Born in the far western reaches of Curonia, Sigismund Flameforge (not known to him) was the son of Ingrid Kaldaz (born in 1649) who was forced from her home in 1670 due to the Second Coalition War of Atlas. She took a ship with other refugees seeking new opportunities in Sutica. While in Sutica, she took up the simple yet draining task of a tavern maiden who worked in one of the taverns near the ports in Sutica. She lived in there for about 3 years in almost complete poverty. While working there, Lurkic Flameforge II would eventually happen to start frequenting the tavern, where he eventually took a liking to Ingrid. Things eventually led to the scandalous rumors of a relationship between the two, which unfortunately were actually true In and in effort to silence the rumors, Lurkic paid Ingrid just enough to catch a small boat back to Curonia. Having believed to rid himself of more future shame, Ingrid, with sadness in her heart eventually sailed back to her then ruined western homelands of Curonia. However, unaware to her, she now carried Lurkic’s unborn child.
Now being forced from her home originally, then being forced back to her home, Ingrid was almost completely devastated, all seemed completely hopeless being in the ruins of her homeland. Drifting from settlement to settlement, and now with child, she was shown hospitality, but alas, the locals were no better off than she was. She eventually came across a farming town which seemed to care for her situation more than the others. One of the local farmers allowed her to board with them and tend the crops for minimal profit but a safe place to live. The lands were plagued by bandits, so there were often man-hunters and other of the like frequenting the areas surrounding the town. It wasn’t until a failed bandit attack on the town caused the village elder decide to hire some of the man-hunters to reside within the town. During this time, one of the man-hunters was known as Gunther. Gunther was a silent yet skilled swordsman who enjoyed life in the town and always had a knack for farming, seeing as he grew up as a farmers son. As time passed on, Ingrid and Gunther eventually grew close, seeing as they both fancied each other and this led to them falling in love. However, Ingrid was still pregnant with Lurkic’s child while Gunther and her sought a new life. Gunther and Ingrid eventually saved up enough money to buy a section of the farm that originally helped her survive in the town. Time passed and Sigismund was born, being Gunther and Ingrid were together for a while, they assumed it was Gunther’s child, but the child was born much earlier than normal. This did not phase the two, and they continued on with their lives. Gunther laid down his sword and Ingrid cared for Sigismund while the crops grew each season and all seemed to be at ease.
While Sigismund was growing up, he learned much about farming, and his “father” taught him a bit about swordplay. However, Gunther never really wanted his “son” to grow up to become a man-hunter like he was, so he withheld many of his teaching to hopefully lead Sigismund into a peaceful lifestyle that he could maintain. This was a wise choice, seeing as the lands were still plagued by marauders and bandits. Ingrid taught Sigismund how to read and write and tend crops and animals. This would continue for almost 17 years of his life up until the faithful night that would lead Sigismund into his new life.
Organized bandit groups eventually planned on raiding the town due to it’s success and possibility for ransom of the villagers. They struck at night, in the veil of darkness, torchlight and horsemen charged from the treeline, the attack was poorly planned, and mainly used overwhelming numbers to overpower the village and end the raid quickly with minimal loss. Ingrid, Gunther and Sigismund arose from their slumber, only to be faced by the encroaching attack. Gunther stormed out of the house after poorly donning his armor and ordered Sigismund and Ingrid to leave the village in search of another settlement with hopes of their survival. As they ran, Sigismund decided against his inner voice to turn back and look at the town one last time. While he glanced, he saw his “father” Gunther cut down by the mounted bandits, posing no match for their speed and advantage. This shook Sigismund, the world seemed to slow down and rage filled his mind, just as he was about to charge back towards where his father was slain, but he was stopped by Ingrid. They ran and they ran, their previous lives being taken away from them in a blink of an eye. As they made it towards the outer portion of the town, a trap was set by the bandits, they were waiting for the peasants to escape, so they guarded the entrances of the town. Both Sigismund and Ingrid were now captive by the bandits, and in a last attempt of ensuring survival of her son, Ingrid attacked the two bandits to allow a window of escape for her son. Sigismund couldn’t believe it, the two people in his life were being taken from him, he felt powerless to stop it, so he did what he could only do, run.
