Bladechorister Caldor Champion Lore
The Rhythm of the Mistwood, that force to which all Sylvan are attuned, marks a militaristic beat in modern times. This is a result of the Sylvan’s alliance with the Shadowkin of Yakai and the Skyiron Dominion, and their war against the Mikage Autocracy. The demands of the furious, bloody conflict meant that Sylvan politics became dominated by warriors. The Conductor, the individual responsible for running sessions of the Sylvan Court, sets the literal tone for them, and as a result Conductors are selected based on the intended objectives of the Sylvan Court for a Courtly Season. If war is a major focus, a warrior will be chosen to direct the Sylvan, and the efforts of the Mistwood’s people will pivot in major and subtle ways toward conflict, with the Rhythm bending with it. Even seemingly unrelated policy will have a militaristic bent — debates related to food production will involve discussion as to how best feed armies, for example, and diplomatic missions will more heavily focus upon the clandestine collection of military intelligence.
Since the foundation of the Nyresan Union, the role of Conductor has been held by warriors, and Sylvan society has leaned more and more toward external expansion, spycraft, and internal defense.
One commander who has embraced all this wholeheartedly is Bladechorister Caldor. Few generals of the Sylvan Watchers can match his ability to seamlessly blend their troops into a single, synchronous host, an orchestra and chorus of war. There is virtually no force, regardless of its mix of talents and skills, he cannot wield as a superlative maestro to execute any plan or counter any foe. This is a vital skill for the Sylvan Watchers, for their armies include skilled trackers and hunters, treesingers, elk and jaguar cavalry, a truly bewildering array of Fae with innumerable powers, as well as conventional blade and spearmen. Weaving such disparate warrior skillsets and mindsets is an enormous challenge, one that Caldor has more than risen to.
One of Caldor’s greatest victories was over the Orc pirates known as the Bloodwave. Led by their feared commander, Karaz Blacksail, they appeared on the Mistwood’s east coast without warning, slaughtering the few Sylvan leviathans in place to oppose them. As Orcs stormed the tree-lined beaches, forces desperately gathered to oppose them: Fae of the dunes, Elven cliff-guard as well as Pathfinders, Shadowbows, and many others. Caldor led them. At his command, his warriors were in a state of constant movement. Pathfinders yielded ground to lure Orcs into Loneblade ambushes. Vine-limbed Fae entangled the pirates, grabbing ankles and wrists to make them easy pickings for Shadowbow marksmen. Devastating charges by glade-unicorn riders drove Orcs back toward their boats — where barnacle-encrusted Fae awaited them.
Given the alliance between the Mistwood, Yakai, and the Skyiron Dominion, Caldor has also learned the capabilities of Shadowkin and Dwarven warriors and how they might complement Sylvan troops. He has commanded Yakai nightcrane and whitesnake warriors in battle, as well as Skyiron peakspears and Flailers, all to great effect against raiders of a dozen different stripes.
Despite his skills as a general, Caldor is not loved by his warriors. He possessed a cold demeanor even in his youth, and as he has grown older he has given himself over to the warbeat of the modern Rhythm so much his personality has all but completely eroded. He has no friends or close comrades, just trusted advisors and lieutenants. He has enough diplomatic nous to lead warriors from multiple peoples, but that is borne from sheer pragmatism, any agreement to his plans gained from allies through logical persuasion rather than affection or warmth.
Caldor’s own fighting style matches that of his style of command — his movements are fluid and efficient, maximizing every advantage and minimizing every disadvantage. He wields his twin long-sickles, named the Rhythmhooks, in perfect synchronicity. Every thrust, swing, and parry part of an elaborate plan to ensure he is always several steps ahead of his foe, who will be desperately fighting for their lives. Highly agile, always moving, Caldor will yank a shield away with one sickle to expose an enemy to a strike with the other, or pull out a foe’s leg from beneath them so he can drive the point of his second blade into their chest.
One could be forgiven for thinking that primarily fighting in woodland would make Caldor’s fighting techniques all but impossible to execute, with branches and roots limiting movement. But they are no obstacle for Bladechorister Caldor. He has spent his life honing his skills beneath the boughs of the Mistwood, and if he cannot use the trees to his advantage, Caldor factors meandering roots and swaying branches into his flow of lethal movements. Truly, there are fewer instruments of the Rhythm more potent than him.