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Theodrose (The Spectre Lord of the North)
Theodrose, though a king in his own right, he refuses the title of “highness”. Theodrose was once Duke Marken Theodrose, warden of the Vulsar River Plain – the lands just north of the capital and a bread basket of the region. He was, and considers his great rank to be that of a Duke of the fallen Kingdom of Dundaria – now Lichrya – the home of the Lich Lords. Once the first general of the Lich Lords, he somehow managed to break away and maintain his own autonomy. Theodrose settled in the northlands (the “Theodrossian Lands“) to displease his ex-masters, taking the lands they had coveted. It is said he has transcended his status of undeath, and his duty and honor and hatred of his foes keeps him focused and away from the darkness of his hunger. For most in the north, he is a tolerated presence as he seems to fight for the northern folk, helps to maintain The Blue Wall, and is the most adamant foe of the Lich Lords – their nemesis. He is also accepting of just about any creature or species seeking to embrace civilized ways – no matter how monstrous they seem. He is known to deal with those who step out of line personally. Such is his power that the Lich Lords who made him, cannot unmake him (though it is rumored that he will share their fate ultimately) and he and his retainers are immune to the effects of the Fangedfrost. Few have crossed him and lived to tell the tale. He is also popular because despite his adoption of titles, he supports the inhabitants to follow the Freelander Way. He wields one of the Postestas Dundarium – his to be specific, Golden Gift.
Lord Marken Theodrose: King of Kalsacor, Master of Castle Vulgarate; Warlord of the Chainland Confederacy, (Dundarian) Duke of Vudeor & Warden of the Vulsar, bane of the Lich Lords of Helca. He is known to history records as The King of Stillness, and that tale has many aspects known and barely perceived alike.
i20™ Theodrose Character Details
Human [variant] Bard 4 (Valor)/Paladin (Oath Breaker) 16th; all the powers of a Spectre. Feats: Counted Combat, Charger, Durable, Sentinel, Heavy Armor Master, Shield Master;
Set in Grand Duchy of Dunstrand in the Steel Realms of the [Fantasy] Steel Realms, as a Living World storyline.
Paladin (Vengeance) – Restored to the Conviction and favor of Whelm the Protector. Whelm supplies he and his retainers with divine power, even in their state. When their loyalty to god and people returned, so their knighthood was supported by whelm, replacing the fealty to their former masters. They use Wisdom as a modifier.
iCore™ Theodrose Character Details
Chronicle of Lord Theodrose
Information Sources: Mundane Reference | Associated Phenomenology Only | Specific Lore
Pervasive Knowledge / Very Easy Difficulty
Common Knowledge / Easy Difficulty
Fall of Dundaria: When the call went out and the Lich Lords struck at Odekrik, he and his bannermen assembled – mounting everyone and riding at breakneck speed for Saothwell Valley where his king and his allies fought against the unknown assailants. Before he could get there, the Fangedfrost came from the north. Just outside the city, they looked back and knew it would catch them. Everyone stripped, and faced the murderous blizzard as was the custom of their northern clan to have the elements take them. They chanted their war song as the white wall engulfed them.Theodrose stood, naked in the howling wind of the Fangedfrost and his material body was ripped away. Even then, his spirit would not bend and his roar of rage could not be silenced. When the front of the storm passed and the city was conquered, the new rulers came to see the devastation wrought upon their enemies. A blazing blue white light was like a beacon to them, as a moth to the flame. Still shrieking in rage, the Lich Lords decided to harness the anger and hate they had unleashed. His spirit was so strong that it took multiple Lich Lords to shackle it with their power of The Cold Embrace. He was the first general of the Lich Lords. He lead their armies south from the capital once it had been overtaken. Once he was able to cast off the chains that bound him somehow, he forged his way west, until he met the sea, slaughtering all in his path who sought to stop him. The stories say he spent years in the north, conquering it. There is no written history from the peoples there, but there are tales.
