In a kingdom whose name is lost to history ruled Viktor and Alexandria Rustovich. Their kingdom was peaceful and strong. Then the horrors of the Abyss began to plague their land. Jonius had forsaken the proud kingdom because they did not know humility.
Alexandria, a druid queen, beseeched her patron for relief from the hordes of demons that destroyed their crops, murdered their children, and raped the women living in the kingdom.
Many Knights died in battle with the forces of the Abyss, and it seemed nothing would save the kingdom from becoming a Hell on Earth.
"Show us the way to our salvation," Viktor prayed to Jonius. But there was no answer. "I will give anything to stop the Madness that plagues my Land!"
"A test then," a female voice finally answered seductively. "I will save your Kingdom, but you must prove yourselves worthy of salvation. Tear down the shrines to Jonius and erect new ones in my name, Naydina."
After agonizing over the decision, Viktor and Alexandria finally relented, tearing down the Jonite shrines. However the attacks did not cease. "I have done as you asked, Naydina, yet the demons still foul our otherwise fair land."
"Have faith," Naydina responded, "I will send an emissary to your kingdom. He will rid you of that which plagues you. You will then owe him a favor. If it is not fulfilled, the demons will return one hundred fold."
A dark figure in black hooded robes trimmed in purple appeared in the kingdom shortly thereafter, driving the demons out everywhere he went. There was much celebration and feasting in the land. He approached Viktor to receive his payment.
"Whatever you wish, consider it yours," Viktor gratefully told the emissary.
"I want to spend one night with your wife, using her the way I would a common whore. I also ask for your continued fealty to Naydina," was the reply.
"Who do you think you are to ask such a thing of me?" Alexandria asked.
"I cannot allow this!" Viktor screamed, drawing his family blade. He screeched in pain as the sword glowed white hot, burning the flesh of his hand to the bone.
"Fools, you will do as I ask and more, for now I wish the Queen to bear me twin sons to bring the word of Naydina to this world," the figure replied, drawing back his hood. "I am Arioch, Duke of the Abyss, consort to Naydina.
Arioch spent his night with the Queen, pleasuring her in ways that both excited and disgusted her. In the morning he was gone. He was not to be seen again until the Queen bore twin sons nine months later.
"The first, " he said, "shall be named Vitus, and the second, Vittorio." He then took the Queen to the Abyss, where she is still used as a pleasure toy to anyone who wants to use her.
Vitus and Vittorio were raised as nobles, taught to read, write, wield a sword, and ride a horse. By night, their father visited them, telling them of their dark destiny, and teaching them the forbidden arts.
Finally came the day for the twins to leave their home. Arioch appeared to them, and told them of the Heathen land of Serminous Terith, a place ruled by a knight named Lonoth Silvershield and his bitch-queen Mariah.
"Lonoth is destined for greatness," Arioch told his sons, "but that bitch Mariah is even worse than worthless. She will seek to stop your work, crush your beliefs, and end your lives. Be warned, the word of Jonius is strong in Serminous Terith, your beliefs will not be tolerated there."
"Go, and together spread the teachings of Naydina."
And thus righteousness and fury were unleashed upon Serminous Terith.
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"Go, and together spread the teachings of Naydina." These words, spoken by my father, are the last I heard in my homeland. I don't even remember the name of my birthplace. Over the millennia, I have conquered and destroyed more kingdoms than I can remember, however, the first I remember vividly.
I awoke in a forest, in the gray light of a foggy, overcast morning. There was a chill that was not uncomfortable, and the air had a quality that was...relaxing.
Lying next to me, on the ground, was my father's sword, Hatebringer, given to me by my father before I left home. Home? The word holds no meaning for me. The lands I've visited and battles I've fought have started to blur together.
I stood up too quickly and retched as a wave of nausea slammed into me with the force of a war-hammer. I was disoriented and trying to maintain my balance when a voice startled me. I fell, narrowly missing the steaming puddle of vomit that was cooling in the crisp morning air.
"I always love that part," a sinister voice chimed in my head. I looked around and saw no one, then my eyes fell upon the sword. The dull black blade was etched with blood red runes that were glowing dully. The entire weapon shed a black unlight that seemed to drain the life of the air around it.
"Enough Hatebringer," I told the sword, "I will not have you laugh at my misfortunes."
