chess lore?? 📜

ohhhkay, i'll go first: the kingdoms of veitan and bors are at war. bors was once a vast kingdom, greatest in the world, but during the first succession war, a secret strike led to the deposition of the borian king and a lowly foot-soldier, a man of no renown named veitan, slew the king and took the throne, promoting himself to the rank of lord-castellan of his new kingdom. now, his kingdom has grown in both size and power, forcing any who wouldn't pledge their allegiance into hiding, and granting land and vassalship to any who do. however, the rightful heir to the throne of bors, prince brack bors, has been gathering a ragtag force of rebels in secret, to retake his throne: his army's main body consists of freed prisoners, armed with daggers and whatever else they can find, vicious fighters who charge ahead at the first opportunity and have nothing to lose (pawns). they're supported by the old borian king's former royal guard, grizzled veterans who bear the symbol of a rook on their towering shields (rooks), the "black company", a mercenary unit of horsemen known for their mobility on the battlefield (knights), a mystical order of gunslingers who target foes from across the field with their strange mechanical hand-cannons, fighting in the name of their "machine god" (bishops), and the prince's own wife is once of the most powerful sorceresses in all the land, capable of conjuring powerful spells in and out of combat (queen). the veitan army, on the other hand, is made up mostly of foot soldiers, tactically trained and disciplined, each armed with a pair of the finest sideswords (at least, the finest mass-produced sideswords) for attacking either side of their flank in combat (pawns). they're supported by a caste of long-range battlemages trained in the veitan academy of spells (bishops), a highly mobile cavalry unit armed with spears and lances (knights), and lord veitan's own personal royal guard, called the "dragon-slayers" for their power and defensive capability (rooks). finally, the royal couple themselves lead the army of veitan into battle. the white lady, as she's called, is revered as a valkyrie given form, a veritable battle-angel and veitan's most powerful warrior, and lord veitan is capable enough, preferring to fight up close and personal among the ranks of his foot-soldiers. he's even made a rule where if a foot-soldier displays valor in combat, they're immediately promoted and are appointed to be formally trained under the white lady as her apprentice.