Ignatius

Ignatius is an Ogryn unlike any other. While as strong and resilient as many of his kind, his essence has become fused with something more, something primordial and igneous. The story of how this came to be has its roots in Peltas, amid the desolation and heat of the Dawnmounts. Once, Ignatius was a warrior of Aravia, guarding Felwin’s Gate. For all the fighting involved, such a static existence did not appeal to his fiery and adventurous spirit, and when a famed Elven adventurer named Adrion put out a call for recruits to join him on an expedition, Ignatius transferred and joined the Elf, as the only Ogryn in the party. Adrion intended to make his fortune by seeking out the artifacts left by the slain foes of Korax, a great, semi-mythical Demonspawn. His band ventured from Aravia to the Deadlands, where they began the arduous trek across Peltas to Korax’s supposed lair, in the heart of Mount Cinder in the Dawnmounts. Legend had it that Korax had long since been bound there by a Lightbringer who had almost vanquished the Demonspawn before he escaped to the mountain’s depths. The party arrived, exhausted, and entered a labyrinth of tunnels leading through the heart of the mountain itself. It fell to Ignatius to ensure their survival, who smashed through rubble blockages and threw his smaller companions across fissures. Seemingly against all odds, they worked their way to the core of the mountain and discovered what they had yearned for — a cache of ancient, sorcerous tools, tomes, and weapons, once borne by those the Demonspawn had slain down the centuries. So that part of the legend was true. However, Korax had not been bound by a Lightbringer, and was merely slumbering. Awakened by the presence of souls disturbing his fastness for the first time in decades, Korax roared with blazing fury, flooding the tunnels with fire and immolating most of the party as they tried to make their escape. Ignatius was able to haul Adrion free before the others were destroyed by the flames, but both survivors were burned, the Elf particularly so. Despite Ignatius’ efforts, Adrion perished. In the novel position of being smaller than his adversary, the Ogryn took to the lesser tunnels to avoid the hulking Demonspawn. The flames had seared away his weaker companions, but Ignatius’ flesh was tough as iron and almost as unfeeling, and he carried on. With Korax failing to reach him but relentlessly patrolling the larger tunnels, the Ogryn lived for months in the mountain’s warrens, subsisting on underground springs and moss while he sought a way out. His body steadily adapted to his new environment, helped on unintentionally by the magical elements of the Demonspawn’s fire, his welts and burns forming new tough, craggy flesh not so dissimilar to Korax’s molten hide. Having spent so long failing to find a means out of the mountain via the smaller tunnels, Ignatius resolved to cease his attempts at escape. He instead determined to take the fight to Korax, for continuing to run and cower felt shameful. When he was certain Korax was hunting for him elsewhere, he entered the main chamber at the center of the mountain and sought a weapon among those left behind by the Demonspawn’s defeated foes. He unearthed a great mace of fiery rock, which he named Magma, as well as scraps of armor and equipment, and met Korax head-on. The Demonspawn was weary from his hunting and burning out so many of the mountain’s tunnels, but even so, the clash between the pair lasted hours and shook Mount Cinder from its peak to its roots. Finally, with one almighty blow, Ignatius swung Magma and pulverized Korax’s horned skull. The Ogryn rejoiced, but felt no desire to return to his dull existence in Aravia. The flames of Mount Cinder had burned deep not only into his flesh but into his very soul, changing him and, in a way, binding him to it. Ignatius chose to remain, making a stronghold in the tunnels and using Korax’s hide and bones in the construction of a grand hall. Stories told by desert Nomads and Velyzari merchants about a mighty flame-wreathed Ogryn who was said to spit lava and crush Demonspawn spread like wildfire across Peltas, and he became a legend, as renowned as the Demonspawn he had slaughtered. Other Ogryn sought him, and now an entire tribe inhabits Mount Cinder, a gathering of craggy-skinned, kindle-eyed brutes. Perhaps Ignatius will be content to remain in his new home, or perhaps he is building his strength, and one day his new tribe will march forth and carve a place in the wider legends of Teleria.