"Sorry." The single word echoed in my mind. I could tell it was not a sincere apology, but when your sword is intelligent and insane, you tend to ignore these things.
"May I suggest then, Vitus, that you find something to eat?" the blade continued, testing its limits. "This is a forest, there should be something edible around here somewhere."
I realized that, in spite of my vomiting, I was actually very hungry. So I went to find some food, tucking my sword into its belt scabbard.
Not too far from where I'd awoken, I found some tracks, too blurred to tell how many or what, but I followed anyway.
As the tracks grew fresher, they became clearer. Careful examination revealed them to be hoof prints. Growing cautious, I wondered if I was tracking a herd of wild horses, or a group of horsemen.
I came to a thick part of the woods that opened on an isolated pond. And there, backs to me, three white horses dipped their heads to the clear water, drinking.
I burst into the clearing hoping to catch the nearest off guard and kill it before they ran. My charge was a mistake as I soon discovered that these weren't horses after all, but unicorns. The Male moved to defend the retreat of the other two animals.
"This should prove to be an interesting meal." Even as the words chimed in my mind, I was moving to slay the unicorn, black blade in hand. Fortunately my prey had little combat experience.
The unicorn lowered its head and charge for me with its horn. There was a brilliant flash as the power in the horn clashed with that of my sword, which was nearly knocked from my hand. With a tortured wail, the horn was severed from the unicorn's head, killing it.
As I stood over the corpse of my next meal, pain erupted in my right thigh. Turning with my blade cutting a black arc through the light now filtering in through the trees, I easily removed the head of the smallest unicorn. Its lifeless body slumped over while its horn, head attached, stuck through my leg.
The red haze of rage consumed me then. Turning around fully, I removed the horn from my leg with my free hand, while searching for the third beast.
Eyes wide with fear, the creature stood not twenty paces from me. A short, simple incantation caused its head to explode small pieces of its skull bouncing harmlessly off of me.
Exhaustion hit me then. I staggered over to the nearest carcass and sliced some meat off of it. Even raw, unicorn meat is delicious. The magical power contained in the meat gave me the strength to dress the carcasses, start a fire and begin cooking the meat. I heaped the bones onto a large anthill. The ants would clean the bones so i could use them later.
For several weeks I stayed in the area, living on unicorn meat and the few odd mushrooms and berries I could scrounge in the woods. The bones cleaned nicely and I began to construct a crude altar from them. Eventually the meat supply dwindled and I realized I would need to hunt some more food down, preferably another unicorn or three. I managed to track some small game and was cooking the meat when he arrived.
Apparently the fire or the smell of roasting meat attracted a human to my makeshift campsite. I allowed him to join me.
"Vitus Rustovich, I am new to this land and got lost."
Over dinner, the man told me that I was in the Kingdom of Serminous Terith, ruled by Lonoth Silvershield, and his Queen Mariah. I had wandered to within to miles of the royal palace while foraging for food. I was surprised he was the first person I'd seen.
After he went to sleep, I went to my altar and prayed, "Guide me Naydina. I your humble servant Vitus, seek your wisdom."
"You are in the land of Serminous Terith, a close-minded, unenlightened kingdom." The words pounded into my mind, yet were intensely seductive. "Your appearance and beliefs will not be readily accepted. You must infiltrate Serminous Terith society, and to do that, you must appear human. I will teach you the Cloak of the Damned. You will kill that human sleeping there and take his skin. Fill the pot with water and four drops of your blood. Boil the skin in this and consume it. You will then be able to assume the guise of a human at anytime. This spell will work with any humanoid race you encounter, but some skins are just hard to swallow."
The man screamed excessively when I took his skin. A minor incantation allowed him to live long enough to enjoy the entire process. When it was done, and my demonic features obscured from view, I started walking in the direction of the palace, my packs weighted down with unicorn jerky, my pockets with the man's coin.
When I finally reached the palace, the King, Lonoth, was addressing the populace. He inspired me with his words and bearing even as the words brought feelings of anger. His beliefs were all wrong. He was a follower of that damned Jonius.
His Queen sat on her throne like a huge, bloated toad. When she did speak, only stupidity escaped her lips. I got the impression, via murmuring in the crowd, that the populace due to love for their king tolerated her.
