Dwarven migrants are always valued in Archlands for their hardiness and craftsmanship. Their descendants are stalwart supporters of the crown, though often indifferent to the Order. After the fall of Ice-Eagle House, Aedwulf’s heroic ancestor Ogain Ax-Lover brought his kin south and established a forge. Aedwulf grew up working that forge, learning diligence and responsibility, traits that served him well when he joined the queen’s army with dreams of earning renown.

Yet, Aedwulf was only a competent fighter. Each day he rose, renewed his oaths, and trained. Each night he went to sleep disappointed.

Prior to her denunciation, the Chapter sent Renna’s most loyal units far away, so Aedwulf found himself marching into the craggy northern range. There, he felt his Ice-Eagle blood, and his own mediocrity, most keenly, along with something else — a pull toward reckless, selfish thoughts. The first caresses of the Void’s seduction.

That any of the unit survived the expedition was due to the sacrifice of the company’s most steadfast soldier. While his comrades fled a horde of Void thralls, Aedwulf planted himself where the path shot through a tight defile. When the horde’s Host appeared, Aedwulf summoned his courage, opened himself to the Taint, and brought the walls of the fissure down around them.

Aedwulf was not rewarded with the heroic death he sought. Instead, he was entombed alongside his foe, the Host sustaining his lifeforce only to feed on Aedwulf’s Thoughts. Endlessly reciting his oaths, he resisted the Void for years. But no one resists the Void forever. In that lightless prison, the Host slowly consumed him… until a Stone-rage shook the mountains.

While Aedwulf had held on to some fraction of his mind, his body had been all but conquered by the Void. Returning to his homeland, Aedwulf steeled himself for a new battle: protecting Archlands from himself.

Coming soon…