General Kriegen

Kriegen Sveslend is the High General of the Ministry of War and the oldest man in Ardeiria.

History
Born to the brother of the then Lord of Kresten,  Averine Kresten, Kriegen Sveslend was taught warfare and tactics at an early age. From the early age of five, he was expected to swing a sword and fight any enemies of the Vaughts or Krestens. Extremely pious in regard to the Old Ways, he is a loyal Ferithian and a zealous follower of the Bear (The most aggressive of the Ardeirian Old Ways sub-dieties), his faith allowed him to have unmatched bravery against bandits, ogres, and even giants. His constant command, "Forwards", became his iconic sign, being dubbed "General Forward" by his troops. His real show of strength appeared during the War of Subjugation, wherein he lead the majority of the Cavalry Ambushes against busy Royal Forces, and even going as far as to put their head on a pike-flag on his aurochs, which was mimiced by his soldiers.

However, he was captured after his fourth successful ambush, stabbed in the chest repeatedly, almost scraping his heart. His men soon killed their commander's executioner and brought him back to Aurochstead's head druid. In order to fix him, his heart would be torn out and replaced with everlasting thorns and the druid's life, as well as his apprentice's remaining life force. This added up to an extremely large lifespan though he would continue to age in appearance. In order to keep his strength youthful, he would need to have a sacrifice of a well-built soldier between the ages of twenty and thirty-five after the youngest apprentice, eighteen, would reach fourty in the average lifespan. He was promoted to High General of the Ministry of War directly before Ardeiria surrendered by Haron the Kinslayer.

After the War of Subjugation, he was placed directly under two Gilnean Marshals until the First War, when they were finally ordered to leave. However, the then-High General refused to and, in a zealous rage, Sveslend drove his axe through both of his legs, then threw the Gilnean out of the Ministry and into the snow. Four Ministry Soldiers guarded the dying man until he died, refusing to let any stop him. Sveslend was also the only General the House of Vaught sent during the Second War from Ardeiria, and was one of the leaders during their deception during the Gilnean Civil War, claiming the lives of the most Vulture Brotherhood out of every bull-born man.

Him and Roisforth Kresten lead the Kresten forces during the Siege of Oakwood, and was famous for yelling "They are nothing but wheat before us, and it is almost harvesting season!" Directly afterwards, he lead the Eastern Stampede while Roisforth lead the West, trampling, impaling, and crushing the remaining forces while the Caers mopped up the survivors, either by imprisonment or swift deaths. Most recently, he lead the Ministry forces in the defense of the Vaugate, preventing Oliver's forces from pushing too far into Ardeiria.

Appearance
General Svesland boasts grey, cut hair, and his eyes are a deep shade of brown. Wrinkles, scars, burns, and permanent bruises mar his form. Generally, he wears thick night-black plate which makes his already toned build seem even larger. A tall man, he stands at 6'4, though this is the norm for Bull-born men. His cloak often has a charging bull's head in gold, which matches the pattern of his armor; black with gold borders. He is missing two fingers and a toe, though this isn't extremely obvious as he rarely takes off his gauntlets or boots, which have the slots there, only left vacant. Those who keep up with his history, or the Kresten military in general, could easily recognize it as the outfit as the standard High General uniform of the War of Subjugation.