Teramalda

Before the first Alder War, during Algamar's reign, Alderlanders worshipped the god Rust, whom the Rust Church claimed was the true manifestation of the creator god Wyrm.

The Ferrale Teramalda presented the king Algamar with a vision the god had shown her, how she would conquer the lands beyond the mountains with the god’s help and convert those that lived there to the true faith. She claimed the god Rust and his wife Heme had brought humankind to this land in ancient times, but that the Ailanders, allied with treacherous elves and dwarves, had tricked them and so stolen half of the land that had been promised. After she had been given Algamar’s blessing, she began courting the rich and powerful of the kingdom to gather support for her crusade. Many priestsin the Congregation of the Serpent urged caution and spoke of an ancient compact of peace between the kin, but Teramalda had them thrown in prison and killed as heretics and traitors. When the king allowed this to go unpunished, the Rust Church grew in numbers.

In 800 AS, Teramalda led three thousand men north across the mountains. They carried with them enormous effigies of the god Rust and his wife Heme.

The villages of the Ailanders on the plains of Harga soon felt the religious fervor of the new arrivals. In the name of the gods Rust and Heme, any Raven Sisters that were found were burned at the stake or run through with rusty iron blades and wooden spears, their blood spilled across the effigies of the gods. The people of the villages were forced to take oaths to honor the new gods and had to pay an annual tribute, or see their villages burn. Anyone who hesitated was killed. The Rust Church took up permanent residence on the northwestern edge of the plains and founded the city of Alderstone.

Teramalda spent a few years fortifying the plains of Harga and brought additional forces and goods over the mountains before she was ready to expand her territory. The Rust Church grew in strength and conquered or built strongholds in ever widening circles. Teramalda named the woods south of Wailer’s Hold the Groveland Woods, so named after the sacred groves dedicated to the worship of Heme, and built army camps and cult sites all the way to Clay’s Eye.

820-821 AS : When the Alderlanders learned of the rich iron mines of the dwarves at Lumra with its blood red streams, Teramalda demanded they be given the land in the name of the gods. She marched on Lumra at the head of her Iron Guard, wearing a suit of ceremonial armor of iron from a plundered dwarven caravan.

After a few skirmishes, the dwarves were victorious, and a violent celebration began. Teramalda had been taken prisoner, but her armor could not be opened. The hot-headed dwarven lord Garmar Four-Beard, drunk on power and alcohol, had the priestess thrown on a bed of hot coals during the victory banquet at Lumra, to bake her like a shellfish. He swore to eat her heart himself after it had been tenderized into submission. Perhaps the god Rust chose to heed Teramalda’s prayers for martyrdom, because the armor with her scorched body suddenly tore free from its shackles, rose from the fiery coals, and killed Garmar and his bodyguards. Since that day, this creature, a rusty suit of armor, roams through Ravenland hunting for enemies to slay. When the wind is right, you may be able to smell Teramalda’s seared flesh, and then it’s time to run. Some say the god Rust himself has manifested inside the armor.

''The smell of burning meat reaches your noses, and at the same time you hear heavy footsteps. Something is making its way through the greenery. The creature is making a terrible racket, squeaking and clattering. The very ground is shaking. As it emerges from the greenery in front of you, stands a massive knight, completely covered by ancient, rusty black armor. The breastplate has a sign hammered into it. The creature carries a sword, brown hued with dried blood.''

The walking armor is the strange undead creature Teramalda, who wanders through the Forbidden Lands looking for revenge ever since the dwarves burned her alive in her armor 350 years ago. The Rust Brothers regard her as the champion of their god Rust, as the breastplate carries the sign of their god, and she primarily kills dwarves. Teramalda is kept alive by a magical iron spike that has been driven through the Ferrale’s chest inside the armor. She is practically invulnerable and will not answer if spoken to.

Legend about Feroxa's Claws :

''Teramalda was sent by the gods Rust and Heme to shot the Raven god who had just stolen their child, Feroxa. Raven was gravely injured by Teramalda and let the child fall from a cliff. Teramalda sacrificed herself to break the fall of the child and was mortally wounded in the process. She didn't succeed in saving the child who shattered into shards that spread across the world as pieces of hematite. Only Feroxa's head remained intact which came to rest next Teramalda, breathing her spirit into her. Ever since that day, Teramalda roams the world in search of vengeance on the Raven god and his followers.''