War (Death's Horseman)

War was one of Death's Horsemen. The Horsemen were the undead servants of Death (Lowellyn Dachine), created as extensions of his essence through negative energy during the Shrouded Years in response to the Drowning Dreams. Death hoped to use them to permanently wipe out Azalin and prevent him from ever being restored to corporeal form. To this end, the Horsemen launched a wave of terror and destruction upon the land to drain Azalin's essence from his subjects. Ultimately they failed, and in 755 BC, the newly restored Azalin destroyed them all and averted the return of their energies back to Death. However, the actions of the Horsemen did leave a lasting mark: the Dark Powers made Death into a true darklord, one of the tiny domain of Necropolis

Potential Canon Information

War appears in the unpublished adventure manuscript Death Undaunted. Like the other Horsemen, War seeks Azalin's soul focus. He was responsible for the destruction of the hamlet Carnari, located north of Rivalis. He may appear and attack Martira Bay while the player characters are trying to liberate the soul focus from Tavelia's clutches.

Homebrew Non-Canon Information

Descriptive Text

“Reports came rushing in of a riot spreading through the South District, though no one could offer any guess as to what had sparked such unrest. I immediately dispatched every available constable to the scene, leading them myself. We soon reached a miserable scene — a street filled with men, women, and children all viciously hacking and bashing at each other with whatever weapons they could grab. I ordered my men in to end the violence, only to watch my own constables turn savage! They attacked everyone around them as mindlessly as the rioters themselves. I rushed ahead in horror, screaming at my men to stop — but so help me, I felt the bloodlust come over me as well. Before I could act, however, someone struck the back of my head and I fell to the cobbles, dazed. That was when I saw it. A terrible warrior, completely hidden beneath mauled black plate, rode past me on a mauled warhorse. It strode through the melee, the mindless killers parting for it. It struck me as a general inspecting its troops. But whatever that thing was, it was no living knight. Its voice alone made that quite clear.

"‘We know the fiery eye is near,’ it bellowed. ‘Know that we seek it! Know that we are! Know to fear us!’”

—Chief Constable Liem Osgul’s report, Martira Bay, August 755 BC