Tanner and the Iron Bears

The Iron Bears, specifically Captain John Ziska, taught him a lot. One, war machines such as scorpions are as good as a low skilled mage in combats. However, he won’t say the same thing about high powered mages, as he never fought with them and against them only one time. Two, good healers are worth the money. Three, the first rule of war is don’t be surprised if everything doesn’t go according to plan.

While in the Iron Bears, the Bears had several encounters of note. At the battle of Cold Creek, the Bears hired out to a town being plagued by the Dark mage Barakos. Barakos was a tough being (or so he thought) but he surrounded himself with inferior troops. The mage was tough, but not enough to handle a blade to the heart after he was too tired to cast spells.

The Councilor of Westingham hired the Bears to clean out a nest of outlaws. Once the deed was done, the Councilor tried to renege on the payment. Subsequently, the Councilor's estate was burned to the ground during the Yule season.

The final battle of the Iron Bears happened at Blackstone Swamp. It was against a Redleg unit on the outreaches of Crown authority. The Crown didn’t take kindly to a rising military force they had no control over, and sent a force against the Bears. Outnumbered, the Bears formed a hedgehog defensive position that stood off the Redlegs. Eventually, the Bears suffered too many casualties to fight on. The Redlegs had healers and a Crown fire mage who made things hot. A few of the Bears, including Tanner escaped under cover of darkness (when you kill your enemies’ mounts, escape is easier), but they were scattered after that.

See: Tanner Hawkwood