Nim Mardottir

## Aspects

Survey

Delegate

"*In war, begin as you would end.*"
―Marshal Nim
Nim Mardottir is a marshal of the Dread Empire of Praes, charged with overseeing the peace in the Wasteland and original Praesi territories. She also holds the overall command in Praes along with her leading her own legion - The Seventh, known as *Hammerfall*.

## Biography

As of Book 6 Nim has been recognised as the Empress’ Black Knight. As the highest ranking officer left in Praes, she commands the armies of empress-regnal Malicia in the current civil war against Sepulchral, and later also against the Grand Alliance.

### Background

Nim is a female ogre who rose to prominence during the previous imperial civil war, fighting for Dread Empress Malicia along with Amadeus of the Green Stretch. She’s considered the most aggressive commanders among the marshals. But is noted to be a closer match to Marshal Grem than Marshal Ranker, making her the second best commander in the Empire.

In her capacity as a marshal, she oversees the peace in the Wasteland and original Praesi territories. She also holds the overall command in Praes along with her leading her own legion - The Seventh, known as *Hammerfall*.

### Book 3

Marshal Nim led three legions to pacify the city of Wolof after a demon of madness was temporarily unleashed during Sargon Sahelian’s usurpation of his aunt, High Lady Tasia. During this battle, her main concern was containing the fallout of the demon and devils summoned, before ordering the Fourteenth Legion to storm the city itself and slay High Lady Tasia. A move that she believed would allow the freshly-raised Fourteenth to gain valuable experience.

### Book 4

Marshal Nim served as commander of the eastern front of the Tenth Crusade, fighting against the Ashuran fleets with the six Loyalist Legions that remained in Praes following the Doom of Liesse. (The Second, Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh, Thirteenth and Fourteenth)

Despite Marshal Nim’s best efforts, the Ashurans had the better of her, launching coastal raids that slowly eroded Malica’s prestige, culminating in the Sack of Nok. Which the Loyalist Legions were several days late to. Causing Malicia to lose support of both High Lord Dakarai of Nok and a great deal of prestige. High Lord Idriss of Thalassina outright threatened rebellion unless his city got a Legion garrison.

Despite that, by the time Thalassina was vaporised by Wekesa the Warlock, the city had no Legion garrison, implying that Marshal Nim either left Thalassina by the time Masego arrived, or had never bothered send Legionaries in the first place.

### Book 5

The Eighth Goblin Rebellion forced Marshal Nim to blockade Foramen in the Hungering Sands, attempting to prevent the Confederation of the Grey Eyries from sending Goblin munitions and steel to the Kingdom of Callow. This meant that Malicia was unable to use the Legions to call High Lady Abreha to heel.

Despite Nim’s best efforts, the Goblins were able to smuggle sufficient quantities of munitions to the Kingdom of Callow, allowing the Army of Callow to use them freely throughout the Iserran Campaign, albiet with Goblinfire under rationing.

After the betrayal of Matron Wither, Foramen returned into Imperial hands, allowing Marshal Nim and the Loyalist Legions to end the blockade and return to the Tower.

Malicia later ordered Marshal Nim to prepare for the return of the Legions-in-Exile. Nim made welcome mage cadres from Okoro, whom constructed ritual grounds to summon the Legions-in-Exile out of the Twilight Ways and right in the middle of a fortified position manned by the Loyalist Legions.

Marshal Nim was given orders to arrest the Exile officers and imprison them within the Tower, purge the unsalvageable and raise more trustworthy men in their stead.

### Book 6

Over the timeskip and Book 6, Marshal Nim continued her job as Malicia’s chief general and commander, leading the Loyalist Legions against Empress-claimant Sepulchral in the civil war.

As over half the former Legions-in-Exile and even one of Marshal Nim’s Loyalist Legions—the Second Legion—had deserted the Legions of Terror in the wake of the reveal of Malicia’s mind control hooks implanted into the upper echelons of the Legions of Terror, Marshal Nim had far less forces to call upon to bring Sepulchral to heel.

As Ater was between Aksum and Nok, the two rebelling High Seats, Marshal Nim was forced to leave behind the First and Fourth Legion as garrison, peeling off enough soldiers from her army that she was unwilling to siege a High Seat, as she’d lose too many soldiers otherwise.

The deserters were also looking on, preventing either side from taking any hard risks, lest they be overrun and crushed.

It was later revealed that the whole civil war was orchestrated by Malicia, in order to avoid being seen as a threat by the Grand Alliance, implying that Marshal Nim had been pulling her punches throughout the entire campaign.

At the end of Book 6, Malicia recognises Nim as her new Black Knight, promoting her to High Marshal of Praes in the process.

### Book 7 - Praes

Nim was present for a council session with Malicia and Ime, to discuss the upcoming campaign against the Army of Callow. There, Malicia gave her full authority on how to conduct the campaign, with the Tower’s full resources available to her.

