Paint It Black - The Regulators

The Regulators -you don't want to run into them on the road.

For a number of years, the Saale River valley has been terrorized by a gang of cutthroats  who ply their trade of robbery, arson, mayhem and murder. They have no favorites, terrorizing Saxons and Hesse Seewalders alike. Their appearance, clad in all black from head to toe, makes them terrifying to behold. Their coats have red facings and they wear buff colored small clothes, suggesting that they are an organized band of mercenaries, rather than your run of the mill highwaymen. Perhaps they are even a Freikorps in the employ of some foreign power. There origin and their master are unknown, making them all the more terrifying.

Whenever there is an explosion, or a building catches fire or farms are looted and livestock run off, you can be sure that these men in black, known as The Regulators, have left their calling card at the scene of the crime.

Black Hussars galloping down a Saxon road. Are they Regulators, or just your run of the mill hussars?

At times, it is reported that a mysterious black coach, trimmed in red was seen in the vicinity of the unfortunate event. Nobody knows who rides in that coach and its occupant makes sure that it stays that way. Even when the Black Coach and The Regulators are nowhere to be found, people just automatically assume that they are behind whatever mayhem is going on in the countryside. There are rumors that a beautiful lady, with golden blonde hair and clad in black and red clothing, rides in the Black Coach, but nobody has ever seen her face; or at least, nobody who is still living has seen her face.

So who are these Regulators? Who do they work for and what are their aims? Who is this mysterious Lady in Black? The Saxons say that they work for Hesse Seewald or even the King of Prussia. The Hesse Seewalders say that they are in the employ of the Saxons or the Archbishop of Wurzburg. Theories abound, but no one knows for certain.

Yet you, my dear readers, are about to be let in on the secret. Not the whole truth, mind you, but enough to capture your imagination or maybe to make you feel a little bit uneasy the next time you have to travel down a lonely road in the middle of the night.

Her name is Milady de Winter.

She enjoys making trouble. She is an assassin for hire who will show no mercy to anyone unlucky enough to be her designated victim. We cannot say for certain that she works for any single person or power, but once she has you in her sites, your days on this Earth are certainly numbered.

All will be revealed to you dear readers, in good time, when we are ready to tell you more. Let us just say that if one were to seek the match that would light the tinder of war, that Lady de Winter would be your be your huckleberry.

The Black Coach approaches Torgau on a dark, moonless night.

Even as we tell you her story, be aware that the Black Coach is on the move, crossing the Saale River and entering Saxon territory. The Black Coach is headed for the Saxon amoury and powder magazine at Torgau. What better place to light the tinder than at one of Saxony's supply magazines.