| “ | Death sure takes its toll in these snow infested lands, and when it does we will be right there to collect! | „ |
| ~ Tarnum |
Tarnum is the main protagonist of Heroes Chronicles: The Glory of War. He was a Barbarian tyrant who, after his death, was temporarily reanimated into an undead warrior while his soul resided in the Hall of Judgement.
Biography[]
A few years after conquering the Empire of Bracaduun, the Barbarian King Tarnum was killed in battle by Rion Gryphonheart, the young king of the upstart nation Erathia. He was buried in an underground tomb in Krewlod, which was guarded by Barbarian Chieftains. Around the same time, Archon, the Lich King of Enroth, was also overthrown. Archon fled to Erathia, where tales of Tarnum's cruelty were circulating throughout the taverns, and reanimated Tarnum's corpse to use him as a henchman.
While most of Tarnum's soul remained in the Hall of Judgement, the wretched part of his soul — responsible for the atrocities he committed as the Barbarian Tyrant — was attached to his undead body. As a consequence, Tarnum lacked the moral qualities that he once had. As soon as he was brought back, the undead Tarnum pledged loyalty to Archon, who offered to make Tarnum one of his successors if he would help him reclaim the throne. Tarnum obeyed, but secretly planned to overthrow Archon at a future time.
To set the plan in motion, they settled in a territory inhabited by Tarnum's former Barbarian tribes. Tarnum never hesitated to massacre them, as he was now incapable of humane feelings and needed to amass undead forces into his army to proceed. He came to this region for another purpose as well: to find the ancient Temple of Anubis and reveal its secrets for Archon. During the mission, Tarnum rescued an undead female death knight named Lamentia from a dark mansion. He learned she also used to be a Barbarian, upon which he thought of keeping her as a concubine or a soldier in his army. Archon discovered the temple was in the south and guarded by the Barbarian tribes living near the hills, and that an Emissary of Anubis could be found there. When the Barbarians became alert to the presence of the undead, they sent a letter to Tarnum (unaware of his true identity), asking him to leave the region and asserting that he would not frighten them by taking up the name of their tyrant. Tarnum, assured by Archon that his people would not recognize him, fought through the Barbarians and reached the temple. He defeated the mummy guards and liberated the Anubite emissary, who joined his ranks as a result.
Tarnum, Archon and Lamentia then traveled to a region in Erathia where the Chaos Sanctuary was located. Tarnum sent Lamentia to establish a base of operations and was now able to recruit more undead forces into his army. In addition to Erathian knights, some who used to serve in his Barbarian army, Tarnum battled pirates, who populated the south. The pirates were led by one of his former Barbarian Warchiefs, Salah, who sent Tarnum a taunting letter to leave the domain. Tarnum found his lack of perspective very amusing and considered keeping him as his jester once he reanimated his corpse. A few weeks later, Archon summoned Tarnum to his tent one morning and showed him a pack of Erathian farmers whom he took prisoner, tortured and mutilated. Archon wanted Tarnum to kill and reanimate them, but in order to not be seen as a weakling before Archon, Tarnum decided to keep them alive and enslave them instead. He later traveled to the Chaos Sanctuary through a whirlpool, defeated the mummy guards and was soon joined by the Sekhmet Priestess.
With Archon's powers fully restored due to the blessings of the Anubis and Sekhmet, Tarnum now had to repay the gods, who demanded the blood of their enemies, the Sun Gods. The undead traveled to a forsaken place near the Desolate Lands, the entrance of which was guarded by Barbarian tribes whose nomadic allies guarded the temples of the Sun Gods in a barren desert called Sandstorm's Reach. Due to his undead state, Tarnum risked being incinerated from long exposure to sunlight. He decided to battle the Barbarians first and reanimate as many corpses as possible so he could have enough minions to spare when crossing the desert. Tarnum consulted his shamans and witch doctors about this matter, after which they concluded he would need a mobile Cover of Darkness. Tarnum requested a thread of a dark cloak from a Sekhmet Priestess and threatened to kill his shamans if they did not find a solution. Several days later, Tarnum met with the Anubis Warrior and Sekhmet Priestess in his tent one evening. The deities suggested he was meant to rule as an undead king instead of being under the command of Archon and presented him with a parchment of a scroll. But before Tarnum could ask them about the hieroglyphics, the emissaries disappeared and never came back since. Archon later summoned Tarnum to his tent, thinking he had chased the emissaries away and was defying his authority, but Tarnum managed to convince Archon that he served him with loyalty. For quite a while, Tarnum had also been in the company of Lamentia during nights in his tent and allowed her to be his personal concubine. One morning, Tarnum found Lamentia reading the scroll, which angered him enough to raise his sword. Before he could kill her, however, Lamentia explained she was trying to help him and revealed herself to be his old lover, Yalla. In the days that followed, Lamentia informed Tarnum of tombs that could help them decipher the scroll and pledged loyalty to him. Tarnum decided he would spend his future with Lamentia once he ruled as the undead king.
