F.F. Jaeger

 

History

Fourth Age

Frantz Folke Jaeger was born in the autumn of 1166 in Noriag, as his parents were temporarily residing there. Frantz had a Vular” father, and since his mother was only a quarter N’Aldaan, Frantz considered himself fully Vular and conducted himself accordingly.

His grandfather, a martial house lord, who, with Frantz’s newlywed parents, had moved from Jabos at Naldar to Gujamin at Utari due to their homeland lord being caught and killed in a political scheme in 1151.

In 1152, their family bought a small town-edge farm and started a school teaching the arts of combat and self-defence. Then Gujamin was hit by a tsunami in 1158, destroying evrything. So they travelled to Keshon at Midgard and reformed their martial art school for the second time.

As the coast of Keshon kept being raided, they eventually broke up in 1162 and crossed Midgard, all the way to Noriag, to live far away from N’Aldaan pirates and among a larger population of Vular.

After a while, they realised that the income for a N’Aldaan-inspired martial arts school was too low. Frantz’s mother suggested they move once again, this time back to the gates of Fogwald, as that had felt like a cultural heaven when they passed through it. As they began packing, Frantz was born. So the move was with a newborn baby in the arms.

“Blown around by divine winds and shaped by mortal hands.”

~Skjald Valgrif

 

Settling in the outskirts of Fogwald in 1167, the school soon grew in numbers and renown, and so did their request for quality weapons. So they began buying from the weaponsmith Frazier, and as he became old enough it was Frantz doing the trips. It was on these trips, Frantz met and befriended Deepminded and at times visited her at Kistal.

In 1181, the young Frantz managed to fall into the stream that ran through The Well of Wisdom and almost drown had it not been for Sang Marsol throwing him a hand and hauling Frantz up. When he explained to Deepminded that it had been as the stream had called for him and dragging for the overdue embrace, which he assumed referred to the tsunami back then. When he had finished, she looked troubled, and Sang just stood completely baffled.

As she wanted to keep him close to observe if the waters would again call him for an embrace, Deepminded asked Frazier to extend an offer. So, in 1181, Frantz became a blacksmith apprentice studying under Frazier in Fogwald.

“Very few have been recalled by the Vornir; even fewer managed to live on.”

~Skjald Sejrik

 

The plunge into Vornir’s tainted water caused him to grow to a tremendous size. It is surprising to think that his mother, who was a quarter N’Aldaan, a race of short people, could deliver children to reach such proportions. Standing well over 2 metres and around 175 kg, he is enormous, and if you ever see him grab his anvil, you should get out of the way. He can throw it like a small pig, but it hits like an anvil.

I wonder what he would have been like had he been half Ogryl, Kobold, or T'Aurs.

“Deepminded has since warned guests about touching the dream stream.”

~Skjald Sigurd

 

He studied the art of crafting, but due to the wisdom gained from the water embrace, he always was keen to learn more. So, he often had long talks with visitors and when he had learned everything his master would teach. He travelled to Ye Olde Zephyrs to meet with Lord Nam and gain further knowledge. It was during his stay there that he got the first invitation to visit Mt. Vula, handed to them personally by the god Relagin.

Nothing is known about their visit to Mt. Vula, but when they returned a year later, he spent time not only crafting but also wrestling with Pakara and Murf'ar. Daring to astravel on his own he went home for a while. In 1189, Frantz moved to Markeoy, as he wanted to see the Free City of Muldum and meet the skilled T’Aurs Blacksmith he had heard was residing there.

Reaching the Free City of Muldum, it was not that hard to find the T’Aurs blacksmith, as only one resided there. Frantz walked to the street with the booth and noted what was, for sure, his goal. Sitting at a bench outside an inn called Owned Min'O, he smiled, as next door was a blacksmith booth sign, Mino's Owing.

He walked up to the table and kept a polite pause, during which the large, furry male nodded. Frantz sat down, carefully watching what was on the table. He ordered the same. To which the T’Aurs grinned. “So stranger, you’re aware of the tale too?” He excused himself and said no, but he would not insult a fellow diner unnecessarily, especially the one from whom he hoped to learn. To that, the T’Aurs grinned and said, call me Mino if you like, stranger.’ Whats on your mind… and Mino poured ale for them both.

“Following the dream, he swam through life’s stream.”

~Skjald Vinotis

 

During their talk, Frantz learned that Mino had only been a blacksmith since 1182. Before that, he was a great warrior, having his self-esteem torn to pieces by Boneman, a human besting him in hand-to-hand melee. It was a sad day for a T’Aurs warrior but a great day nonetheless, as that humbling had made him wander and seek a new meaning. A search which brought him to a tribe of kobolds, who noticed his true potential as a smidhr.

