Kailin Stoneheart, Harbinger

'Kailin heart of stone, fractured and flawed in life. You gave it all in death, to fill the cracks in our broken world. The heart of a hero. Never forgotten. Never forsaken.' - Plaque upon the statue of Kaln Igni

Written by Yerran

As seen in

Tales of Lenwir: Harbinger

The tale of Kailin Stoneheart is one of caution and second chances. However, even with the luck of such opportunities, he could only steer the change in himself, eventually coming to tend the flame of honour and faith. He could not know the destination of his life or the impact its trajectory would have on the world. A reminder that the winding trail of our lives is often not our own.

Born to Poverty

Born in the year 1429 A.C. to a group of travellers that ventured between the ramshackle settlements within what is now known as the Sabal'Har Desert. Kailin had no immediate family, nor family name, as was common amongst the travelling folk. He was raised by the camp and taught the ways of his people, skills like trickery, subtlety and thievery. These served him well as a child and teen and he was able to provide for himself and others in the troupe. When he reached manhood, he set out on his own, sick of sharing all he had or earned with the rest of the troupe, determined instead to make his fortune. 

For years he worked the backstreets, gambling dens and gangs of the eastern deserts, gaining an appearance of semi-wealth, but never possessing the real thing. Each adventure led him further into risk, for to make money, someone often has to lose it. His life became a dangerous gauntlet of avoiding those he owed while finding new blood to use and scam. A difficult tightrope to walk, since many of his scams left his partners out on a ledge or abandoned in hot water.

Greed's Downfall

Eventually, Kailin's racketeering, scams and cons caught up with him. Those former allies he had burnt time and time again before finally found their revenge. While stealing from a caravan house he was met with the cheated moneylenders of his previous endeavours and dragged to his doom. They threw him into a cell and beat him for his crimes. Though when Kailin expected death, it never came. Instead, he was passed to a group of cloaked figures who offered him a payment for his crimes. They asked him to join an expedition over the Flametip Mountains, to steal away a secret artefact from the Nari'Kit and return it home. A fool-hardy expedition. One that would likely be his death.

A Perilous Gambit

With no other choice, Kailin took the offer and with a handshake was magically branded. He would help these people on their expedition through the Flametip Mountains, though no one he knew had ever made it. This did not concern him, he knew an opportunity would present itself and he would be away from them, a new identity and a new name. He had done it before.

They walked the mountain's edge, seeking a route up. The burning fires and eruptions were visible from such a distance Kailin wondered at their destructive capabilities up close. He was not the only one, for in the night a sudden 'pop' filled the silence of the camp. He rushed from his tent to find a crowd gathering a hundred metres away. The corpse of a man without his head, the marked runes on his arm flashed before vanishing completely. The true purpose of these brands became clear and he swore. There was no escape until his bargain was fulfilled. He was a slave.

The days dragged as they marched upwards into the shale-covered landscape split with lava pools and huge stands of black obsidian. He had thought of nothing but escape in this burning environment. The very air singed his skin, and he breathed quickly to try and cool himself, only to find himself hotter than before. A guard, like him, had collapsed earlier that day and they had thrown him in the wagon, whether he lived or not Kailin didn't know.

Then it hit him, a wave of nauseating stink. He turned to retch and froze. A creature with six black spindly legs, a human torso and no head flitted down the mountainside barely touching the ground. Someone screamed and Kailin spun to see a hunched human-like frog with four giant bat wings and far too many teeth plummet onto someone. The scream stopped, though a dozen more erupted. Kailin drew his sword and backed away. The battle was joined as dozens of creatures appeared from crevices, cracks and smoke-filled sky, each as uniquely horrific as the last. The other indentured guards were no match for the monsters and even with the magician's magic anyone could see they would not survive this. As that thought went through his mind, the magician's head sailed through the air, moments before his body was torn asunder by the spider-like creature's legs. Kailin looked at his arm, and the binding glyph vanished. 'I'm free', he thought, turning to flee and skidded. A gaping maw of dagger-like teeth opened before him and his eyes widened as he stared into the yawning cavern of his own demise.

