The Iron Lords

[Sennex 1,903]

 

We're all familiar with the Iron Banner competition and the role it's playing but there's been surprisingly little talk from Saladin about the named Iron Lords mentioned in all of the gear or about it's early history outside that Saladin helped form it.

 

You're all familiar with the names of the Iron Lords from the first year's Iron Banner: Silimar, Timur, Skorri, Gheleon, Perun, Felwinter, Efrideet, Jolder, and Radegast.

 

But this time around there's a new set of Iron Lords: Haakon, Finnala, Nirwen, Colovance, Ashraven, Deidris, Weyloran, Betromart, Tormod.

 

The immediate question is: Why is there a new set of Iron Lords? Did something happen to the first? The answer to that last one is seemingly a yes. Cut now to a set of four Artifacts that you might have zoomed over in TTK: Efrideet's Eye, Radegast's Blade, Skorri's Dirge, and Shegoth's Head.

 

The flavor text for Efrideet's Eye isn't anything special: Every time she pulled the trigger, an enemy of the City died. This might be a bit more foreboding given the text on the next few entries.

 

But Radegast's Blade carries some bad news: So long as this sword was whole, the Iron Banner could not be broken. This was a quest reward for Titan's early on, the Titans will note that the Artifact is a broken tip from a sword. The implication of course is that the Iron Banner was or possibly is broken. Or it's an ill omen to a future event.

 

Skorri's Dirge doesn't help the matter: They say she's apart from the Iron Banner, yet she sings songs of her lost companions. More implications here. Skorri left the Iron Banner. All or most of her fellow Iron Lords are dead.

 

Shegoth's Head compounds on this: "Thought we formed the Banner to fight the Darkness, not ourselves. Just don't bode well, s'all I'm sayin'." —Gheleon. Player's will note that it's a Titan helmet. Just who was this Shegoth? What relation did he have to the Iron Banner and the Iron Lords?

 

So just what exactly happened to the original Iron Lords? The clues are leading to a hypothesis that they were killed or killed each other. If they didn't kill each other, who killed them? If they did kill each other, why did they kill themselves? Were they corrupted by the Darkness through this competition? Were they slaughtered while they were weakened? Is that why there's another set of Iron Lords? To replace the lost nine?

 

I know that it's not much and this is based on plenty of speculation and implications but frankly, the Iron Banner is getting a lot more interesting from a lore perspective.

 

Edit: As /u/Walt_Thizzney [1] pointed out, the names of the weapons (Felwinter's Lie, Silimar's Wrath, Skorri's Revenge, Radegast's Fury, and Gheleon's Demise) also imply that a divide and a split between one or more of the Iron Lords, revenge, and eventual full scale conflict.

 

Edit-edit: The new set of weapon's can also spell out a potential story as well: An Iron Lord in peril, perhaps at the hand of one or more of their own, another split, a hunt, capture, and a death spared?

 

 

The new class items' flavor text has interesting text.

Hunter: In our darkest hour, nine Iron Wolves emerged from the ruins.

Warlock: Under a red dawn, the Iron Wolves gathered beneath the Ironwood.

Titan: And beneath its branches, the Iron Wolves forged an unbreakable oath.

 

Also, http://www.ishtar-collective.net/categories/lords-of-iron?highlight=radegast

 

 

[Sennex 1,903]

Just landed Segoths Head, a Warlock Relic. (Its a titan helmet)

 

The Text on it is 

 

Thought we formed the Banner to fight the Darkness, not ourselves. Just don't bode well, s'all I'm sayin. - Gheleon