Description
Borsival was imposing for a human, nearly seven feet tall, with short cropped dark hair and thick chops across his chiseled jaw. He was fond of wearing adamantine and wielding it as both warhammer and shield.
Personality
Lord Batroc is confidence personified. Even before his Inaethrid, the human man challenged invincible armies, flights of dragons, and Vrokíva herself, utilizing an uncanny instinct for strategy and an adamant will to conquer and convert any who would defy him. Though he was a paladin, his intellect could likely have made him one of the greatest wizards of all time, but Borsival instead focused his efforts on general knowledge to manipulate events decades in advance to enact his vision. To the Adamant Lord, even the strongest wizards were tools.
This is not to say that Borsival's methods were primarily intimidation and coercion - in fact the opposite was true. Even as a human he combined a silver tongue, keen insight, and a perfect sense of timing to offer potential allies - and especially his enemies - exactly what they needed to swear their allegiance. His greatest gift was an ability to lead - to knit an intricate, tight web of comrades together, bolster their confidence, use their expertise to fashion perfect schemes, and share his unbreakable will with his armies. Borsival
has no limits when it comes to what he is willing to use, nor what he is willing to do, to accomplish his goals.
When Batroc was alive, the people of Gylidd could not see through their love for his seemingly unwavering devotion to their success. It was only gradually, in the millenia since his Inaethrid, that scholars and historians have had the chance to revisit the twisted narrative and set the truth straight - that Borsival was a selfish, egomaniacal monster - and most of Gylidd has since guiltily shunned their reverence for him.
Abilities
In his mortal life, the Inaethri of peerless mastery was a paladin of conquest and a powerful sorcerer descended from the giant bloodlines of Rachis. He is equally fearsome with melee, arcana, and the spoken word, and those who are struck by his adamantine hammer, irresistable spells, or force of persuasion are presented with the same choice regardless of the weapon he wields - convert, or be conquered.
Borsival has an absolute mastery of tactics, with one of the most - if not *the* most - brilliant strategic minds in all of Myzelis. Unfortunately, most of his time is spent staving off Vrokíva's wrath upon his creations (the Brume Wolf hates him more than any being in existence), and his powers have waned (as worship of him has greatly dwindled since the zenith of his rule), rendering his schemes - and his ability to act upon them - increasingly further and further apart.
Worshippers
"Borsival spoke, saying, 'I do not wish for what is yours. I do not covet what belongs to you. I covet *you*. I covet that your successes, your victories in life, be long and lasting. I want you to tend what is yours, and when the time comes to defend it, all I ask is that you look to me. I will help you keep it, now and forever.'"
— Lady Tshimpaka, Adamant Priest of Ormtona, Guardian of the Adamant Citadel, Scion of House Batroc
The worship of Borsival hit its peak in the era immediately after his Inaethrid around ~17,000 BAI, and ever since has been on a steady decline. The Inaethri's descendants and inheritors have been unable to capture the same level of success to justify their unscrupulous means, and none have ever lived up to Lord Batroc's undeniable charm. Many cities across the Realm once had temples dedicated to his goals, but now the only church that remains is in Ormtona - the city of his birth - in the heart of
Merchant Lord House Batroc's territory. All of the others have been destroyed or abandoned.
Devotees of Borsival are split into two groups: those who believe in their soul that they are the true inheritor of the Adamant Lord's greatness, and those who serve the first group (as Lord Batroc's Coterie does for the Inaethric Sovereign in the realm beyond). Time will tell if any successors prove worthy enough to take up his hammer, which was left behind on the Material plane and is watched carefully by his successor House. Its powers respond only to the heft of one who would wield it without doubt - so his clergy perform and assign quests to build confidence and legends in pursuit of this goal.
As an Inaethri, Borsival is
feared more than he is
respected, although this was not always so. It is possible that another Inaethri will rise to take his place, should he not find a successor in time to rekindle the authority of his name. He is also keenly aware that his successor may be the one to replace him - but he has contingencies in place for such things...
Activities
Lord Batroc's ire has been growing since the first of his houses of worship - the Adamant Citadel at Alwelon - was destroyed in the mid-15th millenium BAI. He realizes that his Inaethrid is in danger, and that the only way to restore his power is to encourage his followers to find his
true successor, who will take up the mantle and act as Borsival's living incarnation, to once again visit his will upon Myzelis. He eagerly throws his bravest servants at tough challenges, testing them constantly to see whether they will break under the pressure. Only greatness will do.
Divine Realm
Borsival's outer plane is an entire Realm unto itself, known as Otomire (oh-toe-MIRE). The plane is divided into vassal states, each ruled by stewards of Batroc who are either related to him by marriage, blood, or oath. These vassal states are constantly tested for battle by Batroc, who orchestrates invasions from other Inaethric realms into his own for the purpose of challenging his extraplanar armies - and poaching the best warriors the other planes have to offer...
Possessions
While Batroc's arms and armor were always intensely enchanted, as an Inaethri, he no longer needs equipment that is enchanted beyond being simply made of adamantine. Instead, the singular possession that he values above all others is the signet ring of his personal House, reforged from the shattered and useless remnants of the barely noble house he had been born into. This boar-headed band of adamantine confers upon its wearer the ability to communicate with any other being in existence that has sworn into his service, and informs him without fail if they ever betray or abandon him.
History
Lord Borsival Vorotha Batroc was born in the heart of the Age of Stone, and his contributions to the Inaethrite Era were some of the few that persist to this day. He was a hard man who crawled out from under a soft upbringing in a noble house to become a terror in the hearts of anyone who stood against him. Although historians differ greatly on his value, the master strategist, cunning manipulator, and legendary warlord undeniably and indelibly carved his name into history.
Much of the superstructure upon which present day Gylidd is built was crafted by an army of magical engineers under Borsival’s command. Although
Vrokíva, who was well-established by the time of his exploits, opposed him at each and every turn, the warlord became adept at minimizing his losses by wearing down the planet’s reactions over time, and became legendary for destroying hundreds of dragons that poured from the mist to reduce Borsival’s legacy of stone to rubble.
To much of the common folk, who only knew the face of Vrokíva by her monstrosities, Borsival was a treasured hero. His coterie of perfect soldiers were afforded every credit for their impeccable defense of Gylidd, and hundreds of his strategies form the core of the Gylidd Guard’s axioms in present day. But some cultures and societies remember him by the devastation he left in his wake, and the audacious disrespect he afforded his enemies, seeing anyone who did not serve him as far lesser than.
Legends of his contentious Inaethrid say that when he journeyed into the mist to confront Vrokíva as a man one last time, the armor was shredded from him by a wind from her claws, but he remained standing strong in its wake. Though the specifics are intensely disputed by scholars, what is not in question is that Lord Batroc and his closest companions underwent their inaethrid on that day, returning from the mist as gods.
Ever since, Borsival has served as one of the greatest antagonists to Vrokíva's power, demonstrating an unflinching confidence in the ultimate power of civilization to tame the planet and become its master.
