Grenbana

Only a few of the soldiers remain of the Briar Patch campaign who were honored with the title Grenbana, or Green Slayer, a military honorific equivalent to the gentlemenly esquire. Their fight against the elves in the Blue Pine Forest of eastern Guldflosen was a ferocious one that saw many losses to the hit-and-run tactics of the green blooded foe. Scores of troop commanders were granted the title of Grenbana by then Crown Prince Algirdas, and granted minor plots of land under barons of the Baltsangis River valley.   Leading up to the conflict, numbers of elves on the western slopes of the mountain range had been climbing for some time and an internal conflict among their nomadic clans had led to their seasonal spread deeper into human territories. Minor clashes and disputes were rising with the movement of elves through the human settled areas, and came to a flash point in a small mining community. Disturbed by the humans stewardship of the forest the elves began killing miners and travelers in the area, and a plea from the Count of Leszek to the court in Hojhagn raised the rally cry for a campaign against the elven incursions.   Early bounties on thieves and poachers levied against the elves had only provoked their tribes into more overt violence against the human settlements of the upper Baltsangis. Terror raids by the elves had been very effective against the poorly defended rural settlements. Local lords were able to rally enough defenders to hold off further losses, but mining, forestry, shepherding were halted with only limited crops being planted or harvested in fields near fortifications. With the arrival of a royal army under command of General Radomir in Leszek the hills and forests were swept clear of threats from the elves and of most wild beasts.   Even with greater numbers the human army took three seasons to eradicate or drive away the stealthy forces of Mael Green Shadow. In the first summer the successes of Radomir's troops were limited but notable in that several camps of vulnerable elven elders and children were captured. These losses only seemed to provoke Green Shadow's forces in the second season, who exacted numerous purges of small human settlements, but in doing so weakened his own troops by exposing them to pursuit by companies of human rangers who were rapidly becoming more skilled in the trade. By the third season the dwarves of Podgorze and Gralichan had become entangled in the conflict with raids on their colonies and human settlements under their protection. With the added dwarven defenders and increasingly woods wise human troops Radomir was able to corner Mael Green Shadow and the core of his warband, who killed them selves before being captured. The remaining elven warriors were killed or scattered, and Radomir returned to handsome heroes rewards.   With the upper Baltsangis river valley in need of resettlement the freemen leaders of the troops were bestowed their own heroes honors as Grenbana with a small purse and an offer to double it if they took stewardship of the lands as yeomen under the barons of the region. Most men still able bodied after the fighting took the offer and their stalwart guardianship encouraged the depleted ranks of small folk to swell again in the region.