I learned, to my dismay that Serminous Terith was in the thrall of Jonius. A condition I would remedy at my earliest convenience.
That evening I found myself in a pub called Dren's Mad Den. I wanted a drink or three, maybe even a woman, but what I got was much more rewarding.
My heightened sense of hearing allowed me to pick out specific conversations among the bar patrons. Soon I discovered that Serminous Terith had a dark secret.
I overheard two seedy characters in a back corner of the pub mention a cult. "Martin, we need to attend tonight's mass. The DoomReaver is supposed to send us a sign."
"I know," the one I had to assume was Martin replied, "it's just that... well, damn, my faith in our movement has begun to waver."
?DoomReaver? I like that.? At this moment I chose to sever my ties with my mortal family, and took up the name DoomReaver as my own. I would shape this cult. I could direct their misguided, fumbling attempt at religion any way I chose.
I followed the two cultists through the back streets of the city. The twisted alleys were choked with the poor, the diseased, and the crippled. Unwashed heathens begged me for coin, and brazen harlots promised me heaven. I had only to turn my gaze in their direction to silence these weak willed dregs of Serminous Terith society however.
The pair led me to a seemingly abandoned house. Being careful so as not to be spotted, I followed them inside.
The house's interior was in worse shape than the exterior. Except for a trap door in the floor, the only things the room contained were dust and cobwebs. I opened the trap door and peered inside. I could hear the voices of my unknowing guides down there, so I followed.
I entered a room that was obviously being used as a makeshift temple. Thick aromatic smoke bellowed from incense burners on the altar. Here was also a young woman tied to the altar, though she did not move or protest. She appeared to have been drugged. I couldn't believe that this was how they thought to serve the darkness. Human sacrifices? I pray for originality.
The High Priest of this cult was a man known as Magnusson. I learned, listening from a darkened alcove.
"Oh great DoomReaver, hear our call. Show us that we are worthy of serving you." He was speaking in Dark Tongue, this land has hope after all. This was my chance. The High Priest was trying to contact a being that did not exist. So I created him. A short incantation and I appeared before the altar, dagger in hand. I had dropped my disguise so appeared before them in my full demonic glory.
"You have been worshipping the wrong being. I am the DoomReaver, but I am merely a servant of Naydina, the Dark Queen of the Abyss, and it is her name that I claim this sacrifice!" I yelled, putting the force of my will into the words. I then plunged the blade into the woman's heart, spraying her blood over the altar.
The cultists were impressed and awed. This was my first congregation, and it would spread the teachings of Naydina across the land.
Now was the time for me to make my presence known in Serminous Terith. Within six months, Naydina worship became relatively widespread. The Jonites actually had to work to keep their faith strong. My followers had spread into positions of political power in the city. It was at this time I decided to present myself to the court.
I began working for the current monarchy, going as far as squiring myself to one of their knights. Soon, the worship of Naydina became grudgingly tolerated within the Kingdom. For years I watched and waited for Naydina to show Lonoth the True Path.
I began taking part in the militia of Serminous Terith, which is why I was one of the first to learn of an attack by the wretched elves that populated the forests outside of the city. I was patrolling the city walls, when I was nearly struck by an elven arrow, the shaft sticking in the wall below me. I gazed out into the woods, and I could sense them, dozens of elven eyes watching the city, watching and waiting.
I sounded the alarm and virtually flew from my post, rushing to the throne room to warn the King of elven treachery. I was allowed audience, and, kneeling before Lonoth, told him of what I saw.
"Damn these elves," Lonoth said when I was through, "any ideas on how to deal with them?"
"Actually, Your Highness, I do, if you could spare but a squad of guards, we can deal with this minor scouting party, and then, make preparations for the war to come," Gathering a small band of guardsmen, I set out into the woods to hunt the little bastards down. As we left the city gates, a volley of arrows assaulted us. Fortunately, most of the guards were quick enough with their warboards to avoid falling to the elven onslaught.
We charged into the woods, setting fire to the trees the elves had hidden in. A few elves dropped to the ground, and were quickly hunted down and slaughtered. A few escaped, I must admit, but I wanted them to anyway, for war is good for Naydina, and all souls are welcome.
When the threat seemed to be over, I ordered the guards to return to the city, while I set about the task of skinning one of the attackers. The skin would come in handy when the elves decided to return.
