Walpurga Forrawyn

*“Conviction is a fist of stone at the heart of all things. Its form is shaped by sure hands, the detritus quickly swept from view. It is built to withstand, built to defy challenge, and when cornered it fights without honour. There is nothing more terrible than conviction.”*

 -Walpurga Forrawyn

## History

The daughter of a great and terrible northern sorcerer named Ardeo, Walpurga was the heir to a lineage that traced back to the mage lords of the Frostfell. An anachronism, Ardeo was the last true wizarding monarch of the Reich Nördlich, stubbornly holding out. At last, his time came when Franz Forrawyn and the Hexenjägers descended upon his petty kingdom, killing him and his men. Walpurga, his infant daughter, was nearly slain as well, but Forrawyn chose to have mercy upon her. He raised her himself, believing that he could cleanse her bloodline. In doing so, he might find a third path, beyond the bloody murder of the Reich or the enslavement of Nadezhda. Walpurga was told of her father's sins, and told that it was her duty to repent for them. One sign of magical power, and she would be put to the sword. As she grew up, many of the Hexenjägers despised her and took pleasure in frightening her, but at no point did she show any signs of magical power. Franz Forrawyn himself took charge of her education, but tried not to grow close to her, fearing that he might need to kill her one day. This proved in vain, as Forrawyn to his horror found himself enamored by her, and in a stroke of folly, made her his wife. She bore him one daughter, Reise. Only a few years afterwards, she would accompany him in the war against the Windwalker. This would be her undoing. for during the war, she would meet a young Abi Eodauga. The Marshal of Nadezhda was the first mage she had ever met, and Eodauga - prodigiously skilled at hiding his own magical power - identified in her a spark of the arcane that Franz Forrawyn had been unable or unwilling to see. Disregarding the consequences, Abi Eodauga privately told Walpurga of his observation, sending her into a state of terror. Taking pity on the Fuhrer's wife, Eodauga offered to teach her how to hide her powers, as he had when he lived in the Reich. Walpurga accepted the offer, and Forrawyn, busy with the war effort, never noticed. At the great final battle of the war, Walpurga would meet her end. Without even realizing it, she would wield the arcane in defense of her husband, shielding him from the wrathful demigod. She became the first - and the last - sorcerer to fight in service of the Reich. After the battle, a despairing Forrawyn would take her into custody. Abi Eodauga would present an offer of mercy, suggesting that she could be collared and taken to Nadezhda. Franz Forrawyn would refuse, choosing instead to perform the blood eagle himself.

Of her daughter, Franz Forrawyn became terrified that she would inherit her mother's sorcerous powers, forcing him to kill her as well. For this reason, he kept Reise as far away from him as possible, telling her nothing about Walpurga, and charging his trusted aide, General Benno Lang, to raise her. It took a great deal for him to accept Reise as her heir and general, for it was much easier for him to gird himself in suspicion and contempt, shielding himself from his shame.

## Personality

*"They shall be pure of heart and strong of body, untainted by doubt and unsullied by self-aggrandizement. They will be bright stars on the firmament of battle, angels of death whose shining wings bring swift annihilation to the practitioners of witchcraft. So it shall be for a thousand times for a thousand years, unto the very end of eternity and the extinction of mortal flesh."*

-Walpurga Forrawyn

Walpurga was a famously silent figure, often only speaking to her husband - and later on, her daughter. She gave every indication of being a devoted and loyal partner to the Fuhrer of the Reich Nördlich. She revered the Hexenjägers, often describing them in worshipful terms. Only after she had a daughter, and the threat of death extended beyond her person, did she ever reveal a terror and disgust for the merciless knights of the Reich.