‘ Legend says, the blood of a god provides new life. And I need them alive! Alive, under my spell, with all their POWER! ‘
~ Hokan Ashir to Ereon
Hokan Ashir is a major antagonist in the SpellForce series. While aiding the Rune Warriors in Order of Dawn and in Breath of Winter, he is the main antagonist of the Shadow of the Phoenix expansion. He was one of the thirteen Circle mages and the most powerful necromancer the world has ever known.
Biography
Early Years
Though his origins aren't well known, Hokan Ashir spent his early life in the city of his birth, Kaith Halur, on Xu. As a young mage, he would eventually join the magical order of Zerbites under the apprenticeship of one of their leaders Anktahr. The Zerbites were responsible for protecting the border of Xu and researching the dangers of the Black Jungle.
Dark Ascension
During an expedition into the black jungle, the Zerbites found the Bone Temple of Zarach. What exactly occurred inside is unknown except to Hokan, who emerged from the temple wearing the Mask of Belial, a powerful artefact belonging to the demi-god of death Belial. When Hokan came back he was not the same man who entered the temple, neither mentally nor magically. He betrayed his former allies and almost single-handedly wiped out the entire order of the Zerbites. Hokan aimed to steal their secrets and succeeded to a degree, but before he could steal them all, the Zerbites filled their fortresses with traps and puzzles which this act caused them to be trapped within their own fortress and starve to death, but this was something they preferred over handing their secrets to him. He fought and defeated Anktahr in a duel but soon realized the duel was nothing more than a delaying tactic for the other zerbites to arm the traps of their fortress. Hokan tried infiltrating their fortresses but was unsuccessful and eventually gave up. The furious magician unleashed his anger on his former mentor and made him a Rune Warrior. In the following years, he kept psychologically tormenting Anktahr until he was turned from a wise man into an insane and devious undead.
Not long after, he left Xu and joined The Circle on their invitation, as the Circle had taken note of Hokan's increasing power and wished to keep an eye on him.
The Circle
During his time as one of the Circle mages, Hokan became the most powerful necromancer to have ever lived. His relationship with the other circle mages is mostly unknown but it is known that he had a fierce rivalry with Uram the Red. He was also known to take on apprentices, such as the mage Ismail, though we cannot say when he started with this practice.
The piper
According to Rohen Tahir, Hokan had big ambitions ever since joining the Circle. One of his greatest goals was to find a way to create the perfect weapon by combining souls with metal - an invention he would later call the Blades. Around the year 400 B.C., some members of the Circle, including Hokan, came into small-scale conflicts with a mage who would eventually join them as their 13th and final member, The Piper. During such conflicts, Hokan started experimenting on the Undead whose souls had hardened to their core, turning them into Soulstones. It would be during this time that he created his prototype for the Blades he would eventually unleash onto his enemies during the Convocation Wars
Ennoblement
To gain prestige among the nobles of Nortander he married an unknown noblewoman and sired a daughter whom he named Yasha. This act made him lord of the area around the the Gate of Kings. Needless to say, he neither cared about his wife nor his daughter and simply deemed them a "necessary evil". Instead of taking care of Yasha himself, he gave her the rune of the Rume Warrior who would eventually be known as The Guardian. She was to protect Yasha after the battle of Kaith Halur and serve her every need while Hokan tended to what he perceived as more important matters
Convocation
During the Convocation war, he sent his endless waves of undead creatures against the demonic army of Uram the Red, a conflict that reached its peak during the battle of Kaith Halur. Uram's red horde had set the city ablaze and looked sure to be victorious, until Hokan's blades, led by The Guardian, Managed to push them back as the city fell into ruin. It is unknown exactly how Hokan perished during the convocation but sometime before his death he allowed his daughter to be taken to a safe place and bound one of his rune warriors to Yasha as protection, although this act was not done out of kindness but out of frustration for his wife's constant pleadings. His body was later recovered and given a proper burial in Whisper together with the Mask of Belial.
Beyond the Grave
Eight years after the Convocation, Hokan's spirit, enraged by the theft of his most prized possession, came back to the City of Whisper and ordered his undead servants to search for the Mask of Belial, once again bringing misfortune to the lands. They failed to obtain both parts, but a rune warrior, later known as the Phoenix Bearer, eventually collected them and gave the mask to Hokan in exchange for information on how to destroy the blades and the Dark One - a fellow former Circle mage who had visited Hokan's grave in the years prior and stolen the secret of his most powerful creation. Hokan revealed that Soul Forger's destruction would disable the other blades and that the Rune Warrior would require an artefact known as the Phoenix Stone, which was likely still stored in the archives of Mulandir, to stand a chance against the Dark One.
Masked One
Hokan gained a new body for himself by wearing the Mask of Belial, took on the identity of a shady merchant called "The Masked One" and hired a man called Lucius as his assistant. He also indirectly aided the rune warrior, who would be known as The Shadow Warrior, in resolving the Aryn Crisis by providing him with other rune warriors. While Hokan was alive, he was still weakened and regenerating from his death. He disliked being next to places with divine power and statues of idols, which might be a result of his unnatural revival.
Apotheon
Five years after The Aryn Crisis, he used a potion called Life Essence, obtained by having access to the divine blood of the god Ereon whom he captured, to revive his dead comrades of the circle and bound them to his will.
By gathering the circle once more he hoped to access god-like powers by merging with the demi-god Belial. This fusion was interrupted by the two rune warriors, the Phoenix Bearer and the Shadow Warrior, and the circle was defeated once and for all by releasing the Phoenix.
Legacy
TBA
Trivia
- As a Zerbite, Hokan once had a dream where he saw an ancient demonic race known as the Nameless invade Eo only to be defeated by the Shaikan. He shared this dream with his master who claimed that what Hokan saw was a vision of a possible future. Though this was mainly inserted in order to rectify the story issues of SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny and Demons of the Past