Knights of Bretonnia (Warhammer Omnibus)

Product Information

For instance, the economy of the Empire is now dedicated to crafts, trade and agricultural production of cash crops for the market. The Bretonnians, in their pride, did not cope well with defeat, and were it not for the wise king ending the wars, then countless more knights may well have thrown their lives away in an effort to regain the honour of their defeated brethren. They were finally overcome by the heroic actions of the great Duke Tancred II d'Quenelles and his proud companion knights, who pushed the hordes back with a devastating charge and disrupted the sorcerous hold that held the army together. Throughout the ages, other crusades have been waged by the proud Bretonnians, yet none of them so great as the next one.

Grail Chapels were built in places of holy significance, and the Fay Enchantress guided the Dukes of Bretonnia in their worship of the Lady. The Pirate Wars did eliminate several notorious pirates, but there was no lasting decline in Old World piracy, as the adversary was not a unified navy that could be completely defeated -- new pirates always emerge to replace those who have fallen. Urged on by the vision of the Lady, the army crossed the River Brienne and rode east through the ravaged dukedom of Carcassonne, towards the besieged dukedom of Quenelles. The Bretonnian calendar is offset from the Sigmarian Empire's by about 977 years, as the people of the Bretonni weren't fully united until King Gilles' reign as the first Bretonnian monarch. By the year 770 IC, the lands of all Bretonnia had since been divided into sixteen realms, each ruled by their own duke.Riding north to the dukedom of Parravon, the Grail Companions found its beautiful capital lying in ruins. When Sigmar founded the Empire, he extended an invitation unto all the Bretonni warlords to join him in his new confederation. The righteous anger of the Bretonnians against one they see as having tainted their own honour is truly to be feared. Those few elves who had refused his commands retreated into the enchanted glades of Athel Loren and over the centuries degenerated into the now feral Wood Elves. It is said that the Lichmaster is still biding his time to enact his revenge against the Bretonnians that defeated him.

Despite noble Sigmar's goal of pan-human unity, the cultural differences between the Bretonni and his people were apparently too large to overcome, thus his offer was quickly rebuffed, unable to accept a foreigner as their leader. Bretonnia is second only in size to that of the Empire among the realms of Men in the Old World, and is both the Empire's chief rival and closest ally, having a culture and society that revolves around the ideals of nobility, a strict social hierarchy based on aristocratic birthright, and the upholding of a strictly enforced code of chivalry. Lord Agilgar of Parravon, mounted upon Glorfinial, his faithful pegasus, took to the skies and aided Gilles in retaking the city.The greenskins had lived within the lands alongside the Bretonni for many years, and as is normal for these foul creatures, their population eventually reached critical levels, and began to overrun the Bretonni lands in a seething green tide. As the years went by, one of the most recent and major battles fought took place near and within La Maisontaal Abbey, located around the Grey Mountains. With the flying beast slain, the Grail Companions sounded the charge and fought their way deep into the heart of the enemy army, where Lord Landuin struck the warlord down with his own sword.

With the aid of the combined armies, the knights drove the greenskins back, defeated them, and turned the waters of the river black with blood. Castle Artois - Castle Artois is the ducal capital of Artois, famous for being the only ducal seat with no town outside its heavily fortified walls. Rare it was these days for the reclusive dwarfs to make contact with the other nations of men, other than the Empire.Nevertheless, the Lichmaster's body was never found, and Tancred has spent the remainder of his life pursuing the hated necromancer unto the ends of the World. Some of these communities are cut off from the rest of Bretonnia for months at a time in winter and have developed their own customs, in some cases involving the worship of the Dark Ones.

The current Bretonnian king, Louen Leoncoeur, also rules the Dukedom of Couronne, and thus holds it as a fief granted from himself. However, the lords of each dukedom had not the time to properly gather their knights into a single unified force. Although the knights were outnumbered three-hundred to one, the Grail Companions were able to still drive them from the battlefield. His dreams were filled with blood, death, and horror - in his delusions and hubris, he actually believed that he was Landuin reborn, and that he was the only one who could save Bretonnia from destruction.

Indeed, nearly all of the king's servants are barons, powerful in social ranking due their constant interactions with the king and being sworn in fealty to him alone, for only by the king's direct proclamation can a patent of barony be issued. By 974 IC, orc tribes poured from the mountains and forests in numbers never before seen in Bretonnia's history. As Gilles knelt before the lakeside to drink of its pure waters and pray for strength, an ethereal and heavenly beautiful woman arose from out of the mists, leaving the Bretonni army agasp and afraid.