Raunfalt

Raunfalt fan art by @SirMalervik

## Background

*"Please...end it." ~ Raunfalt*

Raunfalt was an ancient giant king who reigned over a kingdom in the sky. Fearing that his legend would fall to the sands of time, he longed to have an eternal kingdom. One day, Stillhavity came before Raunfalt offering him the answer to his dreams. Raunfalt agreed, unknowing that his "eternal kingdom" would come at the price of his free will. The ancient king was helpless to stop committing repeated atrocities in pursuit of tributes to sacrifice, which granted his body further extended life. According to Stillhavity, Raunfalt killed every human on the continent of Alivast before the most recent colonization.

Raunfalt's body functioned based on Stillhavity's instruction and self-preservation, leaving no control to the mind inside. Though he was still vulnerable to harm in this state, he could regenerate all wounds over time. He could only be permanently harmed through damaging his contract eye, a furnace within his treasure chamber.

Raunfalt reappeared west of the City of Alivast, stealing a dragonslayer sword from Dragon's Take, the head of the fallen Paladin Rey from Everbright, and the child Colette Black from Wolf's Den. A newly formed adventuring party called The Unexpectables were sent by Abacus Fleetfinger to investigate the thefts and discovered the rampaging giant. After meeting with the druid Rauul, they confronted Stillhavity in his keep, destroying Stillhavity's furnace and bringing and end to Raunfalt's destruction.

When he died, Raunfalt's spirit and the spirits of those he held captive were seen passing on to their next destination, the captive spirits towards the sky and Raunfalt into the ruins of his kingdom, clinging to his weapon to escape being absorbed into Stillhavity's hellish plane. The Nerasmun Collective later excavated the sword from the ruins and brought it to Alivast. It was placed in Edward Enrobso's collection of items within the Shadow Realm which also includes weapons from the native gnoll tribe and Dullmar's Soul Crystal. Edward had the damaged blade restored and offered it to Borky to assist in the task of convincing the outlying orc tribes to ally themselves with Alivast. Borky is now in possession of the blade and can telepathically communicate with Raunfalt through it.

Raunfault had a brush with another fate worse than death were it not for Crabbius the Mighty's intervention, and getting him and his current wielder to safety.

## Personality

In life, Raunfalt was seen as a great and powerful king. His strength was unrivaled and his kingdom prospered, but he was also consumed by his fear of one day being forgotten. This fear was what led him to bargain with Stillhavity, but it did not bring him the peace of mind he sought. Raunfalt suffered in his undead state, slaughtering thousands and taking their heads and treasures to sustain himself. His body fought to preserve itself while his mind sought the release of death. When the final blow was struck, Raunfalt's soul refused to be absorbed into Stillhavity's realm, clinging to his sword and the Material Plane through the sheer power of spite. His enslavement has left him with a deep hatred for Stillhavity and its spawn as well as all beings that invade the material plane.

Raunfalt as a spirit handles himself with the pride an honor of a king, despite no longer having land or subjects. He has a somewhat short temper and little tolerance for nonsense. He is also rather melancholic and exists with many regrets that he seeks to atone for.

Raunfalt has a great deal of respect and a little bit of fear for female giants, believing them to be far smarter than their male counterparts due to being able to do math, among other things. Raunfalt holds the teachings of the All Father, main god of the giants, very highly.

## Raunfalt the Blade

*"I am Raunfalt and I am the blade." ~ Raunfalt*

 Through sheer force of spite and his hatred of Stillhavity, Raunfalt avoided being absorbed into the godling's realm by binding his soul to his blade. When Borky first encountered him, he had a vision of the giant king on his throne and the two "Came to an agreement".

When someone holds the blade, if Raunfalt wishes he can bring their consciousness into the realm where his spirit exists to communicate with them directly. In this state, the wielder sees the king on his throne.

Raunfalt can communicate telepathically with Borky, but has a difficult time when he is in a rage. He can also perceive the world around him much like an ordinary human could.

### Western Sky's Howl

Raunfalt can command the winds to protect his wielder for a brief period. A whirling mist surrounds the wielder and deflects melee attacks once a day.

### Outworlder's Banishment

Raunfalt's servitude to Stillhavity left him with a deep hatred of all extraplanar beings. The power of his spite is so great that when his wielder strikes a particularly fierce blow, any extraplanar being is banished back to its home plane if it fails to resist the affect. This effect is especially potent against anything that is the spawn of Stillhavity. The stronger Raunfalt's wielder, the more difficult it is to resist.

