Drakeblood Knight Ren

Ren, also known as Drakeblood Knight Ren, Ren The Liberator and The Defender of the East is a legendary warrior hailing from the Eastern Lands.
== History ==
=== A Legend Born In Blood ===
Ren was born in Higashi, Capital of the Eastern Lands that was at the time under Londorian subjugation. Unlike the other Londorian nations such as Mirrah, Jugo and Forossa, the Eastern Lands was allowed to keep its name, as long as they gave them their allegiance. They were allowed this due to the fact that Londorian forces managed to capture Emperor Isshin of Higashi, keeping him hostage for several hundred years, though his spirit never broke. The practice of the Drakeblood Knights was still allowed by Londor as they believed that their power was very valuable in their quest to usurp the First Flame. 
Ren showed great promise of being a strong warrior from early childhood, training to become one of the strongest fighters at that time. Eventually Ren rose high enough to be considered for a Knight and took part in the Drakeblood ritual, consuming the dragons blood an undergoing his strength transformation. The ritual was known to kill many of those that took part, with only a fraction of those surviving and the process taking over several weeks to overcome. Ren however managed to surpass all symptoms within the first few days and the transformation was complete, faster than any that had come before him. Following this, Ren began to enact a secret plan to liberate the Eastern Lands from Londorian rule, though he had to plan this carefully and made sure to wait for the opportune moment, even if it took over a hundred years.
During this time, Ren set out in the year 1578FY to claim his own Dragon, a task which evades most Drakeblood Knights, yet is seen as one of their most solemn duties. Whilst it is not a necessary task to be a true Drakeblood Knight, it proves the power and worth that the warrior has and the control of his abilities. Venturing into the Valley of the Dragons, a famous breeding ground for Dragons and Dragonkin alike, he began is quest to tame a dragon. Many lives had been claimed by this valley, but Ren saw this as an opportunity to strengthen himself and his cause. Eventually he met a dragon in battle and began to try and tame it. Though this was not an easy feat, Ren managed to succeed on his first attempt, bonding with an Adult Male Red Fire Drake, who he apparently named after his father who died from a Londorian execution, though his crime is unknown. The dragon was thereafter known as Ieyasu. Some say the execution of his father is what fuelled his loathing for Londor and so, he planned to liberate the Eastern Lands.
=== Liberation of the East ===
Following the fading of the First Flame, a proclamation was issued by the Ashen One, the one who let the flame fade and now King of Lorithia, stating that all the hollowed undead needs to be purged from the world, to usher in an Era of Healing. Word of this eventually reached Dwyrain in the months after, where the majority of Londorian lands were held, which was aided by the joining of the continents due to the stagnation caused by consistent linking of the First Flame. Londor however mostly had a population of hollowed undead which populated most of its armies and with the plan to usurp the fire now officially failed, collapse in Londorian rule was imminent. Ren then initiated the plan to liberate the Eastern Lands, using all the Drakeblood knights and their dragons to great use, destroying great hordes of Hollowed Undead that were ordered by Londors rulers 'The Sable Church' to march towards Lorithia to stop the Ashen One, in what would become known as Rens Rebellion. 
Meanwhile, whilst Ren was effectively destroying the armies of undead, a woman named Muriel, located in Morion, capital of Londor, but once known as Mirmark, capital of Mirrah began her plan to reinstate Mirrah, leading a rebellion against the undead forces over a course of several weeks. Ren heard of this and flew with his Drakeblood knights to help the rebellion as Emperor Isshin was still a prisoner in Morion. Muriel managed to free all the prisoners, including Isshin from their cells and so a great mass killing of undead took place, with the help of Ren, leading to Morion being liberated and reinstated to its former glory, renaming it to Mirmark officially as capital of Mirrah once again. Emperor Isshin returned to Higashi for the first time in over 400 years, a long time most would agree, but never once losing faith. He was reinstated as Emperor of the Eastern Lands once again. Ren was handsomely rewarded by Isshin for effectively saving the Eastern Lands and its liberation, naming him as officially as the leader of the Drakeblood Knights, whilst also granting him his own fief within the Eastern Lands called Usai, which had long been unoccupied and abandoned. Isshin also pledged support to Muriel for her to be instated as the Empress of Mirrah, with the two securing an alliance like it was during the Eternal War. Londor had effectively collapsed by this point, with the sable church marching with what was left of their undead army towards Lorithia, but with the split of the continents once again, they became trapped on the western part of the continent. Instead they used the magical barriers of Ancient Drangleic in order to settle a new nation, now known by the name of their old capital, Morion.
