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The Wardens: A History
501warhead
Writen by Kalen Forseth, the last true pathfinder. ::"May the way always be clear" ::In this book I wish to shed light upon the Wardens, and their intended formation. ::The first most basic fact you must understand though...  ::Is that the Wardens were originially named The Pathfinders, and This is their Story ::The Pathfinders were formed by Elven-Lord Blackthorn ::As a faction of the Malinor militaries. They were the scouts and archers of Malino r ::Guided by him, they had a barracks high in the tree tops, and had three teirs of ranks. ::And one leader teir of rank. ::The first teir was initiates, second was members, and third was veterans. ::The final teir were Blackthorn's personally hand picked Second and Third. ::This went along well for a time. I joined as an initiate, and due to my skill with making lock ::I was promoted to third tier quickly. All was well and fine, until Blackthorn  left. ::Blackthorn left on a trip into the wilderness for undisclosed reasons, and left Altes incharge ::Due to my closeness with Altes, this made me a second. ::We decided to make a outpost in the wilderness, and did so. We headed south of Laurelin and grew a consealing grove of trees, and proceeded to fortify it ::After a while, we decided to make it a permanant HQ, and began by planting a  Sapling of the druid tree of Laurelin ::It grew for a while, and all was fine. ::And then The night of Pampo Peara's supposed death, in the city of Al'khazar ::We mobilized and marched toward Al'Khazar, and arrived during the conflict. ::I immediantly began giving commands, why Atles forged ahead. ::I began to follow Altes as I finished with orders, and found him atop the keep. ::I watched him struck down where he stood, and it was the end of him. ::I became the leader of the wardens, The Warhighborn. ::They were still the Pathfinders at the time, and thats when I made my first act of office ::Something to note here to explain why I did this, former pathfinders, at this time now long banished from our ranks Had commited a heinous act of hatred in the past toward the race of Orcs. ::Breaking off from us for a while, and communication, they headed to an Orc  Villiage ::And proceeded to murder all the Orcs in cold blood, and loot the bodies and homes. ::The Orcs hated our very beings, and I made a decision to drop our names as Pathfinders ::And shed our infamy with the name. I debated long and hard on a future name, and originally I intended for the name to be The Nature-Wardens, protecting elven nature all over the world, and with it Elven interests. This name was quite long, and gave the impressi on of druids. ::I decided to shorten the name to The Wardens, and finalised it. ::The Ranks were to be as intended: ::Initiates, training to be Glade or Eternal Guards, would live together as a group and learn to share and think as one. From there they would be promoted to which ever they chose. ::Glade guards were the archer infantry of the Wardens, 5 of these would be in a squad. ::Eternal Guards were the Sword infantry of the Wardens, 10 to a squad. ::Waywatchers were assigned a sector to watch and led a squad of 15. ::All Waywatchers reported to their respected noble, who in turn reported to the Highborn Counci l ::Nobles were Waywatchers who proved their worthiness and managed 3 waywatchers each. ::And finially, Highborn. ::Highborn were originally suppost to be a trimuvate, a triple council. ::The War-Highborn was always considered the leader. He chose battle tactics. ::The Archer-Highborn Was to second the War-Highborn and decide which men went where ::And The Guide-Highborn was to advise the both on where and what to attack. ::Each highborn was part of a council, to which all inter-military, and the declerations of war went to, and a vote was taken. ::Inter-Faction matters would be settled with 2/3 votes, yay or nay. ::War was only to be declared should all members of the Highborn Council Yay. ::This was the intended structure of the wardens, all being able to trace a path from recruit to War-Highborn ::This was all upset with the return of Blackthorn. ::I will reveal at this time, a secret that was kept for a long while. I know not wether It still holds true, but I shall say it non-the-less ::The Wardens were all initated into the ranking with a vow. One of secrecy and honor. ::Each new recruit pledged...Not to Malinor, Laurelin, the princes, or even the High  Prince or Princess. ::Each new initiate pledged undying allegiance to the Highborns, and no one else. ::A deep secret we guarded jealously, and told none. ::When Blackthorn returned from the wilderness... ::He saw what had happened. He was happy. ::But then he looked closer, and saw a feirce resolve within the members of the Wardens ::A loyalty to me, the current leader in their eyes. They heard me shout, ::"This is Blackthorn! OUR LEADER!" ::But in their hearts they denied it. My heart? I loved Blackthorn like a brother ::And was betrayed... ::A meeting of The Wardens was held. ::According to some sources I know, and my own conclusions, the majority of these members were recruited by Blackthorn and brought up around him. Those I knew were not present, ::For the most part. ::A rigged council if I've heard of one, but my complaints are hallow. I no longer care for what The Wardens have become. ::Anyway, the vote was nearly unanimous, I was removed from power. ::When those loyal to me found out, a revolt was put into the workings immediantly. ::I did not know of this act and went to visit the new camp. ::Upon arriving...Blackthorn shot me with an arrow through my left eye. ::It carved behind my ear, and the scar is still red to this day... though my hair is to long to see it through. ::I contacted my sources, and learned of the rebellion. ::I wept for what Blackthorn had become, he had abolished the council, and set himself as 'grand-highborn' none could dispute him now. power, unchecked. ::Moving on, when I learned of the rebellion, I put a stop to it. ::I quieted the members there of and told them it was for the better. ::To this day I wonder what would have happened if I persued it? ::-The Wardens: A History