Pyroviking

## Affiliation

* Northham Preservation Society
* Dragon Hunters
* Discord
* Halfast

**Pyroviking** was a veteran of Dragonhollow most active during the Third Era.

Though he kept a low profile at first, after surviving the costly Northham Wars he became actively involved in planetary politics and established himself as a major real estate baron in Northham.

# History

### Early Life

Pyroviking arrived in Swampwater via airship on 2E:153.

Having lived on many worlds but never finding one quite to his liking, he quickly warmed to Dragonhollow's eclectic mix of community and challenge.

Pyro spent the majority of his time exploring and scavenging ruined castles and homes abandoned by those who moved to the Woodlands or fled during the Steel Wars.

### Northlands

Pyroviking made the journey to the newly opened Northlands and arrived in Northham Hall on 3E:1.

Like many residents, Pyro despised the Northlands' harsh landscapes and dearth of natural resources. Nevertheless, he adapted quickly and made the most of his surroundings, settling in the sprawling southern desert and using its sand to begin designing a large glassed-in residence christened Pyromania.

As the closest neighbor to their Dragonstone fortress, Pyro often found himself targeted by the dreaded Dragonslayers during the costly Northham Wars. They repeatedly bombed his home with explosive TNT. Rather than be discouraged, Pyro welcomed their attacks because it helped him excavate the area for construction purposes.

Pyro ran afoul of reviled and unpopular VideoGameDragon and was forced to slay him and his cohorts, the only kills ever registered to his name.

### Timecop

Pyro raised the issue of strange time distortions that made completing basic activities dangerous and difficult, calling on Eris to find a working solution. Her Archpriest Azureila vowed to investigate the matter but felt he was overreacting and blowing the problem out of proportion.

He championed the cause in the Forum, specifically calling out several individuals whose mob grinders in Northham were so productive they were causing tears in the space-time continuum, including 0ut of 0rder who denied the allegations altogether. When he finally threatened to abandon Dragonhollow over the slowdown, Azureila temporarily placated him with promises that action would be taken if warranted.

The Priesthood's investigation, assisted by experiments carried out at Golden Glen by Cary and Tox, later revealed that the distortions were largely the result of the Chicken Pox curse that left billions of chickens throughout the land. This partially exonerated 0ut of 0rder but Pyro refused to apologize, insisting that the five hundred mobs his always-on XP farm inside Kaput spawned at all hours were excessive and contributed to the issue.

Eris eventually issued an edict that forbade the existence of any farm lacking an auto-kill mechanism within five hundred meters of Northham city limits.

### Trouble with Terry

Pyro then turned the focus of his campaign against local iron farms that were malfunctioning and infesting the city with marauding iron golems.

After Pwn and Zen promptly fixed their farms, Nut discovered that Terry's was still causing erratic fluctuations in time and Azureila ordered him to make the proper repairs. But Pyro reported the problem persisted and was vocal about Terry's failure to fix it.

On 3E:141 the dispute carried over in the Forum when Terry countered his claims. Their dialogue quickly devolved into personal insults and embroiled the community in a discussion on the responsibilities of individual citizens. Pyro's position came to be supported by Eris, Nut, Azureila, and Jack Firebane while Terry had the backing of Panda.

The two men later resolved their quarrel amicably. Terry removed the farm altogether and Pyro offered his assistance in building a less wasteful replacement. Both apologized for their crude language and juvenile behavior, albeit rather sarcastically from Pyro.

### Real Estate Tycoon

By the late Third Era, constant war had left the city of Northham a smoking ruin. Rubble left behind by broken towers, defensive walls, and explosive craters lay everywhere. Furthermore, as more and more citizens had abandoned Dragonhollow to escape the violence, vandals and vagrants had moved in to desecrate nearby structures while still others crafted hideous hovels out of cobble and dirt.

