Harmis Detz is an ex-soldier veteran of over 60 years and current Prince of Khypris, a small empire in the Border Princes.[1]
In appearance, Harmis is a Khyprian through and through, though through his ancestors they could be immigrants from the Empire, as he has the appearance of the people who live on the banks of the Reik in Sudenland. He is not tall, but he is strong-built, with a heavy chest and shoulders and knotty muscles around his thighs. His face is marked by the ravages of a childhood disease, although it was not unattractive for that. His hair is brown, while his eyes are gray and intense. He has the look of an experienced soldier who has seen death many times and is used to it.[1]
When he was a soldier, he was very loyal to his prince, and only under extreme circumstances would he have disobeyed his orders, and only if he thinks that by doing so, he will serve Faramond better. To his fellow soldiers, he was cold, uncommunicative, and somewhat cynical. But Harmis knows, or rather has learned, that an impulsive man is a dead man. You have learned to consider every decision you make, and weigh its consequences very carefully.[1]
History[]
Harmis Detz was born within the walls of Khypris, as was his younger brother, Lavarock. As sons of a servant in Prince Faramond's stables, both men were exposed to the soldier's life at a young age. When they were still children, their heads had been filled with tales, myths and legends of brave knights, so when they came of age, Harmis and Lavarock chose to train as men of arms to serve the prince in the glorious field of the battle and to wear the burgundy and gold colors of their livery with pride.[1]
The two brothers mastered the skills of war fairly well and soon began spending half of each year in the northern lands, helping to keep the peace and defend the nation's unstable borders. There they learned the realities of politics and war, and came to understand that no one would call them friends. For the villagers and farmers, the Faramond family colors were symbols of oppression, even though it was the sworn duty of all who wore those colors to risk their lives to protect the valleys against the continued nuisance of the Zani.[1]
The only gratitude men received from the prince was grudgingly, and in less than a year, both men realized that the life of a soldier was not as glamorous as their childish ideals had bestowed upon them. When he killed his first assailant Zan, Harmis Detz was exultant; when he killed his tenth, he felt nothing but bitter relief. When he first defeated a Highlander after a ten-minute duel with swords, he was already too wise to get drunk on romance and resentful of the danger she had put him in. By then he knew how infinitely preferable it was to skillfully killing a man from behind with a throwing knife, or stealthily strangling him with a rope around his throat.[1]
The two brothers soon settled into their duties as members of Prince Faramond's Border Guard. Their job was to hunt down small bands of raiders and invaders who dared to intrude on the prince's lands, although generally they used to catch one in five, and urgently send an urgent warning message to Prince Faramond and his commanders of any major incursions. From the hills, though there had been no such incursion in the fifteen years that Harmis had worn Faramond's livery, nor in the thirty years before he began his service.[1]
Up to that point, in all his time as a border guard, Harmis had never married, unlike his brother Lavarock, who had taken a wife in Khypris, but she had died giving birth while he was away in the North. She had left him a son named Medard, who was already being brought up to follow in the footsteps of his father and uncle.[1]
He had also accumulated very little wealth, having very few possessions. The prince's armourers had given him his helmet, armored jacket, wooden shield, and a sword that his nation's army would not claim unless he died. They had also given him a mare named Sable, in similar terms: if she died, she would be claimed, but if he lived long enough to retire to less violent service, and she lived long enough to retire with him, he would be allowed to stay with her. The two possessions that were actually his were two knives, a hard-earned family heirloom, and which were designed to be thrown at enemies, a skill the Harmis had become adept at.[1]
Although his life was neither easy nor attractive, Harmis Detz was generally satisfied with it, and would be content to live out his days in the service of Prince Faramond were it not for the vagaries of fate. And it is that in the year 2470, when Harmis was 33 years old, a series of events takes place that will completely change his life.[1]
One night, Harmis was standing guard with his brother and his company on the outskirts of a town called Vimera. Mysteriously, a strange sleepy fog began to form, followed by a mutant attack, in which Harmis was knocked out. When he awoke, he discovered to his horror that both his company and the villagers had been killed, and among the victims was his brother Lavarock. Determined to exact revenge, Harmis, decided to go after the surviving mutants.[1]
His pursuit took him to the Black Tarn, a lake located in the Black Mountains where a magician named Astyanax resided, along with his two apprentices Nicodemus and Averil. Led by a Chaos warlock, the mutants attacked the residence of the sorcerer and his apprentices, who fight back. The mutants were defeated, but their leader was preparing to cast a powerful spell. Harmis sidled up behind him and threw both his throwing daggers at him, stabbing them into his back. Although mortally wounded, the witcher managed to destroy a good part of Astyanax's home, and before expiring, he curses Harmis.[1]
Averil and Nicodemus aided Harmis, leading him to a dying Astyanax. The wizard explained to Harmis that there is still a greater threat, a Daemon of Nurgle known as Katharos was on earth and they have planned to destroy Khypris. Before passing away, the wizard blessed the knives he used to kill the sorcerer so that they can harm the Daemon and tells him the daemon's true name, Ystareth. With no other option, he decides to help the apprentices destroy the plague Daemon.[1]
However, the mission was not easy. In addition to having to keep the sorcerer's curse at bay, Harmis and his two allies faced numerous dangers and inconveniences. Manipulated by Ystareth, the Zani launched a full-scale assault on the small empire of Khypris, causing a flood of refugees that spread the disease throughout the territory, as well as repeatedly attacking the trio. Even the Daemon himself appeared before them in Human guise and manipulated them so that he could reach Khypris.[1]
By the time Harmis, Nicodemus, and Averil arrive in the city, they find it almost completely deserted, as its inhabitants either died from the plague or had fled to escape it. They went to the palace where again there are no signs of life since all who were inside had succumbed to the disease, including Prince Faramond. In the throne room, the trio faced Ystareth in his true form. Nicodemus had to sacrifice himself to give his allies a chance against the pestilential magical breath of the Daemon, and Harmis manages to destroy it by driving one of his magic daggers into his daemonic heart.[1]
The Daemon had been defeated, but Khypris had suffered great damage. With the Faramond dead, Harmis Detz took up his position as prince, being considered a great hero to his people. He found his nephew and cared for him, and ended up marrying Averil. Over the years, his reputation as a savior and liberator began to fade, but his control over the nation was quite secure, because he had his wife who had become very learned and powerful over time.[1]
In the year 2499 Harmis Detz meets Orfeo the Minstrel, who told him several of his stories. This made him like the minstrel and that he trusted him by telling him his own story, because he was convinced that it needed to be told, to warn the world of what kinds of things are in him and of the evil they can do.[1]