Unconquered
Overview
The Unconquered are skilled warriors who undertake scouting missions, employ sabotage and terror as weapons to weaken their foes, and seek out specific targets on a battlefield. In contrast to the archers and skirmishers of many other nations, the unconquered favour medium armour and short bows, and are not shy about engaging in close combat with hand weapons if the tides of battle make retreat-and-fire an unappealing option.
Unconquered are used to operating with a high level of autonomy, often behind enemy lines or in unknown territory. Despite this independence, the best of them know that they operate as one part of a larger plan, that their duty is to ensure that the forces they accompany achieve victory. Unconquered who arrogantly assume they can win the day all by themselves generally meet unpleasant ends.
Virtue and compromise
The unconquered are practical, and regularly employ tactics that can make other Highborn uneasy. At the end of the day, however, they are still scions of Highguard. Virtue is as important to the unconquered as it is to the rest of their people. The actions they take determine their virtue, and they understand that virtue is contagious. Of all the virtues, many unconquered fell an affinity for Vigilance and Wisdom. They are often in the best position to identify and deal with a potential threat before it endangers their friends; as scouts and spies they know both the value of brevity, the need to ask the right questions, and the danger of accepting hearsay at face-value.
The unconquered find it easier than most to fall into an "ends justify the means" attitude, and by doing risk losing their virtue. They act on their own judgement, but many carefully police their own ranks to ensure that they do not fall to malign influences. An unconquered who becomes Vengeful, or full of Hate, or enjoys wielding Fear against their enemies, is cause for concern.
History of the Unconquered
Early in the settlement of Highguard, the an outpost established in the territory that would become Reikos fell to raiders from the great forest. Survivors fled to the capital and the Navigator and patricians rallied a force of cataphracts to retake what was lost. Yet when the reinforcements arrived, they found that the settlement had been almost completely purged. The cataphracts made short work of such barbarians as remained.
In the aftermath, as they searched, from out of the edges of the Great Forest emerged a group of Highborn scouts who had been believed lost in the initial attack. The scouts revealed that they had retreated to the Great Forest, seeking to save as many lives as possible, before returning - in the darkness - to counterattack using brutal guerilla tactics, including raiding, sabotage and terror. The attacks had been so swift and unforgiving as to cripple, starve and demoralise the barbarians.
Upon hearing the report, the Patricians saw the merit of this uncompromising form of warfare in this new land. These defeated, yet unconquered, rangers formed the seeds of a new military force designed to fight battles by any means, in any conditions. The unconquered traditionally favour medium armours and short bows, but do not balk from any weapon they can use that will attain the desired end.
The unconquered are used to operating with a high level of autonomy, often behind enemy lines or in unknown territory. Despite this independence, the best of them know that they operate as one part of a larger plan, that their duty is to ensure that the forces they accompany achieve victory. Unconquered who arrogantly assume they can win the day all by themselves generally meet unpleasant ends.
Creating an unconquered
An unconquered might be part of a small group within a more diverse chapter, but it is not unknown for an entire chapter to adopt the themes of this archetype. Such chapters recruit promising unconquered enthusiastically - perhaps the best known example in the game was the chapter of Exile in Reikos that prided itself on training young unconquered
The unconquered are first and foremost a martial archetype. They stand in stark contrast to the traditional image of the Highborn warrior in heavy plate armour or steel lorica with a large shield. They favour armour and weapons that allow them to remain mobile - heavy leather or mail is ideal and the iconic weapon for an unconquered is without down a bow.
Unconquered are traditionally mobile on the battlefield, potentially even fighting behind enemy lines. As such they are often unable to reliably access support or back-up. As such heroic skills that allow them to heal themselves or each other are a good choice when building an unconquered character.
While most unconquered favor combat skills, there may also be a role for a battle mage among their number. Wearing mage armour and wielding a rod or staff, such a character can support their fellows with healing magic, and fight alongside them with judicious use of spells such as entangle, repel, or shatter. With a nod to the magister archetype, such a character could also serve as a defacto chaplain to a group of unconquered, reinforcing the Highborn attitude that all the best magicians are also students of Virtue.
Playing an unconquered
Like the cataphracts, the unconquered are elite Highborn warriors. Where the cataphracts act to attack the enemy directly looking to their heavy armour to protect them, the unconquered seek to use guerilla tactics to destroy their enemies. In battles alongside the other Highborn warriors they usually look to harry the enemies flanks or otherwise use the terrain against their enemies.