Krea

"*I fear no man, but that 'witch'... it scares me.*"
—Far'ukor on Krea.

**Krea the Delirious** is a warrior and shaman. In her youth, she was brought up into shamanism and eventually integrated into a spiritual warrior. Later in life, she served in two military campaigns as a mercenary. She is noted for her ferocity in combat. Born a war child, she is the bastard daughter of Cossack, infamous chieftain of the Burned Dogs Tribe in Westmarch.

Krea's association to the Rune Rogues became a positive turning point in her life; she married and devoted her life to Horvath the Barbarian, whom she had met through the group. The couple would later settle down together and have a daughter, Freyia. She has developed a close friendship—akin to a sister—with the witch Alexandria, who has helped expel many of her violent tendencies. In Torrance, she is called **The** **Bog Witch of the Oak** by reputation.

## History

Krea is among the dozen bastards to be born to Cossack and is his third child. Her mother, a shaman and vagabond, took no pleasure in raising her; Cossack abandoned Krea's mother shortly after her conception and did not meet his daughter until she was seventeen. Krea began living on her own at the age of six after her mother left her to be fostered in a small village in rural Torrance. She was later sold into an orphanage where she lived for several months.

Though she received no formal education, Krea learned to speak the common tongue and adapt artisan work. During puberty, Krea began experiencing voices in her head that she claims were telling her to indulge in violence urges. She ran away from her orphanage the day her caretaker broke her nose, a punishment she received for constant bullying of other children. After a long trek through the wilderness, Krea reunited with her mother's Shaman Tribe in the wilderness of Oakoasis.

### ***Spirits and Demons***

Krea began a spiritual journey while living her solitary life in Oakoasis. The shamans of her tribe kept a distance from her, forcing her to hunt and fight for survival. By age thirteen Krea was living deep in the forest of Oakoasis where she basked with the most powerful spirits and seldom communicated with the living. She would occasionally receive visits from her mother and the other shamans who wandered the region, including The Overseer. Outsiders or lost travelers who encountered her would typically be hunted or ensnared in her traps, but those who would live would later dub her **The** **Bog Witch of the Oak**.

Overtime her reputation became incorporated into folk lore from years past, prompting fictional - as well as non-fictional - stories of her sinister endeavors among a child's bedside or a tavern's hearth. Krea's lengthy interactions with the spirits of the forest were unprecedented even onto her shaman tribe; the shamans came to respect her and some of her peers viewed Krea as a messiah. Within a year of her arrival to Oakoasis the denizens from the towns and villages surrounding the forest warned travelers of her whereabouts within, leading to several attempt to hunt or capture her for bounty.

In 1262, Krea became briefly acquainted and romantically involved with Ronar, a unyielding warrior from the Hill Tribe of Westmarch who traveled to Torrance with an unsavory mercenary group; together, they offered their services to the regions near Tristam. Her shamanistic rituals were often utilized in combat situation, allowing her to channel transcendental energies into the world to aid her allies. Krea also equipped rare findings of magic runes. Chieftain Cossack eventually united with his long lost daughter but was quick to disregard her; instead, he recruited Ronar as a companion.

Later in life, Cossack speculated that Krea's spirituality and shamanism spread to Ronar's psyche in the years following their initial acquaintance, alas drove Ronar into insanity and barbarism.

   Her spiritual journey lead to insight about life and death, and in 1264 she ventured out of Oakoasis once again along with Ronar and into the surrounding regions Torrance. That year she and Ronar were recruited by the Tristam monarchy into the War of the Black King as she and her companions were assigned to raid along the northern coast of Westmarch. Her fighting style surprised her peers, as she was versatile with an assortment of weaponry. Despite not participating in any battles alongside the Knights of Torrance, the mercenaries Krea traveled with were rewarded by allowing to keep any loot and gold from the Westmarch belligerents.

After the war ended, Krea returned to find Torrance in chaos. During a short period in Deep Creek Forest, Krea and company fought off an attack from demonic highwaymen. She collected the skull of a deceased demon, as well as several other bones and organs, then returned home to Oakoasis following her travels in the regions plagued by demons. Ronar would eventually return back to the Hill Tribes in Westmarch. In the years following her encounter with the minions of the Burning Hells that were summoned during the Emergence of Evil, Krea and many of her mercenary associates, such as Ronar, slowly fell into madness.

## Character and Appearance

Krea's solitary existence within the forrest has made her eccentric, her demeanor nearly unparalleled save Konar the Berserker who she once had a brief romance with. She is considered by those who have witnessed her in combat to be a warrior without peer, with her erratic behavior making her fearful and unpredictable. During combat, she is known to gnaw at the flesh and bones of victims; according to rumors, she has indulged in cannibalism on several occasions.

Her father Cossack considered her his 'worst mistake' and often contemplated killing her. In her youth, Krea's mental instability had a long list of symptoms, including faulty perception, delusion, inappropriate actions and feelings, and withdrawal from reality. Though she lacks a civilized personality, Krea has shown to be vexing and playful, earning the affection of some of her more tolerable comrades.

Krea is visually appalling and her smell atrocious to her foes in combat. After her journey through shamanism, Krea's appearance greatly changed during her solitary confinement in the forests of Westmarch. This isolation has left her little to no civility and she appears to be utterly savage; she is prone to violent outbursts, and on several occasions has exhibited violent tendencies. She often sports warpaint while hunting, mostly through the use of blood. The tunics and leathers she wears are often gathered from the animals that are hunted. Krea tends to touch, smell and taste things habitually, being constantly in touch with her surroundings.

Krea's rescue at the hands of the Rune Rogues set in motion a state of healing to her broken mind; her service under Alec Kylar allowed Krea to learn and understand social norms that were otherwise unknown to her. Alec also managed to greatly decrease her mental state to reduce her violent outbursts through psionic probing. Struggling to maintain friendships, Krea managed to develop a close relationship with Horvath the Barbarian, but not without the latter suffering abuse.