Editing Sigil:Rhess (section)

== Rhess and the Crusades ==

No Rhone realm possesses a more personal reason to oppose Tael Neydra's present rulers. Rhess has lived beside the Shroud for generations, lost villages to raids, maintained the Westwall at enormous expense, and watched the consequences whenever vigilance failed.

Rhess therefore contributed heavily to the Crusades, including the Third Crusade of the Age of the Comet. Rhessan riders fought alongside Angharans, Meranti, and other allies at [[Sigil:Blackwater Ford|Blackwater Ford]], where the crusading host won one of its great victories at the edge of the Shroud.

Yet enthusiasm for endless campaigning should not be confused with hatred of the Vorghol. Rhessans are increasingly willing to ask whether offensives deep into Tael Neydra accomplish more than strengthening the frontier would. Farmers who must leave land untended, households that have lost riders, and Highland communities expected to guard the border while others campaign beyond it all have reasons to question royal strategy.

King Edric must therefore balance two powerful Rhessan instincts: the refusal to tolerate tyranny and the refusal to be ordered indefinitely into somebody else's war.