. Most are now fortified, and the natural moat also provides drinking water. Towards the border with Mousillon, these lakes spread out even more, and the land becomes marshy in a few areas. However, the true marshes are not reached until one is actually within the cursed dukedom. A tongue of the Forest of Arden protrudes into the southern region of Lyonesse, but the rivers and lakes continue within. The islands in these lakes often hold small villages as humans try to hold their own against the Beastmen.[1a]
Notable Locations[]
Barley Motte[]
This fortress has been occupied by every evil power known to Bretonnia. It was originally founded by the lords of House D'ayvle, but they cooperated with the Chaos Gods and were defeated by a group of adventurers. Since then, the motte has fallen into the hands of necromancers, Outlaws, and Chaos Cultists.[1a]
Inhabitants[]
The Lyonen[]
"I defend my honour and patrimony against all-comers. That is the duty of a knight."
Lyonens are renowned for their feuds and schemes. People blame the unusual geography, particularly the prevalence of excellent sites for fortifications. Others suggest that these fueds and squabbling is due to the presence of Norscan blood found within northern Lyonesse. Whatever the case, it is very difficult to utterly defeat a Lyonen noble, so rivalries, once started, tend to continue for decades, if not centuries. Whilst the complex tangle of Lyonen politics may have started with simple feuds between noble families, it has since become much murkier. Nobles who couldn’t hope to win militarily turned to political plots, hoping to isolate their rivals or stir up other enemies against them. Those who found themselves beset by these schemes turned to trade and economics, hoping to bolster themselves whilst starving their rivals of essential supplies. To respond to that, some lords even recruited peasants as agents in their schemes.[1a]
Things have now reached the point where virtually every Lyonen noble spends his entire life reacting to developments in various schemes established by his ancestors. Few fully understand the schemes they are involved in, and many are completely lost beyond day-to-day reactions to crises. Indeed, there is a (possibly fake) story of a lord who arranged his wife’s assassination and then his own assassination in revenge, without realizing. About the only way to get out of the tangle is to simply leave Lyonesse, and a lot of adventurers have taken that option. Others found that they had no choice but to leave, having been caught out when a scheme went badly wrong. Some, however, leave as part of their schemes, hoping to return in a far stronger position.[1a]
The only broad divide in Lyonen politics is that between the north and the south. Whilst the southern nobles were happy to be liberated from the rule of the mad and bloodthirsty Dukes of Mousillon, they were less happy when the liberators claimed many prime fiefs and proceeded to keep the “Old Mousillese” out of the corridors of power. Any attempts to work as a bloc are undermined by the feuds that exist between the Old Mousillese, but they do believe that they should work together to claim their rightful place.[1a]
Lakemen[]
The unique species of Beastmen known as Lakemen are commonly spotted in southern Lyonesse. The amphibian like creatures often attack villages in that are and have never been known to cooperate with regular Beastmen.[1a]
Notable Settlements[]
- Castle Lyonesse - Castle Lyonesse is a fortress city and the capital of the dukedom.
- Sigmarsheim - Sigmarsheim is an Imperial border outpost located in the Forest of Arden.
- Barfleur - Barfleur is a small settlement in northern Lyonesse.
Notable Lyonens[]
- Duke Adalhard - The reigning Duke of Lyonesse.
- Thierulf - The first Duke of Lyonesse and one of the fabled Grail Companions.
- Repanse de Lyonesse - A young shepherdess who rose to become the saviour of Bretonnia and the Duchess of Lyonesse.
- Henri le Massif - A mighty Grail Knight who acts as Repanse de Lyonesse's champion within the Chevaliers de Lyonesse.
Trivia[]
In Arthurian legend, Lyonesse was the name of a Kingdom bordering Cornwall, and of great significance to the characters of Tristan and Iseult. Indeed, it was a faraway land that sank into the sea in the Middle English romance King Horn.