I introduce to you, the readers, the first of my character biographies:
Kaspar Veidt
GRAF VON KRUDENWALD
Captain of the Krudenwald Levies(presumed deceased)
As the legitimate ruler of Krudenwald, Kaspar Veidt was originally responsible for patrolling the Old Forest Road in the northeastern quadrant of Hochland from his seat of power to Holzbeck at the border.
As a youth, Kaspar was taught the fine arts of Imperial warfare and other noble pursuits. During his 16th year, the young man that would grow to control much of western Hochland faced his first foe. While participating in a great hunt with his father, Kaspar and his bodyguard became separated from the main group and stumbled upon a scouting party of Ungor raiders. Taken back by the appearance of the hideous chaos-warped filth, Kaspar hesitated while his knightly companion charged forth. The knight was brave and fierce, killing six of the dastardly foe before the final Ungor snuck a rusted spear thrust through a vulnerable piece of his armor.
With his protector dead, the young noble knew that it was fight or be killed. Kaspar drew his jeweled longsword as the beast charged. The Ungor brayed wildly, but was rash in its bloodlust. Kaspar held his sword out firm and the menace impaled itself. The encounter had not been glorious, but he had survived. To his surprise, his knightly bodyguard still lived, though he was greatly wounded.
Hours later, young Veidt and his companion wandered back into camp. The knight succumbed to his wounds a day later, but not before recounting the encounter to Kaspar's father. Sensing an opportunity to build his young son's reputation, Gunter Veidt had a statue commissioned and placed in the center of Krudenwald square. The bronzed piece became the center of tales about the young noble's fight with a hideous Gor brute and his minions. The story told of how Kaspar and the knight had been ambushed, the knightly bodyguard falling at the onset of the engagement. Kaspar was hailed as a brave young hero, worthy of toast and song.
For his part, and to his credit, Kaspar Veidt detested the lie. The fictitious yarn caused him many nights of grief, though he never told a soul the true happenings of that day. In an effort to repent, Kaspar dedicated his life to swordplay. It was his goal to honor the man who had saved his life by being admitted into a knightly order. It was said that he removed the plumes from his protector's helm and wore them in his own cap until the day he disappeared.
In the span of six months the young man had brought battle to the beastmen clans until he had purged the last of their kind from the areas surrounding Krudenwald. He had fought with Goblin tribes and emerged victorious. Kaspar Veidt was quickly becoming an adequate commander of troops and leader of men. The path of his destiny had revealed itself.
But joining an order was not in his future. The next year brought a great pestilence. A full third of the town's inhabitants fell to a mysterious disease, including Gunter Veidt. As the sole child, at the age of 16, Kaspar Veidt became the young Graf of Krudenwald. A great and powerful wizard-scholar was dispatched from Hergig with great haste. Lothar Lichthofen of the Light Order brought various tomes and acolytes to the town and promised to reveal the evil behind the great plague. One month after his arrival, Lichthofen met with Kaspar and the local council to share his findings. It was proclaimed that an ancient curse had been put on the town. A curse that only a necromancer could summon.
Kaspar immediately sent scouts into the Drakwald. A few days later, all of the scouting parties had returned but one. Placing control of the town in the hands of his council, Graf Veidt mustered up the Krudenwald levies and marched in the direction of the missing scouts. What the Imperial force found was death. An army of stinking decay shambled forward to meet Kaspar's brave men and a terrible battle ensued. In the end, the Krudenwald levies were defeated. As his men fell, so they rose again to turn on their former friends and comrades. Kaspar ordered a general retreat back to the town.
Within two days, the undead menace had besieged the town. No calls for help were answered, and it was only after great personal sacrifice from the soldiers and townsfolk that the siege was broken. Kaspar and Lothar proving to be without match on the hastily constructed walls of Krudenwald. Unfortunately, the necromancer had escaped with his wretched life. The Graf had wanted to send out patrols to find the fell sorceror, but to his great credit, Lothar Lichthofen counseled a different course.
During his studies of the foul magic in the town, Lichthofen had researched the Veidt family. He learned that the ruling family was not originally of Cherusen blood. Indeed, the young Graf owed his ancestry to a proud warrior line of Stirland. Hundreds of years ago, after the events of the Battle of Hel Fenn, the Veidt family fractured. The youthful Veidts abandoned their lost lands in northern Sylvania and moved through Talabecland, eventually settling in Hochland. The older Veidts stayed in Stirland in an attempt to regain their ancestral lands. During this research, Lichthofen discovered that only a single Veidt drew breath in Stirland. This man was only a few years older than Kaspar, but was a Captain of the Stir River Patrol. He had an impeccable record and a history of fighting the Undead.
Lichthofen convinced Kaspar to send word to his cousin and appealed to his sense of familial honor. The Graf of Krudenwald did not receive a formal response. Rather, in the span of a month, his cousin had arrived with a small band of men intent on aiding in whatever manner he could. Lothar Lichthofen further convinced Kaspar to grant Leopold total control of the coming offensive. In the beginning Kaspar found it difficult to relinquish command to his more experienced cousin, but as the campaign continued and the successes and victories began to pile up, Kaspar let go of his foolish pride. Leopold proved to be an effective commander and terrifying combatant in his own right.
By the end of that year, the necromancer had been slain at a great battle near the Drakwasser river fork. The now seasoned Graf pleaded with his cousin to stay in Hochland. He threw a lavish feast at the conclusion of the campaign and gifted Leopold with the ancient title "Keeper of Krudenwald." Leopold Veidt reluctantly accepted the honor.
And this was the way of things for many years. Leopold let sorties and patrols out of Krudenwald and drilled the town's levies into a feared fighting force. Meanwhile, Kaspar managed the town from his keep. When a major threat was discovered in the wild woods of the Drakwald, the Graf never hesitated to join the fight.
It was during the last engagement in the Weiss Hills, just south of the Flaschgang river that Kaspar Veidt disappeared. He was last seen charging into a fearsome undead beast. After the victory, Leopold scoured the battlefield for his cousin and brother-in-arms. A mangled Terrorgheist lay dead with the Graf's jeweled sword stuck through its gullet, but no sign of Kaspar was found. There is some rumor among the troops that their captain had managed to destroy the unearthly terror only to be struck by a bolt of balefire shortly after. Other troopers swear by Taal that the beast had dealt the young Graf a mortal blow, and he had simply pulled back the reins of his Imperial pegasus and ascended into the sky - never to be seen again.
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picture provided: Portrait of a Man with beret and scroll, - Albrecht Durer
