Kelmorn Hako
Kelmorn Hako (a.k.a. The Hako Traitor)
Kelmorn Hako - the Hako Traitor - was the eldest son and heir of Lord Venwyn Hako, the last lord of Hako's Tower before the Exile. Hako's Tower (now Firstfort) was the furthest extent of the Weldic Empire in the ages before the Exile, and was the border between the lands of the High Lord of Greenwood and the Bolmor Confederacy to the north, over the river Bo.
Little (or little good) is recorded about Kelmorn now, but it seems he was not a remarkable heir - he was heir because he was eldest, not through skill. Magic, at this time, was not yet feared and his open practice of powerful sorcery seems not to have attracted too much attention (even if, even then, it was preferred that a future lord was trained in the traditional arts of riding and swordfighting).
Unknown, however, to even his close family, he was in correspondence with the followers of Held v'Tor, half a world away. These blood-mages sought to gain direct access to The Creator's realm by sheer force of magic. This, obviously, failed and created the Empty, and began the desolation and the Exile.
Based some 1,500 miles away, Kelmorn heard of the failure, and the oncoming horde, well before he was faced with it. The Hako family understood their duty, and began fortifying the tower on the orders of the newly appointed War King of the Welds - who was funnelling the fleeing populace north, past the tower and onto the Alderi plains. His beliefs shattered, Kelmorn kept up a veneer of civilisation, and ostensibly threw himself into preparations. However, as the horde and Accursed Ones neared, he withdrew to his chamber - claiming that his own part in the defence would be magical, and he must study.
Secluded alone, he became convinced that the plan had not failed - that the Accursed Ones were part of the plan. Driven by a desire for power, and his shattered beliefs, he became convinced that the Accursed Ones would purify the world in order to finally make this world ready to merge with the Creator's realm. Thus, he sought to become an Accursed One, and an heir to that glory.
Two days before the horde was expected to fall upon the tower, the King passed by, leading the rear of civilisation itself. Lord Venywyn promised the King his family would hold the tower for two weeks, to allow the refugees to reach safety - before releasing his wife, and his infant son and daughter to travel north. All others remained. In the event, Kelmorn had finalised his ritual. Three days in to the desperate defence, the remaining family gathered alone for dinner in the Great Hall, in a short break from their duties. Here, he magically murdered his own kith and kin, being driven mad halfway through his attempted transformation.
In the morning, a small column of refugees under Lord Tevdalwick arrived from the west. Forcing their way into the hall, seeking Lord Hako, the scene before them was unmistakeable. Twenty men later claimed credit for killing the beast Kelmorn had become - whatever the truth of it, the hall was burned, and the refugees marched on. Since then, his name has only ever been spat - a synonym for the worst betrayal, the worst and cruellest desires of mages, and the horror all the world faced over the next five decades.
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