Rudd was born in a small fishing village on the shores of the Darkwings Lake, the body of water that was formed by the emptiness left behind by the floating Island of Gryphyn.
Born to a poor family, young Rudd grew up as a hard worker, helping his father fishing. His life changed dramatically at the age of 10, when his village was attacked by one of the many Orc war bands roaming the Darklands.
Possessing no real fighting training, the villagers were slaughtered, and would have certainly be completely wiped out, when a stranger appeared in town. He was a middle aged man, tall and powerfully built, wielding a weird blade made of green hued steel, more similar to emerald than metal.
The stranger was a storm on the battlefield. He single handedly defeated half of the Orc war band, before routing the survivors, who run away in fear instead of suffering a gruesome death under the precise and impossibly fast strikes of the stranger.
Rudd survived that day, but his family didn’t. The stranger saw him, bloodied and in tear, kneeling in the mud. “You will come with me, boy” he told him “and you will call me Master”.
The Master and Rudd travelled to the Spine of the World, and climbed up into the mountains, until they reached an hidden temple. “Here you will learn the Sublime Way” the Master told him “here you will learn to master yourself, and your enemies”.
Rudd trained long years together with the Master of Nine, Lord of the Diamond Mind Discipline, and with other disciples. He learned of the Sublime Way, he learned of the Nine Swords, and of the sacred duty of the Master: to forever guard the Weapon, the most dangerous tool of war in the World of Tyrrah.
One of Rudd’s mentors was Aramus, Lord of the Stone Dragon Discipline, who was for him not only a teacher, but a friend, and a second father. The big man was famous in Tyrrah for being a war hero, and had chosen to join the Temple of the Sublime Way to hone his fighting skills even more.
For 10 years Rudd trained under Aramus and the Master, and he excelled in the White Raven Discipline. Such was his skill, that he was granted the Sword of the Last Citadel, one of the Nine, and became a Master himself, one of the youngest.
Then one day Aramus left, for he was still honor bound by his duty to the Emperor of Aduria. Rudd was deeply saddened to lose his friend, but understood Aramus’ feelings.
Not a year had passed from Aramus’ departure, that he returned. But his return was not friendly. He came back with many Imperial Legions, and together with him was the Emperor himself!
“Give up the Weapon, Master of Nine” commanded the Emperor. But the Master of Nine would never give up the secret location of the Weapon, and together with his disciples and the other Masters, he readied himself for battle.
A great rage surged in Rudd, in witnessing the betrayal of his so-called friend. But had he ever been a friend? Or had Aramus spent those long years just to befriend the Master of Nine, and trying to locate the Weapon? It did not matter. On that day, the Sublime Way fought against the Imperial Legions, and for each Disciple who fell, 20 Imperial guards lost their life.
But the Emperor had brought too many, and when he and Aramus joined the fight, nothing could stand against them. Not even Rudd. Aramus himself knocked him out, and Rudd thought his life had ended. But it was not so.
He awoke for a few moments, to witness the Emperor standing on a kneeling Master of Nine, too bloodied and battered to fight back.
“Give up the Weapon, Master of Nine, or suffer my Wrath” commanded the Emperor. But the Master of Nine would not give up. As the Emperor raised the Hammer of Athun to end his life, Aramus stayed his hand. “That would be unwise, my Emperor, my friend” he said. “The Master is the only one that knows where the Weapon is hidden, and the only one who can access the Secret Chambers. Maybe, a few years in Manzessine will soften his resolve”.
The Emperor agreed, and they all departed. Rudd lost consciousness once again. When he woke up, he was the only survivor left, the last Disciple of the Sublime Way. All the Masters were gone, together with their Swords. Oddly enough, the Blade of the Last Citadel lay in the ground next to him. With no time to consider this, Rudd left the ruins of the Temple, and reached the Darklands.
Consumed by grief and a deep desire for vengeance, Rudd travelled the Darklands, searching for Aramus. During his travels, his mood became darker and darker, and he took to drinking. But even when he reached the Empire, Aramus was nowhere to be found. Apparently, he had left with a Legion on some kind of doomed quest, and had never returned.
But Rudd found out that Aramus had left a daughter, Gyllenn Mercadior, a priestess of Athun. Pretending to be a mercenary and a guide to the Darklands, he enlisted in her service, for Gyllenn was herself on a quest to find her father!
And she had information. She revealed that her father was probably kept in a Dark Elves prison deep in the Darklands: a prison called Manzessine! Rudd remembered that name, for he had heard it 10 years before. He didn’t think they would find Aramus there, but he hoped someone else would have survived 10 years of that infernal prison. Without revealing what he knew, he guided Gyllenn and her party (which included such personalities as Prince Tharod and Prince Ghalan) and together they found their way to the prison.
After defeating the guardians of the prison, they found the only human prisoner of that hellish prison: the Master of Nine. Rudd helped his Master out of the prison, and even though Gyllenn was disappointed to not have found her father, she acquired from the Master more useful information.
Apparently, Aramus and his Legion had travelled to this same prison, with the aim of freeing the Master. He did not know if it was upon orders of the Emperor, or only because Aramus wanted to redeem himself. What he knew was that the mission failed, the Legion was slaughtered by the Dark Elves, and Aramus thrown in Manzessine. On the one occasion when the Master met Aramus in prison, all the big man said was “I’ve failed you, my Master, my friend”. Then powerful undead creatures took Aramus from the prison, and the Master never saw him again.
The Master, accompanied by Gyllen, Rudd and the others, returned to the ruined Temple of the Sublime Way. There, in the main Hall of the Temple, a huge whole had been carved by some primal force, a hole that dug deep in the many levels of the Temple. So deep, as to reach the Sacred Room of the Weapon. A room that now stood empty!
Cursing the Emperor, the Master of the Sublime Way plotted his revenge. As a first step, he informed all the Rulers of the Floating Islands that the Weapon had been stolen, and that all the suspects led to the Emperor of Aduria. A short cold war, quickly followed by mobilization of many armies, ensued. He then started selecting powerful warriors to become the new Lords of the Sublime Way, and to send them on a Quest to recover the Lost Swords. Rudd joined Gyllenn’s party for good, hoping to be of some use in the war that was about to encroach Tyrrah.
Present
Lady Gyllenn, also known as the Red Priest, has gathered an army, seeking to help out the people of Tyrrah, now smashed in between the war of Ghalan, Tharod, their Father the Emperor, and the other floating Islands. Rudd is the general of the army. Zephhyra, the Dragonborn Sorcerer, is the last member of the party, Gyllenn’s best friend and advisor in Arcane matters.
Recently, the army of the Red Priest, guided by an omen sent to Gyllenn, has faced the Undead Horde of Lord Raven, a dreadful Death Knight who had been spreading terror in the Darklands for a decade.
To her great surprise (but was it really a surprise?), Gyllenn finds out that Lord Raven was her father, Aramus. During the battle, Lord Raven pierced Gyllenn’s heart with his sword, after his army decimated her men.
Routed, the Army of the Red Priest returned to their home base in Moonstair, where Zephyra performed the ritual to raise Gyllenn from the dead. Strangely enough, her soul was not able to return…
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