Log Force of Auburn Fist
The Log Force of Auburn Fist is a small mercenary company, based out of the village of Port Auburn (formerly Erringsgrove) in Valis, near the border with Azerban. A quiet logging settlement in the centuries before the Campaign against the Anathema-Voivode, Erringsgrove was famed across the land for the strong arms and thorough dedication of its woodcutters, who when war broke out and Azerbani raids made life untenable in the border regions, many of the the loggers of Erringsgrove moved further into the interior of their nation. A few, however, roiled against both the foreign invaders and the Realm which held their lands as a satrapy, for while it claimed to be wise parent it had failed entirely to protect its supposedly beloved children. One firebrand amongst these malcontents was a man by the name of Auburn Hair, though he had soon changed his name to Auburn Fist to express his increasing militancy.
Auburn Fist and his band of woodcutters were too small, and distant from strategic objectives, to truly harm the war efforts of either Azerban or the 4th Imperial Legion. However, their banditry served to further inflame tensions and anti-Realm sentiments in Valis, and keeping them on the run took soldiers who were better used (or, some critical voices might say, better able to gain glory) on the front lines. Many Legion officers began referring to the rebels dismissively, wondering why they could not fight the Azerbani force of arms but instead had to waste time on a ‘force of logs’.
When House Sesus was attempting to negotiate a settlement with the people of Valis, many House elders and officers of the 4th Legion insisted that the suppression of Fist’s rebels be ‘a requirement for Imperial mercy’, while the Valisians were determined to protect their own from ‘unjust punishments’. Such an impasse was viewed as foolish by House negotiator Sesus Taikona, who colluded with the new strategoi of the 4th Legion Sesus Dochao to work around the blockage: Auburn Fist was offered silver and a chance to both defend his land and gain vengeance by forming his band into a mercenary force serving as auxiliaries to the formations of the Imperial Legions. When the company was officially founded, it took the name of its leader, and turned a disparaging comment into its name, becoming the Log Force of Auburn Fist.
The Log Force of Auburn Fist served in a number of skirmishes and penetrating patrols along the Azerban-Valis border. Despite the small number of the Force, their reputation was one of brutal ferocity, it was said that they could fell tree or warrior alike with a single axe-swing. Indeed, Auburn Fist drilled his men in striking decapitating blows, which had a demoralizing effect on the foe when it occurred on the battlefield.
The Log Force also served in their original role as lumberjacks when preparing war machines and rafts for the crossing of the flooded Cloven Valley in the wake of the Battle of the Drowned. Following the end of the war, they returned to Erringsgrove, now sitting near the banks of the newly-enlarged Thousand Rushes River, where they helped rebuild the town and a small port for fishing and travel, renamed ‘Port Auburn’, and constructed a tavern-fort of fine wood there to serve as their headquarters.
Today, the Log Force continues to serve as mercenaries, with a permanent contract to assist the tax collectors in service to the Imperial Satrap of Valis as well as detachments plying the eager markets of the Scavenger Lands.
