Maynor 'Duke' Cromwell

Maynor was born on May 2nd, 1109 in Lorraine, France. His mother and father, Anastasia D'Harcourt and Wagner Cromwell, were French noble whom already had an eight-year-old son named Gabriel when he was conceived. Being born into nobility, Maynor was spoiled, given the best education, food, and treatment. There was nothing he could not have, and his personality quickly became spoiled because of this.

At the age of four, Maynor began to train along side house guards. Given a wooden sword on his fourth birthday, he would do everything from patrols to combat practice. Maynor found enjoyment on the battlefield, even in practice. He thrived showing great promise as a future knight. Impressed with his son’s talent, Wagner Cromwell made the decision to send Maynor to the knight’s academy. However, this was not to Maynor’s liking, he suddenly felt angry with his Father, thinking he could become the best without needing to attend such a place.

At the age of five, Maynor was picked up by a squad of nine knights from the Academy. Placed in their care, they were expected to take Maynor to the academy safely. However, this was not the case. After a month of traveling, the group was ambushed by a necromantic cult. Cultist after cultist swarmed the knights, quickly and efficiently cutting them down. After each knight met their end, the cultists took Maynor, knocking him out with a bludgeon.

The cultists turned out to be the Cult of the Bloodspeaker, a ferocious cult which practiced cannibalism, necromancy, and frequently engaged in raiding parties involving the slaughter of knights, nobles, and others whom they believed to be evil. Maynor, taken and believed to be one of the King’s sons, was held hostage, however, when they learned Maynor was not the King’s son, they instead decided to develop him into a weapon. The cultists would cut, experiment, abuse, and train Maynor. He learned how to kill with his bare hands, with swords, daggers, a mace, and anything else that was nearby.

Years of torturous training continued. Every day was the same schedule. At the crack of dawn, wake up, eat what was given. Head to the training room, get cut, beat, whipped, kicked, and anything else that would strengthen the body against attacks. Next, head to the war room to practice weapon skills. Next was stamina and endurance training, forcing Maynor to run until he would pass out or attempting to drown him to increase his lung capacity. Finally, Maynor would be given dinner before being locked away until the next morning. During this time, the cultists would also experiment on Maynor, using their necromantic studies to try and enhance the boy, killing off his flesh and attempting to reanimate it to a stronger form.

At the age of 16, Maynor finally snapped. He went berserk during a weapon skills session taking a mace and using it to bash the instructor’s skull in. Laughing maniacally as he took his revenge, Maynor went cultist to cultist quickly delivering a brutal punishment onto them, breaking their bones, crushing their skulls, and thriving in the bloodbath he created. Finally, a cultist donned in silk and gold appeared before Maynor. He was the leader of the Bloodspeakers, proud with what Maynor had become, he reached out a hand, inviting Maynor to stand by him. At first it seemed like Maynor was going to comply, but instead, Maynor pulled the cult leader down to his knees before leaning in and biting into the flesh of the man, attempting to devour him alive. Maynor was no longer sane.
Over the next several years, Maynor began to wander around the outer fields before coming to Paris which held the Lord and King of France, King Louis VI the Fat. The city guards, noticing the approaching stranger wearing nothing but a cultist robe, quickly tried to apprehend Maynor. As they placed a hand on his shoulder, Maynor quickly pulled out a dagger, shoving it into the skull of the first guard before snapping the neck of the other. He laughed hysterically as they fell to the ground.

Within moments, the alarm bells sounded. Guards from all over the kingdom swarmed to the gates where Maynor stood. He continued his fight, ripping the guards apart, stabbing them, and using their weapons to kill the next guard. No matter how many times he was cut, he kept moving, kept killing. Maynor had killed almost fourteen guards before finally falling to his knees then the ground, passing out from blood loss and being taken to the dungeon.

At the age of 22, Maynor had proven valuable to the King and Guards. Being kept chained, but released to the training yards, he had been promoted to the combat trainer, teaching King Louis VI’s troops to fight the way he had learned. He made them beat each other, stab each other, all to toughen up the soldiers. Every day, the King’s army become more powerful, containing elite soldiers of which Maynor trained. Impressed with Maynor’s dedication, the King decided to release Maynor and grant him the title of Duke and Executioner of France.

Maynor thrived in his new position. He got to brutally make examples of criminals, intruders, and anybody else who would dare defy the King. He was given permission to kill them in any way he saw fit. It became a spectacle in France. Getting to see the Executioner’s bizarre and crazy methods of killing. With his new-found job and title, Maynor became rich, gluttonous, and slothful. He would indulge in foods of several types, including his victims if he saw fit. He was mad, and the kingdom knew it, but nobody would dare question him or the King who gave him such a position. This went on until Maynor was 28. He was preparing for the daily execution, outfitted in his own attire and armed with any weapons he desired. However, when Maynor opened the door he was not just outside his home, but in a totally different world….