=== The Black Ice ===
Some time after the liberation of the Eastern continent of Dwyrain from Londorian rule, Ren began to try and tame more dragons to add to the ranks of the Drakeblood Knights, due to many of them being slain during the liberation. Some of these dragons were tamed easily through the use of the blood magic, but Ren came across a foe that was unlike any that he had seen before. Whilst exploring the northern ridges of Dwyrain in 208AD with his knights, Ren encountered the unique Ice Dragon Konrir. Realising its power whilst also underestimating it, Ren tried to lure Konrir out of its lair in an attempt to tame it, though this went drastically wrong. Almost all of Ren's regiment of Drakeblood Knights were wiped out as Konrir erupted with ice breath. Drakeblood Knight armour was somewhat resistant to fire to block dragonfire, but with this being an ice dragon, their defences were effectively useless. This was a devastating blow to the forces of the Eastern Lands, as training a Drakeblood Knight took a long time to ensure the Dragons blood would be compatible with them and finding those that could survive the transformation process.
Ren then decided to mount his own personal dragon, Ieyasu, and managed to wound Konrir from dragon back as an air battle commenced. Ieyasu managed to tear a wing from Konrir, causing him to slam into the ground. Ren then dismounted and dealt a final blow upon realising that Konrir would simply not be tameable. With a thrust directly into the dragons heart, the dragon soon passed on, but, with the blade still embedded in the dragons heart, something happened that Ren did not expect. The katana, a common sword used by Easterners, began to become completely encompassed with a bluish black ice and as Ren withdrew, the transformation stopped just at the hilt of the blade. As a result his weapon was now instantly distinguishable, with an icy jagged bladed edge running the length of the blade.
=== The Greatest Battle Ever Fought ===
Several hundred years after the liberation of the East from Londor, the Realms of Morion made a startling attempt at taking back their lands through certain key events in the year 376AD. The first was the assassination attempt on the Empress of Mirrah, Muriel and her children whilst simultaneously attacking the Eastern Mirrah city of Broadleif, killing most who lived there, save the Lord of Broadleif, who had constructed several secret tunnels if evacuation needed to take place during battle. Most mark this as the beginning of the War of the Hollowed Realms, of which the Eastern Lands would soon become part of. When the Ashen One heard word of what had happened, he travelled with several of his Lorithian lords to Mirrah, to arrange a pact between Lorithia and Mirrah in an attempt to stand against the Realms of Morion. This became known as the Aegis of the Embered. The Eastern Lands would end up pledging allegiance alongside several other nations to partake in this Global Defensive pact, with Ren leading a guard of 20 Drakeblood Knights to the cause, including 2 Fire Drakes, one of which was his own dragon Ieyasu.
With the Aegis formed, the creation of a city ruled by all governing parties of it began and soon with volunteers from those across all these kingdoms, the city of Emberholm was created. Ren would be one of these that helped with the construction and also began training people from Mirrah who volunteered to join. He also was instructed by Isshin to be Empress Muriel's personal guard, considering the close ties that the countries had during and following the rebellion of Mirmark. Muriel graciously accepted the request by Ren to be her guard, knowing full well of his abilities and decided to put Mirrah's forces under his control. The Mirrahnian Blades were the regiment that followed, trained in both Mirrah and the Eastern lands fighting styles. Muriel never implemented a standing army during the time in between the Rebellion and the War, as they believed the threat had been defeated. Apart from her queens guard and a city watch, the Mirrahnian Blades were their only fighting force.
