Kivar Faren (The Madman)

BIO
Kivar the madman was born Kivar of House Faren. He was the third son of the Lord Oden Faren and Lady Cylicia. Kivar was a small child. He was supposed to be born with triplets, but both of the others died in the womb. Kivar grew up being tormented and bullied by his two older brothers, Renya and Mertyn. He was the smallest and the weakest of the bunch, but he always fought back ferociously, often leaving his brothers with their own wounds. As Kivar grew up, he became stronger, using the beatings from his brothers to train himself physically as well as mentally. He had all of the strength and ferocity of Lord Oden as well as his cunning and mind for strategy. However, he had very little self control and a great weakness for the pleasures of the flesh. His teenage years consisted of much drinking and even more carousing alongside his best friend Hedrik, who was the son of the master-at-arms for House Faren. Because Kivar was the third-born son, he did not have to worry about the politics of his family or the realm which suited him just fine. Instead, Kivar always dragged Hedrik to the seediest brothels and got him into drunken brawls. However, when Kivar’s older brother Mertyn became betrothed to Aela of House Stormyng, Kivar found in her something that he had yet to experience: something that he could not have. It drove him mad with envy and he became obsessed with Aela. He knew that she was promised to his brother, but Kivar could not tell himself no. He was a handsome young man with a smooth tongue who had taken many conquests, common and noble alike. With relative ease, he seduced Aela and took her to bed. However, Mertyn discovered them together and flew into a rage. He drew his sword to kill his brother. Kivar leapt from the bed, completely naked and drew his blade and scrambled around the room to find his blade. They had often sparred together, but there was to be no draw this time. Kivar and Mertyn’s duel took them onto the balcony and there they fought in the freezing pouring rain. Kivar pleaded with Mertyn but his brother would not relent and Kivar slew him, knocking him off the edge where he fell to his death.

Having killed the heir to the Faren family, Kivar came to his father and told him what he had done. Lord Oden was furious with his son and heartbroken over the loss of Mertyn. He determined to execute Kivar for his crime, and Renya stepped forward to claim his blood vengeance but Kivar’s mother, Lady Cylicia pleaded for mercy. Lord Oden relented, deciding he would not kill his other son, but neither could he remain unpunished, so Lord Oden disowned him, stripping him of his name and his house and banished Kivar from the Witherlands, vowing this if his son should ever return, he would be executed for his crimes. So Kivar left the Witherlands and set out on his own. He had no money and no prospects, but he had been trained with the sword and the bow all his life, so he decided to hire himself out as a mercenary. He said his goodbyes to Hedrik and set out for the frozen port of Whytecap. There, he found a group of mercenaries called the Sons of Steel who were recruiting for a voyage to Matrihm. Kivar booked passage with the mercenaries and set out. On board the ship, Kivar found that he was once again treated poorly as he had been by his brothers. One of the pasttimes aboard the ship was fighting betweent he mercenaries. The company leader Marin did not approve, so this was done belowdecks at night. Kivar decided to join in and began doing well in the fighting. Some of the other mercenaries gained a respect for him because of his abilities, but others wanted to see him brought down. So one night while he was fighting, some of the mercenaries reported to Marin what was going on. Marin broke it up and said that Kivar and his opponent were to be flogged for their insubordination. In the presence of everyone, Kivar challenged Marin to be his next opponent. Marin was known throughout Kirinar as one of the best sellsword warriors and no one challenged him. However, he could not refuse because it would make the others doubt him, so he accepted the challenge, with the condition that it would be a duel with weapons and that when Marin won, Kivar would have to leave the company. Kivar accepted the conditions.

Marin chose his daggers while Kivar opted to go without a weapon. He did take a swig of wine beforehand, claiming that he fought better drunk. Marin was quick, but Kivar maintained his distance and dodged where he needed to. He took several wounds, but nothing fatal. Then Marin came in close for a stab to his kidney and Kivar spit his mouthful of wine into Marin’s face. The leader was surprised and blinded for a moment and Kivar grabbed his wrists and twisted the blades from his hands. He threw them to the ground and headbutted Marin in the face. The force of the hit knocked Marin over and broke his nose. For a moment, no one spoke or moved and it was completely quiet, but then a single noise filled the space. Marin sat up, laughing. He declared Kivar the victor of the fight and declared that he was a madman. The name stuck and Kivar was known as the Madman from then on. He continued to cultivate his reputation when they got to their destination by being willing to do the most dangerous assignments with almost no regard for his own safety. Kivar climbed the ranks of the company eventually moving to a new company and then another, until he became the leader of the mercenary company called the Kyngs. There are many more tales of Kivar and his daring exploits throughout the world with the Sons of Steel as well as the Blood Brothers and the Kyngs, but those tales are for another time.