The Defenders

No Kingdom in the history of the land can hope to rival the reputation the Black Oak has for resilience and siege prowess. The hero Brakson, brother of the Bangor, volunteered to defend the Kingdoms from the nightmarish demons of the Un-Dawor, far north of the land. In the wake of the war with Un-Dawor, the Kingdoms had a great deal of fear regarding the Northlands, but fear was not something that Brakson and his followers understood. They were warriors whose sheer physical power was without compare, and for centuries they stood against an enemy limitless in number and unrivaled in evil. After seven centuries, they constructed the Great Black Wall, at that time the single most amazing edifice in existence, to keep the demon hordes at bay, and their brave warriors stood atop it in the face of absolute, unwavering evil from the demons and monstrosities of the Northlands.

Although there have been periodic incursions throughout history, the Black Oak have only ever truly failed once, during the Destroyer War, and only then because the demon Kali had an entire nation transformed into her inhuman, tireless soldiers. The Black Oak lost the Wall and their lands, but they never stopped fighting, never surrendered, never gave up the will to live. Their ranks were thinned horrifically, and their lands subjected to ruin the likes of which only the Pin Oak could rival. Despite the losses, despite the horror, the six families of the clan survived to serve in a new era.

The Brakson are the lords of the clan and the among the greatest warriors in the land.
The Forgione are the scouts and guardians of the Black Oak, gathering vital information.
The Neiterman are the greatest engineers and siege masters, maintaining the Wall.
The Balestra are the clan’s sinister magi, understanding a darkness no one else can.
The Richardson are the merchant lords, ensuring that the never-ending war is paid for.
The Lum are the hunters of spirits and ghosts.

The years since the Destroyer War have been difficult but productive for the Black Oak. No clan’s lands suffered the same extensive devastation as the Black Oak’s, and it required an enormous resource-harvesting endeavor from the Colonies to bring them back to full productivity. The current political situation is one that most Black Oak find exasperating, to say the least. A foe that cannot simply be crushed on the battlefield is one that the Black Oak do not wish to deal with. Their closest allies, in defiance of a thousand years of history, remain the Pin, with whom they have bonded over their shared duty of protecting the Kingdoms from the threats of portals to the Underworld.

Risin Brakson, the great-grandson of the Destroyer War hero of the same name, leads the Black Oak with a steady hand and a discriminating eye. He dispatched his own brother, Ren Balestra, to oversee affairs in the Colonies, and is greatly disturbed by the news his brother has sent him back.