The Vashprakk

The endemic threats along The Tear coupled with the capricious climate makes much of the land beyond the outposts inhospitable. Purging the influence of outer creatures from the region is made far more difficult by this fact, even with the assistance of The Eye of The Exolvuntur. The Hunters of Haemlock, predominantly of the mutant variety, are responsible for rooting out the source of these incursions. The most insidious growing threat faced by Haemlock is that of the Vashprakk clan of Frost Giants, led by a two headed behemoth going by the name of Sollondur, Everlasting One. He assumed control of the clan by slaying and consuming its previous leader, as well as the loyalists that dared to face him. His unparalleled strength and alien regenerative capacities precluded any further resistance from surfacing, allowing him to turn the Vashprakk into a war machine.

A strict hierarchy was enforced, with Sollondur’s generals serving him out of pride, and the lesser Frost Giants obeying out of fear. The Vashprakk’s territory was expanded to satiate their chieftain’s desire for flesh, resulting in many wandering pilgrims meeting an untimely demise. The encroachment began to threaten the outposts and eventually Haemlock Bastion itself, provoking a forceful response in the year 2455.  The Hunter’s assaults on Vashprakk scouting parties put a stop to their expansion for three years and attracted Sollondur’s ire. His personal animosity and appetite grew to the extent he was no longer content with simply residing along The Tear. He came to believe that if Haemlock crumbled, none would challenge their advances and they would have free reign over The Tear and the settlements beyond.

The Vashprakk kept their hunting far north of Haemlock for the next three years to gather their numbers and strength. Through one of their most successful northern raids, they acquired a clutch of intact Remorhaz eggs in the year 2458. By Sollondur’s command these were protected until the younglings hatched, which were in turn conditioned into obedience. Sollondur took personal charge of the alpha male and matriarch that emerged from the clutch, naming them Vaza and Vobis and keeping them as his personal guard dogs. The Remorhaz brood were able to hide beneath the snow like living land mines and sense even the slightest of footsteps from hundreds of feet away, making the clan even more powerful.

The Hunters did not mistake Sollondur’s silence for surrender and kept their eye on Frost Giant movements over the years. Their vigilance was rewarded when the Remorhaz backed Vashprakk re-emerged to challenge the Hunters directly. Intensifying skirmishes eventually resulted in children from Haemlock being sent to Isfsera for their safety in 2460. The Hunters began sustaining losses to more coordinated attacks over the next decade, though the Vashprakk lost considerably more for every Hunter felled. In one of the more major conflicts Sollondur’s arrogance lost him one of his favored pets to the hands of Antonius and Asri Astrophel in 2471. Years were spent by the Hunters in rebuilding their damaged infrastructure, with few resources spent on locating the Vashprakk lair. It was Ezra Astrophel, with the assistance of their parents that found the Frost Giant hideout in 2487.

Requesting aid from The Exolvuntur to rid the land of Sollondur, the Hunters made their final assault on the Vashprakk. Unprepared for an attack with Exolvuntur reinforcements, Sollondur lost one of his heads to Ezra and almost lost Vaza to the rest of the Hunters. Halfway through the conflict he fled with his pet, leaving his dwindling forces to slow the Hunters’ pursuit. Heavy injuries precluded Ezra from tracking Sollondur far, especially with Vaza’s brood still plaguing the snow around the lair. Frustrated at their failure, they returned to the lair to find the Hunters tending to their wounds after achieving victory. To give themselves some peace, Ezra requested and oversaw the conversion of the lair into Auralis Sanctum, a place for pilgrims and Hunters alike to pay reverence to the gods that gave them their gifts.