Kharn

Kharn, not to be confused with the Kharn empire, is an infamous war hero of the second era, many Orcs respect him for popularizing the ideals that the Kharn empire is built upon

## Life

#### Childhood

Not much is known about the Orc warrior's birth and early childhood, however what is known that he was found by a group of Orc scouts high up in the mountains, he was covered in blood, not of his own, ***but of another Orc's...***

"What in the name of Karas is that?" said one of the scouts, perplexed at the situation

"You, what is your name?" They asked him.

The Orc child muttered one word

"Kharn."

### Life as a warrior

As a warrior Kharn was quite respected within in his local tribes, his strength was said to be unrivalled within the local region, much to the displeasure of his rivals and superiors. One thing to note about Kharn is that, despite his immense strength, he fought for his ideals, to change the traditionalist mindset of the Orcs.

When high-chieftain Muk-Zugh Yaf came to his village and demanded that all the warriors within the tribe submit to him, Kharn refused. His compatriots all thought he had gone mad, refusing a high-chieftain was an act only a madman would do. In the eastern mountains the High-chieftains had the greatest armies and individually were some of the strongest people within the east, no matter how powerful Kharn was, he could not defeat armies. But then, he made a proposal to the high-chieftain

"If you can best me in unarmed combat, I shall submit to your will."

Muk-Zugh laughed, his laughter roared throughout the entire village and nearly shattered the eardrums of everyone near

"Very well, I accept your proposal, young warrior. I have not met a man as half as brazen as you in my entire life."

The battle between the two began, to everyone's utter shock and disbelief, Kharn had managed to keep up with the monstrously powerful chieftain. Each blow they exchanged tore flesh and crushed bone, despite Muk-Zugh's advanced age, his strength and stamina felt boundless to Kharn. This was the first time Kharn had ever faced an opponent who truly matched him and perhaps, even overpower him, with every single blow he took, he tried harder and harder to close the gap. Although Kharn's strength grew with each passing blow, his body could not handle the accumulated strain and he collapsed, laying on the ground defeated.

Muk-Zugh, recognizing Kharn's strength forced him to enter his army with a great celebration, in the 7 years that Kharn spent in the Yaf Dynasty, he reaffirmed his ideals and grew ever-stronger, becoming the youngest warlord at the age of 30.

### Life as a Warlord

Kharn was now known as one of the strongest people in the entire Dynasty, surpassing his lord and fellow warlords. He was feared and respected even by the other High-Chieftains

Muk-Zugh's son, Yul-Khuz took over after his father's death at the hands of an enemy ambush. Kharn was good friends with Yul-Khuz, seeing him as different from those violent, warmongering maniacs who roamed the Eastern Mountains. Yul-Khuz dreamed of a united region, without ceaseless conflicts between tribes and dynasties, a great kingdom that would not divide itself over trivial reasons.

Kharn's goal had been set since a long time, it was to change the orc's current culture which promoted violence and constant war-mongering. But despite his influence and strength he could not change the thoughts of hundreds of thousands by himself, he was a warrior, not a leader so he decided to record his beliefs in a book, a journal, hoping that it would eventually be able to reach the core of his society and change it.

About a decade after he had became a Warlord, he heard news of a nation in the far west, a nation of high-elves preparing to attack their territory to take their resources and land, he quickly moved to the border outposts to get ready for the upcoming war. The nation they were fighting was the great and mighty ancient nation of Hyomel, which had existed since the first era. The empire comprised itself almost entirely of high elves. However, ever since the long and ceaseless wars with the Wood Elf tribes they have grown weaker, in an attempt to regain lost resources, they had unknowingly crossed into the eastern mountains and began excavating for gold and other materials. Eventually the tribe that had control over the mountain heard news of this trespassing and the conflict heated up, turning into a war with the 5 High-Chieftains uniting to face Hyomel.

### Time in the war

When the Hyomel armies had finally reached the border and attempted to siege the region of Gulror, ruled over by the Ogruguk dynasty, the Yaf dynasty acted quickly and sent Kharn and his cavalry as reinforcements to aid the defenders, Kharn met with the warlord in charge with the defense and together they were able to fortify the castello. Setting up barricades and extra protection against the sieging army. Using the artillery weaponry to whittle down their forces, laying traps for them to step into. The Hyomel forces could simply not keep up with this unfamiliar land and lost their wits, making them easy prey for the orc warriors. The invading army was repelled relatively easily.

