Greyguard Reborn

Revolution

The Swordmasters of Greyguard, along with the House Grey, rise against the Bloodmoon Aristocracy and throw off their yoke of oppression:

Even as the Dragon Wars raged, not all victories came from the Emperor's blade. In 195 TA, concurrent with the campaign against Borealis, word reached Rozan of a miracle in the distant south, the fortress-city of Greyguard, built into the very stone of the Greying Mountains, had liberated itself from the tyranny of the Bloodmoon Aristocracy.   For generations, the vampire nobility of the Bloodmoon had ruled Greyguard with iron cruelty, extracting a blood and bone tax from the populace that left thousands drained and broken. Cut off from Imperial aid by the chaos of the Tempore Ignis, the people of Greyguard were abandoned to their fate. But they were not merely victims they were warriors, forging themselves in suffering as steel is forged in fire.   From the resistance emerged the Swordmasters, an order of warrior-artificers who developed a forbidden art they called the Harrowing. This unique form of magical genecraft married flesh to enchanted metal through blood-binding and self-sacrifice, creating warriors who could match vampiric strength with mortal determination. Each Harrowing was agony steel and magic fused into sinew and bone but it created fighters who could hunt the hunters.   In a single night of coordinated uprising, the Swordmasters and their followers rose against their oppressors. The Bloodmoon Aristocracy, grown complacent in their immortal confidence, were hunted through their own halls. By dawn, every vampire lord lay destroyed, their ashes scattered to the mountain winds.   House Grey, led by the master of the Swordmasters, sent emissaries through the treacherous mountain passes to Rozan. They sought not conquest or subjugation, but willing alliance with the Empire their ancestors had once served. Emperor Valafon, recognizing their valor and the strategic importance of their fortress-city one of only two access points through the Joint into the Empire welcomed them with honor.   In a ceremony that would become legend, Emperor Valafon bestowed the Laurels of Victory upon the master of House Grey the first time this highest military honor had been granted to someone outside the Emperor's direct command. He enlisted House Grey's expertise in martial matters to rebuild Greyguard as the Empire's southernmost fortress-city, proclaiming it "the Shield of the Empire" and elevating House Grey to join the ranks of the great houses as the eighth pillar of Imperial nobility.   With Imperial resources and House Grey's mastery of fortification, Greyguard was transformed into one of the most formidable defensive positions in all of Medolania. Built into the Greying Mountains themselves, controlling one of the two vital passes through the Joint, it became both guardian and gateway to the Empire's southern reaches.   Their Harrowing, their Swordmasters, and their unbreakable martial tradition would go on to produce more legendary duelists, Legates, and military commanders at a rate unseen since the early days of the War of Mer Succession.