Karrn the Conqueror

Karrn, known as The Wyvern in his age, founded Karrnath in -1002 YK. Karrn unsuccessfully attempted at the time to unite all of the five settlements of Khorvaire beneath him, but his power was not yet strong enough. The Galifar line is descended from him and the royal name ir'Wynarn is thought to be derived from the Old Karrnathi word for wyvern.
At age 16, Karrn cast his eyes toward the Mror Holds. The young prince guessed at the wealth that might be hidden in the mountains, and he wanted his share. With his father's permission, he led an army to subjugate the "mountain barbarians." Though (or perhaps because) they had been fighting for millennia, the Dwarves were ill prepared to face an unfamiliar foe. Together the clans could have easily expelled the invader, but Karrn played on their feuds to divide and conquer the clans. Within a decade, the clan lords had bent the knee to the prince of Karrnath. The wealth and shieldwalls of dwarven troops were instrumental in his future conquests.
Karrn the Conqueror was a cruel and covetous man who believed that he was destined to rule over all of Khorvaire. He had built the most powerful human army up to that time, and after defeating the goblinoids he began a campaign to conquer the other four major human settlements. Karrn swept south, ostensibly to drive the remaining goblinoids into the wild regions, but actually invading the region that would one day become Cyre. Caught by surprise, the region fell to Karrn. With two nations now claimed as part of his empire, Karrn's forces massed on the border of what would one day be called Thrane and demanded the nation's immediate surrender. Before Karrn could claim another victory, the remaining three nations joined forces to stop the Conqueror's spread. What emerged from the carnage were five distinct human nations that spent the next thousand years alternately working together, competing for space and resources, and ultimately setting the stage for the great human civilization to come.

In the final days of his regime, Karrn the Conqueror employed necromancy to trap the souls of suspected conspirators against his rule.