RumKnight9K

Rum the SpiritKnight was a well known figure in Rathnir for being a wise, kind man who cared about his friends and family above all else. He has a long history on Rathnir, many untold stories, and duties to complete. Rum is often seen wearing a coat of padded leather and a red, hooded cloak worn about his shoulders.

Origins
William, now known as Rum, of house Knight was born in the city of Taranusha before the Audalian invasion. His father was never present and he was raised by his mother who worked in a tavern making her living as the bar keep and was an abusive alcoholic. William had no friends growing up other than his cousin Iram (WhiskeyKnight) who was a few years older than him. During the sacking of the Cleveland, his mother died from alcohol poisoning. William fled the city and became a wandering nomad for a time. During the time of the Petersburg Secession, he was in the continent of Haven. After the secession, William decided to join the Western Host, the mercenary group that sided with Petersburg. After traveling for 3 days, he ended up in Loremere, a city in the Heart of Haven in the newly founded Empire of Uldarash.

Loremere and the Start
After joining the Kingdom of Loremere and meeting the leader of the kingdom, Count Squirrel, he found himself with a renewed purpose. He decided to help this new nation however way possible. He started to gather materials for Count Squirrel and his upcoming home. He became an adviser to the Count as they become close friends. He started to work on the towns defenses and built a guard tower that still stands to this day at the tip of the bay where the town was situated. However soon afterward, Count Squirrel had a new task for him. William was to gather a few people and start his own town a little while up the coast.

Crest Town and a Continuation
William did as he was ordered and got two people to join him, one being Timeken, a citizen of Sanctuary and a renowned builder. William founded the town of Crest-Town, named after the magnificent crests of the waves in the Heart. By doing this, he earned himself the title of Count within the Empire and thus making Count Squirrel a duke. William started with earnest on his new town. He and Timeken started to clear the forest for wood and to make room. William had Timeken create a few temp houses while William started working the fortress that is still there. Around this time, the Empire formed its military and the newly appointed Minister of War WhiskeyKnight made William the Captain of the National Guard. Although hearing his cousin's name, William was failed to recognize that his cousin had just became the Minister of War. For a time, life was peaceful. William explored the continent twice and both times found new people just starting their towns. Duke Squirrel gained more citizens and incorporated two new towns into his kingdom thus promoting him to King Squirrel. He needed a duke and he promoted William to that position. However this peace did not last. The Minedodge Insurgency of Uldarash starts and William is at the head of the defense of Uldarash (see Notable Events below). Soon after this, the Great Golden War starts which William participates in (see Notable Events below). After this, the Rouge Goblin Brothers started their terrorism and William started a hunt against them, going where ever they went and trying to stop them. However, he was unsuccessful in his work and thus he started to lose interest in his town. Many people have left his town and his close friend King Squirrel had left and was nowhere to be seen. During this time, Uldarash went through a reform and with Emperor Dentro falling sick, the council of lords elected WhiskeyKnight to be Regent Emperor until everything had calmed down. With this new leadership, Whiskey made William Minister of War. Some time after this, during the Festival of Rathnir, William sacrificed his town for the spirits and received gear in the form of netherite from the gods. William thus moved to Hapatmitas and took up residence there.

The SpiritKnights
After moving into Hapatmitas, William started brewing his own alcohol and created the Four Drunken Knights Tavern. William created his own alcohol which became known as the Knight Series and he became famous for his rum, thus earning him the nickname "RumKnight". During this process, Rum, Whiskey, and Whiskey's sons, Gin and Tequila formed the SpiritKnights, the first line of succession in the Empire of Uldarash. Rum finished his tavern and soon had a barfight there with many people. It became a battle royale and the winner received a powerful crossbow named Drunken Shot. After this, Uldarash was peaceful.

