Draven of Blackhold

Lord Draven of Blackhold is the Lord of Blackhold and head of House Blackhold. Draven's great-great-grandfather, Cedric, founded this house after he was exiled after the collapse of the Iceblade Empire. Draven married the knight Rosha Juden and the two of them would have seven children. He was a major factor in The Majiki Tiefling Uprising. During The Three Days War five of his children, and his wife, would die in The Day of Red Grass. He is a sworn rival of Lord Frode the Stranger.  

Appearance and Character

  Draven was born blind as the second son of Jorah of Blackhold. His eyes are the colour of milkwater, but he still is able to locate the eyes of a person speaking. He is feared across Majik as he managed to become a great warrior despite his disability and because of his feats in battle.   In his youth he was tall and muscular. He had short black hair and a thin beard. He wore standard steel plate armour, with blackiron gauntlets, along with the Blackhelm. He had a silver longsword created that he named Whiteshadow, which was blessed by the High Priest of the Brimirist Church.   Despite many fearing his name, Draven is quite warm and welcoming. He is known to be courteous, as well as a patient and calm man. He hates rudeness.   Now Lord Draven is injured, aged, and sickly. Draven's face is marked with heavy wrinkles. His head is completely bald, and he wears a rough patchy white beard. He can barely walk, often needing the assistance of his grandchildren.  

History

 

Early Life

  Draven was born the second son of Ser Jorah of Blackhold in the year 420. He was born blind. His mother was extremely protective of Draven was he was a babe. No one was allowed to touch him other than her and his father. His mother would die in childbirth three years later, Draven's sibling would also not survive. Jorah took multiple mistresses to help fill the motherly role that was left empty, but Draven would not take to them. Draven always dreamed of being a knight, something many people said woud not be possible because of his blindness.   When Draven turned seven his father sent him and his elder brother, Elys, to the capital Alumyth to study at the Royal Academy. He stayed there for three years and despised every moment of it. The other children would often tease Draven for his blindness. The Academy did not compensate for Draven's disability and Draven was mainly left behind, though Elys would succeed greatly in the Academy and later become a squire for Tanner Horpe. His brother would occasionally read the books and tomes for Draven. Draven begged his father to return back home, which he allowed.   Draven came back home to Blackhold where he continued to profess his desire to become a knight. Despite many laughing at the idea of Jorah poured alot of time, work, and gold so that Draven could fufill his dream by hiring many different teachers from all over the world, Human Knights, Elvish Swordsingers, Wizards from the Brotherhood, even Ibbenese Wrestlers. Each of his tutors tought him something new. Draven himself was not magical, but he began to learn the power of Tremorsense. He learned the way of the Elvish Sword-Song, and his hand to hand combat was rivaled to none. Because of Draven's many teachings, his way of fighting was unique and uncheckable. When he was fifteen he gained the attention of Ser Symon Gaolyth, the Iron Knight, who offered the young Draven to be his squire.  

