"I give my body, heart and soul, to the Lady whom I seek. No plea for help shall find me wanting. No obstacle will stand before me. No evil will taint the lands bequeathed unto me. When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in the name of Liege and Lady. That which is sacrament, I shall preserve. That which is sublime, I will protect. That which threatens, I will destroy, for my holy wrath will know no bounds. Honour is all. Chivalry is all. Rejoice, for we, the Knights of Bretonnia... will be your shield."

—The combined vows of the Knights of Bretonnia.

General attitude and posture

Formerly foot Squire to Errant Knight Godfroie Le Pieux. Now an Errant Veteran in search of glory and honour wherever faith will lead, by the Blessed lady’s will.

Harlon Bequin is outwardly best described as a gritty, seasoned and scarred veteran soldier. His well maintained armour and weapons evidently bear the mark of frequent use, and the great sword proudly strapped to his back is evidence of his martial calling. A professional soldier for most of his life, he is best suited to charging from the frontline rather than partaking in etiquette and social intrigue, as those are the realm of the highborn and not for him to worry about. Not one to inspire with words, he favours direct action and leading by example.

The Ten Questions

1. Where are you from?

a. Duchy of Artois, Bretonnia. Orinaly from the Larret region.

2. What is your family like?

a. Although lowborn, his father was a merchant in Larret, and this allowed for some privileges to be afforded to his son. Notably the early training and induction as a man-at-arms rather than spend his youth in the fields as most peasants would.

3. What is your social class?

a. Having proven himself in the service of his lord as a skilled man-at-arm, he was promoted as a foot squire (trained soldier) relatively early on, securing his career and benefitting from the best gear and training a commoner can hope to get so as to better serve his lord as a retainer. This would have provided him with a privileged position amongst his fellow lowborn brethrens, albeit marginal and nowhere close to noble standing.

4. What did you do before you became an adventurer?

a. Served in the standing army of the earl of Larret until the call for skilled soldiers to accompany his own newfiew, the Errant Knight Godfroie le Pieux, on a great quest to clear and establish his very own colony deep within the Arden forest, in so doing earning his spurs in order to become a Knight of the Realm. For Harlon, this was the opportunity he required in order to advance to the next step of his military career should he prove himself worthy, with the hopes of being promoted to Yeoman (sergeant).

5. Why did you become an adventurer?

a. Alas, the mission was a failure. Lord Godfroie and nearly all his party were vanquished by a particularly vicious band of beastman upon reaching their destination in Arden, and the glory and promotion never came for Harlon. It was only by the will of the Blessed Lady that he made it out of the acursed forest with his live. Now without a liege and without a post, he decided to travel and seek his own fortune and glory rather than crawl back to his former lord, who would surely look down upon a retainer having survived his lord. He decided to wander wherever the Blessed Lady’s will would take him, becoming an adventurer.

6. How religious are you?

a. Moderately. He believes in the Lady of the Lake as being the number one patron of Bretonnia and her ideals, but as is decreed, cannot openly worship her due to his lowborn status. He pays homage to Shallya and Morr predomitantly amongst the old gods.

7. Who are your friends and enemies?

a. Many were his brothers in arms through his military service. Most are now dead. Now a seasoned veteran of countless skirmishes and battles, he counts any that would stand at his side in facing the perils of the old worlds as comrades.

8. Enemies?

a. None as such.

9. Prized possessions?

a. His armour and more importantly his great sword are his only prized possessions. It was considered a great honour to make it to rank of foot squire and where most commoners are only allowed to wield the spear or other rudimentary weapons, very few get to be trained in the use of the great sword (zweihander).

10. Who are you loyal to?

a. He still holds fealty to the king of Bretonnia, and to the duke of Artois should his sword be needed in the event of a major crisis back in his homeland.

Bretonnian Infantry

Foot Squires - are the greatest of Bretonnian peasantry, equipped to the highest standards and trained to act as personal retainers for their lords.

