Hesskin

Dragonborn Leader

History

Hesskin was the son of the king of Or’Rash, who ruled the Dragonborn and died while Hesskin was still a child. The other Dragonborn were then honor-bound to follow Hesskin’s orders, no matter how unwise or distasteful they might be. One of these early commands involved the slaughter of Drakonis’s family for harboring the sickly Dragonborn, who was then exiled.
Drakonis returned to Or’Rash several years later with his traveling companions, as they sought the help of the Dragonborn army in attacking the Overwatch. The group found Hesskin sitting on a throne and surrounded by female Dragonborn. The king’s attention immediately went to Drakonis (who was disguised as a different Dragonborn) and was disgusted by him, especially after Malchus proclaimed that Drakonis was his servant.
Hesskin did not seem very open to the idea of joining the amassing army against the Overwatch, as Or’Rash was distant and should be safe enough. He did, however, suggest a two on two combat. If Malchus and another party member (the king suggested that Malchus should let the poor servant Dragonborn have some chance of honor) should defeat Hesskin and his second in command, then the Dragonborn would add their forces to the group’s cause.

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The group seemed to be in the process of accepting this deal when Ironhide proposed a one on one combat instead - Hesskin versus Drakonis. This appealed to Hesskin, though not so much to Drakonis, who revealed his true identity once the two were in combat. Hesskin was furious that Drakonis had returned to Or’Rash, but relished the idea of getting to kill him himself. The king was clearly skilled in the use of the blade, but when Drakonis began to use magic the fight was fairly even, despite that this was considered cheating and cowardly in Dragonborn society.
Drakonis came very close to killing Hesskin but was ultimately was defeated. However, before Hesskin could complete the killing blow he was struck dead by Yenward, who had blindsided the king with a fling of the legendary war axe Stormrender. This caused issues with the remaining Dragonborn in Or’Rash as this act was illegal and dishonorable, but further negotiations managed to calm the situation down. Hesskin’s body was burned by a revived Drakonis as revenge for his family’s deaths.

Description

Hesskin is an unusually dark shade of red for a Dragonborn, and his movements are very sinuous and snakelike in a manner unlike the rest of his kind. He is cruel and arrogant, tolerating no weakness as most Dragonborn do but taking it a step further. Hesskin is used to getting what he wants, and when something (or someone) gets in his way he becomes filled with rage and determined to eradicate the perceived nuisance.

First Appearance:
Arc 1, Episode 53