Hello everyone.
As the resident lore freak I devour (pun intended) the little bits of Blight lore there is and as you could see from the large Fiction topic, I ended up writing quite a lot as well.
So after a brief hiatus I decided to come back to the Lore aspect of the game but mix it with gameplay. The idea to add characters into the game. I’m not talking about the cards themselves who are nameless heroes, named heroes who would be in-game and perhaps our good creators could mayhap create a story about?
Blight is an interesting setting, deffo since you could link it with Buccaneers Bounty and Boom, and I feel such a setting should deserve a narrative flair.
The idea of these named Heroes is that you can only use one per game. In fantasy novels you always have the story of one brave king/Chosen one/band of plucky adventurers who come in to save the day or die trying. These heroes can be part of that gameplay narrative.
I came up with two heroes from my own stories but if you would like to throw your hat in the ring, go for it. I would LOVE to see what you guys can come up with.
Anyways, hope you enjoy my suggestions.
King Thror of the Orangecraig
“My people have a saying. The mountain does not bow to the storm, it remains. So to must we remain. But I do not believe in idleness. We have stood by and did nothing while the Blight took away everything we left. No more. I am not the mountain, I am the avalanche and I will come down upon my enemies with such force that will make us stand even taller.”
-King Thror on his coronation
King Thror is the first king of the now reclaimed Orangecraig Stronghold in the Iron Crown province.
Unlike most Dwarf Mountain Kings, who remain in their mountain holds and prefer to be like the mountain and endure, Thror is seen by his peers as a hothead, impulsive and somewhat of a renegade.
He has led numerous expeditions to previous holds claimed by either the Blight or dragons. His proactive nature has earned him some scorn from his peers but his actions saved the lives of many, ranging from human to orc.
Thror was born in Orangecraig, one of the richest and most powerful dwarfholds in Alundria, as the son of the dwarf prince Hralgar while his grandfather King Odin Hralgar ruled. Golden statues of dwarf mountain kings were both inside of the hold as outside, rows of artillery canons and brave warriors protected the hold above as the miners below worked their trade to bring more wealth in the form of gold coins and diamonds.
The young beardling let a life that a prince would have. He enjoyed the best education, drill masters and learnt the secret of the tunnel network only the Mountain Kings were allowed to know. Already at a young age, the young prince showed his unorthodox thinking. Where dwarves tend to take their time, Thror was more like a human and made quicker but not unsound choices like a goblin would, as a result he seemed to gel more with his human tutors than his own kin. At this time he was betrothed to Princess Freya Dainsdottir of Coolcraig, a common practice between two holds to strengthen their alliance and a promise to keep the tunnels between the two kingdoms safe from goblins or worse.
At first the two young royals had a dislike for one another but Freya’s stubbornness and Thror’s pro-active created a bridge between the two that would eventually be the foundation for a future stable marriage.
That all changed when a fierce zombie dragon came from the east, Ragnaros the dragonlord.
A particular savage creature before he was infected with the Blight, Ragnaros came to Orangecraig and laid waste to the stronghold. Numerous warriors died before his flames and many more followed when the dead came to claim the hold. King Hralgar gave the family heirloom, an rune covered axe by the name of Bhazak-khur (Razor’s Edge in human tongue), to Thror for he saw the salvation of their line in his grandson as he assembled the last of his forces for one final battle.
The young prince, his father and grandmother were ushered away via the tunnels towards the nearby kingdom of Coolcraig as Thror’s grandfather led a final stand at the throne room to bide the survivors time to escape.
But the dead had already claimed the tunnels which forced the survivors to flee above ground, followed by the Immortals. Were it not for a nearby clan of Gnomes, the story of young Thror would’ve ended there. Although the gnomes did not receive an official thanks for Prince Hralgar when they arrived at Coolcraig’s borders, a king’s ransom of coin arrives annually outside the gnome’s forest to this very day.
In Coolcraig, Hralgar, ashamed of his cowardice, became a drunk as he did not remain behind with his father to defend the throne and left the Orangecraig survivors alone in foreign lands. Some believe Hralgar fell to the dragon’s curse, a malign spell that affects the survivors of dwarven holds taken by dragons with ill luck.
