Lore

The Fume Knight’s true name is Raime, known as a rebel or traitor to King Vendrick. Raime was an agile swordsman. He and Velstadt, the Royal Aegis were known as the left and right arms of King Vendrick. That was until their wills clashed. Raime and Velstadt fought and Raime was defeated, then deemed a traitor. After his defeat at the hands of Velstadt, Raime came to Brume Tower in search of greater strength. He found it there, but it came not from a regal father figure like King Vendrick, but from a newfound mother, like Nashandra, a child of Dark who haunted Brume Tower and gave Raime true purpose as her champion. Raime had the ability to expunge or remove Nadalia from Brume Tower, but instead he chose to live in the company of Nadalia, Bride of Ash likely because he had become infatuated with her. Raime was imbued with the power of Dark, a part of Nadalia’s soul became housed in his body and she haunted his weapons. Because of this, Raime’s soul fell to darkness. He resides at the bottom of Brume Tower, guarding the room that contains Nadalia’s original body, and the Crown of the Iron King.

Raime’s role prior to leaving for Brume Tower was likely the commander of the King’s military. His sword and armor is remarkably similar to that of the King’s royal soldiers, a group of which seem to have followed Raime into Brume Tower, as their corpses can be found at the base of a destroyed Ashen Idol. As well as this, we know that Raime’s favorite bird was a raven, despite it being despised as an augur of death. If you look closely at Captain Drummond’s helmet you can see that it closely resembles the face of a raven or dark bird. It is therefore likely that Drummond served under Raime in the defense of the Great Fort. Raime’s shield is found within the salamander pit in the Fort. The only way to gain access to this pit is with an Iron Key found in the Iron Keep, the description of which implies that the forces of Drangleic looted the Iron Keep in their construction of the Great Fort (which would have been hurriedly put together or repaired). This may be the reason Raime chose to go to Brume Tower, because he had heard about it or been there before. The only other place Flame Salamanders can be found is within the Memory of the Old Iron King, which indicates that these salamanders may have originated in the Iron Keep. If we are to reconstruct the story, it may be that Raime was defending the Fort against the Giants and lost his shield during a battle, (despite wearing his Baneful Bird Ring), which fell into the pit of the Flame Salamanders. Perhaps he did not retrieve it after this battle because he was hit with a realisation that he took to King Vendrick immediately or was recalled, and Captain Drummond was commanded to take charge of the Fort.