Krighal Prince Woldar

Woldar in 146 AW

***“**The Empire spat us out for what we are. They don't get to lecture us about justice.**”***
— Krighal Prince Woldar

**Krighal Prince Woldar**, also known as **Prince Woldar of Toscov** or **Woldar the Kingslayer**, was a Toscovish prince who was infected with the Sixth Plague of Ihyll. He was subsequently banished by his father, Emperor Budimiv I. Woldar led an armed resistance against Budimiv and ultimately ended up killing his father, sparking the War of the Fifteen Princes, a decade-long civil war between his siblings.

During the War of the Fifteen Princes, Prince Woldar led the Krighal Princes, enemies to both Imperials and Rebels alike. After the rape and execution of Imperial Princess Zviglena by Rebel Prince Zelumir, Woldar embarked on a quest for vengeance. He would ultimately rush head-first into a trap laid by Zelumir in early 148 AW, dying at the Battle of Sevhansk.

## Biography

### Early Life

Prince Woldar was born to Crown Prince Budimiv and his wife Galya in 122 AW. He was the seventh child of Budimiv. As a child he was tranquil and very charismatic, leading to him receiving a diplomatic education as Budimiv hoped to one day make Woldar a foreign diplomat or ambassador. His father was crowned Emperor in 136 AW.

In 140 AW, the Sixth Plague of Ihyll broke out across the Golden Empire of Toscov. Ordinary Humans turned into violent and mindless beasts, at the time called Beastmen. These Beastmen, now called Krighal Taresh, severed overland trade and communications as they stalked the Empire's hinterlands making many roads and smaller villages unsafe.

Woldar, having recently finished his diplomatic education, was sent to the Kymelian Kingdom to coordinate with the Kymelian Order of doctors for a cure. Meanwhile, Budimiv began a crusade against the Krighal Taresh, hunting them down and slaughtering them without mercy.

In the Kymelian Kingdom, Woldar met and assisted doctor Mikhail Ivolanov in finding a cure for the Sixth Plague. Captured Krighal Taresh were experimented on for two years before Ivolanov cracked the code. Herbal remedies, Kymelomancy, and all manners of surgeries were ineffective. Yet, when the Krighal Taresh were shown mementoes that were dear to them, a vague glint of recognition appeared in their eyes. After further attempts, the Krighal Taresh could have their sanity restored by reminding them of their past lives and giving them ample time to recover.

Over time, a Krighal Taresh would become less and less violent, until becoming calm. From there, they would become increasingly lucid, being able to throw words together and eventually form sentences. While their bodies would forever remain altered, their Human sanity would be restored.

Joyous at the results, Woldar returned to Toscov to inform Emperor Budimiv of the cure to the Plague. However, Budimiv I had spent two years fighting the Krighal Taresh. Friends and colleagues were killed or maimed for life, and some were infected with the Plague. When Woldar showed his father the cured Krighal, Budimiv had them cut down by the Imperial Guard despite Woldar's outrage. He would refuse to implement Ivolanov's findings, instead remaining hellbent on wiping them out through violence. While the Kymelian Order would begin curing Krighal Taresh across the Eastland, the cured Beastmen would still be killed on sight by the Empire's soldiers.

In protest, Woldar left Toscov and returned to the Kymelian Kingdom. He was surprised to be joined by his younger sister, Princess Zivura, in 143 AW. Zivura had trained in medicine and was keen to join the Kymelian Order to aid in curing the Empire. A year later, in 144 AW, a particularly violent Krighal Taresh broke his restraints at the hospital the two royals were stationed at. Before he could be sedated, he clawed at both Woldar and Zivura, infecting them both with the Sixth Plague. The two were placed into holding cells, soon after turning into Beastmenthemselves. However, much was known about them, so curing them proved little challenge to the increasingly more experienced doctors.

Now cured Krighal Taresh, later known as Krighal Vitna, the pair reluctantly wrote to their father in Toscov. He summoned the pair back to Toscov, where, upon entering the capital, they were ambushed and imprisoned by the Imperial Guard. Budimiv distanced himself from his two children and sentenced them to death. It wasn't until the last moment that Princess Zviglena managed to convince her father to spare Woldar and Zivura. They were pardoned at the last possible moment and instead disowned and banished from the capital.

The pair fled into the Blue Forest, where a sizeable community of Krighal Vitna had begun to hide. Zivura became a civilian community leader, looking to rebuild a sense of normalcy in the Blue Forest. Prince Woldar, however, took a different stance. He had been spat out by his father for years, their findings had been disregarded and substituted with senseless warmongering, and now he had been banished. Prince Woldar didn't want normalcy, he wanted vengeance.

### War of the Fifteen Princes

Prince Woldar began raising a Warband of Krighal Vitna like himself. Together, they struck out north, trying to lure out Budimiv I. When capturing small villages didn't do, Woldar captured the main road between Ozach and Toscov. It was considered one of the last few safe roads in the Empire, and due to it being so close to the capital, it got the wanted attention.

