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For years upon years, the second War of the Gods, has raged across this world, creating a time known as "The Shadow Years". I have been witness to it all, first as a mortal, and then as an immortal, serving my Lord and friend, Mouseglove, as he has done battle to bar the encroaching evil whose name is Zhalith Written here, documented for posterity and the future of the world I call home, is an account of the war, in its various stages throughout the past two centuries, and the toll is has taken on all who have traversed this realm. The war began when Zhalith, an Immortal Dracolich and God of Undeath and Corruption, found an archaic tome, somehow brought through time and space from the world of Old, before the rebirth of the world after the destruction of the mysterious being known as "Vall", of whom no record speak. In this tome, the Dracolich discovered the secret origins of the source of all magical power in the realms, large mana engines known simply as the Globes of Aurealis. He was able, we believe, to discover the nature of their power and their link to the world. From this knowledge, he was able to fashion a ritual by which he could leech the power of the globes completely and absorb it to increase his godly power and further his own dark ambitions. Nine Globes dotted the realms, and each globe was an aligned source of magic. To put it simply, the power had a "bent" to it, fueling white, gray and black magicks. For each type, there was one major globe which was supported by two minor globes. Each globe, being the very essence of magic, was invisible to immortal eyes, and only mortal eyes could discover their whereabouts. Thus, it was through his tribe, known as the Jheherrin, that the Dracolich discovered the location of the Globes. His first target was the Globe in possession of the Matra of Kiltrin, a being whose soul was as dark as that of the Dracolich's. This was the Major Globe of Evil, and his first target, as its power would "line" his being with raw evil energy, making his immortal body more readily accept the contradicting powers of the other globes. Matra was overcome quite easily, even for such a being of mortal power, and through his custom ritual, the Dracolich was able to absorb the Globe's energy, destroying it and removing its power from the realms. Next, after years of searching, the Jheherrin reported that another Globe had been found, one of the two Minor Globes of Good, located in the Iron Hills of the Dwarven people. The battle was long and bloody as the Dwarven people, with the help of the Heroes of the Realms, fought to get to the site of the Globe in the hopes of disrupting the Dracolich's ritual, but they were too late, and the creatures of evil thrown in their path were too formidable. The Globe was devoured as the Heroes entered the chamber, its energy arcing across his body as he turned to gloat over the Heroes failure before returning to his home plane to rest, learn the depths of his new power, and begin searching for the next target. Then, after a decade and a half, another Globe was found, and the Dracolich descended upon it like locusts to a full summer crop. This was a Globe of energy purposed towards the balance, or neutrality, and was located in a garden in the northern city of Old Sparta. Again, the Jheherrin brought their undead lord to the site, and the Heroes of the realms assembled to stop him, but his power had grown to such a point that he was able to warp time and distance, and created what I have heard called a "pocket dimension" that bridged the entrance to the gardens and the gardens themselves, and filled it with nightmarish creatures from his home plane. The heroes were mighty, and they defeated the creatures with ease, but the Dracolich once again completed his ritual before they reached him and he disappeared after devouring another Globe. At this time, the effect on the magical "weave", as I've heard my Lord term it, was negligible. There was a minimal loss of integrity throughout the realms, but it wasn't noticed by any but those highly attuned to the nature of the power, my Lord and Cyng, the God of Magic. The major change noticed by all, however, was the Dracolich's increasing visibility and arrogance, as if he suddenly felt he no longer needed to hide his motives or his intent from anyone, not even the Lord Mouseglove. Through the next several decades, more Globes fell to the Dracolich's power. The Minor Globe of Evil in Kylngoth, then the other Minor Globe of Goodness in Alanholt, then the Major Globe of Neutrality in The Shadow Keep. Suddenly, the Dracolich proclaimed his dominion over the world, and, shockingly, Lord Mouseglove revealed that the Dracolich's power had grown to rival his own, and that he could no longer be certain of a victory should he be forced to contend with the Dracolich one-on-one. Also, at this time, and most distressing of all the events to transpire, my Lord's health began to decline. So tied into the balance of the world is Lord Mouseglove, that the imbalance and loss of energy