The King of Stillness: But they festered with their unending hunger, a blight upon the land. Still they conquered – though they did not kill the conquered populations. They brought their own frost (as once harbingers of the Shattering Mist) as their hunger to feed turned into a hunger to conquer. Even the ‘recruited’ ghoul soldiers, hungry and vocal though they were, restrained their desire upon the living. All of them were bonded through loyalty and honor beyond death. They eventually had every leader in the free north and beyond, bending the knee to the will of Theodrose. And then, it seemed his life thread had run its course. Eventually, when their Lord was freed of the binding of Lich Lords somehow, his bannermen/retainers followed him into northern exile traveling along the length of the Blue Wall west, claiming the new Kingdom of Kalascor as their new lands. With them traveled the knowledge of how to tame the fiery hunger of undeath, how to feel the heat of life without having to take it into themselves somehow, or the jealous anger towards the living. They were utterly invisible to their former masters – many a long range search party was sent, but none could do anything but get whittled away by the Kaaldians and Pinetribe folk time after time who did not know that peace was upon them. They had become the boogeymen of the north – the memory of the King of Stillness and his evil riders kept the northern freelanders in their homes when the darkness of night would come.
The Lord of Spectres Rides Again: Battle of Sunsplint Fields
Uncommon Knowledge / Average Difficulty
Fall of Dundaria: His bannermen died with him, their own spirits bound to him. Nineteen of his most loyal bannermen became bound in death. The Fangedfrost and their loyalty transformed them. Specters without bodies, they could form a body of ice, snow and frost. Each a knight of the Order of Whelm Indomitus (it ended when Dundaria fell), they could call forth a mount of the same composition. These became the dreaded Crystal Riders – harbingers of the Shattering Mist.He and his Crystal Rider retainers still are connected to the Lich Lords though, siphoning power imperceptibly. If the lich lords die, so do they.
Scarce Knowledge / Hard Difficulty
Fall of Dundaria: The Crystal Riders gathered the “new recruits” to the legions after an area was taken in service to the Lich Lords. Each was given a pack of ghouls to destroy the last resistance, and a force of skeletons numbering between 10 and 50 to search for specific items of power in the ruins of whatever place they sacked. These recruits were hand picked from among the older corpses from the Dundarum Army in some strange connection to their past lives. On the battlefield they were elite, the most mobile and militant group the Lich Lords had, other than the fallen Lord Heatherguard.The King of Stillness: They built a crude castle at Juniper, and settled in it, frozen in time. All that could be discerned as the snow piled high above it over decades was the peak of the crude tower, and a strange vibration in the earth that only the living could feel. There they sat for a thousand years as their former masters slowly accumulated more lands and armies of the dead.
The Lord of Spectres Rides Again: Battle of Sunsplint Fields; Priest of the earth goddess was led to the place on a quest. To awaken the Theodrose, the priestess of Wind cleared the snow and loose stones. The priestess of Water froze and made the walk through the ruins to the throne safe. The priestess of Earth ended the resonance of peace. The priestess of Fire gave the gift of warmth, appeasing the undead hunger. Together they bound the “King” and his soldiers to the land – His oath was to ensure the grain and feed the people in Dundaria – so he was called to do so again. Each animation was now one of The Risen. His new Oath restored to serve the living of his new kingdom, not his old.
Set in Grand Duchy of Dunstrand in the Steel Realms of the [Fantasy] Steel Realms, as a Living World storyline.
Death of Zoras: CY 9168 > When Zoras The Despoiler died, half the ghouls soldiers of the Crystal Riders of Thedrosse were “loosed” from their bonds of The Cold Bargain. They killed many, but Theodrose himself and his riders tracked and killed every last one and their progeny with other orders of knights and the Chain Brothers of the north. Elsewhere, about 10% of the armies of the Lich Lords were lost when these fetters were cut.
Rare Knowledge / Very Hard Difficulty
Fall of Dundaria:In the end, it was the queen of the Ilyndrian Aelves who offered them their initial peace. Only the Order of Davros knew of their entombment, outside of the Aelves of the north.The King of Stillness:
Set in Grand Duchy of Dunstrand in the Steel Realms of the [Fantasy] Steel Realms, as a Living World storyline.
Freed of the binding of Zoras the Despoiler by the Ur-Ducateon (when they trapped him in the grinding tunnel), he was able to make decisions without being watched at all.
- With Zoras dead, there is no way to track Theodrose or The Crystal Riders at all by the Lich Lords.
- Theodrose’s own personal power is slightly lessened, but this is good to him – he and his will die when the last of the Lich Lords dies as well.
- Theodrose and his Crystal Riders lost some power over undead, but regained their connection to Whelm when Zoras died.