Kin: Simi

A personal account by Warden Torsten Blackwood, Northern Territories Written for distribution to settlements, trade routes, and isolated farmsteads Summer’s First Moon

WARDEN’S WARNING: THE SENTINEL SHADOW

I am writing this by candlelight in a Drakkensund tavern, my hands still unsteady from recent events. Twenty years I have served the Registry, cataloguing threats to our communities, and never have I encountered anything quite like Simi, son of Ulfgar the Fourth. The clans call him the Sentinel Shadow. I call him a tragedy waiting to devour anyone foolish enough to cross his path.

If you see him, run. If you cannot run, pray his mother is nearby, for she alone seems capable of restraining him. Though I warn you now, she may be the more dangerous of the two.

What You Must Know

Simi stands over six feet tall, broad as an oak, with pale blue skin that marks him as Lightweaver-born. His hair is copper-red, worn long and wild, and his eyes carry a hunger that makes seasoned warriors uncomfortable. He moves like a predator, silent despite his size, and he is almost always armed. Bow, sword, hunting knives. He knows how to use them all.

But here is what makes him truly dangerous: he inherited his father’s berserker strength without his mother’s Lightweaver magic. Imagine possessing the power to crush bone with your bare hands, to track prey across three days of rain, to fight with the fury of the old gods, yet lacking the one thing your blood promised you. That absence has poisoned him.

The clans whisper about his jealousy, particularly regarding his younger half-brother. This jealousy drives him like a sickness, festering beneath his rage. When berserker fury takes him, rational thought vanishes. What remains is pure violence.

The Patricide

He killed his father, deep in the Sentinel Forest. Ulfgar the Fourth, berserker legend, slain by his own son in single combat. When hunters found the body three days later, wolves had already begun their work, but the sword wound was unmistakable.

Witnesses place his mother at the scene. Some say she helped him. Others claim she simply watched. What we know for certain is that Ulfgar’s death freed her from captivity, releasing whatever binding had kept her trapped in human form for over two decades.

Simi fled immediately after, covered in his father’s blood. He has been moving south ever since, leaving a trail of unease in his wake.

Lisera: A Warning Within a Warning

I have seen his mother from a distance. Once is enough.

She is a Tiorian Lightweaver, though what that truly means, even our scholars cannot fully say. Some believe she came from another world entirely, from a place called Tioria that exists beyond our sky. Her wings span wider than a longship’s sail, each feather mapping constellations foreign to our night. Her skin bears the deep cerulean of midnight, marked with runes that shift like living water.

When she speaks, the sound is shaped by fangs and something older than human speech. When she moves, the air itself seems to bend.

She protects Simi, though whether out of love or duty, I cannot say. If you encounter him, she may not be far behind. Do not assume her presence means safety. A Lightweaver defending her son is perhaps the most dangerous thing in all of MirMarnia.

Recognition and Response

You will know Simi by his size, his copper hair, his pale blue skin unmarked by runes. The absence of those runes is crucial; it distinguishes him from his mother and half-brother. He typically travels alone. He may be blood-stained, dishevelled, moving with purpose but without clear destination.

If you sight him, move towards populated areas immediately. Warn your neighbours. Send word to the nearest Warden station, Chieftain, or Mistguard post. Tell them his last known location and direction of travel.

If confronted, keep your hands visible and your voice calm. Do not mention his lack of magic. Do not mention his mother. Do not mention his half-brother. Agree with whatever he says and seek the first opportunity to disengage. Your survival depends on not triggering the berserker rage that lives beneath his skin.

For armed patrols: you will need at least sixteen trained fighters to have any chance of restraint, and even then, only if he is calm. If berserker rage has taken him, fall back and send for reinforcements. The injuries berserker strength inflicts are rarely survivable.

Why I Write This

I was seventeen when I joined the Registry, full of idealism about protecting our communities from the dangers that stalk our forests and rivers. I have tracked Hollow Walkers, documented Shadow Feeders, studied the hunting patterns of creatures most people only hear about in fireside tales.

But Simi is different. He is not a beast following its nature. He is a man whose pain has made him lethal, whose strength has made him unstoppable, whose jealousy has made him desperate. And he is protected by something far more powerful than himself.

That combination keeps me awake at night.

The Registry has confirmed sightings moving south through the ravine systems, roughly fifty miles south of Drakkensund, trending east of the Emaris. He appears to be tracking someone, though we have not confirmed his target’s identity. What we do know is that he will not hesitate to remove obstacles, and he defines “obstacle” broadly.

Stay vigilant. Stay safe. And if you encounter the Sentinel Shadow, remember survival is not cowardice. It is wisdom.

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Warden Torsten Blackwood Northern Territories Division Witnessed and sealed by Scribe Marlid

[Reward: Three silver marks for information leading to safe containment. Inquire at any Warden station or River Sanctuary.]