"All the other clans will bend their knee, or they will die. Either way, they WILL serve one way or another. The master wills it! Onward, brothers of Direwind!" -Nerek, rallying the hordes of the Direwind Clan.

The Direwind Clan. Once a relatively normal and peaceful clan that lived in their valley home carved within the Serpentine Mountains, they were infected and plagued with the disease that ran rampant upon the valley. Wildlife withered and died, and animated piles of disease and plague manifested from the once-pristine waters of the valley. The gnolls though were also tainted, but swayed into the service of the plague lord, Bertoxxulous, to spread this devastating strand of disease and death across Norrath to usher in his coming. Nerek though, was not originally of this clan. Rather, he was a member of the peaceful Snowfang Clan on the icy continent of Velious. Nerek was a dutiful mage of his clan, always practicing and honing his mastery and control over the elemental arts...but yet, despite this, he wanted more. He always had large aspirations, and it made many of his clan nervous. When an emissary of the Direwind appeared in the village one day, offering power in return for service, Nerek saw opportunity to position himself higher, and was the only one to accept the emissary's offer. What Nerek got, however, was something far more than he bargained for as he was given the essence of and infected with the Direwind plague, granting him such power at the cost of his own soul. Worse, Nerek willingly turned on his own people, scorching his entire village in horrifying fire and leaving very few survivors. Nerek turned his back on his people and indeed, has forsaken his soul and his own deity for the rabid lust of power. It's unknown if any fragments of Nerek's old consciousness remain in his mind, but Nerek has grown into a terrifying presence in the Direwind Clan, ascending to arch necromancer and sowing terror wherever he so treads. When Jardakk fell in battle against the Direwind, it was Nerek who turned the once-proud warrior into the clan's service. With Jardakk breaking free of the Direwind's grasp however, Nerek has made it his top priority to find Jardakk again, and finish what he started.

What's a good story without a proper villain? After all, Jardakk's increased sense of justice and atonement has to stem from somewhere. I like making villain characters and I don't do it too often really. So! As always, leave a fav and a watch if you enjoyed, and more to come!