The Northern Region of Brune was ravaged by the Barbarian Hordes of the Normen and Danemen peoples, sailing down from the Far North on there Viking Longboats.
Their wrath came down upon the Brune like a fiery wave as hundreds of their dragon-headed longboats sailed the frosty seas of the Balctan down towards the Northern Region.
The Balctan Sea ran through the Anglosax Peninsula (Upper-Half of the Northern Region of Brune) separating Brune from the enigmatic and cold lands the Barbarians who called themselves the Danemen inhabited.
It was a shocking blow to all the great powers of the continent, that such "unrefined" and "simple" peoples could shake the very foundations of Brune, the strongest Empire there was that dominated everyone around them.
In truth, the most shocking thing about the Barbarian Invasion was that Brune had already known of the Danemen and Normen beforehand and quite possibly the threat they posed.
Some Northern Brunes folk even traded with the Danemen on the local level, meaning the Barbarians weren't too foreign to the Northern inhabitants of Brune, but in Brune's arrogance, they failed to see just how large of a threat the Danemen really were and were punished for their shortsightedness.
Even losing the Island of Britannica to the Barbarians, and forcing the Elder Magi Council to seek shelter further below North.
Brune had two major institutions that dealt with magic. One was the commonly known Philosopher's Tower, which mainly dealt with the scholarly nature of Magic and Magical Research. The Philosopher's tower specialized in Alchemy, or the sciences in general, and were annexed by Brune after the Ilican Free City-States (Which they were a part of) were defeated and conquered by Brune hence becoming an official organization in the Eastern Region and are almost as influential as the Medicis within the Eastern Region.
The second great Institution of Magic within Brune was the Elder Magi Council, a council of Mages and Wizards recognized by the Magic Community and were nominated to have a seat within the council.
While the Philosopher's Tower was scholastic in nature, the Elder Magi Council, on the other hand, had a more militaristic hierarchy where those of lower rank had to follow the orders of those above them, and in return would be given rewards depending on their performance. And if they were truly lucky or incredibly talented, they might even catch the eye of an Elder Mage with a seat in the council, and become an apprentice of that said Mage/Wizard.
Because of this hierarchical structure, the Elder Magi Council became an incredibly strong force of Power and were never truly under Brune, just a big part of it, much like the Holy Church in the West, and the Philosopher's Tower in the East, but were a much more powerful and independent organization than the other two.
In fact, the Elder Magi Council even refused to be part of the Northern or even the Western Regions, and instead set up an autonomous region in the Islands of Britannica where they cozily stayed, secluded from the world, free to do their individual research, or join as mercenaries in a war in some other parts of the globe.
This was why it was so shocking to the world when the Island of Britannica fell to the barbaric Danemen, even reaching Mainland Brune and pushing the Great militaristic family of the Bizmachs whilst the Her Noblesse of the Central Region kept infighting amongst themselves for influence and power.
Hearing of this opportunity, many countries took hold of the chance to whittle down Brune's Territory from all sides.
The Eastern Region was besieged by their long trade partners the Thracian Macedonoi.
Whilst the Western Region was attacked by the Novgrovan-Rus Empire under the orders of their power-hungry Tsar.
As things were going, it looked like Brune had to give up on the Northern Region in order to defend its Western and Eastern borders. It even looked like the South too was about to be attacked by the Musani Khaliphates.
But then two Miracles happened that saved Brune from utter collapse.
The first was an enigmatic Princess from the Imperial Family who was demoted to the position of a Countess somehow managed to miraculously pay off the Musani to halt their attack on the South, an incredible feat that even the Great Medici Family of the East failed to do when they dealt with the Macedonoi of Thracia.
And the second miracle was the sudden appearance of Gwaine's successor.
A new hero of Brune was suddenly born on the battlefield that day, once laughed at for his fat and useless body, a man so scorned by the world, but still managed to covert that anger and suffering into hope and power as he managed to win a series of disadvantageous battles and miraculously save the North from the Danemen, and banish them back into cold Balctan.
And now in the crowded and grand streets of Brunissia, the Illustrious Capital of Brune, under the great cheers of awe and excitement the thousands of Brunish Civilians made:
The Great Savior of Brune was welcomed by the People!
"Woah~! He truly does have the aura of Hero!" A man part of the cheering crowd gasped.
"Of course he does! He's the Savior of Brune! The Savior! Just look at that majestic horse he's ridin'! Probably a mythical beast or somethin'!" Another man responded.
The man who led his victorious army in the great Triumph rode on a majestic black horse.
"Yeah, you win this bet! I guess the rumors of the Fat Duke were false after all..." The first man who gasped relented, giving the second man a gold coin which he considered his life savings whilst the second man kept laughing and praising Duke for the money he earned...
"Gahahaha! Of course, I'm right! Though, his armor IS pretty weird and battered? Couldn't the Empire buy the great Hero some better gear?!" The second man angrily complained, followed by some other people.
Although Duke looked cool on his majestic black horse, his armor was still the same armor he had during the bandit subjugation... Suffice to say they were NOT pieces of the same set of Armor...
"Ohh~ I wonder how he looks like beneath his helmet?~" A young maiden from the crowd cried.
"Huh, you'd only be disappointed I tell you, although the Count's a great Hero, I heard he was pretty obese and ugly..." Another maiden warned her friend.
"Oh who cares if he's fat and ugly, as long as he's a rich Hero, he's got this Maiden wet down there! Hehehe" A third friend joined in the conversation.
But then, as more of the maidens within the crowd began murmuring and chatting, the Great Hero suddenly removed his pot helmet (The Helmet made from Vivian's treasured cooking pot) for all men and women to see the face behind the Heroic tales they've heard so much of, everything suddenly slowed down and all were made to gasp in surprise.
[Phew, it's pretty hot with all these people cheering and shouting, let me remove my helmet for now... Huh, when was the last time I removed this thing?] Duke removed the Cooking Pot he transformed into a helmet 2 years ago...
And at that moment:
All gasped as they saw the overbearingly dashing man behind the weird-looking helmet.
From his domineering eyes akin to that of an apex predator down to his perfectly chiseled jaw-line and even to the confident conqueror-like smile he gave, there was only one everyone could describe Duke as:
"The Hero"
Or a War Hero to be exact... Duke looked exactly like how Gwaine and Wael looked during their youth, but surprisingly Duke was a more little dashing than the two! And a whole lot more muscular too.
Everyone, from the ladies whose shaking legs gave out because of Duke's powerful presence to the men who suddenly felt an urge to salute due to Duke's commanding aura, was at awe simply by looking at Duke on top of the black glorious steed he was riding. Especially more so for the ladies as they found his curly hair alluring...
Heck, even the mismatching armor Duke wore looked fashionable! You might not even notice that the different rusting pieces of armor came from different armor sets thanks to the fact that Duke's armor was overshadowed by his lustrous and long curling black hair that was tied up in a ponytail.
[Huh?] Duke wondered why all of the women and girls suddenly began squealing and shouting for some reason the moment he removed his helmet whilst some of the men suddenly stopped cheering...
[Damn! Am I that ugly?!... Sorry for not bathing or going to a barbershop in a warzone, OK?! Sheesh... cut me some slack!] Duke shook his head as he put the helmet back on, much to the disappointment of the ladies.
The oblivious Duke only learned later that day of the changes that happened with his body... And that, [Woah! I stink!], Duke really stank...
That day Duke realized wearing armor for months on no end was very, very bad hygiene...