Deathlord Morlund

Castle Krakensburg

> "How’s it feel, knowing you’re just as bloodthirsty as the rest of us? You’re no better than I!”
>
>

Deathlord Morlund was a Vulkod vampire warrior who ruled over Bloodmoon keep.

## Biography

Little is known about Morlund before the Siege of Vandelheim, but it is known that his father, Deathlord Morgault, once held the throne of Bloodmoon keep, but was slain by Alexandra. He also dueled Anorius at some point, which left him with a scar on his face. Both of these events festered in him a hatred for the people of Vandelheim.

### Blood on the Snow

Decades after his father's death, Morlund began the Siege of Vandelheim. His first target was Anorius and Rosa's house, where he had hoped to make Anorius suffer for humilating him years ago. Not finding his daughter there, he instead opted to mortally wound Anorius, and leave him with the knowledge he would die having failed to save his daughter. Morlund then headed for the church, where Rosa was reportedly taking cover. As he stormed through the doors, some of the militia tried to stop him, but were easily overpowered. As he was about to kill Rosa, he was stopped by the arrival of Cecil, the son of Alexandra. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, he dueled and defeated Cecil, and killed Rosa, ruining the life of his enemy's son.

After that, Morlund knew Cecil would take revenge, so he returned to Bloodmoon Keep to bide his time. He first sent DeMarkov to invite Cecil to the next hunt he was planning, to see if Cecil could be enticed through his vampiric desires. When this failed, he sent Rakhan to kill Cecil, not wanted to bother with swatting away such a pest. When Rakhan returned, injured and bleeding, Morlund saw that there might be more to Cecil, and decided to duel him himself. Knowing the vampires of Bloodmoon Keep were only controllable through food, he set them as guard dogs throughout the keep, in an effort to see if Cecil could pass his final test. Eventually, Cecil pushed through, and engaged Morlund in combat. After a long duel, Morlund gained the upper hand, and was about to kill Cecil, when he began to taunt him. To Morlund's horror, Cecil began to taunt back, and then drove his hand through Morlund's chest, killing him. However, Morlund's soul lingered, claimed upon death by a mysterious god, The Moon Lord

### Season of Red Leaves

Centuries later, The Moon Lord caused Morlund's skull, still radiating with unholy magic, to manifest itself, along with a small pocket of Belwyn on Galerus, in the province of Eversong. Almost immediately, the skull began to corrupt the surrounding woods, turning the once beautiful autumn trees dark and lifeless.

After the corruption had spread throughout the southern woods, Lord Anzu eventually caught wind of this. Sending Rowan Von Friedrich and Saber to Eversong to destroy the skull, they, along with The Heroes of Eversong, Cecil, Sçad, and Rayvon Shadowsong eventually found the skull. Unfortunately, Rayvon accidentally activated the skull, resulting in his soul being swallowed by Morlund, and bringing him back to life. Taunting Cecil and the heroes, Morlund dueled them until he mortally wounded Sçad's daughter, Ulixes. Deciding his time was being wasted, he left Bloodmoon keep and rose the Dark Citadel in northern Eversong, fully merging Belwyn and Eversong into his own dark kingdom.

Almost immediately, Morlund got to work establishing his rule. Finding the Dark Citadel infested with mindless undead, Morlund fought through the horde, reaching the crypts. Finding two vampires, the Vulkod Cornell and the Nosferos Gharon, Morlund recruited them as his lieutenants, and set about the revival of Clan Bloodmoon. Sending them to deal with his newfound enemies, Morlund got to work preparing the ritual to bring The Moon Lord to power in Akrenar.

When the Shadow Army stormed The Dark Citadel, the heroes of Eversong made their way to the throne room, intent on killing Morlund. After a long and grueling fight, Morlund felt himself beginning to lose, and retreated to the roof of the citadel. When the heroes arrived, they found Morlund channeling the power of The Moon Lord. Re-engaging Morlund in battle, the battle ended when Rosa's spirit appeared, and fired a beam of radiant sunlight into Morlund, turning him to ash. However, The Moon lord rose from his throne, sealing Morlund's ashes in a large coffin, before disappearing.

