The Fall Father, The Rot's Scion
"The truth? You shall have it then. I did not come out of the sky, nor came from deep below the ground. I was born just as all of you were, a soldier and slave of the Great Horde. I was there when the ancient Ratik still drew breath, I even saw him once or twice fighting on the field of battle against men. You want to know what else I had saw? Cowardice. For all their blunt and bluster the Great Warlord and his kin fled as many times as charged. They abandoned us, as they will always abandon you to save themselves. I ask you now, do you fight for those who would leave you behind at a moment's notice? Perhaps, curiously, there are other options to consider on whom to follow." -The Fall Father, Sermon in the Copse.
"A demon, and nothing more. All those sweet words, and the fools still flock to him like sheep awaiting to be slaughtered." -Ratik Great Warlord on the Fall Father

In the ancient days during the height of the Great Horde, the Great Warlord led a great campaign against the early kingdom of men. Although not the first failure the Great Warlord had faced, the immortality of the Ratik's vast armies seemed to falter against the bravery of men, as their minions and slaves fled back and dared not to return. During such a retreat, from early victories, a weaselfolk soldier of not any particular note wandered and found a dead Curdan, a captured wizard, and a Ratik overseer. The wizard begged the soldier for help, and deciding to take a small chance at some manner of fortune, he took up the soldier's swivel sword and killed one of his own masters. The wizard begged the weaselfolk, as if knowing him already, to take him back to him home and to climb up the great tree to find something important for him, and the soldier agreed.

The Fearum lived beneath the shadow of a strange tree which grew out of the mountains, almost the size of the mountains itself. The tree was truly massive, and the Fearum came to believe to be the home of powerful spirits. In the lands they and their slaves would inhabit, it was strangely empty. No orcs, halflings, or even elves dared touch the land. Some say it was cursed, others say it was quarantined by the dragons and when they had left, it allowed others to finally inhabit it. Regardless of the truth, the Fearum gathered in the forests and called it home, and it was here where the soldier and wizard climbed up through the cave system and near alien roots of the great tree till they reached its heart. It was here, the wizard and soldier found something terrible and the wizard begged for protection as he drew out the power of some decaying creature trapped within. Instead, the soldier slew the wizard although was mortally wounded himself, but the power within the tree made a pact with him, and he arose then and there as the Fall Father.

The Fall Father is a masterful necromancer and wizard in his own right, a warrior lich bound to the ancient power he made a pact with and for generations he kept an eye on his people from afar. For generations it was said he watched his people degenerate and suffer under the cruel yoke of the Great Horde, and slowly over time he began to push his people through subtle adventures and conversation to rebellion. One day it was said in some far flung village a stranger appeared in bright orange clothes reminiscent of Curdans, a warrior who sat upon a rock and spoke of heresy against the Circles and treason against the Great Horde. In dark sermons, the Fall Father encouraged his newly forged cult of disillusioned zealots to make ready for war as he spoke to the chiefs and heroes of his people. He made a great and prophetic pact with them, promising them eternal life and freedom from the Great Horde.

Thus, through sudden rebellion, the traitors to the Fall Father's cause were attacked in mass and were given out of the forests as the Great Horde descended with it's full might upon him. Yet, the Fall Father's command and ancient wisdom beat back the interlopers as he set to work on grander projects. His heroic followers spread out, conquering the edges of the great forest and even wandering and conquering otterfolk kingdoms in the Couslandic marshes. Yet, war with the Great Horde soon turned to early warning of a darker threat from the south, as gnolls in great numbers invaded as well, fleeing the wrath of the Kerkian Black Army who were close behind. Through brutal defense and dark magic, the Fearum defeated both the Ratik hordes and the Kerks. At the culmination of their victory, the Fall Father called all of his supporters together and unveiled his true colors. Using the magic deep within the great tree, he descended the core lands of the Fearum into eternal autumn, made and built for only their people, protected by a magical rot which destroys food and water of invaders and interlopers. On that day, the dead truly did rise as the Princes, servile lich servants of the Fall Father and wardens over all the Fearum tribes.

The realm the Fall Father envisioned was isolated away from the world, believing his people to be superior in time and would grow. He forced onto them new ways and cultures he had half remembered during his time in Empara Curdia. Thus the dress, architecture, and language of his peoples became a twisted mockery of the Curdans, all the way down to their feudalism and symbols. No beast is truly ever free in the Autumn Reich, only servants to another higher power. From within the great tree, the Fall Father watched and shepherd his people, building their institutions and being their spiritual liege. Of the non-Fearum, such as many hedgehogfolk and otterfolk who came to inhabit the realm, servitude became their only option. The Fall Father did away with all the vestiges of the old Ratik customs enforced upon his people, but the ancient Ratik tradition of clasping iron around the necks of their slaves remained.

Yet, over time the hard and arrogant heart of the Fall Father softened as the years dragged on. His people, whom he had hoped would become a perfect and strong people, stagnated due to unforeseen consequences. Isolated did not breed a better people, only an awkward and deeply difficult people. A dark realization came to emerge when he realized his nation was not as powerful as he imagined, but just a major obstacle against the Kerks from invading the north, and vice versa of the Beastfolk raiding the Kerkian vassal states. Over time, the isolated peoples of the Autumn Reich were guided once again to seek out new opportunities and to get out into the world, despite being surrounded by those who despise them. The Fall Father also became one three great members of the Guardians, a secret group of powerful immortals who keep watch for dark powers who would try to threaten the world, and to combat existential threats.