In the beginning...

Laws to suppress tend to strengthen what they would prohibit.

Ze`er saying

The first written testimony about House De la Rey is also what some might call a "birth certificate". It is said that back in the ages when time was not measured in years but in seasons, in the lands of the Kara Khitai, there was one warrior from a minor noble`s court who was outcast by his family because of a degrading relationship with a peasant girl. Having to choose between keeping his place in his family or either disposing by steel of his beloved or leaving with her, he chose the last action as being in accordance to his feelings.

Ruyter de Veer - that was the knights` name - left with his pregnant woman and few of his men across the mountains, into the Ze`er desert, the lands to the east of his country. He did now know what he would find there, for many of those who crossed the mountains never returned, and those who did, either returned with ill minds, either dissapeared shortly after coming home, together with their families. Now it is a known fact that those who left to never return preferred to stay in Ze`erland and start a new life there, than return to their ancestors lands and be treated like cattle and sometimes even worse.They were colonists, in a land to be tamed.

Ruyter had no idea on what he would find at the end of the road. His journey started at the beginning of the snowy season, and the way across the mountains was hard and dangerous. It is said that being lost in the white hell of the mountains, a swan showed him the way across, to safety. On the other side, our hero found paradise. Or so he thought: after the blizzards and frost of the mountains, the heat and adversity of the desert seemed to be heaven. The exiles established a camp close to an oasis, and named the place Ala Ma'umma - Nourishing Mother. In a couple of months Ruyter was the proud father of a little boy he named Blassa. The country that laid before his eyes wasn`t welcoming anyone, as sand was everywhere; a land untamed and scarce. But was his land.

In the next years, Ruyter sent patrols to explore the Ze`er. Many of his scouts never returned to the camp at Ma`umma, but those who did brought amazing stories about settlements in the desert. The scouts spoke of hundreds, thousands of men, most of them from back home, outcast or refugees, fleeing from prosecution just like de Veer. His wife was one of them, a peasant, and many recalled her parents. A leader who has a peasant as wife cannot look away from his people, and as time passed, the camp grew in numbers, in infrastructure, and soon Ruyter de Veer was acknowledged lord of many a hundred settlements just like his own. Honouring the almost divine intervention that brought him and his party across the mountains safely, Ruyter added the swan to his coat-of-arms.

The battle of Halmun

It is said in the seventh chapter of the Chronicles that Blassa de la Rey, son of Ruyter, was the first lord of the house to fight - and win - a major battle. Since his father was rather a peaceful spirit, Blassa pushed the borders of his legacy further and further, sometimes with diplomacy, most of the times by force. Being an adept of the idea that "the best defence is attack", Blassa crushed - at the end of his 13th ruling winter - a small religious rebellion inside the territories of the Ze`er, then moved his forces towards the east, without logistical support, with his communication lines unguarded and with absolute no protection behind him.

It was a reckless and adventurous expedition, only to be lightened by the speed in which the advance had been made. Reason for such conduct is not provided in the Chronicles, but based on various text analysis the most probable explanation is based on the fact that the only real threat came from the eastern tribes of nomad warriors, the Ulus, who were aiming at overwhelming the borders and stampede over the settlements in the eastern part of the desert. Basic strategy rules specify that against extremely mobile forces the best way of winning a battle is by moving faster than them. Deceit, intelligence and maneuvrability helped Blassa fall over the main corps of the Ulus hordes, camped in what was then called the White Valley of Halmun.

Again, strategy was considered since the beginning an important element in the ways House de la Rey understood to wage war, defensive or offensive. Lord Blassa split his army into 2 groups, one mounted, the other pedestrian soldiers, for mobility reasons. The cavalry was considered the strike force, and took a large detour so that they would fall behind the nomad ariergarde, camped at one end of the Valley, whilst the pedestrians - mostly archers and light swordsmen - set up an ambush at the other. Speed and surprise would bring a clear victory to Blassa.

The Ulus were not few in numbers, nor louzy warriors. The only problem: being nomads, riders, they chose as a camping site a valley, with only 2 opposed ways in. They were way too confident on their hypothetical safety, and the rumours Blassa himself spread that he was still fighting with the rebels in the Ze`erland helped excellently at relaxing the enemy. The valley was easy to defend, having only two access spaces, but for riders... born in the saddle, it was a little too difficult.

The strike began at one past midnight, with a full charge of the cavalry. The surprise-element worked like a miracle. The Ulus turned to run, but they fell right in the swords of the waiting pedestrians. It was a slaughter. It is said that the Valley, because of so much blood being spilled, turned red.