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Voroshk by Виталий Стрелец

Fan art of the Voroshk by Виталий Стрелец

What happened before the Voroshk does not signify.

Nashun the Researcher, Soldiers Live

The Voroshk – also called the Family – was a clan of sorcerers who had taken over the world that would come to bear their name. The first of their line came into power around the time that the Shadowmasters took over Hsien. This Voroshk male, called the Old One, had dozens of children, most of whom inherited his abilities with sorcery to greater or lesser degrees. At the time that the Black Company entered the Voroshk world generations later, the Family numbered in the hundreds, most of whom had very limited ability with sorcery. They each wore a priceless black robe, called shefsepoken, which responds to its wearer's thoughts and protects its owner from many types of bodily harm. And in public they were always seen operating their treasured flying posts, called rheitgeistiden, which contained enormous amounts of stored energy.

Croaker hated the Voroshk for their extreme arrogance, their sense of entitlement, and their suppression of the history (namely Khatovar) that took place before the rise of their clan.

Before Soldiers Live[]

Alliance with the forvalaka[]

The Voroshk were ruled for many years by a mysterious man called simply the Old One. At some point after the closing events of She Is the Darkness, the Voroshk leadership created an alliance with Lisa Daele Bowalk, who had entered their world as a fearsome forvalaka but was unable to return to her original human form. Two of the chief Voroshk princes, the First Father and Nashun the Researcher, learned the rudiments of her language (the homeworld tongue of Juniper) and were able to help her temporarily return to human form.

When the forvalaka entered the Voroshk world, she tore a hole in the bubble-like sorcery of the shadowgate and some killer shadows followed her inside. These entities killed everything they could find until they were wiped out by the Voroshk's fiery spells. The Voroshk captured and tamed a small handful of the remaining shadows using sorcery, much like the unrelated Shadowmasters had done in different worlds. (Some of these tamed shadows would later kill Spiff and JoJo.)

Soldiers Live[]

The First Father became the leader of the Family when the Old One died unexpectedly. This occurred roughly the same time as the Black Company departed Hsien and entered the glittering plain en masse.

Destruction of their shadowgate[]

The Voroshk leaders aided Lisa Daele Bowalk in her revenge killing of One-Eye (who had been responsible for dispatching her master, Shapeshifter, many years ago during the Battle of Dejagore). Bowalk's assassination of One-Eye drew Croaker and other Black Company members and allies to the Voroshk world for retribution. The Voroshk's tamed shadows killed Spiff and JoJo but were wiped out in return. Then, 3 airborne Voroshk sorcerers and Lisa Bowalk attacked. The Black Company captured one young member of the Voroshk clan (Shukrat) after killing Lisa Bowalk, and then tricked the Family into blowing up their own shadowgate. The Voroshk realized they would be unable to prevent an onslaught of killer shadows from pouring out of the glittering plain, which sent the entire clan into a panic.

Seven Voroshk enter the homeworld[]

Four young members of the Family – Sedvod, Arkana, Gromovol, and Magadan – willingly surrendered to the Company to escape the impending devastation of their world. Sedvod died shortly after accompanying the group from a secret curse placed on him by the Khadidas. Later Gromovol led a murderous, failed escape attempt and was captured; in retribution, Magadan was killed and Arkana was raped. Over time, Shukrat and even Arkana became members of the Black Company, and Shukrat fell in love with Tobo.

The First Father and Nashun the Researcher abandoned their world and did not fight alongside their kinsmen against the shadows. The pair cowered for a time in the fortress with no name. They both later became allies of the Company and were permitted to enter the homeworld. Despite their cowardly flight from the shadows, they were both killed by shadows alongside Murgen and the Howler during the Siege of Taglios.

Armageddon of shadows[]

Most of the Voroshk remaining in their world were wiped out alongside their peasant subjects in the cataclysmic destruction wrought by the shadows. A handful of the "more courageous members of the clan" valiantly fought against the onslaught of shadows, annihilating millions of the nightmarish entities with fiery sorcery. Ultimately, by the close of the Annals, there are only about 15 or 16 survivors of the Voroshk Family, including the two youngest Tologev brothers. They are split up between the fortresses of Rhuknavr, Drasivrad, and Junkledesag.

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