After defeating the Sun Gods, Tarnum found a plaque of hieroglyphics within a vault buried inside a temple of Anubis revealing a Necropolis town called Blackwater, where an ancient power resided within its ruins, and a map of it. Through a lot of arguing, Tarnum convinced Archon to allow him to search for the city. He seemingly agreed to let Archon harness the power, but his real plan was to claim it for himself instead. They set out to locate the Necropolis in the snowy lands of Bracada, where Tarnum established a base and bid Lamentia to come with him, and learned from his spies that a sizable Erathian military force was unknowingly guarding Blackwater. Archon also informed Tarnum of another thing that would ensure his rise to power and chose to tell him later. The enemy demolished all shipyards and docks on the island, having figured out Tarnum's intentions, but Tarnum had now been granted the power of spellcasting, which contrary to his previous attitude as a Barbarian he was more than willing to use. As Tarnum fought his way through Bracadan and Erathian troops, he planned to exact vengeance on Rion Gryphonheart once he deposed Archon. Tarnum traveled to the land where Blackwater was located via teleporter, battling dragons before capturing the town. There, he gained great powers and proclaimed himself the master of Blackwater.
Archon launched an attack on the city to kill Tarnum, but Tarnum single-handedly defeated his hordes of skeletons and walking dead before imprisoning Archon in a cage. Although Tarnum took control of Archon's army, his soldiers followed him out of fear rather than loyalty. He interrogated Archon as to why he was not crowned the undead king, casting a spell that forced Archon to tell him the secret, and learned the Cloak of the Undead King would gain him the worship of his minions. Tarnum traveled far and built a Necropolis with Lamentia near the Bracadan-Erathian border, intending to conquer a nearby Erathian Castle. The wizards started building their armies and preparing an attack, and allied with the knights against Tarnum. Four weeks into the journey, Tarnum received a letter from the knight Sir Mullich, who ordered him to disband his forces and leave, declaring he was no match for the Bracadan and Erathian alliance. As he was in the process of subjugating the area, Tarnum dispatched scouts to find information on the artifacts that form the Cloak of the Undead King, but none returned, probably destroyed by the wizards.
Upon capturing the castle, Tarnum used it as a small base of operations. He left Lamentia in command of the castle and sent her to organize its defense while he searched for the artifacts. Tarnum established his own base, a fortified Necropolis located somewhat northeast of the Erathian borders, placing a tower guard to protect the entrance to the high peaks that protect the town. He was informed by his scouts that the wizards of Bracada had regrouped and rallied their own forces, surrounding his keep, and three of them wore each one of the artifacts he sought, and of details of the artifacts and their owners by his spies. News of his exploits spread throughout the land, earning him the nickname "King of Pain" from the locals, which Tarnum embraced and decided to use as his title. Several days later, a scout reported that the wizards planned to entrust the artifacts to a wizard named Sandor, who was held captive in a Storm Temple in the south for studying necromancy, should Tarnum's forces prevail. Eventually, Tarnum sent word to Lamentia to go forth and strike the enemy before they grew too strong. Tarnum and Lamentia defeated all the wizards in the territory, conquering more land.
Having gained possession of the cloak, Tarnum grew far more powerful and could soon rule all of Antagarich. He now solely focused on having his revenge on Rion Gryphonheart. The combined forces of the Erathians and Barbarians rallied against Tarnum and his undead forces, managing to break the lines of his bannermen, destroy most of his striking force and kill Lamentia. Tarnum heard a prophecy about his battle with King Gryphonheart, which warned that a death blow would strike both of them, but he was willing to sacrifice himself to kill his old enemy. At the height of the war, Tarnum reached the king's castle and met him in combat again. As Tarnum mortally wounded Gryphonheart, the Erathian King dealt a fatal blow to him as well. Tarnum's body was crushed and his soul left his undead corpse. The Ancestors finally deemed Tarnum unworthy of entering Paradise and cast him back to Antagarich as an immortal seeking redemption for his crimes. As a token of their mercy, the Ancestors erased his memories of the atrocities he committed as the Undead King. The part of Tarnum's soul responsible for these vile acts was buried alongside his former body in the Hall of the Ancestors.
Personality[]
Because only the evil part of his soul was restored, as an undead death knight Tarnum was devoid of all redeeming qualities. He was gleeful in this fact, as he would no longer have qualms about committing heinous deeds. During this time, Tarnum was motivated by revenge, sadism, his love for killing and lust for power. He waged war on everyone who stood in his way, including his fellow Barbarians, and particularly enjoyed slaughtering Barbarians that became Erathian knights, viewing them as traitors despite the fact that he himself was already fighting his own people. Tarnum also had no care for Lamentia, simply using her as a concubine and keeping her alive due to her usefulness. He was quick to dismiss her death. When he was a death knight, Tarnum's primary quality was his thirst for revenge; he was bent on killing the man who killed him even while knowing this would lead to his own death as well.
Powers and abilities[]
Tarnum retained all of the powers he possessed when he was alive, including his brute strength and combat skills. As an undead being, he also mastered necromancy. Contrary to his Barbarian self, who hated magic, the undead Tarnum was willing to use magic for advantage, whether for battle and travel, and showed he was an excellent spellcaster when he did.
Gallery[]
