Wulfsige of Elmsford, called Saint-Penitent, Defiler, and Mad Butcher, was an [[Andar|Andaran]] peasant of [[Wood Elves|Glamílfran]] blood who aided in halting the rise of [[Lilit]]'s Black Moon and rose to infamy as the leader and founder of the Flagellants. Depending on who one asks, his life is marked either by great heroics or unspeakable crimes. Wulfsige was born to a family of potters in the small village of Elmsford within the Earldom of Aumbria; as a young man, he began to see visions of dead [[elves]], marking him as Ceihd Aedlas, a Keeper of Memories. He gained fame in Aumbria as a member of a glinting gang, but eventually became obsessed with an ancient plot to bring about [[Lilit]]'s Black Moon, suspecting the [[Hand of Alor|Hand]]'s involvement and complicity. ## Early Life The Penitent Creed records the names of Wulfsige's parents as "Lewyn" and "Isan," and proclaims them to have been "humble potters of good spirit, no matter their faith in the False Prophet." Both were of [[Wood Elves|wood elven]] blood and likely some of the only elvish inhabitants of the village. Any other records of Wulfsige's early life (if they were even kept) were destroyed along with Elmsford during the 1,107 AC [[Middyr|Middyrian]] invasion of the Westmark, leaving us only to speculation. ## Career as a Glint It is certain, however, that it was only when he was a young man that he first established himself as a cunning warrior. With the aid of several comrades, including Atrius the Giantsblood and Ada of Many Faces, he slew a "fell abomination of [[Lilit]]'s making" that had been plaguing Elmsford. It was also at this time he first began to see visions of [[Elves|elvish]] spirits. He eventually came in contact with a local wise man called Coudeloch who revealed that he would succumb to madness if he failed to aid the plights of the spirits who haunted him. Wulfsige's further exploits in Aumbria are hazy and incomplete. The Penitent Creed speaks of him "bearing hale children to eerie wives of divine beauty," "slaying a dragon of silver dread" and "uncovering fell secrets of the [[Lilit|Lady of Ink]]," but little is truly certain. According to the Creed, it was in Aumbria that Wulfsige first ran afoul of Lord Strahan Skallen, called Viper, Royal Coroner and personal servant of the Blood Prince Varyn Andaris. The Creed tells us that Skallen was a secret servant of Lilit, and Wulfsige swore a blood-oath of revenge against him when he failed to slay him during their first encounter. Most notably, however, Wulfsige was said to have encountered one of the legendary Nine: mortal women resurrected and given second life through mysterious power. She is remembered now only as the "the Risen," and was said to have led a fervent cult of [[Kalbreth]] worshippers who harried the Earldom and the [[Hand of Alor|Hand]]. The Creed paints a dramatic scene where Wulfsige bore witness to the Risen's death at the hands of [[Lilit]] herself, given form and flesh by the deceits of the False Prophets of the [[Hand of Alor|Hand]]. Whatever truly occurred is not known, but Wulfsige was set on a path of vengeance and obsession, seeking to slay any who had allied themselves with the cult of [[Lilit]] and uncover its true purpose. Before he could depart, however, the Middyrian hordes of the Young-Queen descended upon Aumbria and pillaged his home of Elmsford. Wulfsige miraculously survived this ordeal, and was forced to flee south along with countless other [[Andar|Andaran]] refugees. He and his company traversed the stinking marshes of the Rivelund, and tracked Coroner Skallen to the River Easnadh, where he had captured Wulfsige's mother and father among the seething throng of fleeing refugees. Tragically, both of his parents were slain by Lord Skallen during the ensuing battle, who then quickly escaped from the scene. Fueled by fiery vengeance, Wulfsige set out towards the Grand Duchy of Larenwyn, hoping to find Skallen and finally claim revenge. ## Larenwyn and the Civil War Upon arriving in the He survived the [[Middyr|Middyrian]] conquest of the Westmark and the Rivelund, only to find himself embroiled in the politics of Larenwyn and the Fourth [[Andar|Andaran]] Civil War. It was here he became acquainted with Varyn Andaris, called Blood Prince, and his sister Maeve Andaris, called Merry Widow. With the aid of his comrades he unmasked the sorceresses Moran the Black as the ancient witch Gwinnabair Silvenhair, but not before the world was engulphed by the endless snows of the [[Black Winter]]. Uniting the forces of Varyn and Maeve, he hunted her to the ruins of [[Tir Sín]], where she plotted to perform a blasphemous ritual. Wulfsige aided in Moran's defeat, preventing the Black Moon, but found little peace after victory. Fuelled by righteous vindication, he spent the first decades of the [[Black Winter]] hunting the remaining [[Elves|elvish]] guerilla fighters of [[Tir Sín|Tir Sin]] to extinction. He then turned his ire to the [[Hand of Alor|Hand]], exterminating any Templars or members of the priesthood he could find in the apocalypse. A brood of followers began to gather at his side, mesmerized by his supposed powers of prophecy and uncompromising ideals. They named him a Living Saint, and he instilled in them a practice of self-mutilation and repentance, leading other survivors of the [[Black Winter]] to call them "flagellants." Over the long decades of the [[Black Winter]] Wulfsige's Flagellants only grew in strength; he led them on increasingly brutal massacres of the [[Hand of Alor|Hand]]'s adherents, with many innocents dying as a result. During this time he reconnected with several lost comrades: Ada of Many Faces, Bloody Briallen the [[Men|Man]]-Eater, and his boyhood friend Jonathan of Elmsford. Jonathan began to record Wulfsige's conquests in a feeble journal, which eventually became the Book of Goodbrother Jonathan, as found in the Penitent Creed. Most infamously, Wulfsige and his allies hunted the Bright Lady throughout the frozen [[Northlands]], killing thousands in her pursuit. The reason as to their hatred of the Child of Prophecy is ill-known; some speculate that they sought to claim her power for themselves, others speak of a connection to Atrius the Giantsblood, called Forgotten Soldier, and the legendary blade Brightsong. No matter the truth, Wulfsige eventually led his armies in a siege of the city of Andaris, and the Godspire itself. During this apocalyptic battle, Wulfsige unleashed a torrent of "blessed power" which destroyed a portion of the Godspire's peak, the only damage it had ever suffered since it was erected by [[Balcorion]] millennia ago. He confronted the Bright Lady atop the Godspire, but was slain along with his comrades by her divine might. In the years after his death the Flagellants persisted, and raised around him a fervent cult of personality that endures to this day. He was canonized as Saint Wulfsige the Penitent, while his exploits and teachings were compiled by his surviving followers into a hefty tome called the Penitent's Creed. To this day the Flagellants continue to worship Wulfsige ardently, believing him to be the true Herald of [[Alor]] and Prophet of the [[Gods]].