### All-Father's Law

Raunfalt holds the teachings of the god of the giants as very sacred and this devotion has manifested in his abilities as a weapon. The All-Father taught that giant should not fight giant, and to respect this, Raunfalt is incapable of harming a giant.

## Relationships

### Von Ren

Von Ren was a giant king of the Eastern Sky that fell in combat by Raunfalt's hand.

### Stillhavity

Through Stillhavity's tempting visions, and Raunfalt's pride, he became a slave to the demigod and created havoc in his name, though he long regretted the cost of having to deal with such a creature, and was relieved to finally be away from it's control after being slain by the Unexpectables. In death, Raunfalt expresses nothing but seething hatred for the demigod and wishes nothing more than to slay anything that happens to be related to it.

### Siduri

After narrowly surviving the battle at Hellmouth's Grave, Siduri attempted to rally her fellow soldier into rejoicing and rebuilding their fallen kingdom. However, before they could lick their wounds, Raunfalt appeared on the battlefield, striking Siduri down in a single blow, severing the Helmet of 1,000 Hearts from its host. He then went on to kill the remaining survivors.

### Colette Black

Raunfalt's deal with Stillhavity bound him to take what his defeated foes valued most. Thus, when he defeated Payton Black, he kidnapped the town leader's six year old daughter. Though he could not directly act against the curse upon him, Raunfalt attempted to comfort the girl, as well as apologize to her for the actions he could no longer control. Raunfalt later asked Borky whether or not Colette survived the attempted sacrifice, and when Borky confirmed that she did, he was greatly relieved. Raunfalt is incredibly grateful for the kindness Colette showed him despite the terrible things he did to her and regrets the harm he did immensely. When Borky encountered Colette two years later, Raunfalt instructed his wielder to allow the girl to touch his hilt so they could commune. After about a ten minute "conversation" Rainfall was greatly relieved that he had inflicted no lasting trauma on the child. He then made one request of Borky - if the orc should ever become unable to wield him, or wished to lay him down, that Colette should be his next wielder.

### Rey

Rey was one of the casualties of Raunfalt's pact with Stillhavity. While protecting Everbright from the giant, Raunfalt struck her down and removed her head, forcing the town to bury her incomplete.

### Borky

Borky is Raunfalt's new wielder, a position granted on the condition that Borky would use him to strike down any of Stillhavity's spawn. Raunfalt believes in Borky's abilities but is also very critical of the orc. He has cited that while Borky has the potential to be a great leader, he will never achieve that height unless he masters and harmonizes his father's brutal leadership alongside his mother's compassionate nature. He also expects Borky to treat him with the respect a former king deserves. Borky has displayed a wide range of emotions toward Raunfalt; somber respect toward powerful adversary, delight at the ownership of a talking sword, and awkward social clumsiness surrounding kingly formalities. Borky is slowly getting used to Raunfalt's preferences and refers to him as "Your Majesty."

Raunfalt severely reprimanded Borky for allowing the United Clergy of Orun to divide and conquer the party as they did and nearly getting them all killed. He did however seem to strike a chord with Borky afterwards.

After the shenanigans with the Crab Mech ended with a glorious, shrapnel-saturated bang, Raunfalt took Borky aside to coach him on how to negotiate with orc tribes through some casual roleplay. He instructed Borky to calmly but sternly explain what he and his party can do in a nature akin to bargaining. This advice proved useful when Borky perfectly emulated Raunfalt's instructions to scouts from *The Blood of Gnash.* Raunfalt also expressed immense regret towards his kidnapping Colette, asking Borky to let him make amends if they ever met again.

Borky has a bad habit of sticking Raunfalt's blade into the ground while he strikes a heroic or thoughtful pose. Raunfalt hates this, reminding his wielder that he is a giant of the sky, not the earth.

### Zenrio

Zenrio was the person to find Raunfalt first while in Canary's Deep, but because of their language differences, neither could understand each other. Zenrio suggested interpretive dance, which only caused further frustration. Zenrio tried to make amends, but it's up in the air whether or not he understood it.

## Trivia

* One aspect of Raunfalt's condition was that any iron he touched would begin to emit red smoke. However once he left the iron would quickly return to normal.
* Raunfalt doesn't like the idea of being sheathed, instead preferring to be wrapped in cloth.
* Raunfalt when he is enraged can expel gusts of wind as a sword. When he is underwater, this manifests as the sword spewing bubbles.
* He does not like being called "Mr. Raunfalt."
* The extraction of Raunfalt's sword from the ruins was noticed by Ozzy Enrobso.
* Raunfalt doesn't like Borky sticking his blade in sand or dirt.
* He can see the world around him with "sword-o-vision" per MontyGlu