Two years later, Kharn had met his match when his army was nearly destroyed by the elven forces, the army was led by a man named Mundeus, a battle-hardened and wise general of Hyomel. The battle took place in a dead and dry land, Kharn was at the front as always, leading the charge against the Hyomel soldiers. He cleaved through the enemy soldiers and attempted to rush at their commander to end the battle quickly but he before he was able to reach him, he was swiftly blown back by a rapid-fire of spells by Mundeus' guards.

Kharn, realizing his situation, held his halberd in a defensive position, deflecting some of the spells. Each time a new spell hit Kharn he counted the seconds it took for another one to activate. "1... 2... 3..." A blast of lightning hit his halberd, he started counting again. Another blast, he started once more... "1... 2... 3..." and then, when the time was right, he struck. Dashing towards his foes once more, he swung his halberd at them with enough strength to crush coal.

His strike connected, turning the mage that once stood there into nothing but a pile of sinew and blood, giving no time for the mages to recuperate , he picked up his halberd once more and swung it horizontally, cleanly decapitating another. He dashed once more and thrusted the head of his halberd into another one of Mundeus' mages, impaling them on the halberd as he raised his weapon upwards; carrying the body with it. He swung it with enough force to send the corpse flying forward to another mage, the two bodies collided and tumbled backwards. In just 5 seconds, Kharn had completely dismantled Mundeus' personal guard.

"Useless bastards..." sighed Mundeus, his fists clenched as he slowly approached Kharn.
Kharn was perplexed, but still, he raised his halberd once more and dashed forward to crush Mundeus. Right before the blow connected, Mundeus dashed forward slightly and ducked, before releasing his curled fist right in-front of Kharn's face. A blast of fire erupted point-blank to Kharn's face that sent him hurdling backwards.

"Not even a damaged one bit? Damn brutes." Mundeus commented.

Kharn grunted, the blow had disoriented him. However, he was still raring for a fight.

"Shouldn't you pay more attention to your men? They're on the cusp of death right now." Mundeus told him as he pointed behind Kharn.

Kharn looked backwards and saw his men being pushed back, trying to survive the onslaught of spellfire by the elven soldiers. There was no other choice, Kharn had to fall back and accept defeat lest he let all of his men be slaughtered. Was it really worth it? Was a single victory more important than the lives of hundreds of orcs? No, he would not sacrifice the lives of his men in vain. But his pride still took a massive blow that day.

Later on, when the war council gathered to have their next discussion, Kharn, who was itching to pay Mundeus back that humiliating defeat, requested the high-chieftains to let him fight the elven general in combat, but, he was refused.

"Blindly jumping into battle once more will not earn you victory, warlord. You must be wary of the tricks and deceit of the high-elves." Yul-Khuz advised.

"I will not be defeated by such petty tricks." replied Kharn.

"Yet those petty tricks have already brought you shame once before!", spat another council member.

Enraged by the rejection of his request, he slammed his fist on the table, breaking it, and stormed out.

Although Kharn knew that if he went in rashly and without a plan, he would be quickly defeated, he would not let this humiliation go unrepaid, so for then, he would cooperate with the council's wishes and stay put.

After the meeting was adjourned, Yul-Khuz called Kharn out in the dead of night. He presented to him a gift, an enchanted piece of armor.

"This armor was crafted by the greatest blacksmiths of our dynasty, enchanted by the shamans using the powers of divinity bestowed upon them by our great god. You, my friend, deserve this for you efforts."

Coated in a deep-crimson red pigment, it shone brilliantly in the moonlight. The armor had special properties, its durability was unmatched even by the most fortified of castles. When Kharn had attempted to test its durability by swinging a hammer into it, not even a scratch appeared on the blood-red plate. No matter the attack, magical or mortal, it would not affect the armor.

Three months later, after a long tug of war, the Yaf dynasty had nearly fallen after Yul-Khuz Yaf was captured by Hyomel forces. Kharn would not sit by as his greatest friend would rot in jail. He was finally authorized by the council to go on the offensive.