The Aurorans
Sometime after the drunken battle royale, Whiskey had gotten word about the Order of the Aurora moving from the east to come live in Haven. He sent out word asking for diplomatic talks between the empire and the new strangers. Their leader, Aurelian, agreed and so the two decided to meet and talk. Whiskey brought Gin and Rum along with the trip to where the Order has settled to the west of Hapatmitas. There, the three SpiritKnights met with Aurelian and his retinue in a small encampment which would later become the great city of Fornost and the start of the Auroran Kingdom. After Aurelian had led everyone an a tour of the encampment, they all ended up on a mountain just outside of the walls. There Whiskey and Aurelian started to write a contract making the newly founded kingdom a vassal of the Empire of Uldarash and in return, Aurora would get the protection and help of Uldarash. While the two great leaders talked diplomacy, the rest started to goof off and some ridiculous happenings occurred on the mountain. Due to this, the mountain was dubbed Funny Mountain and it can still be visited to this day. This relationship between Aurora and Uldarash would last longer and have greater after effects than either thought possible.

The Winter Season and Trillium War
However, once again, the peace did not last. Uldarash and a few other nations formed the Crecent Concordant (CC). Soon after its creation, the Solsdom Event occurs and Rum is made second in command of the CC's forces for the event (see Notable Events below). However, during the event Rum was the only commander participating and thus the CC pulled out. This put some bitterness in all the CC members. When Escharia made a claim over YA, fighting broke out within the CC. Soumere was also collapsing during this time and they sold Guild Island to Uldarash. Shortly after, Uldarash left the CC because they felt that the CC was becoming too bureaucratic. This caused some bad blood between the two nations. Soon after Uldarash sold the island back to Soumere. For a while, peace was here. However, once again, it did not last. At this time, Uldarash had 4 vassals the most active being Jcon. The Bog Bar Battle occurred which caused some problems and thus with the leader of Jcon leaving, Rum became the King of Jcon. With this new title, Rum incorporated Jcon into the Empire. As this was going on in the west, the north and east were having thier own issues. Tensions were flaring and eventually, war was declared. This new war was between the Trillium Alliance and the rest of the world to try and fight back against the tyranny of the Trillium Alliance. Whiskey declared Uldarash's support for the First Coalition that had formed against the Trillium and so Rum started to prepare. With the help of the Kingdom of Aurora, Rum prepared the Empire for battle and set out for battle. There were three battles set between the First Coalition and the Trillium to take place in the fields of Yimmu-Audal, the Silver Citadel, and outside the gates of Urnu-Arrak. Rum took part at the Battle of the Silver Citade l and the Battle of Urnu-Arrak. However, despite the coalitions best efforts, the Trillium won the war and Rum returned home with his forces, hoping for peace at last. With a few days of contemplating what had been done over the past few months, Rum came to a conclusion. With a new renewed vigor, Rum set out for the ruins of Sanctuary with his friend SnapplyPie.

Sanctuary and a Time of Short Peace
Rum traveled for about a day to reach Sanctuary. Going around the bend in the road, Rum once again stood in awe of Sanctuary. He was disturbed at how many staircases led up to the city. He climbed one and got to the throne room. With some funds from Snapply, Rum reclaimed Sanctuary, becoming Lord of Sanctuary. He gathered as many people as possible to restore the old capital to its once formal glory. Only a few days later, the original builder, Timeken, arrived and offered his talents as a builder to help. Now with help at his side, Rum started to restore the city and try to return Sanctuary to its former glory. He finally thought peace could be obtained in the empire. But as is almost tradition with the empire, more trouble would come along.

