Ulric Stromfin
A Seattle organised-crime boss and former EFL handler who staged John's forced fall years ago, used him as a door guard since, and was running a colonial cell out of Maelport using a portal rig and dimensional beacon keyed to himself. He humiliated John not out of personal animus but to keep the rest of his crew terrified. He dies in his own saferoom in Maelport, shot through the chest and then the head by Ealstan in the moment after he shoots John. STD:FWH:Ch 36
A man the stranger recognises with violent certainty the moment he sees his face — beard or no beard — at Ealstan's hearth, posing as one of the hooded messengers; a man, the stranger knows without being able to explain how, who absolutely wants him dead. STD:FWH:Ch 6 superseded at STD:FWH:Ch 36
Known facts
- wants-the-stranger-deadOn first sight of him in profile by Ealstan's fire, the stranger knows without hesitation that this is a man who absolutely, no question, wants him dead — and that the amount he knows about Ulric is itself evidence about who he himself used to be.STD:FWH:Ch 6
- heads-fabian-seattle-branchCurrently runs the Seattle branch of the Fabian Augments cartel — a fact the stranger knows on sight, along with the cartel's methods, in enough detail to draw uncomfortable conclusions about who he himself must be.STD:FWH:Ch 7
- visiting-the-wellbury-reeve-and-dropping-wyrmYazad reports that strangers met with the reeve at Wellbury overnight and rode out early — leaving one of their number behind. John reads this as Ulric and Quinn dumping Wyrm on Wealdsig and continuing on to the earl's seat at Maelport to seize real power, with their interdimensional portal likely at the centre of that base.STD:FWH:Ch 17
- expecting-visitors-from-another-world-in-three-daysPressed by John mid-pitch, Wealdsig lets slip what Ulric Lordslayer told him before riding on: Ulric had to get to Maelport because he was expecting *visitors from another world* in three days.STD:FWH:Ch 20
- wyrd-as-lotteryUlric's interest in this dimension is the wyrd itself. He brought blank lottery sheets in and used the local pull on probability to fix winning numbers in his home Earth — a clean, untraceable cash stream he can scale into stocks, elections, and rival operations, with no need to physically remove anything from the dimension.STD:FWH:Ch 27
- uses-fusion-reactorUlric's tech depot inside Maelport is powered by a portable fusion reactor — hydrogen in, gold out — which keeps the building's security field self-sufficient and means the alarms cannot be brought down by cutting an outside power source.STD:FWH:Ch 29
- trapped-ryan-with-his-own-beaconUlric has no second beacon of his own. After Ryan sabotaged the original, Ulric's only way out of this dimension was Ryan's emergency beacon — so he let Ryan come back to finish the sabotage, then grabbed him in the saferoom and took the device.STD:FWH:Ch 33
- never-saved-platings-passwordThe passcode Ulric used to lock John's chest and skull platings was a random string of keys he never bothered to remember, and which was never saved anywhere. He found it funny to picture John trying combinations for years; he never intended for the platings to be unlockable again. Quinn tells John this mid-fight in the saferoom.STD:FWH:Ch 36
- broke-john-as-power-displayThe point of forcing John to take the fall in the EFL title bout — and crippling his platings beforehand without telling him — was not punishment of John specifically. It was a power display for the rest of Ulric's crew: a reminder of what he could do to anyone who got too successful. John only realises this in the saferoom when Ulric dismisses Quinn with the same phrase he used to dismiss him.STD:FWH:Ch 36
- killed-by-ealstan-in-maelportUlric dies in the saferoom in Maelport, shot twice by Ealstan — the second round, fired from a rifle pried off one of the dead riflemen in the courtyard, vaporises his head past what any nanite system can mend. He has just shot John in the chest, having confirmed the platings were never actually unlocked.STD:FWH:Ch 36
Events
- STD:FWH:Ch 6 First seen in profile beside Ealstan's fire, still cloaked and posing as one of the hooded messengers.
- STD:FWH:Ch 7 Drops his hood, executes the door guard with an unsuppressed Torrington 11940, and demands a bearn-gisel from the thegn before riding for the earl.
- STD:FWH:Ch 33 Inside the saferoom with a tied-up Ryan, holding the captured beacon aloft — triggers it to bring Marta and two armored riflemen through from the home dimension.
- STD:FWH:Ch 34 Hears Quinn's alarm about the Vikings, tells Marta to finish the portal in closer to five than ten minutes, pockets the beacon and leaves with Quinn and the two riflemen to handle the invasion.
- STD:FWH:Ch 36 Walks into the saferoom mid-fight, restarts the portal with a manual override and the beacon, dismisses Quinn as a disappointment, and shoots John in the chest before Ealstan kills him from the doorway.
Backreferences
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 6
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 7
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 8
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 9
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 11
- factFabian Augments cartel
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 16
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 17
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 18
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 20
- factUlric Stromfin
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 21
- factJohn West
- factJohn West
- factJohn West
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 22
- factJohn West
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 23
- factJohn West
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 26
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 27
- factUlric Stromfin
- factRyan Chu
- factRyan Chu
- factRyan Chu
- factThe Merry Men
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 28
- factlandswights
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 29
- factUlric Stromfin
- factJohn West
- factRyan Chu
- factUlric's Saferoom
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 30
- factJohn West
- factRyan Chu
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 31
- factJanice Vault
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 32
- factJohn West
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 33
- factJen
- factUlric Stromfin
- factMarta
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 34
- factJen
- factRyan Chu
- factRembrandt
- factRembrandt
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 35
- factLogna
- factLogna
- factJohn West
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 36
- factUlric Stromfin
- factUlric Stromfin
- factUlric Stromfin
- factQuinn Jericho
- factMarshal
- summarySTD:FWH:Ch 37
- factEalstan
- factWeswara
- factGodric