First was the battle at the hill of [PLACEHOLDER], the Hyomel army had strategically pointed themselves at the top of the hill, making them near impossible to push back, as they would simply hail down spellfire and arrows whenever the orcs tried to advance. The armies were outnumbered and disadvantaged, the army's morale had sunk to a low and the Hyomel army had started advancing towards them. However, all hope was not lost.

Leading an army of 2,000 strong, Kharn and his men had arrived as reinforcements. Cleaving through the armies of the elves by the dozens while donning his blood-red armor, the shadows casted over the armor by the sun gave him the visage of a demon. Whenever a ball of fire or blast of lightning hit him, he would calmly walking out of the explosion standing tall as ever. Whenever a blade struck him, it broke in two. The arrows that hit him simply bounced off like air. The inability to injure him wrought fear and terror into the hearts of the Hyomel soldiers, to them, Kharn was invincible, neither their spears, nor their arrows and not even their oh so highly exalted magic could bring him even the slightest of injury and so; they ran, at first, it was only a few, then a few turned into a dozen and a dozen turned to a hundred, eventually. They had all retreated to the hill out of fear. But even that would not save them from the wrath of Kharn as he led his men up the hill, shielding himself against the hail of spellfire and arrows. When he reached the peak of the hill, he grabbed a spear from one of his fallen enemies and chucked it at the enemy soldiers like a javelin, killing one of them on the spot, then using the shock by the death of their comrades as a distraction, he quickly jumped upwards and dealt a crushing blow to another one of the high-elf soldiers. With a ferocious battle-cry, he charged into battle and quickly overwhelmed the enemy forces. While the enemy was distracted by Kharn's rampage, they were suddenly encircled by Kharn's men and soon defeated. Being taken as prisoners of war.

Kharn continued a similar streak, helping save orc armies from annihilation. Kharn and his forces had liberated most of the orc territories from Hyomel reign. Kharn was so infamous that he had been given a title, a name revered and feared by orcs and high-elves respectively, "Rakshas Ravana" the Roaring Demon. Between this time and the final battle, Kharn had battled with Mundeus and his men multiple times, mostly resulting in a draw or pushback by the orc forces. After nearly a dozen battles, Kharn had developed a sort of respect and rivalry with Mundeus, unlike the other orcs who all saw the old general as a cunning and cowardly trickster, Kharn started to think of him as an intelligent and powerful foe.

The prisoners that Kharn had captured were all arrogant and prideful, unwilling to speak to the orcs. But despite that, Kharn never tortured them for information, he felt sympathy for them. They had lost their friends and comrades just as them and as such, he treated them just as he would treat any other life; With kindness and respect.

"The only place where blood should be shed, is the battlefield."

By the end of the second winter, the war was coming to a close, the Hyomel soldiers could not continue on in the severe weather conditions with their dwindling supplies and as such; They retreated from the mountains and sat camp at the borders. Taking advantage of this, the orcs finally decided to go on the offensive and strike into Hyomel territory.

The final battle came when Kharn fatefully met Mundeus' army on the battlefield near the border of the Hyomel Empire, the air was frigid and cold, the rising sun giving clarity to the battle that was about to unfold. As always, Mundeus sat far away in the distance, ever watchful of the battlefield while in contrast, Kharn was out in the front, leading his men with courage and valor.

The battle began, a volley of fire, ice, lightning and arrows came crashing down at the orc soldiers but they would not falter, every time a soldier would fall, it would appear as if two more had taken his place. Relentless in their charge, they eventually reached the Hyomel lines and penetrated them. But surprisingly, the high-elves did not retreat, instead, they encircled the charging orcs and flanked them from both sides, however, Kharn would not sit still and let his men be slaughtered. Acting with haste, he ordered his cavalry-men to support the quickly-dwindling first line. In the meanwhile, he would deal with the enemy general.

Kharn, riding on horseback charged straight towards Mundeus' position and met him face to face. Today, Mundeus was alone, no guards, no mages, nothing. This time, Mundeus would face Kharn alone. Kharn demounted from his horse, took off his helmet and started slowly walked towards Mundeus

"I almost grew fond of you, but alas, war is war." Mundeus muttered as he took his dagger and dashed to stab Kharn in the neck, reacting quickly, Kharn dodged the blow and sent Mundeus hurdling backwards with a punch to the gut.

