Astralon

When the Second Great War between the forces of the Arbiter and Siroth raged through Teleria, it steadily became apparent that while the Lightbringers were warriors almost without equal, they rarely made for great strategists. An inability to properly appreciate the vulnerabilities of the mortal warriors under their command, coupled with a certain lack of imagination, ensured that a number of the campaigns waged by Lightbringer-led forces became mired in setbacks. Astralon was believed by some to be the answer to this problem. The being who became known as the Crimson Angel elected, by his own volition, not to serve in a senior position, but as a humble soldier in the armies of Teleria. In doing so, he experienced the wars between the forces of Light and Shadow first-hand, down amid the dirt, fighting in the heart of the melee, and seeing the hardship and privation of each campaign play out, from low supplies or inclement weather to the sufferings of the wounded after battle. In this way, Astralon built an empathy with the regular soldiers around him that he would not forget when he finally accepted command of a host of his own. Appreciating the importance of supplies, aid for the wounded, and the morale of the lower troops, he built the host he was given command of and honed it into an efficient fighting force before leading it to a string of victories, in which he all-but secured eastern Anhelt against Siroth’s ravaging hordes. It seemed as though the armies of Teleria had found their general, and the Crimson Angel soon became wildly popular among the rank-and-file he had once served alongside. Astralon may indeed have won the war for the Arbiter by himself, had he not so swiftly met his match on the battlefield. It was at the Battle of the Seven Passes where he first encountered the Demonspawn known as Countess Lix, mistress of plagues and a wickedly effective commander in her own right. A spree of brutal battles between them followed — Holdmire; Red Mount; lqane. At Melchien Fields, Astralon permitted his center to cave before the Demonspawn assault, allowing his wings to outflank the enemy and almost envelop Lix’s forces, but the countess escaped. His victory was undone at Castle Strevax, where his Sacred Order forces, coming to drive away Lix’s host besieging the castle’s garrison were unable to break through the layered Demonspawn defense in time to save the castle’s defenders, despite Astralon leading from the front. On and on the pair fought, the advantage swinging one way and then the other, neither able to strike a killing blow. It could not continue forever. Finally, the decisive clash both had sought played out, between two great rocks known as the Twin Spires, on the southern edges of Durham Forest. Hoping that this would be the final confrontation, both Astralon and Lix threw themselves into combat. They met in a titanic clash of blades, claws, and energies so potent it cast the surrounding combatants into the dirt. After what felt like an age, Lix fled, beating her tainted, metallic pinions and leaping skyward. Quick as a flash of crimson lightning, Astralon pursued, refusing to let his nemesis escape. The battle between the two Firstborn played out in the sky, actinic ruby and emerald lightning ripping apart the skies and cowing even the fury of the combatants below. For a day and a night the two leaders were absent from the field. Finally, Astralon returned to the bloodied survivors of his host. He would not speak of his duel, nor who had won, saying only that Lix, too, had survived. There was consternation among the forces of the Order as it seemed Astralon had truly met his match. Certainly, he never seemed to command the armies of Light with quite as much surety as before, his decisiveness lacking the edge it once had. It was as though he had left a vital part of himself up there in the skies, or perhaps with the now-departed, dreaded countess. Some even claimed that Lix had ensnared Astralon with a curse. Eventually, and to the shock of many, Astralon relinquished his command. He declared himself unfit to oversee them, and swore to the Arbiter that he would engage upon a personal quest to find Countess Lix. He did not specify quite what he would do if he found her, though many naturally assumed he intended to destroy his arch-rival once and for all. Those with a more subtle disposition suspected something else, sensing how the final clash with his former enemy had changed him.