Company of the Black Spear

In 980 HC Graf Riegon Oevere, first lieutenant of the mad king Harold Ulfer of Ulfer, was facing the social collapse of the northern colonies around the Dwarfhame. The dwarves lost the last two southern provinces due to an orog invasion and wanted to move back to the mountains around the Dwarfhame , who were now inhabited by humans who lived inside the great halls, using them as subterranean households. The provinces of the Dwarfhame were in turmoil but the mad king wouldn't care, as he was more interested in obtaining godhood by exploiting ancient dwarven artifacts than caring about his own people. In classical Brecht spirit, this moved many kings and nobles to form their own armies and tried to separate from the kingdom.

Richard decided to exploit the chaos to do a quiet invasion: he spent two months gaining information on the provinces, and found that a secret place used for smuggling, the Dead man's gorge, would be a big enough spot to smuggle at least one unit. He did so, using his cavalry and leading the expedition himself, and managed to invade the Graf's manor and win without siege. The Graf had already separated from Ulfer, as he was an Anuirean loyalist, so this act is considered Richard's first step in building his realm.

The following years the company will be dedicated to securing the provinces around the Dwarfhame, rallying people under Richard's banner and then started to fight inside the mountains, both the orogs and the dwarves. The dwarves negotiated a truce in which some fled north in Daikhar Zhigun, others renewed the pacts already signed during the the first human colonization, albeit with more leverage for humans.

In 985 HC there was no difference anymore from the Black Spear company and Ulfer's northern army, so Riegon decided to bend the knee and proclaim Richard as new Count and King of the Dwarfhame. This was possible as Harold Ulfer was too busy battling his niece Alisse Ulfer to fight back for the northern provinces. The company, however, kept his identity and his business as separate.

Between 986 and 987 the company fought many separate battles and skirmishes, both with Anuirean loyalists, Ulfer's army and Alisse's army. The company was able to keep the mountains north of the west plains under Richard's control but was unable to go anywhere near Mount Edarr and its surroundings. When Harold Ulfer cast a Warding domain spell preventing anyone coming near him, a truce was signed between the north and the south.

In 989 HC Alisse Ulfer killed Harold Ulfer, and the spell was broken. The company rallied in full around Mount Edarfor a last battle with the southern's army. What happens next is something between legend and history. It seems that Sera herself, tired of the turmoil that tormented Brechtür, saw no gain in having two of her own people fight each other. So she asked Laerme to ignite passion in the two leaders, and when they saw each other in the middle of the battlefield, during the diplomatic exchange before the battle, they immediately and hopelessly fell in love with each other. More disillusioned scholars say that they just decided that was a better course of action rather than more years of war, but there are a lot of hints that what happened could have been a miracle for real.

The company slowly merged with Roschlöwen's army in the following years. In 1000 HC, Jardwassen's holdings were bought by the Count of Grevesmühl and that is considered the official end of the company as a private military force.