"I don't understand your tongue, but i wonder.... were you always so talkative?" Kharn questioned before raising his halberd and readying his stance. Mundeus stepped back, he shouted something to his men before they retrieved him something swathed in fabric. As Kharn stood there, mesmerized as Mundeus unfurled the cloth around the object to reveal a beautiful, golden staff

Kharn did not recognize this staff, but even he could tell it was dangerous. He tried to dash away from Mundeus before it was too late but then... A flash of lightning burst out from Mundeus' staff and barely hit the left side of Kharn's body, breaking a piece of the armor off. He was stunned, his crimson-red armor which had proven to be nigh-invincible had just been pierced, luckily, Kharn had not been heavily injured by the attack but he would not be as lucky next time. Mundeus looked exhausted, it was clear that using that weapon had drastic effects on its user.

Kharn steadied his stance and held his halberd like a spear, he dashed towards Mundeus and lunged the spear-tip of his halberd into Mundeus' abdomen but he did not bother to dodge letting the halberd pierce his liver. Kharn tried to pull his halberd out but Mundeus gripped it tightly, he raised his staff pointing it directly at Kharn's face before charging up another spell.

Mundeus cackled. Kharn knew he had to do something, if that spell hit him directly, he would meet the end of his journey. In a last ditch attempt to survive, he let go of his halberd and dashed backwards before a dazzling burst of lightning erupted from the point of the staff, engulfing everything around the area in a blinding light. After the blinding effect of the spell wore off, Kharn walked towards Mundeus' lifeless body before taking the ornate gold spear with him.

With the death of Mundeus at the hands of Kharn, the war officially ended with empress Astine suing for peace. After multiple peace talks, the high-elves had returned High-Chieftain Yul-Khuz Khan and more than 13,000 prisoners of war, alongside 512 corpses of those who had died within their custody in exchange for the Hyomel empire's sacred treasure and 16,000 prisoners of war. Hyomel had also seized 5% of its lands over to the orcs as reparations.

### Life after the war

After the 3 year long war, Kharn was renowned as a great warhero and warrior of the orc tribes, some villages even erected statues of him in his honor. One day, Yul-Khuz called Kharn and several others for a great feast. They sang, danced and drank for hours until everyone went back into their tents and yurts. All except for Kharn and Yul-Khuz.

"I... Am nothing more than a spineless coward, I could do nothing to help my men for the time we were held captive. Everyday, I would hear the screams of my comrades, begging, crying for anyone, anyone to put them out of there misery. All while I was left untouched in my steel cuffs." Yul-Khuz solemnly told Kharn.

Kharn could find no words of comfort to give to Yul-Khuz.

"**They** are nothing but cruel, malicious, and insane beings. They deserve no mercy." Yul-Khuz continued.

"I do not believe that, my friend, from my experience. They are just as us, equally as capable of good, evil, fear, regret, and sorrow." Kharn replied.

"Perhaps you are right.... Whatever it may be. We'll continue this talk later on." Yul-Khuz finished as he got up and left.

Decades later, the Yaf dynasty would grow ever stronger and become the mightiest of the 5 Great Dynasties while Kharn retired and spent his golden years in his home village. Yul-Khuz came to visit him one day and gave him a proposition: "Join me, my friend. With your influence over the peoples as a hero, we can unite this race as one and raze the lands of those who oppose us. The orcs united as one will purge the world of the unclean races, we will fulfill our duty given to us by Karas."

"My friend, I am too old and my bones are too brittle. I would gladly join you on your conquest but I am far too weak now." Kharn rejected Yul-Khuz's proposal. Although it was clearly his friend from long ago and his core concept of uniting the orcs as one was the same. It was different now, his eyes burned with a dark fire that sought to consume everything in its wake. He no longer wished to simply unite the orcs to stop their constant bloodshed, he wished to unite them to purge the lands and spill the blood of others. Over the years, Yul-Khuz and Kharn had drifted apart but now, Kharn wished to cut ties completely. Yul-Khuz had turned into a fanatical warmonger, just like the others.

