Rienzi

Rienzi the Magnificent was the saviour of Remas and one of the first of the great mercenary commanders of Tilea. ^[1a]

History

He was the younger son of a Reman merchant family who became a priest of Myrmidia and studied all the cult’s holy texts. ^[1a]

In 475 IC, Tilea was invaded by a vast horde of Orcs and Goblins from the east, torching farms, and making off with the merchant caravans to the shock of the ill-prepared merchant leaders. The situation was not helped when various Princes started hiring the greenskins to fight each other, one of these was the Count of Zelucco who crushed the milita army of Remas, only prevented from marching on the city by the rainy season. ^[1a]

When word came of the defeat, Rienzi saw the opportunity to honour the goddess but also make a profit. He offered to create an invincible army if cities rulers signed a binding contract and paid his fee and over the winter Rienzi recruited and trained an army, drilling them over and over and preparing them to enact Myrmidian precepts of strategy and tactics. ^[1a]

In spring, the army now named the Eagles of Remas crushed the Black Count’s army at the Battle of Blood Ford. The enemy heavy cavalry charged Rienzi’s pikemen again and again, but couldn’t break through and all the time the Eagles crossbowmen loosed volley after volley into the Goblins. The greenskins broke and ran when Rienzi’s cavalry slammed into their flanks and the army of the Count fell apart. ^[1a]

Following his victory instead of sending his men home, however, Rienzi kept them in his service as offers were now pouring in from other citystates, and Rienzi knew a money-maker when he saw it. ^[1a]

Sources

• 1: Up in Arms
  • 1a: Land of Mercenaries, pg. 41-42