The Legion of Coin

Base of Operations: The University of None, a sprawling complex whose practice fields cover more than twenty square miles. While technically lying within the territory of the Dwarven Empire, just north of the wall seperating dwarven lands from the wastes of Deisach, the University holds claims of loyalty to no nation. The dwarves benefit from their presence in two ways, however: Their troops are allowed to train at the University at a greatly reduced cost, and members of the Seeker Resurgence Militia that plagues dwarven lands are the only people on earth whose coin is refused.

Purpose: To provide training and coherence for all men (or women) of war who would swear their alliegance to coin, rather than nation or ideology. Also, those willing to pay the fee can be trained by the warriors at the University, among whom there are some of the best in the world. They train in more than personal battle, of course, there is an entire library dedicated to analyzing the tactics and strategies of various military forces, past and present, and an entire building given over to clever devices of war.

History:

The Seeker war may have ended with the battle of Nurimber, but justice had not yet been served. Of those Seekers who had commanded villages, cities, entire populations ravaged and tortured and exterminated, too many still remained at large. The desire to bring these depraved beings to justice produced perhaps the greatest cooperation between the Elves and the fracturing Red Empire. Both agreed that it was best to bring remaining Seekers to light and have them publically executed, and that where this could not be done, assassinations and death by night would have to serve. They also both agreed that it was much easier to employ mercenaries in this fight than to strain their militaries, already at a breaking point, any further.

In the first years of the search, a mercenary named Gri Norien proved to be an invaluable asset. Over the next thirty years, he would be responsible for the capture of no less than forty seven Seekers, and it is rumored that he dealt death personally to perhaps hundreds more. He seemed to have a knack for their manner of hiding and a clue as to where their circles might lie. He constantly put himself in danger by investigating where support for the Seekers still lingered-the Seekers, as he put it, were 'wedded to the people' and could not survive long far from where they were viewed favorably. His greatest public victory came in 279 AR, when he caught the fiendish Rialzin Yabel, the Seeker who implemented the tactic of skinning dwarves and making their hides into leather. Two years later, he retired. And to his wall was nailed the sigil of a High Seeker, the generals only a step below the Supreme Seeker in both their importance and cruelty. Rumor abounds as to which one it was that he caught, though no one can be sure, and Gri surely never clarified the matter.

He was awarded a great amount of coin for his work by both the elves and the Red Empire, and was approached by more than one Knight Templar of the Red Empire to work as a spymaster. But Gri was retired, and for some reason was uncomfortable holding onto the coin. He used the coin to found the University and the Legion, and the dwarves were more than happy to accomadate him. It was his hope that the Legion would redeem humanity's soul by reminding them that more than fighting for any one leader or nation or idea, they fought for themselves first and foremost.

It was an age when Nations were forged and others swallowed up. Brilliant tacticians who found their homelands suddenly under new rule often flocked to the University, to teach and write for coin rather than their new king. By 304 AR, the University had four blademasters as trainers and hundreds of other, lesser teachers. They faced assault by lands jealous of the University sapping their tacticians and strategists away from them more than once, but soon it became clear that assault on the University was assault on the Dwarven Empire. And even then, the University, with near ten thousand students all well-versed in the matters of war and incredibly well trained, was no easy target.

The Legion and the University remains much the same today, a prestigious organization to whom students from all nations flock.