The Heroes of the End Times

## The End Times

The End times is an age combining both the Ages of Darkness and Exodus. In this age many men fought and died in order to save what little they had left, some fought for honour, some for family, others just to live another day, this is a document that will outline the heroes these men followed into battle and eventually followed them into death. It will begin with the Heroes of the Age of Darkness and then the Heroes of the Age of Exodus and the beginning stages of the age of victory.

## The Heros

-King Vassili II Makov  "The King Who Stood"

During the beginning stages of the Age of Darkness King Vassili II took on his sacred duty to protect the Kingdom from all threats at all costs, he led his armies into countless battles, most resulting in outstanding victories that led much of the population to believe the war would be short and sweet, but sadly these stood alone as some of the only victories for the next 60 years. The Kings greatest victories came at the Battle for Expulsion where in one coordinated attack they swiped nearly every horde from the Province of Rivendare and the Mainland islands which quickly led to the next two crushing victories at the Relief of Spartoi and the Battle of the Line, for the next couple months the roads were entirely clear of all undead or demons and living in Vildeer  almost entirely worry free. Vassili and his army united their force with the King of Stolitska and led many small skirmishes in the area of Gladiatia, referred to back then as one of many Deadzones. His final battle took place in 11 AOD where he led a small splinter force of 5000 cavalrymen to their deaths which is said to have spawned a very dangerous force of Terthic Knights. They rushed into the centre of the horde thinking they were a regular undead horde, but at their centre there were demons of the nether which halted their advance and they were overwhelmed. By the time the rest of the army arrived to link up with the Kings host, they met a force of 2000 death knights and although they were eventually victorious they took staggering losses and were forced to retreat back into Stolitska, they would not expand past Spartoi again until the very last years of the war in the great reclaimation.

-Ivan Desnik "The Monster"

During the first 40 years of the Age of Darkness Ivan became something of folklore amongst Voskan and Vildeeran troops. He was a prominent figure among the Makov Guard and led many battles in Gladiatia, served with distinction in the Expulsion and held his line in gladiatia until expicitly relieved from the position, pushing his men to the absolute limit until he personally had to lead from the front and literally cut a path out of hordes of undead, most of his men were slaughtered, but the men who survived became a legendary force of very disciplined and very lethal soldiers almost creating a division within the Makov Guard these soldiers being the Makov Honour Guard instead of regular Makov Guardsmen. His most notable achievement is the implementation of the Corralling method with the Makov Guard and military, although the technique mostly excelled almost 30 years after his demise as the technique called for vast open spaces with no mass populations near the large operation area, but in the empty flat landscape outside Alden the technique was used to a very large degree on smaller hordes as to diminish the risk of civilians being harmed. Ivans kill count is thought to be nearly 1000 corpses and 20 Terthic Knights and his mere presense on the battlefield compelled great bravery in the men who fought beside him.

Aleks Arisov "The Fateless"

After his fathers brutal demise Aleks inherited his cloak, his sword, his pendant and a hunger for revenge. Being a Red Cloak initiate he quickly proved his worth under the command of Lord Commander Ilari Urbanov "The Unstoppable" and rose to be in command of a small group of Red Cloak Dosvanas. After the line in Gladiatia collapsed and the forces of both Voska and Vildeer were forced into retreat Aleks and his men were left behind. The group numbering only 10 strong constantly harrassed hordes numbering sometimes tens of thousands for years in the area around the Voskoi River, legends of his triumphs around large counter attacks were spread around the Kingdom, tales of eleven men plungind deep into hordes and coming out on the other side, pendants raised high with barely a scratch on them, whenever they met up with other forces they would share stories of their many close calls with death, unbelievable stories of them taking on thousands of undead, grinding down entire hordes that proved fatal for most fortifications along the Sepqur Ruins into nothing more than a few hundred scattered mindless. When armies came accross their battlefields they were stunned and those that did not believe the stories before quickly began to think otherwise, Aleks and his men received full military honours and leave from the front lines to train more Red Cloaks, Aleks was one of the few during the war to die of natural causes, surviving both the Third Battle of Alden also known as The Holy Battle of Alden and the Liberation of The Templar Homelands. He declined the position of Lord Commander a few years before his death, and although the war still waged on and there were no civilians to pay their respects, many of the Red Cloaks along the wall of Sepqur and the patrols in Spartoi took a moment of prayer and silence upon news of his death.

"The Tallied Knights"

Lord Lym Gray "The Tallied Knight": 150-200 Kills, 4 Terthic Knights, 50 Cultists

Rytsar Abram of Graywood: 58 Kills, 1 Terthic Knight, 26 Cultists

Rytsar Peter Bonyesev: 171 Kills, 12 Terthic Knights, 159 Cultists

Rytsar Khorin Faerson: 89 Kills, 1 Terthic Knight, 29 Cultists

Rytsar Vynian of Rivendare: 123 Kills, 2 Cultists

Rytsar Uron Gosgaloya: 355 Kills

Jocelyn of the Shire: 76 Kills, 5 Tethic Knights, 12 Cultists.

