The First Father was the leader of the ruling family of the Voroshk world who appeared in Soldiers Live. He and his brother, Nashun the Researcher, were derided by Croaker as cowards, as the pair remained in hiding while their world was ravaged by shadows. He would eventually become a grudging ally of the Black Company in their Protectorate war against Soulcatcher in the homeworld.
Before Soldiers Live[]
Family[]
The First Father and his (presumably younger) brother Nashun the Researcher were princes, apparently the oldest sons of their mysterious leader, the Old One. Shukrat was the First Father's daughter, and Magadan was his nephew. At some point after he fathered Shukrat, he put aside Shukrat's mother for a lover named Saltireva. This affair deeply hurt his daughter, who was never the same afterward.
Like the others of the Voroshk family, the First Father was always clothed in priceless shefsepoken robes and flew everywhere using his personal rheitgeistide.
Alliance with the forvalaka[]
Sometime after the end of She Is the Darkness, the First Father and Nashun personally became allies with Lisa Daele Bowalk, a native to the homeworld who was trapped in the form of a supernaturally strong forvalaka. She had entered their world from the glittering plain via the Voroshk world's Shadowgate, unintentionally causing a small leak through which some shadows invaded their world. In return for her muscle, Nashun and the First Father attempted to help her transform out of the forvalaka shape, into her true human form, for increasing periods of time. They both even learned the language of Juniper, her home city, albeit to varying degrees, as Nashun was the more skilled speaker by far.
Soldiers Live[]
The First Father became the chief patriarch of the Voroshk family when the Old One died early in Soldiers Live.
Destroying the Shadowgate[]
After the First Father, Nashun, and one other Family patriarch unintentionally destroyed their Shadowgate, their world became utterly ravaged by killer shadows. They were desperate to flee their world, but when they attempted to fly off the plain into the safety of one of the other 15 worlds, they simply appeared back inside their own world. Frustrated, he and Nashun confronted Croaker, Lady, Tobo, and others outside the homeworld Shadowgate. They spoke the language of Juniper but Croaker deeply resented their arrogance. Nashun and the First Father, unaccustomed to being refused, ignored Croaker's advice and attempted to burst through the Shadowgate. But Tobo's brand new magic spells caused them to be explosively blasted back onto the plain. They would only survive because of their protective shefsepoken robes.
In hiding; ally of the Black Company[]
Refusing to return to their ruined world and help fight the shadows, the First Father and Nashun cowered in the only other place they could go: Shivetya's fortress. They claimed they were prisoners there, but Croaker knew otherwise. The two Voroshk elders were Shivetya's guests and subsisted on his manna alone. They passed the time talking with Baladitya, an elderly copyist whom the Black Company had adbucted from the Taglian Royal Library about 4 years prior. A group from the Company led by Croaker, Lady, and Tobo arrived with the Voroshk girls Shukrat and Arkana, who argued bitterly with their estranged fathers. Finally, both Nashun and the First Father agreed to accompany them, even going so far as surrendering their shefsepoken robes and rheitgeistiden.
The First Father and Nashun were both killed at the onset of the Siege of Taglios, during a raid on the Palace which took place before the two armies clashed. The two Voroshk men, as well as Murgen, the Howler, and several soldiers, were killed when a trap laid by Mogaba unleashed the last of Soulcatcher's killer shadows.