Kivar Faren (The Madman)

## Kivar (formerly of House Faren)

"I eat my enemies and castrate their children."

## **BIO**

Kivar the madman was born Kivar of House Faren. He was the
third son of the Lord Oden Faren and Lady Cylicia. Kivar was a small child. He
was supposed to be born with triplets, but both of the others died in the womb.
Kivar grew up being tormented and bullied by his two older brothers, Renya and
Mertyn. He was the smallest and the weakest of the bunch, but he always fought
back ferociously, often leaving his brothers with their own wounds. As Kivar
grew up, he became stronger, using the beatings from his brothers to train
himself physically as well as mentally. He had all of the strength and ferocity
of Lord Oden as well as his cunning and mind for strategy.  However, he had very little self control and a
great weakness for the pleasures of the flesh. His teenage years consisted of
much drinking and even more carousing alongside his best friend Hedrik, who was
the son of the master-at-arms for House Faren. Because Kivar was the third-born
son, he did not have to worry about the politics of his family or the realm
which suited him just fine. Instead, Kivar always dragged Hedrik to the
seediest brothels and got him into drunken brawls. However, when Kivar’s older brother
Mertyn became betrothed to Aela of House Stormyng, Kivar found in her something
that he had yet to experience: something that he could not have. It drove him
mad with envy and he became obsessed with Aela. He knew that she was promised
to his brother, but Kivar could not tell himself no. He was a handsome young
man with a smooth tongue who had taken many conquests, common and noble alike.
With relative ease, he seduced Aela and took her to bed. However, Mertyn
discovered them together and flew into a rage. He drew his sword to kill his
brother. Kivar leapt from the bed, completely naked and drew his blade and
scrambled around the room to find his blade. They had often sparred together,
but there was to be no draw this time. Kivar and Mertyn’s duel took them onto
the balcony and there they fought in the freezing pouring rain. Kivar pleaded
with Mertyn but his brother would not relent and Kivar slew him, knocking him
off the edge where he fell to his death.

Having killed the heir to the Faren family, Kivar came to
his father and told him what he had done. Lord Oden was furious with his son
and heartbroken over the loss of Mertyn. He determined to execute Kivar for his
crime, and Renya stepped forward to claim his blood vengeance but Kivar’s
mother, Lady Cylicia pleaded for mercy. Lord Oden relented, deciding he would
not kill his other son, but neither could he remain unpunished, so Lord Oden disowned
him, stripping him of his name and his house and banished Kivar from the
Witherlands, vowing this if his son should ever return, he would be executed
for his crimes. So Kivar left the Witherlands and set out on his own. He had no
money and no prospects, but he had been trained with the sword and the bow all
his life, so he decided to hire himself out as a mercenary. He said his
goodbyes to Hedrik and set out for the frozen port of Whytecap. There, he found
a group of mercenaries called the Sons of Steel who were recruiting for a
voyage to Matrihm. Kivar booked passage with the mercenaries and set out. On
board the ship, Kivar found that he was once again treated poorly as he had
been by his brothers. One of the pasttimes aboard the ship was fighting
betweent he mercenaries. The company leader Marin did not approve, so this was
done belowdecks at night. Kivar decided to join in and began doing well in the
fighting. Some of the other mercenaries gained a respect for him because of his
abilities, but others wanted to see him brought down. So one night while he was
fighting, some of the mercenaries reported to Marin what was going on. Marin
broke it up and said that Kivar and his opponent were to be flogged for their
insubordination. In the presence of everyone, Kivar challenged Marin to be his next
opponent. Marin was known throughout Kirinar as one of the best sellsword
warriors and no one challenged him. However, he could not refuse because it
would make the others doubt him, so he accepted the challenge, with the
condition that it would be a duel with weapons and that when Marin won, Kivar
would have to leave the company. Kivar accepted the conditions.

Marin chose his daggers while Kivar opted to go without a
weapon. He did take a swig of wine beforehand, claiming that he fought better
drunk. Marin was quick, but Kivar maintained his distance and dodged where he
needed to. He took several wounds, but nothing fatal. Then Marin came in close
for a stab to his kidney and Kivar spit his mouthful of wine into Marin’s face.
The leader was surprised and blinded for a moment and Kivar grabbed his wrists
and twisted the blades from his hands. He threw them to the ground and
headbutted Marin in the face. The force of the hit knocked Marin over and broke
his nose. For a moment, no one spoke or moved and it was completely quiet, but
then a single noise filled the space. Marin sat up, laughing. He declared Kivar
the victor of the fight and declared that he was a madman. The name stuck and
Kivar was known as the Madman from then on. He continued to cultivate his
reputation when they got to their destination by being willing to do the most
dangerous assignments with almost no regard for his own safety. Kivar climbed
the ranks of the company eventually moving to a new company and then another,
until he became the leader of the mercenary company called the Kyngs. There are
many more tales of Kivar and his daring exploits throughout the world with the
Sons of Steel as well as the Blood Brothers and the Kyngs, but those tales are
for another time.