#{ ooc: and there! i'll shorten these a bit for the verses page but now Forwin is fully prepared for Three Hopes threads in all 3 routes-! }

[galeforged]

From Azure Lands I’ll Sing Your Dirge Forwin in Three Hopes (Azure Gleam)

With the Adrestian Empire seizing Garreg Mach Monastery, their victory over the Church of Seiros also saw to the addition of new commanders to its army. While some saw the return of lost nobles Constance von Nuvelle and Wyndell von Gerth—in addition to a monstrous talent in Hapi joining the ranks—as cause enough to celebrate, one individual did not feel this same joy.

That individual was Wyndell himself, who had long assumed the name of Forwin Tyrell so that he may better separate himself from his past. To be thrust back into the life he sought to escape while war begins to raze Fódlan in earnest is not a position he ever wanted to be in. However, the son of Duke Gerth would find himself forced to live up to the expectations that come with his name all the same. He longed for simpler days, to return to how things were with the Ashen Wolves or perhaps seek out the troupe that took him in when he first ran away, but he knew to yearn for these now would be folly.

More than anything else, Wyndell longed to be free in making his own choices for once, instead of going along with his father’s or the Empire’s wishes while Fódlan burns. Though relieved to see that the man had worked to change in the seven years since they last spoke, it brought him no small amount of discomfort to stand by his father once more. With the threat of war aimed at the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus for their harbouring Archbishop Rhea and her kin, it was not long before Wyndell was instructed to help maintain the bordering territory that once belonged to the traitorous Lord Arundel.

That would also be the last time he would find himself under the banner of the Adrestian Empire he once knew.

Azure Gleam, Chapter 6: Conspiracy in the Air

Between himself, Bernadetta of House Varley, Jeritza of House Hrym, and Jeralt’s Mercenaries holding the line from a ruined Arundel village, Wyndell was confident that their army could successfully fend off the Kingdom’s forces.

They weren’t ready for the combined might and cunning of Faerghus. More and more did the imperial army find itself put into a corner, even with the likes of the Blade Breaker, the Ashen Demon, and the Death Knight taking point. Wyndell recognized a losing battle when he saw one, and felt more and more unwilling to fight and put his life on the line - he didn’t want to die on this battlefield, especially not like this.

Should someone among the Kingdom army notice his reluctance, they would find the young lord all the more amenable to the idea of surrendering. It is here where he would eagerly don the mantle of Forwin the Bard once more, if only to have the rank and file feel more comfortable in his presence, given they were enemies until recently. Plus, with a few familiar faces brought into the soldiery already, fighting for Faerghus and the Church that previously granted him sanctuary might prove to not be so bitter a pill to swallow.

From there, Forwin would join in the liberation of Fhirdiad and the rescue of King Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Dedue Molinaro, and Rodrigue Achille Fraldarius. He would see to the end of Cornelia’s rebellion, suppressing the traitorous mage and the many lords she manipulated from further disrupting order within the Kingdom. He would take up arms to defend the fortress city of Arianrhod from imperial forces, conflicted though he may feel then. From each of these encounters, he would find himself more and more inspired to compose new songs that would tell of Dimitri’s exploits... but come the events at Arianrhod, Forwin will only be able to watch in horror as the Adrestian Empire starts to crumble from within.

Now the bard and defecting lord will fight not to overthrow his homeland, but to save Adrestia’s soul from the opportunistic monsters who seized power from Emperor Edelgard, just as they did before from her father with the Insurrection of the Seven. Little did Forwin know that things would only continue to get worse for the Empire come the new year...