A gigantic force began giving chase to Woldar and his Warband, which began strategically retreating into the edges of the Blue Forest. Amongst the force were Budimiv I and Princes Durkrin and Deslov. When they approached, Woldar split his forces. The majority of his Warband fled south, further into the Blue Forest, with the two princes recklessly giving chase. The smaller force, led by Woldar himself, circled around, attacking Budimiv head-on while the Golden Army was isolated. Despite being extremely outnumbered, Woldar's forces charged in a straight line at the Emperor, ultimately killing him before retreating into the Blue Forest with heavy casualties.

Woldar's killing of Budimiv caused shockwaves across the Empire. Ludimik II, Budimiv's oldest son, took over. Ludimik lacked many of his father's supporters and soon found himself at war with Princes Durkrin and Zhincis. Before long, the Empire began to implode, with all fifteen of Budimiv's children turning against each other in various alliances. Woldar and Zivura together led an organised Krighal force seeking to end the persecution of their people known as the Krighal Princes. 146 AW marks the start of the War of the Fifteen Princes.

Woldar was quick to capture the isolated city of Kovka with the local garrison putting up no resistance. The Duke of Kovka, Kilolov II, even willingly defected to Prince Woldar's side despite still being a Human, The city became the acting capital of the Krighal Princes and a safe haven for any Krighal Vitna, who flocked to join Woldar and Zivura in the thousands. He had hoped to spend the war in a relative state of peace, building up Kovka to be a safe haven amidst the chaos. However, reached news Woldar about Princess Zviglena. She had joined the Imperial Princes loyal to Ludimik II, only to be captured by Prince Zelumir, who had joined Durkrin's Rebel Princes. Zelumir had dragged Zviglena back to his headquarters at Katovsk, where he repeatedly raped his sister. Eventually, she gave birth to a child: Zharakin. Now done with her, Zelumir had his sister beheaded in early 147 AW, sending her head back to the capital.

When Woldar received the news, he went into a mad frenzy. Zviglena was dear to everyone, but especially to him and Zivura, as she had saved their lives from Budimiv's wrath. Woldar gathered his Warband and abandoned the Blue Forest entirely, leaving it to Zivura. He began travelling northeast, heading in a straight line for Katovsk to kill Zelumir. On the way, he was tracked down and intercepted by Free Princess Sobieryna, who blamed Woldar for destroying the civil war raging throughout the Empire. The resulting Battle of Stevedar was a crushing defeat for Sobieryna, who was killed four days later by a vanguard of Woldar's Warband. Woldar spent the winter near the border of the Kymelian Kingdom, though he was no longer welcome due to the blood on his hands.

Once spring began to arrive, Woldar continued towards Katovsk. Zelumir had learned of Woldar's vow to kill him and of Sobieryna's death and travelled to meet him with his own forces. The two armies met at the town of Sevhansk, where Zelumir appeared with what looked like a much smaller force. Feeling confident, Woldar charged in recklessly. However, Zelumir always was a deceitful prince with a talent for trickery and successfully trapped Woldar in the town with an ambush. With the Krighal Prince surrounded on all sides, Zelumir gave him the option to surrender. Woldar has lost all trust in Zelumir's word and refused. Instead of a siege or an assault, Zelumir ordered Sevhansk to be bombarded by his pyromancers. The town was utterly destroyed, with nearly all its civilians – and most of Woldar's Warband – burning alive. Woldar himself staggered out of the scorched settlement covered in second and third-degree burns before being felled in a hail of arrows, ending the Battle of Sevhansk and his life.

## Career

* Prince of Toscov (122-148 AW)
* Diplomat (140-145 AW)
* Warlord (145-148 AW)
* Leader of the Krighal Princes (146-148 AW)

## Military Career

* War of the Fifteen Princes
	+ Battle of Stevedar - Victory
	+ Battle of Sevhansk - Defeat

## Personality

Prince Woldar suffered a shift in his outlook on life, though many incorrectly assumed this was a result of being infected with the Sixth Plague. While he was a charismatic and calm individual, he is portrayed as extremely violent later in life. While he did, in fact, become more violent, it stemmed from his father's total disregard for the Kymelian Order's findings, his banishment, and the continued persecution of the Krighal Vitna.

As a Warlord and the leader of the Krighal Princes, Woldar still demonstrated his diplomatic talents by rallying the broken and disunited Krighal Vitna scattered across the Blue Forest. He convinced the garrison of Kovka to surrender without a fight and later convinced the Human Duke of Kovka to defect to the Krighal Princes alongside his Ducal Retinue.

## Relations

* Krighal Princess Zivura - Zivura was in the same boat as Woldar as a Krighal Vitna outcast and became his greatest friend and ally.
* Kilolov II, Duke of Kovka - A Human Duke defecting to the Krighal Princes was an unexpected but welcome surprise for Prince Woldar.
* Mikhail Ivalonov - Woldar searched to cure the Sixth Plague with Ivalonov for multiple years, though the doctor later disapproved of Woldar's violent rebellion against the Empire, causing them to fall out with each other.

* Rebel Prince Zelumir - Woldar despised Zelumir and made it his life's mission to kill him.
* Ludimik II of Toscov - Woldar viewed Ludimik II as more of the same, as he continued Budimiv I's senseless slaughter of all Krighal Vitna.
* Free Prince Borklaw - While they both fought against Ludimik II, Woldar viewed the Free Princes as power-hungry opportunists merely looking to expand their own power.