Chương 20: Raven Knights' Profile: The First Seat

NAME: Frenda Ferndale

RANK: First Seat

AGE: 18 years old

WEAPON OF CHOICE: Greatsword (Rose Blade) and shortsword

RANK IN THE PEERAGE SYSTEM: Baroness

BACKGROUND:

Frenda was raised in Walruse Castle and has served the Great House of Walruse all throughout her life. Subsequent to her parent's abandonment of her, whose identity still remains unknown, Frenda has been trained by the Duke's maidservants to attend to his third son, Lord Velmund Walruse. However, her status was changed due to two separate events that as future chroniclers and scholars would phrase it, "... had indirectly and directly affected the lives of many."

The first event happened in the autumn of the year 550, at the day a Regalian convoy tasked with delivering taxes to the Royal Treasury, which was accompanied by Lord Velmund and Frenda, arrived at the vicinity of the Royal Capital of Durhamfortt. At the same day, the First Princess of the Kingdom of Runtallia was abducted by a group of spies employed by the Republic, resulting to a city-wide lockdown in the Royal Capital. By mere coincidence, the Regalian convoy encountered the abductors, who were suspected to have been a part of the Gittlorne Republic's Intelligence Bureau, a branch of the Republican Government comprised of highly efficient operatives whom specialized at reconnaissance, espionage and assassinations. Ironically, despite being escorted by a dozen guards and men-at-arms, Frenda, a lone 12 year old girl who happens to be carrying around an arming sword by her side, managed to singlehandedly slay 13 assailants and rescue Princess Margareth Sorlane Siegmund Durhamfortt. As the King learned of the events that led to his daughter's rescue, he granted three boons to the Regalian convoy; two of which was recieved by Frenda herself. The first boon was in the form of a yearly tax exemption for the Duchy of Regalia, while the second and third gifts was a small castle town called 'Ferndale Stronghold,' located in the Northern Region at a domain directly owned by the Royal House of Durhamfortt. This land was accompanied by a noble title, thus Frenda Ferndale was elevated in the peerage system as a baroness by her own right, and adopted the town's name as her own. Yet despite this change of status, the loyal maidservant remained at her master's side to attend to his needs, signifying her undying loyalty to the young lord.

On the summer of year 554, the Raven's Selection hosted approximately five thousand combatants. Among those combatants, the victor who managed to best all of them was none other than the same Frenda who managed to rescue the First Princess of Runtallia and the maidservant who was in service of Lord Velmund, who's the sole reason why the Raven's Selection had taken place. Among the opponents that the female knight battled were Sir Zmolensk, a gold-ranked knight of the Brudram Stratocracy, Lord Zellen of House Vrabelle, a renowned knight vassal to a provincial lord and Lady Quillna, an Imperial fencing prodigy who served as legate in the Durfrenian Imperial Legions, all of which were prominent fighters who boasted excellent military feats, yet even they were bested and weren't able to win the tourney's top spots. Because of the Raven Knights' tournament and other battles she partook in, particularly at raids by Norsmundi tribesmen during harvest seasons, Frenda Ferndale earned the infamous nickname 'Knight Reaper,' as everyone who witnessed her in battle claimed that she fought as if she was the embodiment of Yldread's foremost servant: the Grim Reaper; the deliverer of souls to the Eternal Abyss.

At the Battle of Galewood, which in actuality was a mere skirmish considering the number of combatants, an entire Regalian squadron was entrapped by Norsmundi raiders of the Celbriac Horde, which numbered two hundred strong. The raiders besieged the village of Galewood, where the Sixth Squadron of the Sixth Division were stationed, joined by Frenda who was commissioned by Galewood's lord of the manor to slay Ill-spawn remnants from the previous vermin season. As part of Lord Velmund's scheme for the upkeep of his retainers, Raven Knights would typically be hired to deal with Ill-spawns like adventurers do, as payment for such missions served as the primary source of revenue for the Order.

As the squadron were hopelessly outnumbered by the raiders, the sergeant-at-arms in charge learned that a knight was staying in the village, and so he planned to ask Frenda to help them defend against the tribesmen, who was led by none other than Eldric Bruglond, son and heir of the Celbriac's chief-thane. However, after the sergeant-at-arms learned that the knight in question was not only a woman but too young to boot in his perspective, he decided to negotiate with the Norsmundi instead and offered Frenda, who he mistook for a rich noblewoman playing to be a soldier. He leveraged the fact that if a 'spoiled noble' like her can get knighted, then her parents must have possessed great fortune, and ransoming her would be profitable. At the end, after he sent a messenger to the Celbriac camp bearing his proposal and when he succeeded in enticing the desperate raiders of the hefty sum they would obtain, the sergeant-at-arms deceptively instructed Frenda to negotiate with the raiders while the villagers escaped as she buys them time. However, little did he know was that Frenda knew his schemes despite his discreet attempts, but merely played along and decided to overlook the soldier's transgression, deciding that such tale would be most convenient to her once news about the raid spread out.

As Frenda exited the village, she was immediately encircled by Eldric's men. And before she can utter a word, the Norsmundi had already drawn their weapons, aiming to incapacitate her. Yet, what the Norsmundi and the sergeant-at-arms, who was watching atop the village's wooden palisade, did not know was that after the battle, the female knight they underestimated would be dubbed as the 'Knight Reaper,' and they were among the poor souls she would reap. What followed was carnage; a bloodbath that at first glance would resemble an attack of a vicious Ill-spawn, as limbs and heads can be seen littered around the field of Galewood. The Battle of Galewood had the chief-thane's son as the sole survivor, who managed to flee to the forest adjacent to the village. Fortunately for him, his father the chief-thane happens to be raiding in another village close to Galewood with a much larger contingent, approximately a thousand warriors strong. Instead of fighting them alone, Frenda chose to make haste towards Walruse Castle in order to inform the Duke, who expeditiously raised his army soon after.

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