Shortly after that faithful night, Sigismund was distraught, slowly feeling like the world was nothing more than a monster, dead-set on trying to eradicate all things he held dear in his life. Remembering what his father taught him, he decided to desperately try to join man-hunters in the surrounding areas in attempt to seek revenge on the bandits. He never knew if his mother was killed, but he assumed she was. But if she was alive, he was going to find her at whatever cost. The Man-hunters reluctantly listened to what Sigismund had to say about his previous events, but it changed when the band told him to prove his worth with combat. They gave him a sword, and with what his father taught him, he put all his emotion in his strikes. Although he did put up a good fight, he was still bested by his challenger. The Man-hunters saw his prowess though, and thought with effort and time, he could become a useful companion with them.
Sigismund traveled with these man-hunters for quite some time, attacking bandits, chasing down footpads and others of the like to turn them into the bailiffs of the regions they passed through for profit not only to keep themselves alive, but to also enforce “justice”. Throughout their travels, some of the bandits had loose tongues and told their group of two organizations that most of the bandits in the region “belonged” to. Belonged used loosely mainly because they had no unification, but they would live within separate camps to sell their ill-gotten goods among each other and plot their next attacks. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up, the man-hunters rallied their forces then proceeded to scout the regions they believed the bandits to be in. Their plan, while sudden, had too much a of a reward behind it to make them second guess their choices. They located the outskirts of the camp and waited until nightfall for any sign of passage to or from the camp.
Time passed and and within the distance, a group of the man-hunters reported back to where they set up camp, they claimed that a lone horseman was traveling to the path they were camped near. The bandits who gave the information to the man-hunters said that usually a messenger from one of the camps would frequently travel to and from the other ones to inform the others of new goods or plans they possibly would want to join in on, so this was their chance to get a jump on their true objective. Sigismund set a trap on the road, he waited in the treeline on his horse, while two of his comrades waited at the side of the road, both holding a long shot of rope that they intended to pull and tangle the horseman’s mount to dismount them. Their plan worked flawlessly, as the robed horseman approached, they pulled the rope, breaking the horses legs and launching the rider off only to come skidding along the road in a rough fashion. Sigismund saw the opportunity and charged the horseman, being reminded of the night of the raid, his anger overtook him and as he approached the robed figure, Sigismund lept from his horse to strike the unknown messenger. The scream they howled made his blood freeze. The scream was all too familiar, and as he knelt down to see the face of the horseman, the robed figure reached up towards his face, then he had realized what he had done. His mother laid on the ground infront of him, grasping desperately for her assailant, only to then realize who they were. Sigismund had murdered his own mother, all due to his quest for revenge. His blind rage against the bandits ended up costing him his entire world. With her final dying breaths Ingrid said she was free from this mortal coil, and that she hopes that the afterlife would greet her with hope. As she slipped into the abyss, he found a note on her person titled to Sigismund himself. The letter documented her trials and tribulations of being captured by the raiders, and how she planned her escape to hopefully meet Sigismund once more before her death. Sigismund rose back to his feet, feeling the exact same way he did the night of that raid, mounted his horse and left his companions without saying a word.
Sigismund ruminated on his actions, had he become exactly what he hated? He sought coin for blood in efforts to bring justice to the lands, but at what cost? He could no longer keep a lifestyle like this, he had become exactly what he wanted to eradicate, he felt like heavens played him for a fool. After having lost everything he once held cherished in his world, he wandered, seeking new meaning to his life. He longed for the days of his childhood as a simple farmer, giving life to the earth and caring for it. Perhaps his life would have been better if he never picked up a sword at all. Disgusted with himself and feeling like a deadman walking, he wandered into one of the small towns, exhausted and borderline dead from malnutrition and dehydration. As the locals swarmed to see what had happened, his vision started to fade, he was loosing consciousness. A flash of his childhood came to his eyes, it was his mother smiling in their field, leaning down to Sigismund and telling him “With a little bit of land and some seeds, you can find happiness and beauty in the world we live”
This is where our story begins....
