Fredric Kelstone

Fredric Kelstone – The Red Warden

  Race: Human   Origin: Whitestone, Abritus Empire   Former Titles: Captain of Justice, High Warden of the Deep Cells   Current Title: "The Red Warden", Executioner-Saint of the Chains of Flesh (God Hands)    

Justice Without Mercy

  Fredric Kelstone was once hailed as a paragon of law in Whitestone. He rose swiftly from city guard to Warden of the Deep Cells, known for his ruthlessly efficient method of extracting confessions—whether they were true or not.   He believed in order, not truth. In obedience, not fairness.   “Fear is more effective than faith. They will kneel faster to iron than to gods.”   His presence in the dungeons was marked by:   Branded prisoners who never forgot his gaze   Daily executions carried out without flinching   Personal interrogation chambers where no screams escaped   He oversaw the incarceration of Reyn Thorne, Cipher Vane, Lila Hearthstone, Rheana Thorne, and August—and nearly had them executed before political pressure intervened.   Kelstone’s hatred for “the self-righteous” and “heroic liars” ran deep. He once called The Unchained a “mob of dangerous criminals dressed in myth.”  

The Fall into the God Hands

  During the year 590, the prison beneath Whitestone was breached. Kelstone was wounded and believed killed by Zelistra's Demons but he was captured by agents of the God Hands, specifically the sect known as The Chains of Flesh.   They didn’t kill him. They showed him faith—the kind built on pain, purification, and transcendence through suffering.   Over weeks of ritual branding, exposure, and hallucinatory sermons, Fredric broke—and reformed.   When he emerged, he no longer wore armor. He wore robes of scorched crimson. His back was a lattice of sacred scars. His voice carried divine intimidation.  

The Red Warden Rises

  Now known as The Red Warden, Kelstone became one of the cult’s primary interrogators, recruiters, and executioners. Unlike the fanatics who burn in mobs, Fredric remained calculated.   He established the Chapel of Shackled Flesh in the ruins of an old Fenraith monastery—there, he branded captured enemies with marks that burned away their memories, turning them into willing zealots.   Fredric has:   Led raids with Urmbrik's Berserkers   Executed Ashveil spies in Abritus by burning their tongues with godsteel   Branded former knights with runes that erase their oaths and rewrite their loyalties   He views Cipher Vane and Reyn Thorne as threats to divine order.   “They walk in fire as if it will spare them. They will learn. The god’s touch is not a blessing. It is a chain.”  

Relationship with Domino and the Ashveil

  Domino once operated openly in Whitestone. Fredric tolerated her… until he uncovered one of her assassination ledgers. Rather than arrest her, he broke her enforcers and returned them as spies.   She still bears lash scars from an encounter where Fredric tried to force her into confession beneath the palace. She escaped.   To this day, she hates him more than anyone alive.  

Current Status

  Fredric Kelstone is now believed to reside in a moving sanctum-carriage—an obsidian wheeled fortress drawn by ash-blooded horses, guarded by:   Flesh-branded zealots   Former Silverbrand executioners   Divine constructs called Painwrights   He is gathering names—heroes, rebels, and "firebrands"—for public executions tied to an upcoming God Hands crusade. One name is etched deeply: Reyn Thorne. Another: Genethia Roth.  

Fredric’s Quote:

  “You think I was cruel in chains? Wait until you see what I became in freedom.”