Hezgard

The Hezgard
At the centre of the Eslum mainland is a range of mountains, surrounded by great lakes that are frozen over for about half of the year.
This desolate area lacks resources and is considered inhospitable by the Eslum.
Ironically for a people who have sent explorers all over the world, the Eslum take almost no interest in an area so close to their homes. There would be no glory to be gained from mapping out this worthless, miserable terrain.
And just as the area is considered uninteresting, so are its inhabitants.
The Hezgard live in isolation in their mountain fortresses, not admitting outsiders (not that many would want to go there). Their culture is a mystery, but one the Eslum generally do not care about. They are considered a trivial, backward race of no importance and when describing the home islands, most Eslum would forget to even mention them. Many Eslum maps don't even bother to mark on their territory.
The Hezgard do maintain diplomatic relations with the Eslum princes, sending out envoys to speak with them, dealing with issues like any Eslum encroaching into their territory but mostly dealing with the Hezgard's only real export, which is their mercenaries.
These are not individual fortune seekers, but are professional forces sent out after bargains are struck with the Hezgards envoys.
Hezgard do not talk about their homeland or culture, and the Eslum generally do not care to ask, so the motivations of what Hezgard do are often hard to fathom.
Their mercenaries fight with great courage, often to the point of refusing to retreat when ordered to, and fighting to the death when all seems lost. This behaviour causes some Eslum commanders to consider them barbarians and ill disciplined. Why the Hezgard fight this way when the outcome of the war should not matter to them is unknown. Some assume it is simple blood lust, others that they live by some primitive code of honour, while the more cynical believe it is to maintain their reputation so they can continue to be well paid as mercenaries.
Whether money, honour or something else motivates their eagerness to see their warriors fight in other peoples wars is also unknown.
The Hezgard dress in a similar manner to the Eslum, but even more decorative and flamboyant. Decked in plumes and ruffles, their soldiers make an impressive sight. The rank and file use halberds to break the ends off Eslum pikes, allowing them to get into the closer combat that the Hezgard favour. Their elite warriors are known as Landsnech and wear breast plates and helmets, and fight using two handed swords or warhammers. Though skilled and brave, they lack the excellent weapons and etaro armour of the Armatori of the Eslum. Never the less, they are fearsome fighters and earn the respect of those they fight.
Hezgard stone magic manifests in their fighting formations, causing pikemen to remaining standing in formation even when killed! After fierce fighting, a Hezgard formation will march away leaving numerous figures behind, locked in position in death. These slain warriors only slump to the ground minutes or sometimes hours later. In the fierce cold o the Eslum isles, dead Hezgard can become frozen solid, standing where they were killed till the summer comes.
For the Landsnech this power is even more extreme, as they will continue to advance, even swinging their weapons mechanically if they were in the heat of combat killed, sometimes or several minutes. While in this state they are blindly attacking, just repeating the motions with no thought, they can still be very dangerous. An opponent can knock over such a blind attacker easily, but in the mids of combat, with their weapon stuck in the Hezgard, the continued aggression can catch an enemy off guard, or spread fear into an enemy.
This has led some superstitious Eslum to believe that Hezgard are immortal or threshoulders, but in truth their stone and ice magic is personified in their unbreakable resolve, which last even after their death.
Hezgard warriors have been heard to mutter the motto "fighting just to the death is for quitters."
Some claim their magic is used in the construction of maintenance of the their mountain strong holds, but of these stories are hard to verify.

Their units keep to themselves, not mixing with other troops, even other mercenaries. They have bene observed to employ harsh discipline on their warriors, with severe, violent punishments for transgressions that are more strict then even those of well drilled Eslum troops.
There is no record of female Hezgard ever leaving their mountains, and some even speculate that they might not exist, with the Hezgard springing into being from some form of strange magic.

In diplomacy, the Hezgard are not hostile, willing to engage in trade (though they don't have much the Eslum would want beyond their fierce soldiers) but they insist on total neutrality. Any attempt to pull them into deeper alliances or exclusive agreements are always refused.

Hints at their government have been picked up from their emissaries and soldiers. Their nation seems to be made up of a confederacy of smaller states called "cantons", and references are made by the Hezgard to lords and kings that they serve. The relation between the cantons and how closely allied they are or if there is a central authority controlling them all is unknown.

Some Eslum rulers and important figures have employed Hezgard as body guards, especially useful for those who fear assassination or betrayal from their own underlings. Though uttlerly devoted defenders, using Hezgard bodyguards can have a political cost, as many Eslum consider surrounding oneself with foreign protectors to be distasteful.

While the Eslum take a dim view of the Hezgard, most simply do not care about them one way or the other. They are a trivial, backwards people living in a place the Eslum do not care about and most Eslum simply don't care about them one way or the other.
This is not universally true, however. The Eslum home islands are considered a sacred gift from the goddess and every part of them is the precious property of the Eslum race.
To acknowledge any other sovereignty is blasphemy, and the Hezgard's presence is, to some hardline Eslum, an insufferable insult.
It is said that High Veritor Felzio has spent many hours pouring over maps and working out plans for how to destroy the Hezgard. Unfortunately for him, there is no enthusiasm for such a mission amongst the Eslum Princes for such an adventure.
The Hezgard mountains are very defensible, with open ground around them that would make it easy to see any approaching force. The unpleasant choice would be between advancing in summer through slow, difficult paths or go in winter through the harsh cold and across the treacherous frozen lakes.
One reaching the mountains, armies would have to fight through narrow passes and struggle against vast fortresses of stone.
For all this trouble, what would any ruler gain from such a difficult and costly endeavour? They would also leave themselves vulnerable to an attack from another rival prince.
Felzios appeals to destroy the Hezgard for purely ideological reasons simply can't over come the practicalities that rulers must deal with.

The only person who came close to having both the will and ability to destroy the Hezgard was Resadeo the Mariner. While not a very religious man, he was known for his absolute contempt for the Hezgard, who he described as a "boil on the backside of the home islands" There can be little doubt that if he had succeeded in uniting the Eslum under his rule, he would have taken steps to wipe the Hezgard out as his next priority.


The Hezgard are stoic, strong and brave, seemingly eager for battle for reasons that are known only to them. If they serve any gods, they do not speak of them to outsiders, though some may wonder if a religious devotion inspires their strange behaviours.
But the Eslum can only speculate, for the Hezgard's secrets remain hidden in their mountains.