Erik Herk

“Others may doubt me, but there's someone I can always trust. Myself. Make sure to believe in my own strength, and I will never falter. I have been fighting my whole life. I've slain hundreds, nay thousands, of foes. And you fools think to face me in combat? Madness! It seems you’ve been gripped by a powerful desire to be destroyed. Very well then. Erik Herk will grant you your desire...”
-Erik Herk
== History ==
To this day, observers have not been able to determine whether the dynamic and bombastic General of the Dragonsmouth Army has bent the City Council to his will, or whether he is merely their puppet. Erik Herk may have been born a kobold, but he grew up amongst humans and is a creature of the Dragonsmouth Army through and through, having been drafted as a child. His military career was defined by naked ambition, hunger to prove himself, and a massive chip on his shoulder. Herk believed that the humans looked down on his race, and while there may have been some truth in that, it was absolutely within Erik Herk’s personality to see sleights where none were intended, and to blame any and all criticism on racism. Despite his bumbling personality and delusions of grandeur, Herk was undeniably an effective soldier and possessed a streak of genuine strategic ingenuity. It helped that he was not percieved as a threat, and so was able to climb through the ranks and join the prestigious First Company. His crowning achievement - and some would say final achievement - was his performance in the war against the Grey Maidens, where his pioneering swarm tactics arguably swayed the war in favor of the military, albeit at the cost of many lives. Of course, the war was won when the leader of the Grey Maidens turned against her queen, but those events were muddled and poorly known, and Erik Herk was quick to claim the lion’s share of the credit. He was given a position in high command by none other then the warlord of the Military District, General Teppo, but might have been stuck there if fate had not intervened on his behalf. The entire high command, including General Teppo, was assassinated when Rayla Shadowspine planted a bomb on the general’s motorcade. Erik Herk was the only survivor, and at the military’s darkest hour - when it seemed like they might lose control of their district - the First Company elevated the only surviving member of their high command to the position of General. None of them would ever have served Erik Herk under normal circumstances, but tradition and continuity of leadership mattered more then any more of the preening kobold’s personal flaws. He was, despite anything else, a genuine war hero. As warlord of the Military District, Erik Herk has mixed his trademark ingenuity with grotesquely egotistical behavior. He has implemented a laughable cult of personality that revolves less around anybody buying into it, and more around deriving a megalomaniacal glee from forcing human soldiers to sing his praises. General Erik Herk’s insecurities are so boundless that no number of titles or gigantic posters bearing his likeness can possibly assuage them. Nonetheless, he has shown more political acumen then expected, doubling down on the Military District’s alliance with the Civic District, such that many observers consider the two to be one large political entity. He is a staunch supporter of the First Company’s mandate, protecting the Waygate and enforcing the legacy of the King of Dragonsmouth. Whether he understands the importance of his role is doubtful, but he is unlikely to ever stray from his course. He has the loyalty of his men; though he may bemuse them at times, there is no genuine disaffection or dissension in the ranks.
== Personality ==
In the modern day, Erik Herk is indisputably the most powerful warlord in Dragonsmouth, and when the rubber hits the road, the scorn of the public papers over grudging respect (or at least acknowledgment) for his effective leadership and unyielding commitment to the army’s mandate, limited though his understanding of them may be. 
Category:Warlord
Category:Dragonsmouth
Category:Dragonsmouth Army
Category:Dragonsmouth Army First Company
Category:Kobold
Category:Lawful Evil