During the Siege of Wolof, after the Army of Callow ransomed prisoners taken during the Fall of Jinon, Nim sent her personal guard of ogres—the Warhammers— to launch a raid on the Army of Callow. They gated in from Twilight, used an artifact to disable the wards of the camp, before smashing through the palisade.

The bulk of the Warhammers began attacking the supply depots of the Army of Callow, aiming to set the food stores afire while Nim led the a smaller raid party using **Delegate**, guiding them through the camp using **Survey**. There, the Black Knight fought both the Squire and Apprentice, holding them off while her ogres escorted a mage to the ransom gold pit. The mage used a pocket dimension to store all the gold, and the Warhammers covered his retreat.

Catherine made to pursue, but upon seeing Nim nearly kill the Squire, decided to instead intervene against the Black Knight. And though powerful enough to overwhelm the two transitional Names, the Black Knight was ultimately no match for the Black Queen, being easily defeated.

The Black Knight made one last attempt to kill the Squire, but Archer shot her in the eye, killing the soldier she was possessing. This marked the start of Nim’s Pattern of Three against Arthur Foundling.

The body of the soldier Nim possessed was later used to create a new Assassin by Scribe.

Akua Sahelian defected from the Army of Callow, being named Warlock by Malicia and welcomed into the Loyalist Legions, despite Nim’s distrust.

Under Grem One-Eye’s direction, Sepulchral sent a vanguard of two thousand household troops and her entire calvary contingent to nip at the rear of the Loyalist Legions, attempting to goad Marshal Nim into a hasty battle against the Army of Callow.

At Marshal Nim’s order, Akua shattered the Twilight Ways with a ritual, stranding the Army of Callow in the Kala Region. Marshal Nim had leaned on Malicia to pick the Wasteland bare of food in order to both feed the Loyalist Legions, and to deny the Army of Callow foraging, including the Kala Region, where the Loyalist Legions awaited.

Marshal Nim ordered a fort raised at the foot of Moule Hills overnight by her sappers in order to surprise the Army of Callow.

The location of the fort was deliberately picked. It was high enough on the western hills that their siege engines would tear through any besiegers and covered the only road on the region. To the north was the dangerous Gale Ribbon, the east, Nioqu Lake and the Kala Hills. And as she had command of the road, the Loyalist Legions could march south to Kala Fortress far quicker than the Army of Callow.

As soon as the Army of Callow was spotted, Nim deployed her light calvary against them. A thousand light horsemen armed with javelins, backed by mage support. The mages kept Catherine from attacking the horsemen, whom severely bled the Levantine vanguard, though the horsemen were forced into retreat when Archer sniped the mage leading the rituals and the Order of Broken Bells arrived.

With Marshal Nim’s superior position, the Army of Callow decided to go through shepherd paths in the Kala Hills, to escape the region, and began a march there. In response, Marshal Nim deployed goblin skirmishers to harass their retreat through the afternoon.

After an exhausting day, the Army of Callow made camp at the foot of Kala Hills. The fortifications were incomplete, given the terrain and the coming of dusk. But Marshal Nim had foreseen that, sending the Eleventh Legion to take shepherd paths from Risas two days prior and hiding inside the hills to ambush the tired Army of Callow from behind in the night, throwing the camp into chaos even as Marshal Nim marched her other four legions down to pincer them.

The Army of Callow was forced into retreat, Marshal Nim deploying goblins to skirmish and bleed them. Despite it, Nim wasn’t interested in a pitched battle with the Army of Callow, and so refrained from committing too many skirmishers. After the Army of Callow retreated, Marshal Nim captured their camp for herself, and ordered her previous camp at the Moule hills burnt, though not before trapping the campsite.

Marshal Nim also ordered the poisoning of all wells east and west of Kala Hills the next day, though she had to first ask permission from the local lord. She also approached General Wheeler to discuss raising field fortifications to pen the Army of Callow in, trapped between the Loyalist Legions, the Jini Plateau and Nioqe Lake. Hoping to trap them long enough that Catherine would be forced to bargain with Malicia.

Later that day, in an attempt to distract Marshal Nim, Catherine opened a gate to Arcadia above her camp, trying to flood it, and despite the best efforts of Akua and the Legion mages, Masego tore through their sorcery and Catherine flooded the eastern portion of her camp. And without Nim’s noticing, flooded the shepherd paths through the Kala Hills.

That night, the Army of Callow went on the offensive again, deploying five thousand troops and every Named they had. Unwilling to risk a smaller force being baited into an ambush, Marshal Nim ordered the entire Loyalist Legion force to march out in full strength.

Upon noticing the pontoon bridge that the Army of Callow had built across the Nioqe Lake, Marshal Nim ordered her entire calvary contingent to harass the Army of Callow. She eventually succeeded in setting it afire, but not before the bulk of the Army of Callow had retreated across it. Still, she captured some three companies of legionaries that were too slow.

Marshal Nim sent outriders to check on Kala Fortress, and when the riders did not return, two companies of legionaries, which also did not return. Realising that the Army of Callow had taken Kala Fortress and had cut her supply line, Marshal Nim ordered the Loyalist Legions to march on the fortress, but were forced into retreat halfway when she realised she was flanked by Sepulchral’s vanguard.

