Hagan Staldor

King Staldor (a.k.a. Rally of the East)

Born of the Reach

Hagan was born to the Staldor clan. The Staldor tribe was amongst the more influential and celebrated in the barbarians that made domain in the East of the Reach. Practised masons, they were unusually culturally minded compared to their fellow clans, and naturally fit the role as the figureheads of their society. Coming into the world as a Staldor, Hagan's father was a reasonably notable member, having been involved in the construction of settlements for various tribes and even in some border conflicts, seldom involved as the Staldor tribe were. His childhood focused around learning from and taking after his father, with great respect to their predecessors, and was raised to one day be a leader for all the disparate clans of the Reach. His father had dreamed of uniting their people into one society for the first time since the exodus from Zarvoss. He failed, however, because he lacked an appreciation for the different cultures that made up their people - from the spiritualistic Frost Bears to the honour-bound Iron Lords, the people of the Reach were a varied sort. This failure was one that Hagan would think on a solution for for most of the rest of his life.

Rising Legend

As Hagan grew older and followed in his father's footsteps, he made a name for himself as an open-minded yet stern individual. He spent his youth travelling to each of the clans, great and small, as he prepared to accept his father's mantle. From them each he learned of the ways of the world - the importance of ancestry, the honour to hold to in battle, when to strike and when to stay one's hand, and of course, the value of being a strong leader. In doing so, he made many friends of the youth of these clans - a connection that would bolster his efforts in his life to unify the Reach. The clans of the Reach would fight, on occasion, border conflicts with local powers and even Spellbreakers determined to hold off further expansion by the tribes, and Hagan would see his own share of combat in this time, determined as he was to learn of all aspects of the people he would seek to appeal to. He was respected in most clans; though some, beholden to older ways still than even the martial Stormbrands, who inherited much of their habits from their Zarvossti roots, would never fully come into the fold.

Rally of the East

In time, Hagan's father grew ill, and then perished of old age just as the tensions between the ever-expanding tribes of the Reach and ever-zealous containment of the Chantry reached a boiling point. Hagan inherited his father's position and mantle, and sort to complete his father's (and now Hagan's) life's work by unifying the clans. However, he committed not to the same path as his late father would take. Instead of proposing a singular culture - a melting pot of the varying habits of the clans - he formulated and proposed a doctrine that would both preserve the value of each individual whilst also allowing any person, so inclined, to make a name for themselves in this new coalition. He termed it the Principles of Strength - whereby individual merit and uncommon valour would see a person rewarded. Where Hagan's father had been met with levels of vitriol that near enough threatened the Reach itself into civil war, Hagan's suggestion was met with near unanimous agreement. The clans agreed to rally under Hagan and the Staldors and adopt the Staldor title as their national moniker. Of notable exception was the Boneguard, whose traditions were frequently at odds with those of the other clans and who felt they were unlikely to be accepted into this new alliance anyway. For them, Hagan allowed a small plot of the Reach, left to their own devices, in the hopes they might one day come around.
Now unified as one, the Staldor people turned their gaze Northwards - where Hagan was committed to breaking the Chantry's containment and allowing the clans to come into their own as an independent nation. For his part to play in both marshalling the clans and their forces, he was named Rally of the East - and so would he be addressed in honoured chants wherever he went in the times that would follow.

