Historical - Vlek Col Vlekzed 430cy

Historical - Vlek Col Vlekzed 430cy

Vlek was a bastard. He was born a bastard and most people acknowledged he was a bastard all his life with many an adjective attached; charming, cheating, cunning, etc... 

The Rovers of the Barrens lead a hard and unforgiving life but have an incredibly strong sense of family as well as a connection to tribe and warband and nation. Unfortunately those like Vlek born without a strong link to family or orphaned by the destruction of family or tribe are on the outskirts of Rover society. Vlek, though, was unusual. 

As a child Vlek was strong and quick, cunning and charming (Charming for a Rover  and among Rovers at least). While he was often beaten in his youth he grew quickly and was a natural leader. Soon he lead a band of outcasts and the beatings stopped. His young group passed into adulthood together and raided together. But Vlek would steal from anyone including fellow Rovers and one day the tribal leaders had enough. Before anything dire could happen Vlek was warned and he and all the outcasts of the Rovers from young to old disappeared in the night along with anything they could steal. Vlek considered it their inheritance and small recompense for past maltreatment.

Afterwards Vlek and his band stayed clear of other Rovers but instead raided the surrounding lands slowly growing in size in strength through captives and the attraction of other bandits  and malcontents. With his band grown prodigiously large and unwieldy he raided in Tenh. His losses were great but mostly among the weak and unskilled rabble he'd attracted and his winnowed band was the stronger for their loss. From Tenh he swung down to the Bandit Kingdoms and engaged in a battle against a small holding as well as absorbing several bands of bandits and brigands. 

With the larger kingdoms turning their attention to Vlek he turned back the way he'd come and surprised a force of Tenhas sent to bring him to justice. Vlek was perhaps even more surprised initially  than the Tenha force but his growing army had been on the alert for reprisals from the Bandit Kingdoms and hadcome upon the small army unawares. In the rough terrain Vlek's wild band was well suited for ambush and the fight became a slaughter.

After the battle Vlek's scouts warned him of an approaching Bandit Kingdom force that would not likely  be taken unawares so Vlek turned north and back through the Barrens that  had once been his home. Throughout this flight Vlek was dogged by massed forces of Rovers and pushed further and further north and east. Neither side wished for war kin against kin, though for Vlek's part his consideration was simply a matter of the overwhelming numbers of Rovers that would decimate his band, grown in size and strength though it had.

Finally Vlek was pushed so far east and north that he entered the lands of the Colten Feodality, a small confederation of Flan tribes which had lived in this inhospitable clime for time out of mind, since the Suel Emperor was in short trousers, as the saying went.

Vlek easily overwhelmed several small settlements and gathered all supplies he could lay his hands upon. In one last push he conquered what passed for a town in the north. A largish one as fate would have it, already walled an ditched and at little cost in life to Vlek's warriors though a terrible slaughter once again to the forces opposed to Vlek. Quickly he began strengthening the fortifications and laying in stores, though not for siege. Winter would soon be upon them and most of his band were men and women from the warmer lands of the Bandit Kingdoms and Tenh.

Here  is where the cunning and guile of Vlek shined. Instead of sacking the town Vlek married the chieftains daughter, becoming Vlek Col Vlekzed, renaming the town Vlekstaad and suing for peace among the Feodality. Much to his surprise the leaders of Colten's agreed to meet with him. Vlek gathered his forces, leaving behind only a skeleton garrison in Vlekstaad and set out for the meeting site.

The Coltens had brought  forces of their own, but once again Vlek's scouts proved the better and in a lightning strike Vlek once again proved victorious. The battle was costly but Vlek decimated the Colten warriors and killed their leaders, every one. The surviving Colten's bowed their head to Vlek, now calling  himself Stonefist and before the coming of that first winter Vlek had won himself  a kingdom.