There, he learned many of their mechanisation skills and even had the honour to visit Mt. Vula. A place a warrior would never have seen, and when he heard Frantz had also been there, coworking with other craftsmen and their odd imps.

Mino asked if Frantz noticed anything special about the imps, and without waiting for an answer, he said that the Imps were in fact dwarven crafters of the 1st Echoing Cavern who had been working alongside some Stoicheian when the Astral poured open. The Stoicheian transformed into their elementary form, but the Dwarves merged with their origin, the ‘Earth Veins’ and the Astral pour. With that, Mino laughed and poured another mug for the gaping Frantz.

As the months passed, Frantz became more and more fond of the Free City of Muldum and became part of a growing crowd centred around Mino. A crowd that one morning woke to the fact that Mino was gone. So they sat down in the halls of Mayor Tri-M, and there they formed the Bulls Order to honour their lost mentor and comrade.

As such, not much but crafting filled the days, months and years at Muldum. But in 1239, when the city declared itself the free city of Muldum, the rebirth was breathtaking, and people shared whatever they had. At some point he stood at a market square, beside Mayor Tri-M, Ze Muff, and other leaders of Muldum and the Bulls Order. When suddenly loud lightning cracks erupted from a nearby balcony.

But instead of destroying the intended targets, a single figure blocked their paths. The blocker, unaffected by the deadly energies, then became the target of other assassins, and Muldum’s militia surged to the rescue. As the square turned into a chaotic swirl, the stranger exploded in a gargantuan fountain – and, as if it were an emerging kraken, large lightning tentacles surged in arcs from him.

And then there was silence; the stranger collapsed, and the crowd erupted in cheers, joy, and salutes to the intended targets – the leaders of Muldum. The festivities escalated, and when Jaeger suddenly met Siim Svollur in the streets, they shared her jug of ale, then food and wine at a street booth, and eventually company.

During those days he learnt quite a lot of secrets and city gossip, and then she left. Since some of the hints had been intriguing, he tested a few of them out in the following days. He discovered not only Black Oak but also Latinoor, Zan Feldstad, Ann Beahaug, Fintisia Suzz, Maili Brija, Byri Lahacil, and Holli d’Ay. And he was taught about the Fate Awakenings.

When the festivities cooled down, Frantz travelled to Efron to meet the green king, Nefius, if possible. He wanted to meet the man who, like Mino, Black Oak, and others, had managed to shape things of greatness. Fintisia, a glazier who had also studied with Iacob Burne, whom Frantz had come to like and respect for her intriguing works, went along. What they met was grand, on every scale in scope and madness, as Nefius wanted to conquer all of Markeoy.

After that visit, Fintisia left, as Frantz had experienced alchemy, crafting, and enhancing on far higher levels and with more finesse than most humans had, regardless of their origin. So, in 1240 he began to travel across the isles to visit as many Kobold, Dwarven, and Alfar settlements as he could. As years passed, he briefly heard about the 1st Alliance when he visited human crafters and artisans like Jakki Yngi, Byri LaHacil, and Bosatsu Hoxi.

From them, he not only learned valuable crafts and exchanged secret recipes but also heard news about the growing conflict between the 1st alliance and the torch. A conflicted coin, he knew the powers of Muldum had bet on both sides. He understood that regardless of the outcome of the flip and spin, it would result in bloodshed. So he produced the most exquisite weapons, armour, and siege engines.

But, although bloody, the conflict ended quickly and with less casualty than expected. In fact, Frantz was one of those that delivered a devestating blow to the torch. On the battlefield, a bearded, half-furred torch leader named Mendix Bamich stepped forward and challenged Frantz’s side with such profanity that Frantz jumped off his steed, unsheathed his sword, and hurled it in a high arc towards the screaming foe.

Seeing the tall blacksmith at that distance hurl his blade at them made the entire torchside laugh and look at each other with mighty grins. Mendix, who had looked back to agitate his men, turned towards the 1st alliance again—just as Frantz’s hand-and-a-half sword impaled his chest. Mendix was flung backwards and landed gurgling on the ground. He died to the sound of the 1st alliance’s charge and his side breaking.  Amras, which had stayed with Frantz, looked at him and said, “The best hurl I have ever seen, my good man.”

The hurly did not go unrewarded as Frantz became one of those close to the high king. This position led to a meeting with Laira van Kik, a captivating crafter known for her extraordinary skills in enhanced cartography. She had studied some Drakk Alfar enhancements, not only allowing portals to the void to be embedded into parchments but also allowing items to be poured into these void rooms and later withdrawn at the map’s location.

Working at Grimsborg’s defences, engines, and secrets of the empire, Frantz stood with one foot solidly planted in the realm and the other deeply secured within the bull’s order.

