The History of Iron Lance

A History Lesson on Iron Lance

In The Beginning

Back in the foggy past Iron Lance was born. It was a cold Halloween night, and at a local SCA party in the March of the Marshes. In attendance was Scythe the Bear slayer, James Du Fauconnoir, and Matthias Von Zorn. James let Matthias in on an idea that he and Scythe had been tossing around, namely the formation of a mercenary unit. Matthias being a pirate at heart couldn't refuse. And so was born Iron Lance, on a cold Halloween night.

Iron Lance quickly grew in the area, mainly due to Scythe's personal armory, and that Scythe, James, and Matthias were a quarter of the fighters in the area. Iron Lance soon was the largest household in NW Ohio, numbering over 20 members. Scythe, James, and Drakken of Dark Yard started pounding us into shape, and readying us for war.

Pennsic 21, Iron Lances first 'official' war. An excellent war, great weather, good fighting. Iron Lance bravely fielded a dozen fighters. In less than a year, Iron Lance sprung to life, engulfing the region it inhabited. However, this was not to last. The hasty growth, coupled with the acceptance of most fighters left cracks and weakness it the ranks. This crack was soon exploited, by ROYALTY.

Back in the days, there was no royalty in the area. Yep that's right, the only brass hat or belt for miles was a baron, and everybody just laughed at him, being as ineffectual as he was. Then the power vacuum was quickly and suddenly filled by a dark force... The evil one had arrived.

Ya know, the thing about evil ones, is that you don't see them coming. They kinda creep in and you don't see it standing there, you might even say "Hi", "Or welcome to the group"... and then it's too late. We unknowingly welcomed the evil one into our ranks. Invited it into group. Then one day, after a nice over the weekend beer guzzling and fighting party, the evil one struck. It used the power of the red belt. We were familiar with this power, but only slightly; we soon came to understand it's use by the evil one. We blinked, and half of our numbers were wearing red belts. Looking back it's easy to see how it happened, the evil one exploited the previously mentioned cracks (Oh yea, did i mention power lust? That helps too).

So the year wore on, and Iron Lance went about it's business. Pennsic 22, another lovely war. Jaravetler from North Shield hired us. Great pay, fun people to fight with, an excellent war. However, our numbers we smaller this year, as the evil one issued a sudden order before war. 'All my infected (we always said squire-ship was kinda like a plague) red belts must quit Iron Lance', and so they did.

After war, things between Scythe and the evil one started to heat up. The evil one was still sapping our strength, but new members were added, most notably Vittorio Malatesta, and later Sven Svenson. Legal problems occurred. The evil one needed a way to destroy his enemy. So, doing what evil ones due best, it started to whisper in brass hats' ears. The gossip ran amok in the SCA rumor mill. Calls were placed to kings and knights. Some thing had to be done with this Iron Lance plague that is eating babies and murdering! BANISHMENT!!!

The banishment period is both the death and rebirth of Iron Lance. With the banishment, the group fell apart. Most members left, others became inactive. We stopped attending meetings at all. This strategic retreat from meetings showed us how to stay alive. We learned that to survive as a merc unit, you must forsake the normal methods of SCA operation.

Pennsic 23, the banished Pennsic. This war was lousy. It was Pennsic puddle (#2 from what the old timers tell me), so it rained A LOT. Everything was wet or flooded out at the best party camps. We had a great time however, and showed that even in our darkest hour we can't help but goof off. We fought for An Tir this year, for Majy-baby, the king of An Tir. Our numbers were small, and we stuck with the An Tir group. Let me tell ya, these guys can run, and Majy-baby could fight. I watched him drop 5 dark yard guys by himself in less than 1 minute.

Iron Lance kept existing, however, we removed ourselves from SCA life as much as possible. This worked to our advantage. The rumors slowly died away, and freed us up to act. The evil one tried to keep his war on us going, but since Iron Lance had removed itself, people started to understand the evil one. We slowly grew. hand picked our members from select candidates. There would be no cracks this time.