Pyroviking believed that this eyesore—the first thing visitors saw upon arriving to Dragonhollow—was driving away potential new residents and leaving a very poor first impression. Recalling the beauty and wonder of Swampwater, he joined the Northham Preservation Society to assist in their efforts to improve the city and its surroundings.

Pyro began to quietly acquire property on the city's north side that formerly belonged to Zerg, FlyingPokemon, and AJ and make it more presentable. He planted trees, repaired damaged terrain, and opened a public iron farm accessible to all residents.

His tactics were seen as predatory and opportunistic at best by some residents. Terry specifically objected to what he interpreted as a sense of superiority in Pyro's actions—that the man saw others as unfit to own their land and that everyone was better of if he camed in and “fixed” it. Pyro was unapologetic, seeing his efforts as a public service and maintaining that he took no joy in protecting the community from the incompetence and selfishness of others.

### Departure

With Eris and her Priesthood absent and the Dragonslayers defeated, the local population continued to dwindle as Northham became a ghost town. Pyro eventually grew bored with his real estate restoration efforts and bequeathed much of his remaining holdings to the Northham Preservation Society.

On 3E:172, his Pyromania base of operations lived up to its name when it caught fire and burned rapidly due to the overabundance of wood and vegetation inside. Some were quick to blame the Dragonslayers and their sympathizers, but they had been executed months prior. Because the property's claim deed had expired and the magical protections offered by the golden shovel had faded, it's possible a lightning strike had caused the fire. Ozven noted that the storage room inside survived the blaze due to being made from solid stone, yet all of the treasures and supplies within were gone, meaning the fire was likely set by scavengers covering their tracks.

Regardless of the true culprit, the fire raged for months afterward in the absence of Pyro.

### During the Dark Age

Pyroviking participated in the Northham Town Hall Meeting on 3E:181 to discuss the future of Dragonhollow. He was thrilled to leave the Northlands behind and excited that newly discovered Summerlands would have large geographic biomes and no restrictive Wall, but couldn't help but be disappointed in policy changes that were to make frontier life far easier and less challenging. Even so, he looked forward to the coming changes.

Alas, it was not to be. Eris had grown tired of her ungrateful subjects and their incessant bickering and whining. Renaming the planet Wyvernhollow, she carried out mass purges and radically altered the way her world worked, denying access to anyone not on the White List. This period would eventually come to be known to historians as the Dark Age.

Pyroviking tried to get on the list but when he learned that Eris was no longer adding names to it, he bid his fellow residents farewell and departed for other adventures elsewhere in the universe, joining many others in the Scattering.

### Later Years

Pyroviking briefly returned after the Dark Age came to an end and Eris reopened the Summerlands, but he did not stay long.

He once again journeyed back to Dragonhollow on 4E:397. Due to his long absence he felt like a fresh arrival again and needed some assistance familiarizing himself with Teleport Scrolls, Hearthstones, and the items available in the Summergate Underground and Snowcrest Underground token shops. He was especially impressed with Summergate Sematary, where he had a grave.

Pyro declined the offer of a personal mailbox at the Summergate Post Office.

In the Dragonslayer Referendum, he voted to allow the return of the Dragonslayers from exile despite his tumultuous history with the reavers, as he felt they would bring added excitement and danger than had been sorely lacking.

Though he met the requirements, Pyro never applied for nor received his veteran tags.

He did not join his fellow Hallowers in the Badlands but spent four days exploring Pandora as a member of the Dragon Hunters. He was last seen in Draghonollow on 5E:153.

During the Eighth Era, Pyro answered a personal invitation from HyperSilence to join the colony on Halfast and received the rank of Veteran on 8E:271.

Though his instincts were dulled after years abroad in softer settings, he quickly shook off the rust and built an underground base with a fully functional beacon. Nevertheless, on 8E:290 he suddenly announced he was leaving, unclaimed his property, and publicly announced the coordinates. A number of scavengers—including Alec, Lex, and Pwn—descended on the location to loot anything they could carry.