As part of her attempts to gain Nim’s trust, Akua helped settle the defiant highborn calvary in Nim’s army, and organised the auxiliary mages into proper cabals, which made the Black Knight recognise Akua as useful, albeit not trustworthy. Though it was only after the aforementioned reverses in fortune that Nim finally invited Akua for a private meal, where they had a conversation regarding Nim’s beliefs and how Malicia trusted no one, not even her foremost champion.

When the Army of Callow began raising fortifications, trenches and walls facing the Loyalist Legions, Marshal Nim sent out her calvary to harass them, and although beaten into retreat, Marshal Nim kept up the harassment through the afternoon, until her sappers could begin raising another wall of fortifications to match those of the Army of Callow.

After Archer and the Silver Huntress’ nighttime potshots at Loyalist Legionaries were mistaken for a nighttime attack, the Eighth Legion deployed to face them at the trench line. Marshal Nim deployed the Thirteenth Legion to reinforce the Eighth Legion even as she sent the Eleventh and Fourteenth Legions to attack Sepulchral’s camp, keeping her own Seventh as a reserve.

In order to avoid the Eighth and Thirteenth Legions being overwhelmed before the Eleventh and Fourteenth finished crushing Sepulchral’s vanguard, Marshal Nim deployed her auxiliary calvary to loop around the trenches and flank the Army of Callow.

However, Catherine had foreseen the plan and with the Order of Broken Bells, destroyed the calvary contingent. Forcing Nim to call off her attack on Sepulchral and instead intervene south to prevent the Eighth and Thirteenth Legions from being overwhelmed.

On the second day, both sides began running out of wood to raise their fortifications, forcing them to skirmish in Kala Hills for their wood. The early skirmishes went in the Army of Callow’s favour, as the Levantines were better skirmishers in daytime than even goblins. Compounding this issue was that Sepulchral’s vanguard kept launching guerrilla raids on her supply lines between her main camp and the trenches, forcing her to peel sappers off from the trenches to raise a series of forts around Sepulchral’s camp.

Undaunted, Marshal Nim sourced volunteer guides from Risas, and used their knowledge of the local terrain to feint weakness and bait the Levantines into a series of vicious ambushes on mined grounds that forced them into retreat. Allowing her to claim the better part of the Kala Hills for the Loyalist Legions.

With the stabilisation of the front, on the third day, Marshal Nim sent siege engines down to the trenches, though no battle occured.

Lord Sokoro Abara attempted to send envoys to Marshal Nim, in order to try betray the Army of Callow, but was found out by Eudokia.

## Appearance

As an Ogre, Nim is not a small creature.

Nim's eyes are large and a pale brown leading to pink. She has tanned skin and dark hair with two braids framing her face, while the rest of her hair goes down her back untied. She's described as looking as a brute, which simply means she looks like most ogres. She has a large nose, thick lips and thick skin.

As the Black Knight, Nim has taken to wear plain armour of dark steel plate.

## Powers

As a martial named Nim is capable of drawing upon her name for physical strength.

### Aspects

**Commission**: This aspect allows Nim to consensually possess another person. Hanno suspected that she could only use this aspect on her soldiers. Her soul is transferred into the target's body, and she can survive the death of her own body when using the aspect. If the person she is possessing's body is damaged the aspect fades.

## References

1. ↑ Book 2 - Chapter 17: Aplomb
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Book 3 - Chapter 22: Govern
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Book 3 - Chapter 52: Tensile
4. ↑ Book 6 - Epilogue
5. ↑ Book 5 - Chapter 85: When It Rains
6. ↑ Extra Chapters - Closure
7. ↑ Book 7 - Prologue
8. ↑ Book 7 - Interlude: Legends IV He turned, looking into an ogre’s rough face, and was about to speak when he suddenly closed his mouth. Through the fast-fading clarity the aspect had leant him, he saw in that body two souls.

“Black Knight,” Hanno evenly said.

“Lord Hanno,” she replied. “There will be no need for what I believe you are attempting. Though I will be weakened as I ride my soldier’s body, it will serve until my corpse can be made usable again.”

It was possession, he thought, but not in the way that he had seen it before. It was not a wraith stealing a body, this had been consented to. Explicitly or implicitly he could not tell, but the mark was there. *This is not necromancy, not really. The principle behind it is different. Like a… chain of command, with replaceable faces.* He suspected the Black Knight would not be able to ride a body that was not one of her soldiers.
9. ↑ Book 7 - Chapter 5: Incursion I heard bones break and froze in surprise. I’d not hit her that hard, not for a Named, and that was the moment if fell into place. My limbs grown strong with the touch of my growing Name, I moved forward and flipped over the gasping ogre. She did not resist, broken. I stripped off her helmet and a single look at those dark eyes was enough to confirm my suspicion: the power in there was fading. Not because I’d killed its wielder, but because I’d damaged the *vessel* too badly.