Mercenary Companies of the Broken Sea¶
Hired swords are one of the great trades of the Riven Kingdoms in the Sancturi Age, and the best of them come from Ozaustein, "source of some of the most experienced mercenaries in the kingdoms" (S319). Kingdoms buy them against "Hollows, Bandits, other Kingdoms and the Imperium", and "most countries are loathe to get on their blacklist". This page gathers the named companies of the Broken Sea lands.
The Ozau companies¶
Ozaustein's three great companies are commanded by the king, a duchess and a duke of the Ozau dynasty, which rules a kingdom whose power is "dispersed into 3 duchies" (S319). In 704 SM, in the Fifth Age:
| Company | Commander | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Steel Rain Company | King Ingar Ozau, 31 | "heavy infantry, armored cavalry, pikemen and longbowmen" |
| Mountain Star Ranger Company | Duchess Greta Ozau, 43 | "light mounted scout units, bowmen and spear infantry" |
| Blue Flame Company | Duke Oyvind Ozau, 61 | "a much smaller group made up of irregulars as well as some bowmen and spear infantry" |
The Blue Flame Company is the specialist of the three: "they frequently take on monster and hollow hunting as well as patrol and garrison tasks" (S319). The sources do not connect it with the Proturan Warlocks of the Blue Flame.
The Ozau code¶
The companies keep a rule that makes Ozaustein "a positive stabilizing force among the Kingdoms/Rivenlands": "They will refuse to take part in an offensive war against another Riven kingdom, or in a civil conflict. However, in some cases they have been paid by aggressors not to take the field" (S319). The code does not extend to the Imperium, against which they fight readily. In the Dalmar Campaign the Sancturi Nightshade Legions, after crippling Floren and taking much of Brusau, "have been pushed back by Brusau backed with Ozau mercenaries", and rumour in 704 SM has the legions "positioning legions for an invasion of Ozaustein in the spring" (S326). Ozaustein "has also been a significant thorn in the side of the Imperium" (S319).
The Steel Raptors¶
A mercenary company founded by Owl, one of the party of the Sancturi campaign, who is dead by the Age of the Divine (S112).
Gap
The Steel Raptors are named in a single line. Their size, base and later history are not recorded.
The Rising Boars¶
Not a free company but a company of the Sancturi Imperial Army: Normand Haket, innkeeper of the Green Boar Inn in Harwith, "retired as an Elite Sword from the Imperial Army. His company was the Rising Boars" (S138). The name is kept here because the planners listed it with the mercenary companies.
The Doomguard¶
The company raised by the player characters of the Sancturi campaign after the fall of Alghert, thirty-three men with wagons and horses under the party and Commander Ailen (S187), is described in the Sancturi Campaign chronicle.
Gap
The sources name no other free companies of the Broken Sea, though Ozaustein is said to field "several well known mercenary companies" and the bandit kingdom of Krimeris is held by "various groups of bandits and mercenaries" (S319).