The Blind Knight Draven

  In the spring of 439 AGW Draven would enter the lists in the Tourney at the Skydome. He and Rosha Juden would meet. After Draven unhorsed nearly every man in the joust, until he was beaten by the lady-knight Rosha. At the feast, the two quickly fell in love and proposed their marriage to the Judens in the same night. The Lord Malwynn Juden happily accepted. They would constantly be by eachother's side, either in battle or out if it. Draven would frequently call her "My Eyes" as she helped him navigate the battlefield and the world. His firstborn son Hadwynn of Blackhold would be born at the end of the year.   In 441 Draven's father, Lord Jorah of Blackhold, would suffer from a burst bellyduring a hunting trip and would die within his castle. Draven and his brother would host a large funeral for their father. He was buried in a Blackiron coffin in the crypt's below Blackhold.   When the Majiki Tiefling Uprising broke out he immediately raised his army and joined forces with Lord Davos Moore. He helped the fleeing citizens of Sunharvest, Goldrock and God's Hand as he made his way through Majik. He would cut off Heirax the Firehand's forces at the Battle of Quardyn Valley. It's said that he killed Heirax's brother by grabbing his head and ripping off his jaw. Draven was forced to retreat when the reinforcements led by Caius Vein arrived at the battle. Draven waited for the host of Aerentis and King Quellion II Ottez to arrive before following them down the Valley. Aerentis recruited Draven into the The Horned Riders. In the second battle of Shieldridge Caius Vein was able to repell the royalist forces but in the third battle, Majik's forces prevailed. Witnesses of the battles describe Draven as a "nightmarish blur of darkness, blood, and steel. He would cut into one enemy and before they even fell, he would have sliced open another. When the battle was said and done, his armour ran crimson with blood." He was then known as The Sightless Nightmare. At the battle at Devil's Field Draven commanded the left flank. He battle was cruel and hellish, with fire all around and the tieflings fighting like demons. When Caius Vein was killed by Aerentis and the other Horned Riders, the rest of his forces surrendered under the ruins of Ironhall. Draven stayed behind to help those who were injured, allies and foe. He found his brother in one of the cleric camps, his entire face had been burnt off and there was nothing to do for him. The two shared one last conversation about family and their father. Elys told Draven that "You were always the favourite", to which Draven replied "I Know". After Ironhall was secured, Draven left with his brother and returned to his keep. Elys was sealed with Blackiron and placed beside his father in the crypts of Blackhold. Draven then ascended to the Lord of Blackhold. While in Blackhold he learned of Heirax the Firehand's death by the hands of Frode the Stranger in the Battle of Scarlett Ridge. He sent the Lord Frode a letter congratulating him on his victory and offering to take one of his son's as a squire.  

The Black Lord Draven

  In the peaceful years after, Draven and Rosha had a total of seven children. In 465 Draven would himself host a tournament in Blackhold. The festival was full of bountiful drink, food, and entertainment. The Lord Cyr Luun with his magical Moonblessed silversteel armour won the jousting, while Bjorn Frodesson won the melee and Walter Juden won the archery competition. Roderick Moore would marry Draven's daugher Adriel of Blackhold and many of his sons sired grandchildren. For the last years of Quellion II's reign, Blackhold was prospering and peaceful.   When The Northman's Betrayal occured, Draven gathered the forces of himself and House Moore to march against the northmen. His vanguard was led by Sergeant Tanner Horpe and Draven gave Careem's forces their sole defeat in the war in The Battle at the Goodwater, capturing Careem's sister in the battle as a hostage. When's Careems forces marched to meet Aerentis' at the Goldgrass Fields, Draven hoped to catch them from behind. He was ambushed by the Lord Frode at the south end of the Goldgrass where Frode used Wildfire. Draven's forces were engulfed by the sickly green magical flame. The Northman's forces rode around, pushing Draven's forces into the walls made out of the wildfire. The Lord Frode laughed when he saw Draven fall of his horse and desperately looking for his wife, Rosha Juden, as he could not get a good sense of the battleground. Lord Frode said that "The 'Nightmare' Lord Draven looked like a lost puppy." Rosha Juden and four of Draven's children would perish in the battle. Draven and his eldest and youngest sons, Hadwynn and Brynden, would be captured and held for ransom. Frode would treat his prisoners horribly. Hadwynn's legs, arm, and face had been terribly burnt from the wildfire and the Northman did nothing but pour water on it. The Lord Draven's injuries were ignored. His youngest son, Brynden would be tortured and killed infront of Draven. Lord Frode told Draven to "Imagine the cruelest things possible when you hear your son's screams". When the war ended Aerentis paid for the ransom of Hadwynn and Draven. When Draven asked for the body of Brynden, Frode told him "I already sent him on his way. I threw him into the Goodwater. Hopefully he'll find his way home". Draven has since sworn a rivalry to the Lord Frode.   At the Blackhold his clerics attempted to heal Hadwynn and himself. The injuries are still very present and each of them suffer from them every day. Draven was never able to pick up a sword again after the Three Days War and he has since retired at Blackhold.

Relationships

Draven of Blackhold

spouse

Towards Rosha Juden


Rosha Juden

spouse

Towards Draven of Blackhold


Alias
The Blind Knight
The Black Lord Draven
The Sightless Nightmare
Species
Age
61
Spouses
Rosha Juden (spouse)
Siblings
Eyes
Milky White
Height
6'1"

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