Pennsic 24, the return of Iron Lance. Another crappy war. It averaged near 100 everyday it seemed. Everyone just wanted to hide from the sun. Our numbers were stronger this year, almost triple from the year before. After much partying, we met this guy that was as much fun as us. We got along great. Later we found out he was the prince of Ealdomere. To show how much we appreciated the great times we had, we decided to fight for him. Fight we did, and many a foe fell this war. Iron Lance, with a handful of flaming griffons held a doorway in the maze battle against 3:1 odds, with almost zero causalities on our side.

For the next year, we continued to grow, albeit slowly still, but this was purposeful. The evil one continued to weaken. Without Iron Lance, he had moved on to people with hats and belts. To it's dismay, the hats and belts were not as quick to listen to ill about other hats and belts (unlike mercs, where they just say "Uh huh, must be true"). The hats and belts leaned hard on the evil one, and started to drive him from the land.

Pennsic 25, At last a good war, slightly hot still, but much better. Our strength had again grown. Our numbers were up again, 50% from the previous year. The Ealdomere prince was back again, and we still thought he was cool, so again we ravaged the field in his name. Iron Lance was placed on the scrolls of honor. Meanwhile, Kommandant Fauconnoir had been scouting the east kingdom for an invasion.

Kommandant Fauconnoir, using the resources of a cleverly planted spy in the east, decided to invade. He assembled the Ostexpeditionmacht (eastern expeditionary force). The invasion had begun. A beach head was quickly established, and the armory and training set out. New members started to show interest, and the Ostexpeditionmacht took off. Meanwhile, Uberkommandant Scythe assembled an additional force, the Südmacht, and headed south to Meridies, with the intent of starting the Südmacht.

Meanwhile, the evil one has seemed to faded and died. It's presence is unseen, and it's influence gone. Is it dead? Who can tell, you know how evil ones are... they always come when your not looking...

And so Iron Lance is on the verge of unequalled expansion. With the Vatterland going strong, two new machts forming, and the evil one destroyed, Pennsic 26 looks to be a banner year, with a projected increase of almost 100% over the year before. We will be at war, ready to fight and kill for the sake of gold.

Ah Pennsic 26! How did this year go? Well, let me tell ya. In ways it was a great war, in ways it was one of the worse wars I have yet attended. Are numbers were again up. Our camp, well, let me tell you about our camp. The herda has made unequalled improvements to our camp. It now has a very nice gate, with two great banners fluttering over head. Surrounded by a yellow sheet wall with anvils spaced throughout. A large yellow canopy covers our common area, (it to has big anvils on it). Our many period tables and chairs are all adorned in yellow with anvils. Impressive suits of armor stand at attention around the area. In organization we improved too. We hosted a large feast (yummy), had our banners in processionals, succeeded in landing the armor helicopter every day with out a crash(!!), has community meals of high quality, and even hosted our first harp seal party. With our fame growing, we again granted our services to the mighty principality of Ealdomere, and this time we also went with two other baronies and a good friend of ours from Indiana. Payment and favors abounded. It was looking like a stellar year.
Well, unfortunately, not every thing was nice and cozy. The mucky mucks (powers that be or what ever) screwed off so much between battles that their actions forced the delay of a battle to the point of it being cancelled due to rain (which would of been avoided if it had not been for the delay)(oh yea, it didnt rain anyways, just looked nasty). So, being mercs, a cancelled battle of course adds all sorts of problems. But this was not the end of it. Yet a second battle was missed, this one due to the most unfortunate of lives occureces, namely dying. We received a message as we massed for a battle. Kommandant Fauconnoir's mother was gravely ill, and was not going to last much longer. So, we put in one giant group effort and managed to get the Kommandant home in time for one last goodbye. After this, problems in camp then necessitated the removal of a F.I.T. due to his actions.

So, war was great for Iron Lance, but it was riddled with personal tragedy and missed battles. Im sure that St. Olaf is now in the midst of a party with mom Fauconnoir...

After war, the masses continue to expand. With Tiffanburg am der Bahn's new burst of expansion under the expert leadership of Sven Olafson Der Viking, and the continued growth of both the machts, Iron Lance continues to grow and prosper.