Spellbreaker Clash

Now unified, the Staldor people posed a significant threat to the Spellbreakers. Before, individual clans - sometimes bolstered by parties from nearby tribes - would have to contend with Spellbreaker patrols alone. Mixed success meant land was seldom gained, and only lives were lost. Together, though, the clans covered one another's weaknesses. Martial strength bolstered by spiritual aptitude empowered by sheer ferocity, the rallied force that Hagan led to the Northern border of the Reach would easily deal with the Spellbreaker force garrisoned there, and they would begin to push as far as Mikallen, the largest city of the South, which they would occupy and claim as their seat of power. To solidify this exchange, it would also bear a new name - Kingstown, in honour of the new kingdom of Staldor that was beginning to form. To this new-found conquest, however, the Spellbreakers had draconian solutions - and the average rank-and-file Spellbreaker would soon not be the largest threat faced by the Staldor people. Their first encounter with a hallowed Lesser Golem saw a swathe torn through the responding force, and as it and refreshed Spellbreaker troops began to push on the new land, Hagan and his forces were forced into a siege at Kingstown. There, the clans formulated a plan - to overload the magical matrix of the Lesser Golem with the spiritual energies (for which it was not designed to counteract) of the Frost Bears, whilst the Iron Lords would then lead a direct assault on the weakened golem, embiggened by the trained archers of the Stormbrands on the castle walls up high. Though many a Staldor life was lost, the fortified walls and solid battle strategy won the day, and for but the second time since the Rune Wars, a Lesser Golem was permanently destroyed.
Such a loss prompted the Divine herself to intervene - and she rallied forth one of their greatest weapons: Greater Golems. Where a Lesser Golem was eventually weakened enough, Greater Golems required even more resources to even temporarily waylay, and their sheer strength meant the Staldors could not overcome them in the short term. Meanwhile, the Spellbreakers were wary of losing a Greater Golem. A fifteenth of their prized Lesser Golem garrison was already a significant loss to bear; a third of their active supply of Greater Golems would be untenable. Eventually, the Divine called a ceasefire, and met with Hagan himself to discuss terms. They would reach an unsteady armistice - where the Staldor people would have borders drawn just beyond Wellspring and recognised as an independent nation. In return, they would cease their continued expansion. To these terms, Hagan agreed, as he was no warmonger, and was happy enough that his people would see peace at last.

Empire of Merits

In the years that followed, Hagan took a personal hand in the governance and reconstruction of Kingstown thanks to his mason roots. He established an order of war masons whose charge was to rebuild the cities and settlements decimated in the Staldor-Spellbreaker war. Then, he began working on his Principles of Power further - seeding the concept of individual talent as being vital to the progression of their people. He placed special emphasis in remarkable achievement regardless of field - political, economic, social, martial, or magical - and would see to it that individuals with ambition and grit would be rewarded. Such a policy brought even further variety to the value of the clans, and Hagan was always committed to the independence of the clans, provided they would answer the call to arms should the need arise. With these policies in place, as of 268, Hagan rules Kingstown and the surrounding lands. His response to the Spellbreaker framing of his people was to condemn the action; and with the tensions once again heating up, war or at the very least a border conflict looked to be an inevitability. The drums of war thundering once again in the newly formed empire.

Ethnicity

Clan Staldor

Age

51 (as of 268)

Birthplace

The Reach

Current Residence

Kingstown

Gender

Male

Eyes

Greyish blue

Hair

Greying brown

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Caucasian

Height

6"2' or 189cm

Quotes & Catchphrases

"Clans of the Reach - peoples of the South - tribes of the old North - Staldors, Stormbrands, Frost Bears, Iron Lords, Boneguards, Rootborn, Stonehooves, Northwalkers, Mistaari, Reachrunners - I rally you here today as a call to arms. The enemy contains us within lands like animals in a cage. Our peoples, wrought from our homelands centuries before this day, have seen what such tyranny does before. Alone we cannot fight the zealots that threaten our society. But together - under one banner - we might push back the chains that bind us and assume the mantle we were always destined for. An alliance, not a melting pot - a commitment to one another's strengths, to our free will, and the independence of the Reach's peoples, preserved now and forever. We will be as brothers on the field of war; not as symbiotes bound together. The spiritual will stand alongside the martial; the earth will rise up to meet the scribe; and blood will run alongside mounted blade. Staldor shall be our title; but our hearts will never change, our allegiance circumstantial and never enforced. Ten tribes - One nation." - The speech Hagan gave in the Rallying of the Reach, 262. The only two tribes that did not follow through were the occult Boneguards and the free-spirited Reachrunners.

Aligned Organization

The Staldor Empire

Founded Settlements

• Kingstown

Related Historical Events

• 262
  The Staldor Empire Forms