Loic and the Empire of Haven
Peace was finally happening in Haven and the Empire of Uldarash. Sanctuary was being rebuilt, Hapatmitas was booming with trade, and friends could be found around every corner. Rum could finally be left alone and relax for some time. However, while the empire was enjoying its time of peace, Haven was soon going to be in conflict. The Kingdom of Paloro had been mostly keeping to itself despite the conflicts in the world. It had grown exponentially, even enough to support the founding of a new town called Asahiri led by a man of the name Loic. With this new town, Loic started to turn his focus inward on Paloro hoping to expand its horizons. Deciding that he did not like the ways of the Paloron king, Keechoo, Loic led a coup which placed him on the throne. Soon afterwards, Loic contacted other small nations in Haven about forming a untied empire with all the nations of Haven. Gaining support from these small nations, Loic approached Uldarash and Aurora asking them to join and forming the Empire of Haven which would include every nation within the continent. At first Emperor Whiskey was tempted to accept the offer, but at the words of his ministers Rum, Gin, and Tequila along with King Aurelian of Aurora, he decided to wait and think about it first. As these talks continued, Aurelian informed Rum about the terms Loic was sending Aurora, which included that if Uldarash did not join, Loic would declare war on Uldarash to wipe them off the face of the world. Hearing this, Rum immediately brought it up to Whiskey and encouraged him to not accept Loic's terms. That fact that Loic has sent two separate terms to Aurora and Uldarash sent alarm bells of in Rum's head warning him to not trust Loic. Whiskey decided to set up one final meeting with Loic in the throne room of Sanctuary to discuss the terms. Rum participated in part of the meeting but because Loic came alone, Rum left shortly after the start and patrolled Sanctuary. Nothing was about so when the meeting concluded, Rum escorted Loic outside of the city and returned to the others. Discussing among themselves, Rum made it clear he still did not trust Loic and did not approve of this "Empire of Haven". With the advice given from the ministers, Emperor Whiskey thought about the situation more and more. However, he still was leaning towards Loic's side and this Haven empire. But before Whiskey could make a decision, he was assassinated on the roads during a trip from Hapatmitas to Sanctuary. When this news reached the Empire, everyone cried out in pain and in shock at his death. While the empire mourned the death of Emperor Whiskey, Rum rose to take the throne to try and keep the Empire stable. With his ascension, with vengeance on his mind thinking Loic organized Whiskey's death, Rum declined the terms given by Loic and with the help of Aurora, Uldarash prepared for war. However before any blades were crossed and blood split on Haven, Loic left. He gathered his people and burnt Asahiri to the ground so nobody could claim it and moved to Viodoxa in the east. Rum allowed Loic to leave Haven with no issues and started to look inwards to try and fix the empire and prepare Whiskey's funeral.

Reign as Emperor of Uldarash and the Decline
Rum's reign was short compared to the previous emperors. His reign started during a time of conflict and during a decline of the First Empire of Uldarash. Doing all he can to keep the empire together, Rum tried to mend relations with the rivals of Uldarash. Some were successful with Bardonia as Rum became close friends with a few of the older leaders of Bardonia. Other rivals were not so lenient like Soumere and Loic. However, Rum decided to release the vassals made during Whiseky's reign, which included the Kingdom of Aurora. With this, Aurelian and Rum started to grow closer together as friends which would last a long, long time. Despite these efforts, the Empire had gone into a decline. The Empire of Uldarash was the last of the Old Guard and was still seen by many nations as a massive, imperial superpower. The Empire was always seen as this and despite the efforts of the emperors, nobody would accept that Uldarash wanted peace. But during some miscommunication between Aurora, Uldarash, and Viodoxa, conflict started which led to the Auroran War. Due to his appearance within the Auroran War, Rum had an obligation to try and end it. He sent a latter to Loic asking for a meeting in Hapatmitas and the same letter was sent to Aurelian. During this meeting, the Treaty of Hapatmitas was created which ended the Auroran War, but not the Emerald Conflict. Shortly after this meeting, Rum and Aurelian met with the other leaders of other nations within Haven to try and form some continental alliance. According to Rum, it's main purpose was to keep the peace of Haven, but it would turn into something much more important and much more powerful than anyone thought. The other nations agreed and a name was decided for this alliance. It was to be called the Golden Ring of Haven.