When Cecil appeared in Mordenheim to separate Belwyn and Eversong, Morlund reappeared, and along with The Moon Lord nearly killed Cecil. However, Rosa appeared again and helped Cecil fight off the two of them, with Morlund being killed when Cecil repeatedly stabbed him and The Moon Lord was banished, leaving Morlund without an anchor to the world.

### The Red Death

After the failed Eversong campaign, The Moon Lord began preparing for his next scheme. He needed a champion to combat Cecil, to weaken him and force him into submission. To this end, he raised Morlund once again, imbuing him with power and granting him a new title: The Red Death. The Moon Lord also trained Morlund to overcome his rage and ego, turning him into a coldhearted and brutal warrior. When Cecil began his journey towards Castle Krakensburg, Morlund ambushed him in Arglostahd, and heavily wounded hum, only retreating when Cecil's draconic abilities began to awaken.

Next, Morlund got to work raising an army of the dead, laying another trap for Cecil. When Cecil arrived in front of Castle Krakensburg, he and Morlund began a duel, during which Morlund's helmet was knocked off, revealing his identity. With this, Morlund raised the army, intent on destroying Cecil.

### One Last Kiss

As the army raised around Morlund and Cecil, the two warriors reengaged. During the ensuing battle, Morlund once again critically wounded Cecil, nearly killing him. However, Cecil's powers fully awakened, and became a dragon, incinerating Morlund.

However, Morlund's soul still survived, and was quickly returned to life by The Moon Lord. By this time, Morlund had become tired of his never ending fight with Cecil, and set up an anti magic field in the castle's entryway. There, the two of them had their final battle, where Morlund's sword was impaled into his shoulder, mirroring his first fight with Cecil. Sharing one last talk with Cecil, he accepted his death, and he died for the final time.

## Personality

Morlund was extermely arrogant, bloodthirsty, vengeful, and sadistic. He reveled in seeing the suffering of others, and treated Cecil's vengeance like it was a game. This would lead to his downfall, however, as he underestimated the extend of Cecil's true power and rage during their final battle, and realized too late that he was outmatched.

When he began to lose a battle, his more wrathful side came out, and Morlund became a cruel, ruthless monster.

During his time as The Red Death, Morlund became almost a completely different person. Instead of the egotistical and bloodthirsty savage he usually was, Morlund was much more reserved and collected, almost honorable. Despite that, he was still just as brutal, nearly killing Cecil during their first battle.

After he was revealed as The Red Death, Morlund returned to his old ways, though with a bit more amicability. During his final battle with Cecil, he seemed almost proud of how far he had come, and died accepting that Cecil was stronger than him.

## Abilities and Equipment

Being a Vulkod, Morlund possessed a fearsome level of physical prowess and resilience. He was often able to hold back and swat away Cecil, who was a pureblood vampire, well above the average strength level, and when empowered by The Moon Lord, it took two blasts of concentrated sunlight combined with radiant magic to put him down.

Strangely, he also possessed and utilized magic, unlike many other Vulkod. He would often fire bolts of black, flaming energy, and could summon a wall of fire to trap opponents, forcing them into a duel.

When he became the Red Death, he gained a new sword and armor, and became even stronger. He also had a level of mastery over undeath, able to raise an entire army to fight Cecil.

## Appearance

Morlund was described as a "tall, burly, grey skinned Vampire, with short, slicked back hair, and a large scar next to his eye". He wore red armor with a large blue cape, and carried a massive greatsword.

As the Red Death, he wore black and red armor, lined with fur and with a horned helmet. When his helmet was knocked off, Morlund's face was revealed to have partially decomposed, a large portion of his face missing and showing a skull.