Baramith

Cut and injured, but still he comes.
Broken and bleeding, but still he comes.
Burned and blasted, and still he comes.

To some Baramith is a deterrent. To others, a threat. But to many Baramith is a lesson in reaching too far and without sufficient forethought.

History

The domains of the Mktulax have ever been.in conflict as is right and proper for those born with the destiny of warriors. Each domain strengthens itself through a constant struggle to conquor all others. New strategies, magics, and equipment are creatted in this conflict, ensuring all the domains grow stronger. Sometimes though a new creation can prove too dangerous.
Kaldrick Ribbreaker was a warcaster from one of the weaker domains. Seeing no way he and his comrades could improve their fortunes with their existing forces Kaldrick decided to focus his efforts on making their auxiliaries more effective. All of those from a Legion of the Mktulax know the standard tactics for using and defending against goblins, ogres, and trolls so Kaldrick went to work on countering some of the known weaknesses.

Goblins and ogres proved impractical for improvement, since anything that worked to heighten their abilities could be used on a legionaire. Trolls on the other hand had their natural regenerative abilities, but with a weakness to being burned. Kaldrick therefore set out to enhance a troll's ability to heal and reduce it's aversion to flames. There were many attempts, most of which failed to produce any improvement as the troll died in the process, but one subject did survive. Kaldrick named this survivor Baramith and spent months testing the limits of it's enhanced abilities.

During this time one of Baramith's eyes was taken and turned into the Troll-eye Amulet

It wasn't long before Baramith was deployed in combat, proving to be highly effective at breaking enemy formations. Firebolts and torches did little to dissuade Baramith from charging into the fight leaving foes with little choice but to flee. However, the magics that Kaldrick had worked into the troll were causing more changes in it's body. Every wound Baramith received seemed to cause him to grow. At first this was taken as a postive. Who wouldn't want an unstoppable giant on their side? But feeding Baramith's increasing appetite became something of a problem, and every time he grew he became a little less tractable.
Things came to a head when, after two days without being fed, Baramith turned on his masters and slaughtered half a century before turning his attention to a nearby outpost. The walls of the outpost were torn apart by the now 15ft tall troll, and there was little any could do bar flee. Baramith went on a month long rampage before he was finally captured by Kaldrick and a group of warcasters. Unable to find a way to slay the troll, Kaldrick instead found a way to restrain Baramith, sealing the giant creature beneath Snegad Castle in Prel.

Mktulax Domains

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The lands controlled by the hobgoblins of the mktulax

A Deterrent

The destruction wrought by Baramith significantly weakened the domain of Prel, but the warlords of Prel were able to dissuade the neighbouring domains from attacking with the threat to unleash Baramith. While letting the giant troll loose would harm Prel as well, the leaders of the domain sold the threat on the basis of it being something they would do if they were desperate.
The threat worked for centuries until Paragast started uniting the domains under his Unstoppable Force. Rather than risk Baramith being released as a last resort, Paragast bribed the casters responsible for keeping the troll restrained. When a desperate order came in from the warlord of Prel to free Baramith, the casters refused and Prel fell under Paragast's control.

Immortal Monster

Following Kaldrick's tinkering, Baramith is a twenty foot tall troll with exceptional self-healing. Wounds on Baramith close so quickly that it has been known for weapons to get trapped midway through slicing his flesh. With the normal trollish weakness to fire removed, there is little that can slow the healing making Baramith almost unstoppable in a fight.
Baramith also seems to have developed an immunity to magical compulsion, making him uncontrollable. It has not been possible if this is a result of Kaldick's misguided efforts or simply the result of decades of compulsion.

Related locations

Savage Lands

Related Items

Troll-eye Amulet

A Poor Domain

Prel has long been considered the poorest of the domains. WIth no access to the southlands or even the mountain range known as the teeth there are few opportunities to raid for resources, and the constant threat from both Rigel Fearshroud and the orcs of the Hgtoha mean there is little chance of being able to launch offensives on the other domains.

Frozen Threat

Since killing Baramith was all but impossible, he was captured and restrained. Heavy iron chains were used to ensnare him, and remain wrapped around him to this day. Even these chains could not long stand up to Baramith's efforts to escape, so he was frozen in ice. A half-dozen warcasters spend their time maintaining the ice to ensure Baramith cannot escape.

The header was created in Flowscape, and as usual the map was created in Wonderdraft.