Bannerlord

Summary
The title of Bannerlord was commonly used by tribes within the Heartlands region of Elgenea from around 500 BS until the formation of the Samsonite Empire. A Bannerlord was the leader of a Heartlander Tribe's warriors and was selected by the tribe's elders. A Bannerlord was expected to lead his Warband on raids throughout the winter, seeking out wealth and valuable resources to be brought back to their tribe. The next Autumn, the elders would vote to either keep the previous bannerlord or select a new one.

The title holds significant religious significance among Samsonists, who use the word to explicitly refer to Samson the Great, the last Bannerlord of Muddah. Samson the Great's campaigns to free the Heartlanders from the Chagyar horde were directly responsible for the formation of an independent Heartlander nation, and consequently the peoples who were freed by Samson began to revere him, albeit in a variety of ways. The idea that Samson the Great was the Son of the Paternal spirits became incredibly popular, however ,a strong theological debate arose in the centuries afterward regarding the exact divine nature of Samson the Great. This ultimately resulted in a schism within the faith and the formation of the Unitarian and Trinitarian denominations within the faith.