Editing Setting:Hail and Kill (section)

===Sortem's Rebellion===
Sortem's origins are a mystery. Is it said that before his rise in 1511, his entire clan was massacred by the ruling lord for worshiping the Old Gods in secret. The only survivor, by virtue of being on a hunt at the time the lord's forces razed his village. Having no clan and no home, he wandered about Ferrumgard as a mercenary, soon becoming known as a warrior poet, chanting Old Metallican hymns as he marched into battle. 

It is said that in one campaign, his regiment happened upon ancient ruins of the Metallican Empire where many artifacts and scrolls were looted as trinkets. Sortem collected all of the scrolls he could and studied them, being fluent in Old Metallican. As it turned out, many of these scrolls were old myths and poems about the Old Gods and their virtues. They say his studies awakened an appreciation for his Pagan heritage and soon afterward, he left his regiment and rode back to the North, where he began to travel from clan to clan, preaching the ways of the Old Gods. It wasn't long until he was captured by the King's forces and taken to Everost to be hanged for promoting heresy. 

His friend from his time as a mercenary and fellow Northerner, Addock, happened to be in Everost when he heard about the hanging. He managed to sneak into the prison where he was being kept and smuggled two swords in with him. It is said that together, they fought their way through half a hundred guards before escaping the prison, although others insist he had simply started a riot and escaped in the commotion. Either way, news of his defiance traveled quickly throughout the North and it was not long until he had dozens of clans rallied in rebellion. He is quoted having remarked, "If we are to wage war against a White God, then we must make ourselves blackened." The term "blackened" stuck.

The ensuing civil war against the Whitist Loyalists and the Blackened Rebels lasted four years, with both sides pushing the line to where it seemed neither side was going to win. In their desperation, many Blackened clans, as well as Addock, embraced the Raven Prince. It is not known whether or not Sortem himself embraced the Raven Prince, but he did approve of using him as a symbol of the rebellion, proudly fighting under a raven banner. 

The siege of Everost was the bloodiest battle in the war, a fitting climax. Sortem knew he could not besiege a port city with his navy and commanded his forces to breech the walls at all costs. By nightfall of the third night, the mighty battering ram finally shattered the gates of Everost and thousands upon thousands of screaming clansmen spilled into the city.

What resulted was a massacre and what many non-Blackened agree to be an atrocity rarely seen in history to such a devastating scale. By the end of the Battle for Everost, Sortem the Black was standing at the top of the steps to the castle with the King of the North's head in his hand. Thus began the reign of the first Black Emperor. Not long after he usurped the throne, the Whitists of the North either fled or converted, less they suffer the fate of those slaughtered in the Battle for Everost. It is said that when Sortem died, the blood had still yet to fully fade from the cobblestones.