The next 13 years he spent the summers at Grimsborg and winters at Muldum. Fondling the memories of the coronation, the list of people that became friends grew as many passed by the realm’s court. In 1262, he saw Cistly Cystal and Cyhis Kanan perform at the court, which mesmerised him; since Cistly was fond of the towering crafter, they spent a brief time together, during which he also met Rinda Yngga.

When Cistly left, Rinda stayed for a while, and the workshop chambers echoed with laughter for a while. Then, in 1264, Rinda left as well, and Frantz focused on work for the next 10 years. However, Frantz decided to leave for Muldum as events unfolded at the grand meeting in 1274, where the 3rd high king, Kjertil “Nail” Ninch, was elected.

Frantz was back at the furnaces of Muldum working with a complex item when the city gates were breached and a swarm of Pigryn and Sproblin flooded the city. He fought bravely but eventually had to retreat from the massive invasion, and he was one of the few to escape the vast outnumbering.

As the entire realm had been invaded, Frantz criss-crossed the country for Mino but found only death and destruction. Then, in hopes of finding pockets of resistance, he began criss-crossing all of Markeoy. But as the invasion continued and defence after defence fell, he eventually took a very short astravel to the shores of Midgard. Maybe the high king of the realm was still leading his army.

As he passed through Midgard, his blade became dull from all the flesh, bone, and armour it had cut through. Everywhere there were invaders, from the small Sproblins to the gargantuan Gaji-Kulat, and at every rest stop he saw piles of dead Indigenous, Wanderers, Mermerant, Scions, and N-erectus. And when he finally eyed Grimsborg, the dreamy, elegant mask of the realm, he beheld a smoking ruin.

The impacts ignored armour and caused localised kinetic shockwaves that ruptured the ground in a cone behind the target.  They released echoes with the hollow, ringing tone of the hammers on anvils of the 1st Echoing Cavern, briefly disorienting and deafening surviving enemies in the area.

Finally, he hurled the anvil 20 metres into the back of the fleeing Pigryn leader. As the anvil travelled, the concentrated Vornir density inside Frantz’s aura created a localised gravitational drag around the projectile. One of the slain Pigryns was hurled along the anvil’s path and pulled into the trajectory. As the anvil hit the leader, it released a catastrophic energy impact, breaking every bone structure in the body.

Frantz looked around, wanting more to hammer his husk, as he walked outside, Frazier’s anvil underarm; he looked back at his master’s carcass and said, “I am the Jaeger. I will avenge you all.”

As Jaeger wandered the dusty and bloodied roads, he killed every invader mob he encountered, and as he learned more about his newfound abilities, he felt like the ‘rope-a-dope’ he once heard Pakara, or Murf’ar, describe. As long as he remained defensive, absorbing every incoming melee or ranged impact, his power grew.  Each absorbed impact was converted into essence, building pressure and a stored charge, and as he became familiar with it, his ability to hold energy grew.

As months passed, Jaeger’s energy releases became increasingly powerful. The ultimate fusion of Jaeger’s martial arts, blacksmith legacy, and cosmic density occurred when he hurled Frazier’s anvil or any other ultra-heavy mass. As the projectile travels, Jaeger’s aura creates a concentrated localised gravitational drag. Enemies close to the projectile’s flight path are pulled inward toward the trajectory, ending with a catastrophic impact at the destination that flattens anything beneath it like hot metal on a forge block.

When he finally caught up with the 2nd alliance, he had changed; his skin seemed like that of a kobold, his muscles exceeded those of T’Aurs and Yarogryl, his voice was deep like a rumbling geyser, and his mood was more solemn than an Octogon cardinal at a ceremony. Only at the Battle of Weeping Plains did he fully unleash his power. Most likely it was the essence flow that took over, not just due to the amount of foes but also due to the astral sea shift when the descending contender god was halted.

When the Cleansing Crusade ended, he went back to Frazier’s workshop, cleaned it up and began crafting on the ancient anvil – resting once more where it had stood for centuries. At times, he can be found at roads, rest stops, and lordly workshops while travelling in search of rare, high-quality raw materials and resources. And should he meet an invader or traitor, he will give it a proper handshake.

“Drakk and Ljost Alfar recognised the sounds of the 1st Echoing Cavern.”

~Skjald El Mary

 

Organisation

F. F. Jaeger is no longer tied to any of the grander hordes, guilds, or organisations.

“He is a sole anvil, drawing on the energies of the world.”

Skjald Yell’a’Beard

 

Special

He is able to throw… very heavy objects… like anvils… up to 20 metres.

“When he throws his aura does the rest… ensuring Jaeger can stay focused.”

~Skjald Kazumix