Karos of Isham

Overview

Karos Dannfar  was born in Isham on the island of Poreios in 1408, during the Age of Black Fire on the 6th day of Araro of the Season of Flame. Karos was the only child of Vitra and Belan Dannfar, a meager family of no noble or important heritage. He is known as being one of the Seven Great Heroes of Beron who liberated Poreios, and subsequently the world from the G'lani Darkscale invasion. Karos was born without a Greater Art, but was proficient in many military tactics and swordplay. Apart from being a Concilum in the Darkscale Invasion, he also took command of his own Legion in the 3rd Tiverium Civil War.

Childhood
Karos Dannfar came from a lower class family in the city of Isham. His parents were anglers by trade, making their living off of the fisheries of the Lake Isham, and young Karos would help bring in the heavy nets and lines for his parents. He received no formal education as a child, learning only what he could from the dock workers and the city streets. At the age of fourteen Karos began working in the mountain mines, digging for iron and Halcite. There he worked for the mine boss, Sergin Viram. Under Sergin he toiled in the mines for five years until he had saved enough money to leave home.

Joining the War
After journeying from Isham he travelled for two years, working odd jobs throughout the cities of Cathos, Goremin, and Diete before joining the Azirean Legion at Lorel in the year 1429 of Black Fire. At the Lorel barracks he trained under Consilum Attesos, learning military tactics and swordsmanship, quickly becoming a popular contestant in the Lorel Arena. Karos also received an appropriate education during his time at the barracks. He learned to read, write, and was taught arithmetic, the sciences, and various other fields of study. At age 27 his legion was sent to Pyca to join the forces of Olors and Feren in forming the Whitesea Union. There he met Duran Marold who became his lifelong friend and member of the Heroes of Beron. Once the Whitesea Union was assembled he served as a Concilum, or Captain, beside Duran aboard the ship Dawn-break, going from one infested shore to the next driving the G'lani Darkscales back. Using Blackfire, the Dawn-break destroyed many of the Darkscale Hollows located in the deeper parts of the Empiric Ocean.

Assembling the Team
In 1440 Karos and Duran were chosen to join six others at Thalisar to venture to the sunken ruins of Beron and end the Darkscale invasion once and for all. The Whitesea Union, unable to rout out the remaining Darkscales with the might of their armada decided that a smaller contingent would be able to infiltrate the ruins. The party consisted of Karos and Duran, who were both without a Greater Art, Ariosa, a Vocai, Harlon a Rune Warden, Kain, a Bloodwalker, and Illaria and Sisyrin, both Starweavers. Together, though unsure of each others abilities, they journeyed forth to Beron and the G'lani Darkscales. Once the party reached the outskirts of Beron the assault began. After many hard fought battles Karos and the other six members of the company were successful in defeating the last of the G'lani Darkscales and ending the invasion.

Return Home
Karos returned home to Isham under the rank of Legaellum of the Azirean Legion. The rank of Legaellum was awarded to him by the Emperor of Osirius for his heroics at Beron. Once home Karos was given the title of High Noble of Isham. The once poor, destitute man was one of the highest ranking citizens of Isham as well as a Legaellum in the Osirian Legions. In 1441 Karos married Vianne Caeril, a Noble of Cathos. They had a daughter, Thaelia, born in 1442 during the Age of Black Fire on the 16th day of Otta during the Season of Flame. Her birth during this season of fire and swiftness has brought glory and fierceness to Karos and his daughter burns as brightly as his rise within the Legion. As the flames of the Earth were present on the day of his birth in 1408, his soul burned brightly with determination ever prompted by the birth of his daughter, also born during the Season of Flame. His heart, fiery with flames, burned for the next victory in his wake.

The Skyspear Legion
Almost as soon as Karos had returned home, he was called off to war once more in 1443. This time the fighting was situated in Tiverium, the frigid, barren continent to the North. Another civil war had broken out amongst the Dwar'kir and the Möhn-kir, their King, had sent for assistance from the Osirian Empire and their mighty Legions. Commanding his very own Skyspear Legion, Karos sailed with his army to the Shore of Thön’s Landing and drove his troops into the frozen North to the aid of the Dwar'kir nobility. He worked them hard, giving little time for rest and recuperation, earning him the moniker "Karos the Cruel" from his troops. His Officers were not so unfortunate however, as they enjoyed the luxury of mobile transport instead of marching on foot. The Skyspear Legion consisted of the standard 4,000 soldiers, as well as roughly 300 attendants, servants, and slaves.

His contingent fought hard for three years until the Ür’lohn Rebels, or Low-Blood in Dwar'kir, overthrew Karos and his Skyspear Legion. Karos and his forces had been driven into Fören’s Bowl, a rocky canyon surrounded by crags and high plateaus and his numbers had greatly diminished from 4,000 to barely 2,000. They held out for six months before gaining the upper hand against the Ür’lohn troops. Karos urged his men onward to the base of the Ür’lohn rebels.

Breaking the Rebellion
In 1447 Karos and his Legion reached the summit of the Öm-Drenor, the White Mountain in Dwar'kir, the home of the rebellion. There they waited for the Nightwind Legion led by Legaellum Orbos who had lost only a fourth of his men to the rebels, and the Iterian Legion led by Legaellum Duran. Using Blackfire bombs they destroyed the gates to the mountain fortress and began their assault. The fortress ran deep, it's cavernous labyrinth-like holds running for miles upon miles, confounding the Legions. The Legions fought onward and down for three months, often getting trapped by dead-end caves and Ür’lohn ambushes. The rebels were successful in the elimination of the entire Nightwind Legion when they led them into an abandoned mine cave and set off their supply of Blackfire, collapsing the cave upon Orbos' Legion.

one of the great Heroes of Beron, was born in 1408 in the Age of Black Fire, on the 6th day of Araro. Karos become one of the seven who would end the G'lani Darkscale invasion in the Ruins of Beron. After the war, he took a wife and had two sons and a daughter, and lived as a wealthy high noble until his death in 1487. Although he lived in luxury he came from a poor family, and in his later years, gave generously to the impoverished of Isham.