Of the Fall Herald

"You'll see, little Harbinger! Don't you hear them - the chains, his obsidian chains?"

- The Lieutenant

After the Endwar, the world was slow to forget how much damage and death had been wrought across it, and how damaged the currents of magic had become. Time, however, heals even the deepest of wounds - unless the knife is never removed. The Fall Herald is an enigmatic Endsworn who has only ever appeared on his own terms throughout the 700 years since the Endwar. His power, his motivation, his strange propensity for appearing right before disaster - all these things are mysteries. But with so many opportunities to spark another devastating war, why is he so often just a sinister observer?

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Almost nothing is known about the Fall Herald, not even his real name. His popular title is derived from two things: his hair colour, which resembles autumn leaves, and his uncanny ability to predict (or perhaps cause) calamity - to herald a fall. This is the extent of our understanding of him; all that follows is speculation and inference about his true nature, based off of inadequate information.
From records during the Endwar, we know that Endsworn begin only partly consumed by the dark power they wield, but become more adept - and less human - the longer they 'live'. As the Herald was a participant in the Endwar, he must have at least 700 years' worth of connection with the Ending, making him by far the strongest Endsworn that Wyral has ever seen. There is no precedent for what that amount of damage to the soul could cause; the inevitable effects on his mental state may be encouragingly detrimental, or deeply concerning.
There have been any number of 'sightings' of the Herald since the Endwar, which tended to increase in frequency in times of war and famine. Most of these were from a distance, in unclear conditions like night-time, or experienced by addled minds. But the Herald seems to have a sense of humour; whenever confirmed sightings have occurred, he has always been almost - but not quite - part of the impending disaster.

• His debut appearance after the Endwar occurred in the Araen Wastes, where he reportedly led a band of raiders and treasure hunters into a long-forgotten ruin. The ensuing explosion turned much of the nearby desert to glass, and released a pack of corrupted wyrbeasts which hunted down and fought Arvus, the Grey Spider. This resulted in the permanent alteration of the Westerwoods.
• The next sighting of him was in the land which would soon become Axu. While the exact circumstances are unclear, he seems to have provoked a skirmish between a local human settlement and the ikayal living in the Westerwoods. The nature of the conflict and its fallout is beyond the scope of this journal, but the end result contributed to the near-global animosity between humans and ikayal.
• Several years later, he appeared in the northern wilds of Renhau, bearing news to the ikayal city of Firsun. He told them that the great ikayal nation, Arwifal, had fallen to enterprising human forces - and thus delayed vital reinforcements from arriving in time to aid Arwifal, which in reality collapsed a little while after he bore the message. However, many survived the attack thanks to three envoys, meaning that the Fall Herald's plans can at least partly be defended against.
• A long, long time passed before the Herald reappeared, this time on Gwir - an island which has still not recovered from being the home of the Endsworn. A few days later, the Storm of Ages occurred, devastating the island and puttingthe nearby city-state of Liyru on high alert. It is still unclear what caused the Storm; if it was the Fall Herald who conjured it, this means both that he is as immensely powerful as expected... and that his behaviour may no longer be predictable.

Nevertheless, the trend is evident, and equally clear is that the Endsworn have been bolstering their ranks for decades - if not centuries. The Herald's machinations play out on the timescales of nations, but as events pick up and more chaos upsets this long period of peace... it would seem that even those beyond his control are still cards in his hand, playing themselves according to his will.

Type

Journal, Scientific