Yeoman (Seargent) - these experienced soldiers provide the Bretonnian army with dedicated skirmishers or fast light cavalry and scouts. These veterans have fought and survived many battles with only the skills of their arms and their unwavering bravery. Such is their combat experience that yeomen are almost as skilled in combat as any Knight of the Realm, but such a boast is often ignored and even suppressed by the nobility. When promoted to the rank of a yeomen, these men are often divided between mounted scout yeomanry or becoming sergeants within a men-at-arms company.

By Sir Harlon Bequin d’Artois, retainer to Lord Aschaffenburg

To this day I cannot say for certain if my arrival to these cursed lands of missed opportunity was fated or orchestrated. The urgency of the moment that instigated this crazy adventure are still blurry in my memory. It certainly felt there to be the suggestion of a righteous cause in the moments before undertaken this quest. Such a dilemma it was to leave my post without even seeking my liege’s blessing. Was it truly the Will of the Lady? Or maybe even that of Sigmar, this God of the Empire which appears to warrant the reverence and admiration of so many men? Or was it all some machinations of the self-serving swindler Timotheus perhaps? The visions had felt so real, and yet I can hardly remember their essence nor their meaning, try as I might. I now know there are dark powers in this world that will corrupt the most steadfast of warriors. Knowing what is right has never been so arduous. All I know for certain is that facing this darkness while remaining true has to suffice for the time being.

Regardless of the voyage itself or the portends at its source, what an insane trip indeed it was to get there! To travel at such speeds via the most intriguing of dwarven contraption, thanks to that resourceful Branok, only to face off the impossible odds of a dreadfull dark elf warship of such proportions in the middle of the ocean!

I still remember the cold embrace and the cruelty of the Sea of Claws when falling from the flying machine. It was such a contrast to the purity of the calm waters harbored by the Lady of the Lake. Had it not been for the heroism of the witch hunter on that skiff, it would certainly have claimed me.

From that moment on, I traveled with worthy new companions. Bertrand would surely have approved of most of them, and although I would have wished for his aid and counsel on several occasions, these new brothers in arms have showed valor and courage in the face of adversity. I could hardly wish for a more steadfast host to face The enemy.

Although Neues Emshrank never rose to the prominence it was promised jadis, it did allow for new opportunities on a personal level. With the mentorship of Capt Raddler, a most seasoned rider and leader, I learned the skills required to emulate those of the fabled knights of my homeland, and what a boon these new skills have offered me. Now I understand why the lords of Bretonia are such proud warriors! If not a knight in title, for surely that could never be, I have never rose so close to this impossible dream of one day becoming one myself.

Yet this ordeal has not been without cost. Indeed, it presented terrible threats - both to the body as well as the soul. I have learned to be wary of impure impulses and the dark temptation of bloodshed for its own sake. Those heretic surely deserve to die a gruesome death - I don’t even believe Bertrand could argue this - and what a rush to take those bastard’s skulls clean off their miserable body, letting their tainted blood soak this accursed land! But one cannot lose himself in the act of killing, for I have found that each death taken creates a malign yearning, the call for blood being felt at a primal level that can consume a man should he not resist its urging. One must look to his faith to prevent madness to overtake him, and the Lady shall not found me wanting…again.

I have faced chaos before, for the dark forests of Arden are host to beastmen and other corrupted wildlife imbued with the taint of chaos, the Dukedom of Artois being in a constant state of warfare against tribes of Beastmen that have made the forest their new dark home. Never I have faced it so directly in the form of the truly damned, and never was I lured by its gifts and tempted by its insidious ways until now.

And now that we stand at the precipice - the final breath before joining the fray to slay the beast that threaten our very soul, I make this solemn vow to the Lady, with the hope She may see fit to bless our cause as just, and grant us her favor -

"I give my body, heart and soul, to the Lady whom I seek. No plea for help shall find me wanting. No obstacle will stand before me. No evil will taint the lands bequeathed unto me. When the clarion call is sounded, I will ride out and fight in the name of Liege and Lady. That which is sacrament, I shall preserve. That which is sublime, I will protect. That which threatens, I will destroy, for my holy wrath will know no bounds. Honour is all. Chivalry is all. Rejoice, for we, the Knights of Bretonnia... will be your shield."

—The combined vows of the Knights of Bretonnia.