Quoted By:
<span class="mu-i">“Accomplished and observant.”</span> You raise your cup of water in a mock toast, done in good humour of course. <span class="mu-i">“But first let us hear of you. I’ve been here but five minutes and other worthy men present are all pressing for an account of the Battle of Brooksvale.”</span>
While his preference for a lengthy steel warspear is certainly ill-befitting as a weapon for a proper knight, the story of his rise from commoner to knighthood is impressive enough to have you hold your tongue. The Dukes Aubres had set off with a small token force of the Royal Army to clear out a herd of beastmen that had settled further from the shaded glades of southern Fallavon than could be tolerated by any right-thinking man. As it turns out, they had severely underestimated the size of the encampment and swiftly found themselves on the defensive when the beastman warband rallied following their initial attack. Such was the panic that rippled through the Aubres ranks that even the Duke’s banner bearers were encircled and cut down, butchered hands still gripping their lord’s personal insignia. While Sir van Brooksvale does his utmost to downplay his part in the battle, others that have heard the story regale you with tales of a humble sergeant-at-arms who lead the rearguard action that allowed the Duke’s bodyguard to drag their leige’s half-conscious form from the battlefield.
When reinforcements finally arrived hours later, they did not expect to find any survivors. Both of the Sir Cedrics were part of the relief force and they tell you of the sight they saw firsthand, of a bloody but defiant Mattis, the self-same sergeant that had led the forlorn charge, standing alone in a field of dozens of slain Foe with gore-stained spear in one hand and the Duke’s personal banner in the other. When the Duke returned to the field of Brooksvale, wounds bandaged and furious at having been forced against his will to abandon his own men to their doom, the nobleman knighted the survivor on the spot. Sir Mattis van Brooksvale, formerly merely Mattis, is silent during the telling of this remarkable knighthood on the field of battle, save to comment that he wept like a child at the time.
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