The name Tharyn'Bregun was not the one he was born with. His original name was lost to history after the assimilation of Ngorrhal into the Geban Empire—a sacrifice he made willingly, believing that names meant nothing to the identity of a people. Only actions and survival through moving forward.

Bregun rose to prominence during the Ngorrhali civil war that divided the mountain passes. It was he who worked directly with the empire, specifically with Vaer'gidon, to push back the Northeastern Pass Frost Sentinels and remove them from the continent completely. The campaign brought peace to Ngorrhal for the first time in generations. Where others saw foreign conquerors, Bregun saw an opportunity to end a war his people could not win alone.

His contributions extended far beyond military alliance. Bregun provided the empire with accurate maps and viable transportation routes through Ngorrhal and along the borders of Ukhaalstaag and Kela—knowledge that had been closely guarded by the mountain peoples for centuries. Communication between Bregun and the imperials proved difficult at first; he struggled greatly with the Geban tongue. But Gidon had held a personal interest in the Frost Sentinels long before imperial involvement in their civil war, and had already dedicated scholars to translating their language. This groundwork allowed the alliance to function where it otherwise might have fractured over misunderstanding.

When imperial engineers arrived with relay technology centuries ahead of anything Ngorrhal possessed, it was Bregun who explained to his people what the relays were and what benefits they would bring. His word carried weight. He was a proven leader, deeply respected, and massive even by Frost Sentinel standards.

Because of Bregun's advocacy, Ngorrhal would eventually host multiple of the largest and highest relays on the planet. The continent became the home of experimental relay technology, a distinction that endures into modern eras. What could have been rejected as imperial imposition became instead a source of Ngorrhali pride and technological advancement.

Not all accepted his decisions. Several Frost Sentinels challenged him for allowing their identities as a people to be changed—for surrendering their names, their independence, their way of life to foreign rule. In Frost Sentinel culture, challenges could be issued anywhere at any moment—on ice, on a path, in a field. Bregun met every one. Sometimes it was single combat. Sometimes three stood against him at once. He never lost. Those he defeated always became his strongest supporters once they lived long enough to see the truth of his words: that identity lived in action and survival, not in the sounds one made when speaking one's name.

Emperor Vaer'karesh personally invited Bregun to the capital for a singular purpose. The emperor asked him to convince his son Gidon—with whom Bregun had become close friends—to take the throne. Bregun refused. He knew Gidon, and he knew it would never work. Vaer'karesh was hurt by this truth, but not upset. The emperor had asked because he trusted Bregun's judgment, and that judgment had been honest.

During that same visit, Vaer'karesh disclosed that he was having a Sentinel district built in what would soon become the capital. He wanted Ngorrhali officials to live there, to have permanent representation at the heart of empire. When he asked who should be sent, the emperor offered guidance that would shape Ngorrhali governance for millennia: "Send those who you trust with different tasks, but none who are all the same—those who represent your people and the future."

The emperor kept his word. He died soon after.

Less than a decade later, both Bregun and Gidon fell together in a frontier skirmish against Ukhaal Walkers during their bonding trials. Their shared death transformed what was already a solid relationship between imperials and Ngorrhali into something eternally unbreakable. Empress Vaer'yinda ordered a massive statue erected at the front of the Sentinel district—Bregun and Gidon shaking hands, impossible to miss for anyone entering or leaving. It stands there still.

To the Frost Sentinels, the name Tharyn carries the same weight as Vaer does to imperials.

Tharyn'Bregun, War Chief, Frost Sentinels, Geban Empire, Vaer'gidon, Early Dominion, Ngorrhal, Ukhaalstaag, Kela, Bonding Trials, Relay Systems, Assimilation, Vaer'karesh, Vaer'yinda, Vesselborn, Vesselborn Codex, science fantasy, worldbuilding