Baron Graufreude

\*telepathically\* *"Sundown..."*

-*Baron Graufreude*

### Before Recorded History:

Baron was born to his father Quellon Graufreude and a nameless Salt mother (pirate concubine). He had two half siblings, an elder brother Victarion, and a younger Euron.

He grew up on the harsh islands of Iron, where only the proud and Hard survive. Islands made of salt and rock with rich veins of iron deep under the earth. Nothing green grew on these Isles, so the Ironborn survived as they had always by pillaging those more fortunate from the Savagelands.

The ironborn were a hardy and resilient people, who ruled with a similarly hard and stubborn doctrine

"We do not sow, we Pay the Iron Price for what we own! What is dead may never die, but returns Harder and Stronger."

Under this creed Quellon and his three sons ruled the coasts of the savage lands for many years before finally meeting the Allied kingdoms of the elvenlands and Hammersforge. Thought invincible on the sea the Ironborn fleets were not equipped to do battle with the superior firepower of the Allied armies, and succumb to the sheer endless number of naval units against them.

Quellon was forced to surrender after his eldest boy died fighting in the Siege of Pyke, the capitol of the Iron islands. Surrender was a new and despicable concept to the Ironborn who had never known true defeat.

After the war Baron's disgraced father was made warden of the Iron islands and served as a steward to the foreign invaders, letting them loose on the little resources the Ironborn had claimed over many years of rule.

Baron Felt deep within his soul an unyielding rage and hatred for the enemy, and his own father for giving in. Death was preferable to servitude in Ironborn culture, for no man was slave, all were equal in the eyes of the Drowned God.

Baron Stewed and plotted a way to revive his people and return to power the rightful rulers of the Iron islands.

Not long after Oridan (Jaedyth Snow) contacted Baron Graufreude with an offer.

"You seek to return you people to their rightful place in this world. I seek solitude undisturbed by the outside world. Grant me sovereignty of a small patch of land, and I will imbue you with secret powers beyond your understanding."

Without a further word Baron agreed to Oridan's terms, and Oridan granted Baron the knowledge of how to contact his god directly.

Baron in turn taught every single ironborn in the islands, and thusly They became bound to the Drowned god's power directly. Baron and Euron worked together to slowly bolster the navy over the course of several years, and when their father finally found out they cast him into exile with a single row boat.

The first "Iron Fleet" was constructed with the help of Oridan's guidance and the first formal Iron Navy declared War upon the allied kingdoms. The war began with the mighty purge in which all remaining stewards of the allied kingdoms were "Given to the drowned god" and fed to a small farm of Kracken hatchlings Oridan had cultivated for the Ironborn.

Decades would pass as the war raged on, and the invention of the first "Cannons" would continue to give the Iron Navy the edge in the war.

War hero's would rise like "Captain Sherman Ahab", "Captain M0r94n", and "Captian John Sparrow".

The Iron born earned many victories through casting powerful binding magic on dragons sinking them deep within in the waters where their Kracken's would crush the mighty beasts.

After several decades of endless war the Iron born had successfully claimed their original territories, and Baron was named "Lord Reaper, Kracken King of the Salt throne"

Baron would father 4 children: Rodrick, Maron, Yara, and Theon.

His first 2 sons would serve as the next in line to the thrown and led many fleets in the iron navy.

Yara though only granted several ships under command successfully routed more enemies then both her older brothers combined, and inspired many savagelanders to join their cause.

Though the Ironborn had successfully Seized their original lands, Baron was a proud and hateful man.

"How dare the Bahamut worshipers and milk drinkers from the eastlands think they have any claim to our home. How dare they walk the sacred soil from which we were born. How Dare they Sail OUR seas. Let the War continue until all their lands sink below to meet the Drowned god himself!"

Baron failed to see the envy of his brother Euron growing, and with the allied kingdoms recognizing their mistake, they no longer had interest in seizing the savagelands ever again.

Euron struck a deal with several allied commanders and gave his brother false information of a flag fleet traveling in ironborn waters.

Baron, Ahab, Rodrick, and Maron all went to seige what they belived to be the last bastion of the allied navy. What they found was an ambush waiting for them. Surrounded Baron watched as both his eldest fell. Ahab died screaming about the great white aboleth. Baron died watching his world on fire, but not before managing to sink all but one of the commanding ships in the allied ambush. His last words...

"What... is dead.. may Never DIE!"

### Rises again Harder and Stronger:

2000 years later a cold and briney stone with strange anceint markings would begin to stir with dark power, as the world around it fell into the shadow of the end of days.

And just as the elder prophecy had predicted this artifact brought forth the spirit of what is dead, and it rose Harder and stronger than before.

Baron returned to the world of the living as a ghastly spirit. He was met first by his old acquaintance Oridan who explained the circumstance of his timley Resurrection.

The 7 Seals of creation were at threat, and a group of "Heroes" had been assembled to repair them.

The Kracken King confused in his role in all of this offered his muscle only in behest to an old friend. Along the way he discovered other Ironborn brought back from death, and he reveled in the return of the Ironborn and their old ways.

The heroes would go on to succeed in their mission only narrowly, and with the seals repaired many of the ironborn spirits vanished.

Only Baron, and Ahab remained. Shocked and angry with the sudden loss of so much prosperity Baron set forth to correct this grievous error.

Baron channeled much of the drowned god's might to sustain a small force to operate his navy, and later worked with a brother in the drowned faith. The Djinn Ghoul, "I would grant you your army returned in full if only they would sacrifice their eternal souls and everlasting peace to me". Once again, without another word Baron accepted power from the beyond, for what is Dead may Never die.

Not long after the ironborn were returned The seas churned anew, the Skies Drowned, and Darkened were the shores. Vile things from other worlds had invaded the savagelands once again, but this time there were no darker gods to call upon for aide.

Baron had grown old, and left his throne in the hands of his daughter Yara. Under her command the ironborn evacuated the savagelands while it evaporated into the shadowfell.

The Kracken king's legacy continued into the most prosperous trading company in all of orthos.