The fall of the Empire of Uldarash
Shortly after the Golden Ring was formed, the Soleannan Spirits reformed Sewor-Mafia and claimed the Uldarash half of the mesa. This led to the Golden Ring forcing to declare a defensive war to protect the claim. However before any actual movements could be made, the Spirits appeared in Sanctuary ready to fight. Rum, who was in Sanctuary at the time, was forced to take cover in the storage room with SnapplyPie and Timeken waiting for Golden Ring reinforcements. Fighting back the Spirits, the trio were able to get some reinforcements and started to launch a counterattack pushing the Spirits out of the city. However, they did not know there was a Viodoxan army right outside Sanctuary. An Uldarashi troop opened the door thinking they were reinforcements and any hope of victory was squashed. According to Loic, they had found Auroran spies in Viodoxa which violated the treaty. Thus they declared war on Aurora and subsequently, Uldarash. After the loss at Sanctuary, Rum ran back to Hapatmitas to try to get his bearings on what happened. Soon after he arrived however, the Viodoxan army showed up and started thier attack. Rum once again sheltered in the storage area due to not having any gear to fight in. He along with the other ministers held them at bay until they left and claimed victory. After this loss, Rum decided it was too much. Uldarash was a dead man walking. He dissolved the Empire of Uldarash. It was gone, just like the world was wanting.

The SpiritKnight Exodus and the Second Empire of Uldarash
Soon after the dissolution, Rum and the other SpiritKnights left thier home of Haven. With only telling one person where they are, the family heads off to try and gain what they never could, peace. They found a place far from any nation or people and tried to live a peaceful, monk way of life. Rum even took an oath of peace, swearing to never raise a blade to harm someone ever again. But the SpiritKnights would soon be called back to Haven for a very specific reason. The nations of Haven had banded together to create the Second Empire of Uldarash with Aurelian of Aurora as emperor. However, keeping to the old tradition of the First Empire, there was a second emperor seat, empty. The Second Empire contacted the SpiritKnights asking for thier return from thier exodus. Hearing this, Rum decided to return to his home and friends in Haven. Thier new home didn't feel right to him anyways. Wanting to return to his roots, Rum buys the land that was once the Kingdom of Loremere from the new Emperor Aurelian and becomes the Lord of Loremere, hoping to live in peace, but still able to help his friends.

Loremere and Rumors
After coming back to Loremere, Rum started to rebuild once again. There were many derelict building that needed to be repurposed and refurbished. With the help of a friend by the name of Kesper the merchant, many of the buildings were repaired. The courthouse, stables, Rum's tower, all of it was fixed. With some inspiration, Rum started to build his second tavern as an ode to his heritage. He was a SpiritKnight after all. Kasper would often leave for a few days, coming back with rumors and news of the outside world. Some of these rumors Rum did not care for, except for maybe one that left him worried. A nation known by Huitica was building some sort of vessel to travel to the moon. Doubting this would work, but also worrying about the consequences, Rum put his thoughts to the side to focus on building. However, during an uneventful night, he was startled awake by a very loud and explosive sound. Running to the roof of his tower, Rum saw streaks of light racing across the night sky, wondering what they were...

The release
Deciding to hear these rumors himself, Rum headed towards Hapatmitas, staying off the roads as to not be seen. Once there, disguised as an older mage, he started to ask questions and received many answers. According to the populace, the Huitican vessel blew up the moon and in return, released... something. People knew not what it was, but there are rumors of happening around the world of chaos and pain and darkness. Rum was also able to find out that one of his old friends, Hub, had moved his floating isles somewhere else. Reminding himself to reach out to Hub sometime, he trekked back to Loremere thinking on what he had been told with some old tomes he was able to collect from his old house.

