The creation of a new unit of Eryndor

What is “The Crusade”?

The years of battle across all parts of The Continent has worn the strength and energies among those who carry the Everledden Tree. Along the way, Maegamarth’s forces have slain many of our close allies while many others have had their spirits shaken or broken by the endless toils. Many of our close allies – like the Cirion who stood by our side against legions of black orc, and the young would-be “knights” of the shining cloth – have parted ways with us. Our allies all know that we are destined to stand together once again as these shadows grow darker, yet we hope beyond hope that our paths cross again during better times.

Yet, there are those who fight on. The Lifetree has touched us all, but for some warriors it has resonated within them so deeply that they are compelled to press on. City to city, region to region, we find those who shine and draw them to bear arms against dark forces. Village to village, east to west, we slay reanimated corpses and cut short the lives of necromancers. The spirit of Everledden persists.

On the face of our worn and tattered shields, the mark of life can be seen. The Lightbringers still fight for this Continent, and the Light still shines. We are The Crusade, and we will forever persist.

First off, “The Crusade” is almost certainly not even going to be called “The Crusade”! The name of this unit is going to be decided by all of the initial members of the unit from a list of possible names (right now we have about 4 good ones).

But that’s probably not what you were wondering. So let’s see some of the things that The Crusade is:

• One of the new units to be forming as a result of the new structure of Eryndor
• A unit that the High Council and Envoys of Eryndor are a part of
• A unit that is going to be led by the High Council and Envoys, but much more leadership and decision-making will be done collectively by ALL members.
• A unit that is focused upon being true to the core spirit of Eryndor, which means:
• For roleplaying:
• Highly integrated into the ongoing storyline of The Continent
• A rag-tag group of warriors from all walks of life
• A group that is bound by the spirit of the Everledden Tree, thus the original Eryndor chapter symbol is also the symbol of “The Crusade”
• Committed to building a coalition across The Continent ready to match the forces of Magaemarth… the war has already begun to break out throughout the Continent, we are ready to face it
• A unit that still uses the “classic” ranking system of Eryndor, and possibly with some new approaches to ranking
• In real life:
• Honorable fighters on the field
• FUN fighters on the field (we take great deaths and add some flavorful roleplaying!... and, of course, we still have our eeeeevvvillll personas as well)
• A unit that welcomes all types of people and fighters, whether they are new and struggling, or veteran and badass
• Helpful Dagorhir members on and off the field who care about helping to make grow and thrive all of Dagorhir and all of Eryndor (including its other units!), as well as working to make a great unit all our own
• Take pride in looking good on the field… helping people make awesome persona garb and armor is very important
• Drama-free in terms of members joining and leaving the unit
• We know how to have a good time off the field J
• Eternally tied in friendship and spirit to all other Eryndor members and units that believe in everything the chapter Eryndor was and still is about!
• Simply put, we envision “The Crusade” as a unit that is very similar to the traditions and styles of Eryndor at its most fun, most ferocious on the field, and most fantastic off the field.

How do I join “The Crusade?”

Anyone can be a member of “The Crusade.” However, we want people who want to be part of the unit! In short, we would love to have you if you would love to be part of us! We WILL NOT recruit you, you have to choose to be part of us.

While the requirements for joining are very simple, there are a few other things that we will expect, as a requirement, of our members before they become official (and we’ll help with meeting these requirements!).

• Character name (with the expectation that a background storyline will be developed as they become more knowledgeable about the storyline)
• Meets garb standards (with the expectation that they will eventually go above-and-beyond minimum garb)
• Made, bought, or was gifted with their own gear (can’t expect other people to equip them)
• Helps with all duties the unit takes on (running a day event, assisting with heralding at a campout, etc.)
• Carries the Eryndor symbol on their shield **
  ** - the unit will decide if this is something we want to expect from each other

TO JOIN, send an e-mail to Athron at athron@dagorhir.com to confirm that you intend to join (this applies to everyone… I just sent an e-mail to myself to tell myself that I’m joining). Please include your current e-mail address and a phone number you can be reached at. We welcome any current members of Eryndor or any other interested Dagorhirrim.

Other Stuff

Here’s a few other things you can expect being ready before January 1, 2008:

• The name of the unit decided (by November)
• A new unit website for “The Crusade”
• A unit discussion forum and e-mail list for decision making
• A unit-wide discussion of any adjustments / improvements we want to add to the unit. (hey, this is our chance to maybe add some cool new things, let’s see what we all want!)