Katraz

Katraz is an adventurer in The Badlands, as well as being a member of the Guarded. He is one of the rare survivors of the massacre by the Crimson Cult at Korkeep, during the Crimson Collapse.

History
Katraz was born in the Namor Forest, in Uldian. His young life was uneventful before he was drafted into the Kor Empire in Year 673, when he was 15 years old, in the beginning of the Crimson Conflict. He was moved to the city of Korkeep, a well fortified military outpost in the Namor Forest, where he stayed for the majority of the time, rarely visiting his family in Uldian.

Katraz began to make friends the military, eventually finding a love partner. Her name was Jennifer, and they began to grow so attached to each other that when Katraz turned 19, they married. He and Jennifer moved into a house within Korkeep, where they lived together.

At the time, the Crimson Cult was believed to be a minor threat, with their only major victory being the conquest of the Nitar Kingdom. However, when the Catalyst occurred in 678, things took a turn for the worst. Without their second largest enemy, the cult began to focus their military strength toward the Kor Empire. They pushed through the Kor's defenses quickly, pushing the empire to the coast. Soon, Korkeep was the last remaining stronghold that the Kor Empire had left. Katraz was among the defending force, and during the siege on Korkeep, he was knocked unconscious due to an explosion that opened the gates of the city. When he woke, he found that Korkeep was destroyed, with buildings burning to the ground and corpses cluttering the streets. His own home was gone, along with his wife. He chose to run rather than fight and die like so many others, and so he survived the Crimson Collapse.

Katraz, now alone and with everything he ever had destroyed but his sword and self, immediately headed to Uldian, where he hoped for refuge. When he reached the town, he heard the news of the Crimson Cult moving toward the town from the ruins of Korkeep. Eager to make sure that Uldian didn't fall as Korkeep had, he aided as much as he could in the efforts to protect the city. He joined the militia that had formed years before, the Guarded. He and all the others protecting Uldian fought as much as they could, and just before it seemed as if Uldian would fall, the Crimson Cult mysteriously retreated, leaving Uldian mainly intact. Katraz then discovered that one of the buildings that had been destroyed was the home of his family, with no survivors.

Katraz let the grief of his loss fuel his desire to protect the rest of the town from the Crimson Cult. Katraz helped to protect Uldian from any more invasions, however for many years after the end of the Crimson Conflict, the only threats were increased numbers of bandits, including the Untamed.