That night, I began the ritual to disguise myself as an elf. Gathering a couple followers, I set into the woods once again, this time in shackles.
My followers dragged me through the woods in my elven guise. Before too long, an elven raiding party attacked and killed my men, thus "rescuing" me from the humans. A moment's concentration and I had all I needed.
"Than you friends, I am Illithian, and am indebted to you," I replied, plucking a name from the subconscious minds of me rescuers. It seemed that Illithian was a legendary elf who had fought in many campaigns against human settlements. Posing as an elf they had never met, the raiding party now thought me to be one of their heroes.
Throughout the remainder of the day, I stayed in the elven war camp, celebrating my presence with feasting, song and dance. I was treated as royalty by the elven army, and enjoyed every minute of fooling the pointy ears.
That evening, I volunteered for sentry duty, the easier to put my plan into motion. As I was waiting to make my move, the other sentry began talking to me. "Lord Illithian, how is it you became a prisoner of those two?" the elf asked, pointing to the mounds which marked the buried dead.
"To begin with," I began, "I am no Lord, just an elf like yourself."
"But the legends..."the elf protested.
"Exaggerations mostly," I cut him off, "The truth is, I have used more than my fair share of luck, and as stories get passed from one Elven kingdom to the next, deeds go from being good, to being impossible."
The elf turned his back to me, thinking he heard something in the woods. Seizing my chance, I drove two daggers deep into his back, slipping between his ribs and puncturing each lung. A gout of blood spewed forth from his mouth as he tried to scream. An instant later, as I pried the daggers from the fine elven rib cage, his spasms ceased.
I crept into each tent in the encampment, slitting the throats of sleeping elven warriors and archers mercilessly. Dawn found me covered in blood, next to a heap of over a hundred dead elves. Every elf in the encampment was dead, and I was in the process of urinating on their remains when the scouting party of another nearby encampment discovered me.
"This is what Serminous Terith feels about you...elves. Even the word elf leaves a disgusting taste in my mouth!" I yelled, dropping my disguise and running to an elf I had roasting on a spit. I sliced a piece off and popped it in my mouth as the elven scouts watched in horror. "Even the meat is worthless," I said as I fled into the forest, leaving the elven scouts to their nausea and horror.
The elves were discouraged by the display of barbarism, and the loss of so many warriors before the true fight even began, and called off their attack on the city. For the next two weeks, I led packs of ghouls and hellhounds into the woods, hunting down all the elves that lingered too close. As a result, the elves were the first of the "civilized" races to become extinct in Serminous Terith, I killed the last one with my bare hands years later.
Although I virtually defended the Kingdom single-handedly, my methods were not appreciated. And those damned bards didn't help things any. Within a month, it was said that I slew two thousand elves with my bare hands, and defiled their bodies both before and after death. ?Two thousand elves?? How I wish.
The stories got more and more out of hand, till the point where Queen Mariah decided to deal with the threat on her own. She, her squire, and several of her Royal Guardsmen went on hunts for my followers and me. Normally, I would end the lives of a couple of her guards to return the favor, but in the end, the always killed me. Fortunately, my demonic nature allows me to return to life then not slain by extraordinary means, but the whole arrangement was still very frustrating.
It was at this time that Lonoth, disgusted by his Queen's activities, and finally became open to Naydina's voice. One night, while the Queen was either out hunting me down, or giving her royal guards their "perks", Lonoth was visited by Zyla the Corrupter. No one but Naydina, Zyla, and Lonoth know what bargains were made that night, or whether they have been fulfilled by either party, but it changed Lonoth's life forever. He resigned the crown, which the Queen greedily took, banishing him from Serminous Terith.
Serminous Terith then became an elitist society. The hunts increased in frequency and size, and I had had enough. I formed a hunting party of my own, gathering my strongest warriors, and began hunting Jonites, the Queen's Squire in particular.
We found her praying to that bastard Jonius in a shrine late one evening. She was grabbed and dragged to my altar, where she was tied down. I then made a choice, taking her innocence in lieu of her life. Each of my men (and not a small amount of my women) took their turns defiling her as well. She was then dumped at the palace gates, naked and bleeding.
Finally, I could be ignored no longer. Through a mystic ritual, I learned that the Squire had been not only driven insane by the ordeal, but actually impregnated as well. The insult was complete. The Squire was sent away, and a sizeable bounty placed on my head. Many fools attempted to collect, and there was a new head on the throne every morning, sometimes two or three.
