Baldin Frostbeard-Grandaxe
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Baldin Frostbeard-Grandaxe was the son Renlak Grandaxe and was the steward of Kal'Omith during its occupation by the Frostbeards, before he handed the city over to the forces of Urguan.
Contents
Biography
Early Life
Baldin was given away to a humble farming farming family by his Grandaxe and Frostbeard parents. To baldin this family was the one he considered his actual parents; Rù Firebeard, and Chelsea Treebeard. In his youth the young dwarf loved nature and the wild. Baldin was a fearful child, he was scared of almost everything that were not his parents. At the young age of 10 Baldin saw how both of his parents were killed by Uruks from the lands of Uzg. Before the Uruks could kill Baldin a squad of members of the nomadic Sharpblade clan charged in with their horses and killed the Uruks. These riders were led by Rodrik Sharpblade, a human who was also ¼ wood elf. Rodrik took pity on Baldin, he brought him in and accepted him as one of his own clan. His son; Murk Sharpblade was given the task of caring for him. Murk had a son and a daughter. The son’s name was Kord, he hated Baldin with a passion as he saw him as unfit to form part of the clan. Then there was the daughter, Talia. Talia and Baldin were very close friends as they both shared a love of nature. Thanks to Murk Baldin soon learnt to fight and to ride.At the age of 25 Baldin was challenged by Kord to a death duel, Kord was becoming jealous of Baldin’s relationship with his sister. As it was expected Baldin agreed. Baldin came out of this battle practically as he had entered it. Sadly Kord was not so lucky, his entrails littered the ground of the arena. No one held ill will towards Baldin, they admired the Dwemard’s strength and ability.Despite having killed her brother Talia still loved Baldin. They married soon after the duel. Some members of the clan did not aprove of the weeding between the young Dwemar and the human girl, but when it came down to it Talia’s grandfather approved the wedding. Their marriage was a traditional Sharpblade weeding where they asked the spirits to bless the bond between the two partners.
The Battle of the Bloody Grass
When Urguan finally declared war on the Uzg Baldin was ready to return and fight the beings that killed his son. When he returned he found out he was the son of Renlak Grandaxe and Tulip Frostbeard. As the Grandaxe took him in Baldin took their name and got rid of his Sharpblade last name. Baldin’s daughter left Urguan soon after her father’s return. She went back to the plains to try to reform the Sharpblade tribe. Her father understood this choice and did not try to stop her. The Legion recruited Baldin during the war against the Uzg. As the years passed and the war continued Baldin was becoming more and more patriotic, and more and more like a true dwarf of Urguan. It was during the battle of the Grandaxe village. In this battle the dwarves were at the wall defending the village against the Uruk hordes. Baldin Grandaxe led the charge against the Uruks. Only wearing his leather boots and his cheap sword at hand, the dwarf charged fearlessly towards the enemy. The Legion left Baldin for dead, but he lived. He was bloody, scared, and his face was half burnt, but he lived. After the battle he was raised by the Frostbeard as a war hero and a living legend. From that day onward he would be known by the Frostbeards as Baldin “Ironside” hero of the battle of tall grass. Feeling the appreciation from his mother’s family Baldin switched clans and joined the Frostbeards. This switch was not caused because of hate, but because he felt unappreciated by his father’s clan.
Hellio’s poem of the battle of the bloody grass:
Baldin Frostbeard
"The sun was setting low
but our moral was high
As we sang the song of Baldin
our voices reached the sky!
Our fort was strong
But their forces grew
Trebuchets were deadly
with all the rock they threw
The walls started shaking
As the dwarfs began to fall
In all of that chaos
Only one dwarf stood tall
Baldin prepared for battle
He charged at full force
Even if he died now
He had no remorse
A great fight occurred
Dwarven bloodlust was fed
But Baldin was armorless
And we thought him dead
The battle was over
Orcs fell like newts
But Baldin returned
With only his boots
The orcs were falling back
Our victory was grand
So let this tale last
Until the end of our land!"