Help wanted and identity revealed
Returning to Loremere, Rum took to studying the tomes he brought back, looking for any information pertaining to this "presence" people were feeling. Nothing. He searched for anything relating to the moon and what it could hold. Nothing. The search was in vain. Nothing was found. However, at the sight of a word, Rum was reminded of an earlier adventure and an idea started to form. But duty called so Rum pushed the idea to the side to think on it more later. Returning to the central area, Rum continued the process of building. He was alone once again for Kasper had taken off for his own duties and no town was nearby. And so Rum sat and thought about his life, what he had done, what he doing, and what he would do. It was like this for many days until some unexpected company had arrived. Emperor Aurelian and Theodore had arrived in Loremere, wishing to talk to him. They brought Rum news of the outside world. The presence had been identified by Athaz the Traveler as Entropy, Goddess of the Void. She was going around Rathnir corrupting the world and was even able to partially corrupt Hub. Aurelian and Theodore had come to Rum asking for his help in the upcoming battles against this goddess. Remembering his oath, Rum told them he would not fight Entropy or her spirits. However, he would help them in another way. He would try to cure Hub of his corruption; at this news, Aurelian and Theodore took off heading back to Aurora to contact Hub and get him to Fornost where the process would take place. Going back to the idea he shelfed earlier, Rum started to prepare for what he was about to.

Mentoring and cures
Going back to the tomes, Rum was busy finding clues to help his idea take form. But during this time, a unnamed stranger appeared in Loremere asking for a place to stay. Seeing his mental and physical state, Rum immediately agreed and helped the man find himself. The man became Rum's student and began to learn about the world and the morals of a hero. He would eventually reveal his name to be Marcus. While the man was off on his own, finding his true nature, Rum continued the process needed to complete his idea. This took some time to complete but it was finally done. The brew of which could cure the corruption, or so Rum thought. There was only one way to find out.

Hub and Oathbreaking
With the cure in hand, Rum took off to Fornost to deliver the cure and hopes of helping Hub. Using his elytra to quickly get across Haven, the trip was short, thankfully. Seeing the walls of Fornost appearing on the horizon, Rum turned to the keep and flew to one of the doors to gain entrance. Aurelian appeared at the door and hurried Rum to where Hub was waiting, sitting in a chair, staring at his corrupting body. Handing Hub the potion, Rum stood to the side with Aurelian, waiting to see what happened. When Hub was done drinking the supposed cure, he changed. But not for the better. He got worse. Looking on with horror, Rum and Aurelian see the the corruption growing and spreading rapidly across his body. Hub races out of the keep and to the road leading out of Fornost. Chasing after him, Rum and Aurelian were stopped by Hub right outside the gates, being warned that if they chased after him they would be killed. Fearing the consequences, they stopped and talked among themselves discussing what happened. Standing in thought, and hearing his friends words, the SpiritKnight made a decision. He would break his oath of peace to help fight Entropy. He headed off back to Loremere to prepare for the upcoming conflicts. But something would happen that would change his life forever.

Preparation and the New Guard
After the failed cure and seeing Hub corrupted, Rum returned to Loremere with a plan forming in his mind. The world was being turned upside down and torn apart by the darkness that Entropy was bringing with her. People were choosing sides. The newly found New Guard which had replaced the Old Guard were focusing thier efforts on trying to stop Entropy. They signed a pact, sanctioned by Athaz the Traveler, to never war or fight each other for Entropy was the main issue at hand. The leader's were competent and they had resources and people on thier side. However, those that chose the side of Entropy, were blessed with dark gifts of power and were protected by the darker spirits of the world.

Knowing the difficulties that the New Guard was facing after seeing Hub turned, Rum decided to speed up the process of a special project of his. For the past few years, the old SpiritKnight had been collecting and preserving any artifacts and gear he could and put them in a vault he named the Vault of Spirits. There all the gear has sat untouched until they were needed for a reason such as this. Rum uncovered the old tunnel and started to polish and enchant the gear he had stored there. He sent word to the leaders of the New Guard along with Athaz and told them to meet him in Loremere for he had a gift for them that would help them defeat Entropy.