This had to stop. I had no time to further the teachings of Naydina, because I was constantly killing Bounty Hunters and royal guardsmen. I decided it was time to move on.
My followers packed up their belongings, and left the city, on a forced exodus, heading north. It was relatively uneventful the first month: Move, camp, hunt, move, camp hunt, etc. Then there was the sign, on the 33rd day of our self-imposed exile we found it, a simple wooden sign, lettered in the Dark Tongue. "Lost Keep 38 miles west". Needless to say, we headed west. About the middle of the second day we came upon a clearing. Hiding in the brush, we waited and watched.
Royal Guards? Here? I wondered why. As night began to fall, we rushed the gate that the guards were standing around. A few acolytes fell to arrows from the walls as we charged.
Cutting a bloody swathe through the melee, killing friend and foe alike, I threw open the door. The acolytes poured into the Keep. After a short but bloody battle, the keep was mine, and I learned that it was a prison for Naydina's chosen. The Queen's Squire was also kept here. We found her sitting in a cell, staring at the walls and mumbling to herself.
We emptied all the cells and I discovered my twin brother, Vittorio was among the captives. Outraged, I decapitated every corpse, and all the living guards, and put their heads into sacks.
My men had their way with the Squire once again, and soon she and the sacks of heads were teleported to Mariah's court. The Squire had the following lashed into her back, "Mariah, this Squire, and these heads, owe their condition to you."
I decided to make the Lost Keep my own, and gladly accepted the supplies that trickled in before the Queen could stop the shipments. She lost a good deal of food wine and weaponry that way, as well as several messengers and shippers.
Finally, Mariah had no choice but to give in, and bestowed upon me the titles of Knight and Baron. The prisoners had become my followers, including an assassin by the name of Spiritwalker, who became my concubine.
The time finally came, years later, when my father would tell me it was time to move on, to enlighten other realms. He had specific instructions on how to prepare for my departure. "Impregnate that assassin whore, and I will take her to the Abyss. She will be back in a month, having already given birth. In a year, your son will be ready to take your place, that you may move on,? Arioch told me. Considering that time in the Abyss moved more quickly than our realm, I understood his plan, and set to it.
Thus it was that Lonoth performed a wedding ceremony for Spiritwalker and I, in the royal palace, while the Queen sat on her throne like a pus filled boil ready to pop.
And so, Ehrich was born....

A year later, my son and I met for the first time, as men. He presented me with a ring that allowed me to contact Arioch at any time, and informed me that Spiritwalker would be pulled into the Abyss, to be used at the whim of Naydina, and her court.

Mere weeks before my departure from Serminous Terith, a Great War erupted in the Kingdom. My brother and I were sent with a horde of Undead and demonic soldiers to overtake a small elven keep. A lone warrior led the armies, single-handedly slaying the dragon assigned to our unit. Much to his later despair, he caught the eye of Naydina.
We descended upon the battle like ghouls on a corpse, ripping and tearing anything in our way. The lone warrior stood to face us in order to allow the elven nation to retreat.
"You're coming to the Abyss with us," as I uttered these words, I knew they were unnecessary. The exhausted elf collapsed to the ground, to be taken to the Abyss, and our dark queen. I know not what happened to him, only that I don't envy him his fate...
Once I had cleansed the elves from the land, Naydina approached me in a dream. Her violet, nude body was wrapped in her jet-black hair. "Your time is done here DoomReaver, you must travel to other realms, where my powers are weaker. You have passed my test..."

Shortly thereafter, I began to travel the realms, finding fortunes and imposing Naydina's will in other lands. I have single-handedly caused the destruction of countless cultures, and erected many shrines in Her honor. Everywhere my feet tread Death and Despair followed.

Soon, I lost interest in following the teachings of Naydina, she was far too chaotic, and unstructured for my tastes, and I arrived in the realm of Clandestine, joined the Temple of Myr'Khul for a short time, and rose to the ranks of Bishop in His service. Again, chaos drew me away from Him as well, and after much soul searching found Asmodeus, and a faith in which I could finally serve without dealing with the chaos and disruption inherant in most of the dark religions I had encountered. Finally I had found my home...