Lords of Tarkir: WR Mardu/Kolaghan, the Storm's Champion

Kolaghan, the Storm’s Champion: The Glorious Horde is the army that will bring all of Tarkir under its rightful rulers, and Kolaghan, the Storm’s Champion, stands at its head. Once in the distant past the old Mardu clans roamed and raided, delighting in looting and destroying; but the coming of their swift-winged dragonlord put an end to their savage ways. Kolaghan and the ranks of her brood sang of the glory of the lightning and the shrieking wind, teaching the clans the truth of Kol, lord of storms and creator of Tarkir, from whose tempestuous breath the dragons are spawned. The true dragons are Kol’s children, the dragons of lightning, the four-winged kites of Kolaghan’s brood, and all others that pretend to the name are aberrations and misshapen beasts. The broods of sand and snow and poison and flame are foul in Kol’s sight, and must be cleansed from Tarkir. The clans heard these sacred truths and understood what they must do, casting aside their old banners and forging a single great army that rides forever beneath the wings of their leader, disciplined and well-trained and dedicated utterly to her purpose. They are the Glorious Horde, the Unceasing Wind that will sweep across all of Tarkir. By their arrows and blades Kolaghan will bring down the miscreated beasts and spread the truth of Kol to all of Tarkir.

From the battle-scarred war-kites of the vanguard to the smallest goblin child running to replenish the archer’s arrows, each member of the Horde understands that they are waging a sacred, eternal war. Children are born on the march and raised into the army that is their world. The weak, wounded, or otherwise skilled are permitted to stay at the citadel of Stormthrone, the Horde’s only fixed settlement, built beneath the cliff where Kolaghan first raised the lightning banner and bound the Horde to their holy quest. But all others ride with the dragons of the storm, and they shall bring their swift and perfect justice to all of Tarkir.

Sukhnum, the Iron Bow: Master of the twin holy arts of dakla, the way of the bow, and kolayanga, the way of the lightning, Sukhnum is the eternal name of the herald that rides at Kolaghan’s side. The name of Sukhnum can be won only in the great competition of archery held upon the passing of the previous herald, and once taken, the bearer’s past is erased entirely and they carry the name for life. Not that such a term lasts long; Sukhnum rides beneath the Champion herself, and not a single one has grown old in the dragon’s service. Her great iron arrows rain down on the Horde’s foes, spitting lightning and taking full-grown dragons from the sky, and the terrible thunder of their impact is the first sign of Kolaghan’s coming.

The originator of the name, the archer Sukhnum was the first to rally to the lightning banner when Kolaghan raised it above Stormthrone. Kolaghan rewarded such loyalty with a great bow fashioned from her own spines, light and indestructible and suffused with the power of the storm. Similar bows have been crafted from the spines of the Horde’s warkites, but the Iron Bow itself remains an unrivaled weapon.

Stormthrone: Built on the site of the old Mardu citadel of Wingthrone, it’s sanctified as the place where Kolaghan first raised the lightning banner and rallied the Glorious Horde. WR Mardu are a lot more tolerant of the weak, injured, or generally non-combative, and Stormthrone is their permanent home.

Created on 20 Sep 2016 by haldaraumo