-Hellio Frostbeard
Throne War and the Unstable Years
Soon after King Bastion’s suicide the council of Hammers assembled to choose a new High king of Urguan. Soon before in Jornheim, the Frostbeards were having a meeting. In this meeting Oyvind Frostbeard Goldhand the Grandmarshal of the dwarven military proposed that the Frostbeards should take their rightful place in Urguan putting a Frostbeard dynasty on the throne. Kerwyr agreed with the Grandmarshal. Baldin did not think much, he had sworn loyalty to the Clan father of the Frostbeards who at the time was Kerwyr. The Frostbeards voted for their king, the runners were Kerwyr and Oyvind. In the voting Kerwyr won by a landslide, and so the Frostbeards marched to the senate of Hammers where they proclaimed Kerwyr as High King of Urguan. This undemocratic claim by the Frostbeards angered many of the other dwarves who soon pulled out their blades. Baldin did not want to spill Grandaxe blood, but Kerwyr was not king yet and so he was still under oath. With their might the Frostbeards were able to smite the other Clan members. Most Frostbeards were not proud of what they had done, Baldin was no different. Baldin remained loyal to the Frostbeard’s new king for most of the war. He accepted Kerwyr’s religious changes and agree to lead as high prophet of this new Brathmordakin faith. The Frostbeard were winning the war, they had the numbers, the capital, and the resources. Ever since the Frostbeard ocupation of the dwarven capital Kal’Omith it was empty and dead of activity Kerwyr saw this and named Baldin Steward of Kal’Omith. Kewyr ordered Baldin to repopulate Kal’Omith, Baldin started working right away. It was not until Kerwyr started to believe the Frostbeards were not actually descendants of Urguan that Baldin’s loyalty started to falter. Not just for the falsity of the words but also because he claimed that the Frostbeard kin was superior to the descendants of Urguan. Still he believed Wyrvun was guiding the Frostbeards and that he would lead them to a better age for the dwarves. Not soon after Baldin received an invitation to meet in Arcadia to talk about the future of the dwarven religion. Here Baldin was able to converse shortly with Wyrvun. Wyrvun explained to Baldin that the only thing he truly wishes for the dwarves is for unity and the end to kin slaying. When his lord said this Baldin knew what to do. Some Frostbeard scholars claim that magic was used to trick Baldin into believing he was seeing Wyrvun, but again that is a part of history that is impossible to know. After listening to his lord’s wishes Baldin led a small band of dwarves to Kal’Omith where he opened the city gates and allowed them to enter the city. Kerwyr was extremely angry at Baldin’s betrayal of his “king” and banned him from Jornheim, dishonored his name, and branded him as a traitor to his clan. During the retake of the city Baldin found an orphan boy who’s parents had been killed by an Urguanian soldier in front of his eyes. Baldin named him Kerwyr II, as he still had great respect for the king he betrayed. Baldin, despite being hated by his clan and his once friend Kerwyr, hestill loved them both. Even after Kerwyr’s thugs chopped-off his arm while trying to kill King Gror Ireheart, Baldin still loved the dwarf. He knew that Kerwyr was a victim of suffering, he knew that the death of his daughter was a devastating and madening experience. For that he wanted Kerwyr to be forgiven of his sins, but at the end of the war, when Kerwyr was handed to King Gror by his own men, Baldin could not belive how it would all end. His friend Kerwyr was executed, a dwarf he had the utmost respect for, decapitated. Even if his Frostbeard brothers were the ones that actually caused the death of Kerwyr, Baldin was the one who got blamed for it inside the clan. He was once again banished from his home. He turned back to Urguan and joined the order of the flame a religious order meant to clear the sins of any dwed that joined it. Baldin had only one thing left in his life his adoptive son and squire Kerwyr II. Baldin taught Kerwyr all he knew about the Brathmordakin, Kerwyr took a special interest in Dungrimm, feeling connected to what he represents. As the years went by Baldin saw how what he sacrificed his honor to stop, came back to haunt Urguan. Everywhere he looked everything was controlled by the Irongrinders, it was not until Zahrer Irongrinder became high king of Urguan that Baldin fell to his lowest point. The tyrany he tried to stop by handing over Kal’Omith had come back. That is the moment he saw that Urguan itself corrupted the dwed clans. Because he was sworn by oath to protect Urguan, he could not join Kaz'Ulrah. Baldin ordered Kerwyr II to join Kaz'Ulrah and help end the kingdom of Urguan. Saddly Baldin knew Verthaik II Frostbeard would not welcome the son of a traitor with open arms, because of this Baldin ordered Kerwyr II to gather a coumple of witnesses and to kill him. When the time came Kerwyr II ravaged Baldin, despite Baldin being a veteran of multiple wars, this was because Baldin let himself be defeated in the most savage way possible. Harsh words were thrown around to show the witnesses that Kerwyr was loyal to Kaz'Ulrah. What seemed like an act of pure hatred was more an action of pure love and admiration for the dwed that cared for him for so many years.