A Heart of Stone

The creature exploded into stinking viscera, covering him in a gout of ooze. He suppressed a retch and watched as a dozen humanoid dragons of crimson and red charged down the slope in full battle plate. They smashed into the remaining horrors and crushed them in minutes. Kailin couldn't look away. Some wielded the light itself, burning away the horrors, while others used weapons of metal or fire from their mouths. He had never seen such prowess in combat, and from creatures so big. He was transfixed.

'You live?' A huge dragon-warrior grumbled and he turned to look at it, nodding dumbly. He nodded and gestured forward. Kailin peered around at the carnage and gore and found himself the only human survivor. The march on was brutal and the dragon warriors joked, calling Kailin 'Stonehearted' for his lack of concern for his companions. They didn't understand that he cared nothing for his battle brothers no matter how often he tried to tell them the truth. The concept was as alien to them as their honour was to him. He did understand one thing though, he was effectively a slave again, for no one who entered the mountains was allowed to leave.

The citadel stood as tall as the volcanoes around it and had walls to match, cut from floes of lava. They had passed several such gates and walls on the way. The dragon warriors had been hospitable enough for the days marching and camping but were eager to deposit him in his new prison. Though as far as prisons went, Kailin had seen much worse. It was as nice an area he had seen, bustling with other races; dwarves, elves, gnomes and others he'd never seen. They were all armed for war, training in practice fields, or caring for their weapons, an army unto its own, and all wore the tabards and red armour of the dragon warriors.

This became Kailin's life. He learnt all of Light's Talon, their mission and way of life, gaining great respect for it. He was a part of it now. Their mission was his. Though he was part of a regiment known as 'The Lost'. Beings not born to Light's Talon but those that came willingly, or were saved and drafted as he was. For the first time in an age, he felt he belonged. He learnt the true reason behind their existence, and for many years he trained and fought beside them in their forever war.

In the year 1473 A.C. a call went up from the 10th Guardian of the Worldgate, Tiron Blackscale. The outsiders had found a way in and were flooding into Venya. They must join the battle, or face destruction. Kailin volunteered, as did his whole regiment and they rode to join the battle of Del Aerion. Experience could not prepare any for what they faced as the world twisted and tore and horrors beyond description sought to claim their souls as prizes, but they held fast, freeing the besieged city of Del Ayir and pushing on to the centre of the incursion. The march was akin to the steps of hell, but they reached the end and the final battle was joined. Kailin watched as Tiron Blackscale battled the Demon Prince Auturi and lost. In that moment his heart broke and hope sought to flee as he watched the honour guard cut down.

A Hero Rises & Falls

The Demon Prince charged and Kailin moved without thinking. The thoughts of self-preservation banished for the first time in his life. He swept up a fallen guardian's shield, as light as a feather, and raised it before Tiron. The blow should have sent him flying, body broken, but the light stood with him, for the first time in his life. He felt it infuse his muscles and spirit. Kailin Stoneheart, one of The Lost, stood and faced the Darkwalker, his sword chipped and marred, his greying hair plastered to his face, his armour broken. He stood against the end.

Energy flowed around him, empowering him with magic beyond his form, the last magics of Tiron Blackscale. It infused Kailin, and he screamed. It reshaped him and exploded from within his body, filling the air with the creationist magics of the guardian and sealing the smaller rifts. Now only the last portal between worlds hung tore the veil. Kailin charged, driving the demon prince back with his new power, but knew it wouldn't last. Kailin channelled his strength into a last attempt at victory, ducking the wicked life-stealing weapon of Auturi and plunging his sword through the monster's chest. The outsider prince roared in rage as the force pitched them into the final portal, and all of the world faded to darkness.

The Harbinger

To imagine the torment of the outer realms is enough to break the spirit of the strongest warriors. Though those of Light's Talon know this may be their fate, to endure it is something else entirely. Thus was the fate of Kailin Stoneheart. Within the realm of disorder and hunger, he stood awaiting death, within the shattered citadel of the gravely wounded Demon Prince, Darkwalker Auturi. To fight was folly, yet he did it anyway, attacking the outsiders and their lord with all the strength he possessed. Though with each strike, dodge or block, it ebbed away. He suffered wounds that hissed and burned with toxic magic, and his life leaked out, not his blood, the energy of his life. He fought to his last breath, until he no longer could, and collapsed to his knees. Though the outsiders did not rip his soul from his body, for they were halted by the ephemeral form of Darkwalker Auturi. He had other plans.