Whilst Ren had been part of a few minor fights, in which him and his dragon Ieyasu would ambush several groups of Morion warriors, his greatest battle was to come. King Guthrie IV Catarina had a prophecy about a great battle to come, with several details that he saw in the vision that helped pinpoint when and where this battle could take place. He saw a battle in a river, under an eclipsed moon and thousands of warriors battling. In the vision he also foresaw his own death, but only revealed this information to the Ashen One and the leader of the Sieg Knights, Sieghilda. The Eclipsed Moon detail, gave the Aegis the knowledge of when the Battle would take place, as it only appeared every 193 years and the next one would appear one day in the year 382AD. One day, word came that the armies of Morion were marching on Mirrah and that night, the Eclipsed Moon began to appear in the sky. The two armies eventually clashed that night on the Mirrahnian border at the River Drang and the battle took place. King Guthrie did indeed perish alongside the leader of his Sieg Knights Sieghilda and her son Sieglynx but Ren's loss was greater than many others at that battle. Of the 20 Drakeblood Knights that were part of the army, only 3 survived, one of which was Ren. In the battle, Ren witnessed the death of Ieyasu, having been killed by Morions leader Lady Lilliane after she witnessed the power that the dragon had and the havoc it was wreaking on her undead army. Launching her twinbladed scythe into the air, it lodged into the side of Ieyasu's head, with it crashing down to the earth below. Ren was effectively distraught with the death of his soul mate, but managed to stay focused in the battle. Ren made sure to return the bodies of both dragons and the Drakeblood Knights back to the Eastern Lands, vowing to avenge them by killing Lady Lilliane. The Battle of the River Drang also marked a moment of temporary peace, negotiated by the Ashen One and Lady Lilliane herself, designating Fire Years of no hostilities, which both agreed to, in order to heal up and recuperate.
=== Ren's Vendetta ===
Ren mourned for his fallen, long time friend and bonded soul mate for a while following the battle. When a Drakeblood Knight bonds with a dragon, they are usually bonded for life and very rarely bond to another dragon. Ren then ventured deep into the northern mountains of Mirrah in search of a dragon, famed for its rare sightings but impressive scale and size. Many had tried to hunt and/or tame this dragon before, with many failing or giving up in their search. Ren however was now fuelled by a vendetta to become the strongest warrior on the planet and defeat the forces of Morion, those who had taken away so much from those all around the world. In 386AD, during the Five Year peace agreement he set out to find this dragon that he had heard much about and in the north he discovered its lair. Upon his arrival, he could feel the aura that this dragon radiated, feeling its powerful soul and the dragons blood writhed within him. Stepping into the lair, he noticed the dragon starting to wake up and showed itself to Ren. Much to his surprise, the Dragon looked at him and Ren noticed instantly that this Dragon was truly unlike any he had ever seen before. 
Towering over him, the dragon, with a pitch black scales, going from head to each of its four feet, revealed itself to have twin heads, but upon looking at him, it did not attack Ren. And so, Ren cautiously made his way to the gargantuan dragon, attempting to bond with him and it was then that their souls connected, bonding instantly like that of Ren and Ieyasu. Shockingly, the Dragon then began to speak in a draconic tongue, of which Ren could understand. Most dragons could never speak and very rarely you would get one to speak in the common tongue, but for some reason, Ren could understand Draconic, likely because of the Drakeblood flowing through him. It was then that the Black Dragon revealed his name to him and his draconic name was Azhraq and Ren revealed his name. For the first time in history, a Drakeblood knight bonded with another dragon following the death of his first. Most Drakeblood knights commit suicide if their bonded dragon dies, due to the breaking of what feels like a bond of souls and when one dies, so does the other. Ren however was a unique warrior, stronger than most that had come before him and now has a tamed Black Twin Headed Dragon as his new soulmate.