Samhain, a popular holiday for IL. We held our second annual Barn Bash. Lots of fun. For those who don't know what it is, its basically a barn seige. We at IL like this kind of stuff. Lots of small doorways. Cramped space, intense fighting. Hidden archers. Unlike anything your likely to encounter in the SCA. (Its too much fun for the lawyer heavy SCA to handle).

Well, its December now. No evil ones have shown their ugly green heads at all. In fact, the evil one has been more or less a non factor in our existance anymore. Oh yea, he did write us some nasty (he insulted my wife!) email (I didn't know snakes could use a keyboard). But overall the evil one is starting to pass from an actual creature to an honored part of Iron Lance Mythos! See-ya at Pennsic 27.

May, another barn bash, more fighting. I've noticed something lately. The shape of the SCA is changing. More rules, more laws, more taxes (yes mandatory membership is a tax!). I wonder, if this changing face is partially responsible for change in the attitude toward mercenary groups.
There seems to be more of us now. People no longer see us as a threat to the 'status quo' of the SCA. Offers are increasing, respect is being gained. It seems, as though the SCA has accepted the idea of a non-aligned merc household (and i'm not talking about all those so called merc houses that always fight for the same kingdom).

Pennsic 27. Its November now. My memory has faded a bit of Pennsic already. But, let me recap. With the herda gone from our camp, we decided not to let our camp slide at all. And boy we didn't. We made many new improvements to the camp, most of which replaced things the herda had made. This year we were graciously hired by the Barony of Cinnabar for most of the war, with Ealdomere and the Barony of Stone March also hiring us for some battles. The field battle was our best fights of the war. In fact, we were highlighted in the newspaper. I belive it went something like this.. "... the midrealm responded by dispatching Iron Lance's brigade (I thought we were a company (Guess its a promotion)) to the right flank. The eastern army was then quickly decimated." Nothing like a few mercs to decimate an army! The rest of the battles were alot of fun too. The maze battle, when we fought for Stone March (east), was pretty disappointing. First off, their 'plan' was to sit there (east kingdom, not Stonemarche) and let the midrealm take the field. The bright idea was to not fight at all until the last 15 minutes. Then take the flags. Well, its gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life. People go to war to fight in large battles, not sit there and watch for and hour and a half. About the only other thing worth mentioning is the new Nazi attitude that Pennsic has towards parties. The mandatory shut it down at 1am. What's with the SCA anyways? Afraid people are having too much fun? Go home and go to bed if you don't want to party, but don't make 700 people leave a party because your tired. More and more often 'officials' of the SCA make more and more rules to control everything. Don't we get enough of this in real life?

Pennsic 28. Damn, its been a long time. I believe we were hired by the barony of Cinnabar for most of the war, and had a battle for The Barony of the Angels from Caid.

Pennsic 29. I think Cinnabar hired us for the entire war this year.

Pennsic 30, This year we were hired by Ealdormere for the entire war.

Pennsic 31, Ealdormere again hired us to destroy thier enemies on the field of battle. The year the ballistas of death first rained thier horror down on the poor hapless souls. Iron Lance literally whipped out a quarter of the Midrealm army in the bridge battle. Household after household were blown from the bridge. There was nothing they could do, but die. Oh it was great! I think thats why 1/2 the midrealm army was sent after Ealdormere and Us in the field battle. Man, that was a serious crunch. Out numbered 10 to 1. Too bad that ment the rest of the midrealm was out numbered. So in the process of killing us, they got them selves killed. Its good to be a merc. Chaulk up one more victory. Well, its been a while hasn't it? Im proud to say that Iron Lance has done nothing but grown and prospered over the last few years of silence. We now field 40 to 50 fighters, and draw members from seven kingdoms. I know your all dying to know what has happened to the Evil One. It still lives. That I know. I can proudly say, that it is now just a pale shadow of itself. A mockery of life. See kids, it doesn't pay to be the Evil One.

And so is the long twisted story of Iron Lance as told by the Minister of Communications.