Kailin's link to the mortal plane would never be broken, and Tiron had inadvertently given this human the gift of Everlast in the exchange of his power. Auturi imprisoned Kailin, trapping part of his soul in the outer worlds and sending the rest back to Darrowden. A conduit for the outsider's magic. Magic follows where he walks, in the form of mist. This mist carries the spirits of monstrous outsiders that kill and consume all it touches. Those that perish this way lose their souls to Auturi for eternal torture. Kailin wanders now, aimless, a broken man. Aware that if he stops and lies down, if he gives up, his spirit dies and the two parts of his soul will reconnect, forming a permanent bond that would grant Auturi all he needs to return to Lenwir.

So on he marches. Now, known to the locals as 'Harbinger'. For death follows behind him, but none truly know the burden he carries. He mutters the towns and names of those claimed by the mists, remembering their sacrifice, so that he does not fall. For he cannot fall. No end will come for Kailin Stoneheart. An unwilling harbinger of death, defiant to the end in the protection of Venya. A true hero of Light's Talon.

Another Tale of Venya

Learn more about the world, its history and the factions here.

'The Lost' Regiment

Created from those who attempted to cross the Flametip Mountains and were saved by squads of Light's Talon. They are given over to the regiment for training and basic survival skills, often living out the rest of their lives there. This is an odd occurrence for many and some wish to return to their lives outside. However, the Council of Scales doesn't accept this, as any who would venture out would perish at the hands of roaming outsiders. They also maintain the illusion that the whole world is fighting this war, and therefore so are the other mortal factions. This means they are allies and comrades in the same war and should be happy to fight with them.

The Lost regiment is treated with the respect of any Scale Warden, as they are brothers in arms, but they are kept separate for logistics and fighting cohesion. Many of the other races in The Lost Regiment are smaller and shorter than the dracanoids and therefore can better lock shields, move at a similar pace and interact with each other's equipment. Those that do not wish to fight do not have to, though they must be trained to protect themselves. They instead manage the logistics, healing and other administration tasks for the families, and soldiers of the Lost Regiment.

The Shield of Harbinger

The shields of the Dragon Scale Honour Guard are heavy, though in the hands of a warrior of Light's Talon they weigh nothing. Though it is not the strength of the warriors that makes them weightless, but the power of their faith and strength in the Light that carries their shields. It also makes them unmovable in the face of unrelenting dark power. If the wielder's faith is unshakable, then so are they.

These shields are given to the highest within the organisation, though none are given to 'The Lost' as they often lived other lives before coming to Light's Talon and their faith is rarely unshakable. For those who have even a sliver of doubt, the shields are almost unusable, so hefty and slow. Not to mention most members of 'The Lost' regiment are significantly shorter and weaker than their Dragon-Warrior comrades. 

Even with such expectations all are given the opportunity to lift the shields in their training, but never in combat unless they find the shields weightless. Kailin was given this same opportunity and failed in training. Though as the tale goes, in that moment of greatest importance he lifted the shield of the Dragon Scale Honour Guard and blocked the death blow of a Demon Prince, protecting the Guardian of the Worldgate. In that moment of greatest fear, and least hope, he stood without a sliver of doubt in the mission of Light's Talon, unshakable. A true soldier of the order. No longer lost, but home.

Now as Harbinger, he carries that same shield. A monument to his unshakable faith. Another promise that he has not lost hope. Not lost faith in his mission to keep the outsiders from re-entering Venya, even at the cost of his own suffering.

The tale of Kailin Stoneheart lies on this page, but the current state of

The Darrowden Hills and Harbinger lie here.

Check out the short story and experience the horror of Shadowalker Auturi's vengeance on Kailin yourself.

Tales of Lenwir: Harbinger

Tales of Lenwir: Harbinger

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