Cambruin the High King

Also called the High King, the Chosen of the All-Father. A Knight born in Caledorn, Cambruin subdued the Ten Kings, fought the Northmen to a standstill, then waged the War of Tears against the Elves. His Code set new standards of justice throughout the High Kingdom. Cut down by Shadowbane at the height of his power, Cambruin’s death caused the Turning.

The story goes...

A young warrior named Cambruin appeared in the Kingdom of Caledorn, a warrior who could not be defeated in battle. Cambruin spread the word of the Five Virtues, which he said were the source of all his strength, granted to him through the grace of the All-Father. As Cambruin's fame grew, the strongest and most noble warriors flocked to his banner, becoming the first Knights. Battle by battle, league by bloody league, the Knights won Cambruin a kingdom through toil and war and became legend by bringing the light of his wisdom to all who would see it. As his kingdom grew, Cambruin's enlightened rule transformed the Heartlands into a land of peace, order, and justice. In time, the One Kingdom spread from the jungles in the South to the Ice in the North, with legions of Knights as the High King's defenders and enforcers. Once the Sons of Men were united under Cambruin's banner, even the ancient armies of the elves were as wheat before the righteous swords of the Champions, the greatest of Knights, who served Cambruin as his lieutenants and companions. Men throughout the One Kingdom praised Cambruin, calling him the All-Father returned, or the mightiest of His Archons, the savior of humanity.

Alas, that ever those days of quest and glory should come to such an evil ending! Peasants of virtue who had followed Cambruin's vision and noble warriors who had given up title and family for the High King's cause were given lands for their service. As the War of Tears dragged ever on, even the greatest Knights began to go astray, their strength sapped by an easy life of wealth and greed or consumed by bloodlust born of war. Some tried to revive the Path of Virtue, creating the Holy Knighthood of the Sash, while others convinced the High King that crusades against the fey folk and the Dwarves of the mountains were the key to peace and order. The Knights lost their way, and ancient feuds resurfaced. Dissention split Cambruin's court, and even the knights of the Shining Champions, Cambruin's chosen, quarreled amongst themselves. The High King, alas, was too distracted by the War to see the shadow growing at his back.

Finally, on the eve of his final victory, disaster struck. Even as the walls of Kierhaven, the last great Elvish stronghold at the edge of the Northern Wastelands, broke before the strength of the High King's siege, the King himself hunted Elvish archers in the nearby forest. The King came to a great Oak tree, the largest ever known, and in the shadows of its ancient boughs he was betrayed. The Betrayer, one of the King's own Champions, drew the great sword Shadowbane and drove it through Cambruin's heart. And so was broken what could not be broken, and with it Hope was broken. And the very World was Sundered, and the Heavens raged and wept at the High King's passing and at the death of his greatest Champion.