"Please, I insist, it will be a great boost for our morale if the warhero of the war joined us. We are already the strongest Dynasty in all the lands, with you on our side, noone will oppose us." Yul-Khuz offered once more, but Kharn declined again.
Growing irritated, Yul-Khuz requested Kharn for his help again and again but Kharn denied it, eventually turning into Yul-Khuz storming out of the village and riding out in a quiet yet wrathful stride.

Weeks later, Kharn woke up to the sound of crackling fire and terrified screams. He ran out of his hut and saw a mountain of burnt corpses, the smell of it nauseating, with at least 6 different men wielding blades surrounding it, outfitted in a horned black armor.

He calmly walked towards them. One of the men attacked him, but he swiftly countered their strikes and stole their weapon before plunging it into the gaps between the armor and the helmet, ending their life.

"Next." Kharn said coldly.

One by one, the five other attackers surrounded Kharn and coordinated their attacks. A thrust behind his back, a lateral strike to his shoulder, a wide-strike to his center, a sweeping strike to his legs and a final attack to his neck for when he would dodge.

Their attack begun and just as they started, they were swiftly stopped by Kharn. He sidestepped to his left, dodging the backstab before kicking the assailant into a nearby hut. Kharn raised his sword and parried the strike before slicing the neck of his opponent, then, noticing the blade sweeping for his feet, he raised his right foot and stomped at the blade, breaking it. Then, at last, he faced the last two assailants with his blade, using it to deflect the first strike aimed for his center and blocking the second strike meant to decapitate him.

"STOP." A voice from afar yelled, from the ashes and fog came a familiar figure. Clad in ragged and dirty robes, it was Yul-Khuz. Surrounding him were more than a dozen of those same black armored foes.

"So it was you.. Why would you do this? Yul-Khuz. I knew you were changed but to go these lengths? You're no different from the rest of them." Kharn solemnly remarked.

"It was necessary. Besides, you lied to me as well, you told me you could no longer battle, that your bones were too weak and brittle for the heat of combat, but here you are. Besting my greatest soldiers with ease." Yul-Khuz replied as he got off from his horse and readied his weapon, a powerful greatsword held by the Yaf dynasty for generations, created for the annihilation of enemies.

The two faced each other and begun there exchange, a loud clash of swords that generated sparks of ember and flame before they eventually stopped and created distance between one another. Their exchange was swift and quick but it was meaningful. At this level... Yul-Khuz would **lose**, even against a weaker, older Kharn.

At least, that is what would've happened if it was a pure contest of skill.

Kharn, knowing he could win, dashed towards Yul-Khuz dodging his attacks before aiming his sword for his heart and thrusting it with ferocity-- but, nothing happened. The blade stopped at Yul-Khuz's chest, it did not pierce his flesh. Kharn was perplexed, but before he could make any sense of what happened, Yul-Khuz raised his blade once more and swung it, Kharn barely dodged the attacked and created distance once more.

Yul-Khuz laughed and took off his ragged robes to reveal the crimson-red armor, shining brilliantly in the moonlight.

"Do not worry, my friend, I will carry on the legacy of the 'Rakshas Ravana' after your death." Yul-Khuz said before rushing at the still-stunned Kharn and thrusting the handle of his greatsword into his chest, making him gasp for air before dealing a devastating blow to Kharn's temple with his fists, knocking him out.

Kharn awoke to cuffs and shackles, he was in a dungeon. The great mountain prison of Onthael, a place used by the Yaf dynasty to trap the unwilling tribe heads who refused to join them. Kharn was left there to rot for his crimes against Yul-Khuz for months before eventually being let out for his execution.

His last words before being impaled to death were:

"The only place, where blood need be shed, is the battlefield."

News of his execution spread like wildfire to the other Dynasties and tribes. Many rebellions took place in outrage of the warhero's death, however, they were all squashed in a decade or so. The death of Kharn nearly sprouted a war between High-Chieftains as the High-chieftain Ogruguk dynasty, who had been greatly helped by Kharn in the war threatened to start a war over Kharn's death. Luckily, they were able to avoid a war with a few negotiations and peace talks. However, tensions between the Yaf and Ogruguk dynasty would stay the same for centuries.