Lord Vaith Thaedren "The Five Fingered": 172 Kills, 1 Cultist

Redding Atkins The Heartlander: 476 Kills

Malic of Cross Isle: 27 Kills 1 Terthic Knight, 2 Cultists

A band of Knights who were active during the defence of Rivendare, they were heroes of the smallfolk at the time, it was rare that any young boy in the kingdom did not know the names and deeds of each knight in the band. It is said that when they stopped in villages to rest and resupply, they would often put on small tourneys for the smallfolk, many villages even pooled whatever luxury items they had left to have a feast upon their arrival, which led to many starving to death later in the war. Many claim ancestry from Malic of Cross Isle, in the villages they stopped at, his title during the war was "The Thief of Maidenhood", however it was changed later to something more fitting a hero.

The Wandering Warlock:

Not much is known about him, assuming it was a him, as no one really knows who they were. The Wandering Warlock was a strange creature who was known to save many men lost in the famous Blizzards of Rivendare, as well as from wandering groups of undead, The Wandering Warlock was seen by nearly all of "The Tallied Knights", and was even spotted by many survivors of the Holy Battle of Alden. Although the intentions of this creature were seemingly benevolent, many soldiers who had seen the Warlock remember a great sense of dread and uneasiness, some even felt nervous when the subject was brought up years after the war. Whatever it was, it survived for 300 years, as reinforcements passing through Rivendare for the front frequently saw it on their way to battle, the creature has not been seen since the end of the Age of Exodus, many civilians have tried to track the creature down, but all attempts have been fruitless.

Lord Commander Jayk Vaytheriya "The Black Wolf":

Known throughout the land as a fearless and bloodthirsty leader, he led his men at the front of every battle he fought in, the Red Cloaks he commanded would sometimes march day and night in pursuit of wandering hordes and Terthic armies, his war cry echoed off the montains of spartoi and throughout the streets of New Moscow, his men plunged into Gladiatia with aid from Muscovite forces, and reignited the spirit of the kingdoms, the question was no longer "How much longer can we survive" the questions Jayk Vaytheriya began asking were "When will Terth kneel before us", "How many more days till our armies besiege Ironheart", "How many more days till we end this war", with his death at the hands of Terthic Knights in Gladiatia, the Kingdom mourned, took up arms, and pushed twice as hard, if a few thousand Red Cloaks could mount such a devastating offensive, what is our excuse, many Wardens and commanders began asking, and not long after, an invasion of Gladiatia led by King Lym Makov II began.

G\*d-king Nikolas Martinov XVIII "The Unmoved":

The G\*d-king Nikolas Martinov of New Moscow is a legendary figure throughout "The End Times", through, plaue, through invasion, through famine and countless deaths, the Martinov dynasty of New Moscow stood their ground against terth for the entirety of the war, through massive underground bunkers and tunnels which connected underground farms and streams, they fed themselves and armed themselves with stones, clubs, steel and sometimes nothing at all, led by Nikolas, every resource was micromanaged to a near psychotic degree, at times he chose which people would starve to death and which would be worked to death so that everyone would have enough food and energy to continue the siege, when a vildeeran army managed to break through and lift the siege for a few weeks or a month Nikolas would ravage whatever remained of their countryside, horde all the resources they could inside the walls of New Moscow, sometimes kidnapping wizards to conjure food for the people of the city, and wait out the war. When Lord Commander Jayk Vaytheriya lifted the siege and told the King his plans to end the war for good, Nikolas gave him five hundred men and detailed maps showing all strongholds, hidden trails and defensive positions within the borders of moscow, which indirectly led to the 5 key victories of the later years of the war.

I: The Battle at the Body hill

II: The Battle of Ribartka

III: The Deception of Gladiatia

IV: The Collapse of the Terthic Shrine

V: The Battle of the Last Line

Reynera the Old

A folk hero of sorts, an Elf of Euloria who traveled accross the Heartlands and Gladiatia, teaching magic and saving villages accross the land, he was said to give Eulorian trinkets to men pure of heart, and fire to all the rest. Reynera is now thought to have been a mythical being as no one is actually recorded as seeing Reynera, most Soldiers who patrolled the paths that Reynera is said to have walked can be accounted for the charity and fury that Reynera brought upon the good and the evil. However the Reyneran festival is still held in most of Gladiatia, where people give gifts to the people they care for and play pranks on those they don't, although in some places the festival has devolved into giving gifts that are useless or harmful to the recepient, such as chocolate that is actually glamoured horse shit, or perfumes that make you smell awful the longer you wear them.