Thankfully Thror took up the mantle of the exiles of Orangecraig and with the assistance of his new wife and her people, led several raids on the lower halls of Orangecraig and created outposts there with the intent to one day fully reclaim the hold from Ragnaros and the Blight. A full invasion never came to pass as King Dain preferred to wait for the Blight horde to have rotten away enough, a process that could take decades. Thror urged for an assault and loudly questioned the king, were it not for a heavily pregnant Freya, the argument between Thror and the Council might’ve ended in a bloody skirmish and civil war.
Years passed, Hralgar died in a pointless duel which made Thror the next king of Orangecraig. He and Freya had a son called Magni who proved that one day he to would become a strong leader like his parents. However ill fortune followed Thror’s line.
During the first war of Sanctuary, a Blighted Dwarf Lords broke the defences of Coolcraig’s lower levels and slew nearly every dwarven defender despite their best efforts. The bodies of the dead were congealed in a big, fleshy pile of meat, steel and bone. Prince Magni was among the dead as Thror was powerless as he had to watch it all happen from afar.
Blamed with the failure and the dragons curse, even by his own people, Thror divorced his wife and took up self-exile. He left for the human city of Dawnford, far south of Coolcraig, where he took the life as a miner. Thror gave Freya Razor’s Edge, feeling unworthy to wield the mighty weapon and took up the mining pickaxe as his weapon and asked her to bestow it to someone worthy of it’s greatness.
He worked in Dawnford for decades, living day by day, battling his own demons internally as a storm raged within him. That rage came to good use during the Second Sanctuary war when the Blight came as a undead tide to the city.
With pickaxe in hand, Thror fought alongside the human defenders and took out his anger and self-doubt upon the Immortals. His anger drew the attention of an orc shamaness by the name of Frenza who encouraged his rage and anger but managed to aim it like a weapon. During the siege, the two became closer as Thror told her his story. The orc listened and planted the idea that would inspire Thror one day to return to Orangecraig.
As the city became liberated from the siege thanks to the assembled army of the half-elven knight Ophra Elswin of Dawnford, the two became the lovers and recruited a army of exiled dwarves, homeless Gnomes, human sellswords and even Frenza’s tribe to march towards Iron Crown and Ragnaros, the blighted wyrm who was the cause of the dragon’s curse.
On the night before the final assault, a mysterious hooded messenger arrived in Thror and Frenza’s tent and bestowed them with a mighty gift. As Thror unwrapped the gift he beheld Razor’s Edge and a message from his former wife wishing him the best of luck, both in reclaiming his home and his new love.
Thror’s daring attacks and many sacrifices brought about the retreat of Ragnaros, the desutrction of the Immortal horde in Iron Crown for many years. Once more Orangecraig belonged to the dwarves. Thror was crowned the new king of Orangecraig and has ruled there for decades with the shaman Frenza by his side. Many exiled dwarves, Gnomes and even orcs flocked to the reconquered hold. The Alliance between Orangecraig and Coolcraig still hold. Although many years have passed, Queen Freya and King Thror still hold feelings for each other as close friends.
Knowing the pain of having lost his home and family to the Blight, King Thror is all to eager to help any who he deems worthy to try to reclaim their home, either by gold or the military power of the dwarven people.
But above else he still hunts Ragnaros as he intends to end the dragon’s curse once and for all.
Cost;
750 Gold.
1 x 750.
Unit.
1000
Speed.
6 hours/ League by road.
Deployment.
Dwarven settlements only.
Abilities:
Dwarven Order: All dwarves in King Thror’s army fight with +8 strength.
Dwarven tunnels; All units in the army of King Thror may ignore mountain movement speed penalties.
Orc Ferocity: All Orcs in King Thror’s army fight with +6 strength.
Call of the King: Raises King Thror’s strength by 10 for every 50 dwarf or orc citizens in a settlement, depleting the settlement’s numbers by 50. Uses 50 mana with 12 hour cooldown.
