General Harsk

The infamous one-legged horse General Harsk led the 1st Shadow Horde during the Second Bog War and was one of the Hole King’s most powerful and trusted thralls within the Darkwood.

General Harsk walks upright like a human, as most horses in the Darkwood do. However, his title “Harsk One-Leg” is no misnomer; Even though he could have simply lowered himself down onto three legs and walked somewhat unimpeded, The General insisted on balancing himself on his single hind leg, freeing up the use of his two front hooves for sword-fighting and pistol duels. Harsk gave up his leg as part of a trade with the Hole King, who promised him great power in exchange for part of himself.

Harsk rose to great power during the Second Bog but was soon killed during the infamous “Lemming Brother Massacre” by Jean-Luc Lemming, who wielded the Shimmering Blade against the wicked horse. The two engaged in combat for hours; matched in skill, they could not defeat one another through sword-fighting alone. Jean-Luc was eventually compelled by the artifact he held to strike the air where the General’s leg would have been, and in doing so, to his surprise, struck what felt like solid flesh; the Shimmering Blade cuts flesh and spirit alike, and not realizing this, the General had failed to guard what he thought was no longer there. The resulting wound felled the mighty beast.

The General was defeated, but his wound was not a mortal one. Rather, the spiritual gash allowed the virulent wickedness of the King in the Hole to depart in a whorl of black ash. The General surveyed the destruction around him and reflected on the terrible atrocities he had committed, all in the pursuit of senseless power, and wept.

Both Harsk and Jean-Luc wept and wept, crying an ocean of bitter tears together. Their tears surged together in a salty flood and formed a new body of water. It was a peaceful and serene lake born of a poisoned and scarred field of war, far removed from the troubles of life and death, and from war and peace. At the bottom the two warriors still weep together, feeding countless waterfalls and rivers and bringing life to the land they helped to destroy under the fog of war.