The Last Heroes of Ironhammer

As the city of Ironhammer fell, almost fivehundred men remained in the city to the end, 100 Red Cloaks, 100 Muscovites, 100 Dwarves, and 200 members of the newly founded "Alliance of the Living", they did not give up, for days they fought, for days they died, for weeks after the forces that were sent out to face the rifts had retreated and left them for dead, they kept the flags of the Alliance, Vildeer, Moscow, and blue peaks from being torn down, they were pushed against the cave walls, into homes of cowering women and children, as wave after wave of undead crawled through the waters pooling at the center of the cave system, as spiders as big as oxen crawled up the ceilings and feasted on men standing too close to the ledges of battlements, as the rotting corpses of their brethren were raised to feast on them, they fought, and fought, and fought, as civilians dug day and night to escape from the mountain, and some did, most did not, 100 citizens, 5 Red Cloaks, 6 Muscovites, 12 Dwarves and 4 men of the Alliance lived to tell the tale, and all died soon after, at the Battle of Snow Reach.

The Last Men in Ironheart:

The Fall of Ironheart is the single largest tragedy in the history of the world, but the battle did not last a day and a night as many people think, the "Forgotten heroes" as many like to call them, continued fighitng for many weeks after the battle had clearly been lost, citizens still living in the city but too close to the center to hope for rescue or escape barricaded a city block and turned their shops and houses into an inner fortress, they connected basements and second floors, they built battlements on roof tops and bridges from house to house out of floor boards and debris, their goal was to make a pathway to the Eastern gates on the tops of the houses, however with the thousands of dead men slowly taking one house at a time, they knew there was no escape, a Dwarf and a Muscovite stayed behind as whoever was left attempted to escape the city by rooftop, the ones who stayed back opened the doors of the houses, letting thousands poor into the their fortress, and lit the entire city block on fire, with them still inside, so they could not be turned. Their names are lost to history, but their brave sacrifice helped the last two hundred survivors of Ironheart escape to safer lands, allowing their children to eventually inherit the heartlands.

The Historical Records of the deeds of these heroes are mostly lost to the mists of time, however loose translations of their names remain, some of their monikers explain their actions, others are open to interpretation, all information known about them are included.

Heinter Brunstein "Hero of the White Wastes"

Died in the plains of blue peaks.

AOD 12- AOD 39

Malik the Crow

Died at the hands of a Terthic Knight

AOGII 44- AOD 12

Artym the Paladin

Died surrounded by undead.

AOGII 40- AOD 12

Rupar the Elf

Suicide

AOU ??- AOD 12

Zundar the Dwarf

Died at the fall of Ironheart, may or may not be the legendary Dwarf of the Last men of Ironheart.

AOGII ??- AOD 1

Omil Erutainim

Died at the Second siege of Ironheart, believed to have found a cure for the undead, the secret is believed to have died with him, though some think the Erutainims have copies of his research.

AOD 2- AOD 25

Alyan of the Living

???

AO? ?? -AOD??

Vaeth of the Cross

a legend among the people of the small town of Torala in the Heartlands, said to have a flaming cross on his chest and is stated as having defended the village throughout the end times.

G??-D??

Tokal of the Sands

A dark skinned man from shady sands, is recorded as a 9 foot tall man who flung trees at hordes of undead in Blue Peaks. Is credited with tearing a rift down at an unknown location in the middle of the ocean.

D??-??D

The Horde that Loved the Living

A horde that feasted on undead instead of humans, spotted in the Heartlands by Omil Erutainim, some believe these were starving survivors of Ironheart.

N/A

The Stone man of the Fields

a Feknenite that guarded a field in the early days of the war, turned to stone by a warlock, thought to be a childrens tale.

N/A

The Men of Fort Gos

Defended the thin strip of land that connects the lands of Nihili to the rest of the World, they are thought to be the reason that this area was largely unaffected by the apocalypse.

D 1-E 256

The Sailors of the Ghost Fleet

Sailors evacuated small villages to the the lands of Baulkham and Shady sands during the early days of the war.

N/A

Yenev and his Horsemen

A prophetic messenger that brought news of the outcome of battles that hadn't taken place, was executed for Terth Worship in the halls of justice in Biyovsk.

N/A

The Man in the Tower

A man who barricaded himself in his tower, killed hundreds of undead by stabbing them through cracks in the stones and lighting hordes on fire, the tower collapsed and killed him with it.

N/A

The Man who Walked the Road

A large man storng enough to lift and move a wagon by himself over very large distances was spotted along the roads of Moskva province, thought to be a revenant, similar figures spotted in Blue Peaks and even as far as Baulkham.

AOD 1 - AOD 3XX

The Dead man of the Crossroads

A ghost who seemed to be at many different places during the End Times, the spirit materialised at crossroads, warning people travelling the road of the threats of each option, and is usually seen as a benevolent spirit. This is the reason why many travellers leave food, relgious icons and even sometimes build shelters in the hope that they please the spirit in hopes of a safe journey.

AOD 20 - AO?- ???