The Wolf King
Into this time came Brenad, the Wolf King, axe in hand, a soldier, a slayer, a reaver, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the shadowed cabals beneath his booted heel. He had left the lands of Druma to serve in the Tharician military. In his time he learned their tactics and ways, but always kept the ways of his people in his heart. After his time in Tharicia he became a mercenary, traveling far and wide seeking his fortune. He returned with a cadre of soldiers from around the world. A dream had pulled him homeward: a dream of the great northern wolf.
He went forth into the wilderness and met with the Shamans, who knew the ways of the world. They were wise in medicine, magic, and knowledge of the spirits. They paid homage to certain spirits to gain hidden powers. For half a year he dwelt with them and learned many lessons.
From there he sought out the elusive Rooks, who wandered from the wilds of the wood to the halls of chieftains. Where the people went, so went the Rooks. They were the keepers of tales, but not above a little petty larceny. The Wolf King had once learned thievery from a Rook, and he needed their advice. When he came before their Parliament of Tales, he told them of his travels in exchange for their aid in battles to come.
He proclaimed himself throughout Druma as the Wolf King. He and his followers, including companions from his travels, Shamans he had swayed, and Rooks he had befriended, came out from the Valley of Shadow, through the land of Clan Fjorolas, and marched toward the Beacon. As they progressed westward, they freed villages from the servants sent by the cabals, and the people of Druma joined his force. He also found allies among those wizards who were not pleased with the tyrannic rule of the Cabals in the Beacon. For a month, the city of Imma Hamn and the Beacon withstood both assault and siege. It was the long-forgotten Tharician hereditary governor, Reveka Vassilos Alemnet, who eventually conspired to open a gate, with the aid and prompting of a Rook named Baldon. Brenad led the charge on the Beacon itself, and with the aid of the ritualists he had won to his side, the beacon fell.
In his mercy, only the most heinous of the ritualists were executed. Those who chose the arts and service of the Most Foul were hung from the walls. This marked the end of the ritualists' rule, but, for numerous reasons, not their destruction. Rooks spread the tale far and wide, and it grew with the telling.
Soon after, the chieftains of Druma gathered and swore allegiance to the Wolf King as the first true king of Druma. It was by his axe and spear that they became a nation. He ruled into old age, and when he neared his end, there came a prophecy. It said after the Wolf King's death, Druma would slowly fall, but in a time of great need, when all was lost, the blood of the Wolf King would return and bring glory greater still.