in the world began to deteriorate his physical being. He became physically weakened, and his power began to wane, but his mind remained strong. He came to me and bid me join him in the realm of the Immortals, that I might be his apprentice, his assistant, and to watch over the clan that one of his followers had begun to fight the evil that had grown in the realms. I agreed, and rose to join him in the Immortal world, and to join him in his fight to find a way to stop the mad plans of the Dracolich. It was revealed shortly thereafter that the Dracolich had gone mad with the power of the Globes. The energy was not fully compatible with his immortal body, and it began to erode his mind. He blamed the Lord Mouseglove for his imprisonment in the core of the world, an imprisonment that only ended when the evil djinn Hyde tricked Cauchemar, the Nightmare Lord, into switching places with him. He had become the new worldcore, the source of power for all natural life in the realms, when he threw himself into the blast of the old world's Overlord. It was this sacrifice which re-created the world initially, but he somehow had come to blame Mouseglove for not releasing him from the worldcore, and vowed to destroy Mouseglove, even if it meant destroying the entire world to do so. The Dracolich then was alerted by his tribe to the location of the last globe of Evil, buried in the extra-planar hell, discovered by the original Earthlord, Athos, known as the Hall of the Damned. Each being there was a twisted representation of life, and the Dracolich needed no assistance in convincing them to attack the Heroes that arrived to try to stop him from completing his ritual. They succeed in finding the pieces to the magical staff that would have allowed them to disrupt the ritual, but arrived too late again. The Dracolich was gone, and the globe had been destroyed. This left only a Minor Globe of Neutrality, and the Major Globe of Goodness left. The Major Globe was the Dracolich's next target, but he was met by the Lord Mouseglove, myself, and Kayleigh, the Earthmother, and sworn enemy of the Dracolich. With the destruction of the Major Globe of Goodness, the world would have begun to physically deteriorate, and no one could stop the Dracolich in his mad scheme. As only she could have, Kayleigh sacrificed herself to the earth she loved so much, and re-stabilized the natural law by releasing her very spirit into the world to supplant the life-sustaining energy the loss of the Major Globe had caused. The Dracolich was angered by the Earthmother's sacrifice, and vowed that his tribe would, from that day forward, divide their time between finding the final Globe and waging war on the Sylvanus Ki, the mortal representation of the Earthmother's philosophy. This power, however, had yet another unexpected effect on the Dracolich, and, like a mortal dragon too long and well fed, it caused him to fall into a deep and lengthy slumber. He disappeared from the Realms for decades, and allowed the forces of Good to further investigate a means to stop him. One such means was found by the Lord Mouseglove, but it was such that only he could undertake it, and to do so meant certain death, even for so power and ancient an Immortal. Buried in the ancient tomes in the Shadow Keep, a tale of an artifact of old, a miniature Globe of Aurealis, was found. The artifact had been deemed too powerful to be allowed to exist intact, and so had been broken up into 10 crystal shards. The Heroes of the realms, at my bequest, sought out these shards and were able to re-assemble the miniature Globe, which was consumed by Mouseglove. It lent him a bit more energy, initially, but immediately began to dissolve his corporeal body from the inside out. It did, however, grant him the one insight the Dracolich lacked: The ability to detect the Globes of Aurealis, provided he was within a few leagues of it. Thus began his search, with my assistance, for the remaining Globe, a Minor Globe of Neutrality. Recently, the Dracolich has re-awakened, and has begun again his attempts to locate the final Globe. He has sworn time and time again that he will destroy my Lord Mouseglove, and that he will rule this world once he has done so. This cannot be allowed to happen, and it is my hope that Lord Mouseglove will find a solution, and locate the final Globe before the Dracolich. These are perilous times, and it is important that all who live in them understand the nature of that peril. So, it as for that reason that I have put pen to paper, although I am certain that a more experienced Immortal would have an easier way to record their thoughts, and have written this account of the last several centuries, that those who read it might understand the history of the second War of the Gods, and know exactly how much rests on the shoulders of the goodly folk of the realms, and the Immortals, all of whom must band together to stop the Dracolich in his mad play for world domination and the destruction of this world's rightful Overlord. - Benadanti De'Lucci, God of Creativity, and Apprentice to Mouseglove. |