Falnir Firewalker

Full Name: Falnir, Loremaster of The Lost and Steward of The Keep, formerly the Lord Jacob Ironwood.

Unit: The Lost

Home Realm: Dur-Demarion

Fighting Since: Dead of Winter 2016

Race: Morrikynn, former human

Fighting Style: Archery, 66" omni red sword with shoulder buckler, blue and strap shield.

Story

The following are excerpts taken from the first chapters of the working memoirs of Falnir, a Morrikynn in the company of The Lost.

I was given the name Jacob Ironwood at my birth…. the first of three sons to the third Lord and Lady Ironwood. It is historically written that my great-grandfather earned the title as a prosperous merchant, owning the largest mining and lumber industries in the land. My grandfather and namesake had no interest in business and later sold the industry, but maintained the title and fief provided by the monarchy. He instead turned his patronage toward the arts and cultural development. The land owned was of moderate size, largely forested and filled with game, and the small hamlet grew to be prosperous….

Since I was young I had found a dear friend in Sara, the daughter of a farmhand… I found myself smitten by her and we eventually became lovers… But she was always distraught by her societal standing…and began to take heed to the tales of wandering travelers and mystics. It was one such occasion that she suddenly demanded that I visit and discovered her alone in her domicile, her family gone to market.... She informed me of how she had met with a dark-cloaked stranger who promised to release her from the bonds of her tumultuous life, producing a vial of dark, red fluid. She had downed it in earnest without much effect, and became quite ill once she had returned home…. Sara realized she had consumed Morrikynn blood, and as a result had contracted the condition herself. She relayed this information to me gleefully, feeling no longer burdened by her former frailty and familial duty. She proceeded to destroy several pieces of woodwork unarmed as though to prove her newfound liberty. My darling requested that I join her in form that we may be free to live our lives together…. I finally relented and drank the blood that flowed from her wrist. I returned home that day fatigued and nauseated, my stomach emptying its contents outside the stables. I retired early for the evening and immediately fell asleep for the last time.

I found myself awake that midnight, fully recovered from my illness…. I had fully turned into a Morrikynn. My newly keened senses picked up movement out in the hall, but it was not the guards patrolling on their watch. I listened as the lock to my door was quietly picked, drawing the dagger kept by my bedside. As two men stealthily entered my bedchamber, I killed them both with speed and power I did not recognize as my own. I did not recognize them; they were not of the village below, but the scent of blood on their clothes made me fear the worst. I hurried down the hall to find my brothers murdered in their sleep. Two more assailants were exiting my parents’ chambers as I approached. I gutted the one in rage and interrogated the other. They had been sent by a noble family who longed to own our lands and additionally murdered the guards on patrol. I nearly killed the assassin in blind rage but was spared by the servants, awoken by the commotion the others had made in their final moments….

It is a cruel twist of fate that the murder of my family would allow me to continue my life as a blood-drinker. In the tradition of mourning I engaged in a life of solitude and draped the windows in black cloth to conceal the sun. I immediately inherited the title of Lord Ironwood, allowing me to freely take Sara as my wife without opposition....

…. For ten years I oversaw the Ironwood estate, and the village continued to grow. The Lady Ironwood and I sustained ourselves on those who had been sentenced to death.... I never regretted my decision to take the walk of the undead as it was the only reason I was able to survive the assassination, but nor did I ever fully embrace the blood-thirsty nature of the monster. Sara, on the other hand, surrendered herself on several occasions to the whims of her dark nature, unfortunately resulting in the murder of several staff and hapless villagers….

I am unaware when the first hunters arrived on our lands. I am told that they were tracking Sara’s progenitor, a parasite who freely spread the infection to anyone who would listen. They became fixated on the rumors of Sara’s acts of violence and began to investigate. We managed to brand them as heretics and drove them from our lands, but they instead revealed their information to another noble family. Seeing the opportunity to overthrow our rule and claim our fertile soil, they launched a full-scale invasion with backing from the churches of the Divines. Unprepared for such an offensive, the castle guard who remained loyal to the family soon gave way to the hunters. Sara wished to display her might, superior to mortal men, but soon fell prey to their sorcery and steel. I fled the castle as it burned, hot on my back as the sun set before my eyes. My home, my love, my family, all reduced to ash and yet I remained. I rescued only a few personal relics from the flames… the enchanted sword Falnir, a gift to my grandfather that roared to life in the hands of the even the most basic magician…

… I found myself wandering, searching for a new path in life. I distanced myself from my Morrikynn instincts as much as possible, mastering my skill with the bow in order to limit my exposure to the blood prior to consumption. The shadows became my home and began to earn coin as a sellsword, an assassin…

I encountered on my travels a missionary of sorts, speaking tales of The Lost and undead vigilants…. I travelled north… and with my admittance into The Lost was given the name Falnir.