Tarnum

“	Burn everything! I want nothing but scorched earth behind us - no home, wagon, or field goes untouched!	„
	~ Tarnum to his captains.

“	Messenger: I bring you an offer, King Tarnum! Tarnum: Oh, now it's King Tarnum. I remember when I used to be addressed as a criminal. Messenger: Uh, well, uh, that was an error on our part. We admit our mistakes, and propose a peace between our two great nations. Please, let us end this senseless killing? Tarnum: This killing makes perfect sense to me. Your kind have tormented my people for generations. You almost succeeded in wiping my kind from all memory. Well, the wind blows in a different direction now, and this wind is a storm that will not end until every Wizard and Wizard-lover is dead and buried!	„
	~ Tarnum refusing to make peace with the Wizards.

Tarnum is the main protagonist from Heroes Chronicles and a minor protagonist in the Heroes of Might and Magic IV campaign Glory of Days Past. He was a legendary Barbarian warlord and tyrant who became an immortal hero.

Personality

When he began his rebellion against the Wizard-Kings of Bracaduun, Tarnum fought for a future of liberty and an end to the suffering that his people endured under the cruel oppression of the Wizards. At the same time, he was stubborn and conceited to some degree. As the war progressed, the increasing losses and acts of injustice inflicted upon Tarnum and the Barbarians drove him to take extreme measures. Tarnum conquered the Mudlands to combine forces with the Mudlanders against the Wizards, only to enslave the creatures and leave them for dead when escaping from the Wizards. Gradually, his crusade developed into a bloody quest for revenge rather than justice as he originally wanted. Tarnum refused to punish troops such as Bloodclub for unnecessary violence, as he felt his army could not risk losing more soldiers, but also put his own soldiers to death via duels if they disagreed with his tactics.

In the later stages of the rebellion, Tarnum crossed the line and significantly changed for the worse in his personality, becoming far more selfish, arrogant, cruel, wrathful, aggressive and tyrannical than before. He came to view anyone who did not join him as his enemy, which consequently led him to massacre large groups of innocent peasants and have his armies burn down the villages and kill its inhabitants simply because of their affiliation with the Wizards. When his captains, horrified by the brutality and bloodshed, decided they would no longer support him and travel home, Tarnum pretended to be acquiescent. In secret, he forced a wizard prisoner to create a poison, which he then used to kill his captains at the next feast - including Hardac, his friend and most loyal advisor. Although Tarnum regretted killing his captains, he also believed it was for the greater good. Tarnum furthermore possessed charisma as he convinced his troops that the Wizards had murdered the captains and was able to win the favor and loyalty of his entire army, before leading them in toppling the Empire of Bracaduun. By the time he had conquered Bracaduun, Tarnum essentially became the very thing he had been fighting against in the beginning.

After the Ancestors denied him entry to Paradise and sent him back among the mortals to atone for his crimes, Tarnum initially thought his punishment was completely unfair. Over time however, he learned more and massively reformed in the end, although he never threw away a part of his barbaric nature. He gradually realized and learned from his mistakes, especially after suffering from torturous nightmares of his crimes during his journey in the Underworld and observing the cruelty of his enemies. He was increasingly tormented by great repentance and as the years passed, his personality began to change for the better. When he was the Barbarian King, Tarnum had a great sense of justice and extreme hatred of slavery, which only intensified during the path of his redemption. Tarnum also grew out of his bias against wizards and magic when he became a wizard himself and helped the Wizards of Bracada defeat the Elemental Lords.

Tarnum briefly brought out his darker qualities again when leading the malevolent creatures of Nighon to stop his former friend Gelu from finding the Sword of Frost. He began exhibiting the characteristics that he once had as the Barbarian Tyrant, in acts such as killing his own troops and injuring messengers from foreign armies. Nevertheless, he retained his virtuous traits as he refused to allow the captured Ufretin to be tortured and was frightened at the prospect that he would enjoy being a Nighon Overlord. As a matter of fact, the only reason Tarnum allied with the Nighons was because they were the only force willing to battle Gelu and he acted ruthlessly around them because showing mercy was a sign of weakness in their eyes and could lead to mutiny. He apologized to the Ancestors for his actions as an Overlord, for which he was forgiven, and continued his role as the Immortal Hero in Axeoth after the Reckoning.

Before the Reckoning and in Axeoth, Tarnum was given the opportunity to enter Paradise. However, he rejected it partly as revenge on the Ancestors for the punishment, but at the same time, he never again wanted to see his people as only bloodthirsty, destructive, evil animals, but indeed capable of changing just like him. After Waerjak united the Barbarian clans into a single community and country, Tarnum finally found his own peace because he was proud of how close his relationship with the Gryphonheart family had become and what excellent representatives he had met, and that his people had survived and were on the right path. After that, he became a happy, proud, peaceful and relieved person, finally enjoying his own freedom after thousands of years of punishment and being able to defeat himself and his dark side once and for all.

Powers and abilities

• Strategy: Tarnum was an excellent and talented strategist. He was able to make a victory out of completely impossible situations on countless occasions, very often surprised his enemies and thoroughly prepared for most of his battles.
• Strength: Tarnum was amazingly strong. In addition to his tall and broad stature, he had enormous physical strength. He was able to lift others easily, even two people with one arm, but when he was in prison he was also able to tear the chain from the wall. His enemies and friends alike marveled and acknowledged how great his physical strength was and how strong he was.

External Links

• Tarnum on the Heroes Wiki