That Fateful Night
It only took a few days for the leaders to gather in Loremere like Rum requested. The group met at the top of the mountain where Rum greeted them and gave a small speech. From there, he led the party to the vault where he gifted all that he had saved in those years to them to help. This included a set of enchanted golden weapons that proved very effective against the undead and dark for they were infused with the power of the sun. Rum had found the weapons in a small dig site a few months earlier and named the set the Dawn Armory. However as the group was grabbing the gear and figuring out how to transport it, their enemy had arrived. Entropy. The Goddess of the Void has found the group and started to hunt them to kill them once and for all after all of her past attempts. In order to save his friends, Rum ordered everyone to leave and get to a safe place far away from Loremere. There the red clad SpiritKnight took his last stand against Entropy, taunting her to go after him instead of everyone else. It succeeded. The two fought back and forth and despite what Rum had learned from his many years of living, he was no match for the divine being. He was slain with a stone sword through his gut as his friends watched from far away. Many later called Rum a hero once they heard what he did to protect his friends. It was the end of a journey for sure. But it was also the start of a new journey for the SpiritKnight as well.

The Void
As Rum passed on, his spirit strayed to the Void due to Entropy's sword and its origin. He floated in the void looking around. All he could see was a pitch black sea below him and the outline of what could be land crawling with monsters on the horizon if it could be called that. As the bottom got closer, as he floated down, he felt a force tugging at him. He looked around and could see that his ethereal form was turning black. Rum started to panic for the first time in a long while and he tried to swim himself away from the black sea beneath him, a hand emerged and dragged him below the surface by the ankle.

Next thing he knew, he was standing in a room with Entropy before him. There she made a deal with him. Power, strength, and immortality. All he had to do was give his life to her. Despite everything he has done, Rum took the offer and his cloak turned from red to a black/purple gradient like the night sky.

A Life of Darkness
Entropy and Rum re-entered the world of Rathnir and the old SpiritKnight started his work. He traveled to the Abyssal Isles and joined with Hub. He started to travel the world gaining followers to the side of Entropy and granted them power and strength like his. He gathered a mediocre group of people and soon led raids on the cities of the New Guard, most notably Fornost and Viodoxa. Rum even showed his face when the Aurorans where hosting his funeral and when the Ferrymen showed up to raid the city, Rum smitted the Ferrymen to let the funeral continue in peace. He still had some sort of humanity left over from his previous life.

Something that stuck with him during this time was when he fought Aurelian of Aurora inside the walls of Winterstone. There the two exchanged words about what was going on, Rum fighting for Entropy and Aurelian against her. Aurelian attempted to turn Rum back to the light but failed causing the two to cross blades. Rum won the engagement due to his new power and strength but still found it hard to fight the person he considered a brother. After this, Rum continued to do his raids on other towns with his followers. He sowed chaos and dissent where he went in order to follow Entropy's orders. He believed in what he was doing but there was still something in the back of his mind. He didn't know what it was but it stopped him from commuting the worse of crimes. But there was never a chance to dwell on it for the end was nearing. Entropy was gathering her followers for the last fight in the End. Rum followed orders and took his followers to the end and prepared them for the final fight. There the New Guard engaged the goddess and her people. It was a tough, dark, and terrible fight. But in the end, the New Guard won and Entropy was killed. With this, Rum died for the second time and floated back to the Void where he stayed for an uncounted amount of time.

Waiting
Rum stayed in the Void, walking the landscape of the dark and desolate place. His ethereal form was constantly shifting between red/orange and black/purple. He couldnt force a change in himself for a war was constantly being waged in his mind over what he did and the choices he made. Rum did this for an estimated time of 10 years but because time warps in the Void, its hard to tell an exact time.

A Second Chance
Rum's mentality was severely degraded after these estimated 10 years. He was sitting down one day and contemplated jumping in the sea to just lose himself and forget everything. But as he was pondering this choice, he heard something beside him. Not having the strength to run, he just looked over and saw a glowing gold figure. The two talked for a few minutes before the figure offered Rum a second chance. He told Rum that despite what he did during Entropy, he still lived an earlier life that would have given access to the heavens. Knowing a chance like this would not come again, Rum took the offer and the golden figure took him skyward away from the Void.