//nothing to see here move along

//please

//don't scroll down

//so embarassing

It was a bleak period in time. Marind bell had not even existed back 

then. There was only the ancient forests of loreroot to the north, and 

to the south there was the land of necrovian. The two factions were

deep into heavy conflict over the land of golemus golemicarum and the

insurmountable resources locked within the mountain. The conflict

reshaped the landscape. Rolling hills were scorched and leveled. Once

proud and modest towns were  obliterated by dark magic that is

considered unspeakable today. The great wizard Marvolo himself even

carved a great canal into the earth, separating the immense mountain

from the continent. The world was in absolute chaos. This is where I

came into existence. 

The necrovians were very resourceful at that time. They needed to be

in order to compete with the ancient magic the loreroots had. It was

during this time that necrovian archivists had discovered a method for

achieving great power. A way to splice shades and creatures in to one

entity. A chimera. Such a being would have immense power capable of

decimating all who opposed it. The archivists experimented endlessly

trying to perfect the method. They tortured thousands of souls, shades

and creatures alike. It became a sport to hunt shades and creatures as

such acts were well compensated by necrovian. It was sheer madness,

the horrors those archivists must have witnessed. The ghastly screams

still haunt that place. 
 
      
 

After many years of experimentation they had finally done it. 

They had created a perfect chimera. It was of an aramor and a low level shade.

It became as powerful as an ansien. They were astonished and so was

marvolo. He personally went on a hunt for a creature he could use to

create the ultimate weapon.
    
     
 
      
 

Marvolo decided to seek such a creature in the heart of loreroot. He

knows it is a great risk but the power he could receive from the

creatures of old was nearly infinite.        He staked out the

entrance and under the cover of darkness killed both of the tree

guardians with a single blow. He then slipped through a few villages

and towns and made his way to one of the oldest forests in the realm.

After a few hours of searching he felt something odd. A great presence

that he had not felt before. He was drawn to it. Needed it. It's power

was unquestionably the greatest he had ever witnessed. He ran to meet

it and as he entered a clearing he saw it. A White Drachorn. It's

scales shimmering in the morning mist, beating it's wings above so

effortlessly, it seemed as if it were only breathing, as if the wind

itself were it's servant. He had only heard of such creatures in

children’s tales but he had never imagined such a thing actually

existed. He breathed in as if to take in the enormity of it. The scale

at which he was experiencing. Then he realized that he had no clue how

he would go about capturing it. He decided to just observe it's habits

for now.
    
    
    
    
    
 

After a week or so of following the creature he believed he had a

plan, but he had seen LR guardians searching for an intruder. He knew

he would have to capture the creature quickly and without destroying

half the forest. He discovered that the creature hunts in the forest

and actually lives a few miles east of the forest. Like most

creatures, this drachorn was inactive at night and the guards were

always sloppy if they got too tired. So he decided to move in under

the cover of darkness, one of his greatest weapons...
    
    
    
    
    
 

The drachorn lived on a large rocky hill 

He used magic to carve handholds into the rocks as he climbed.

He reached the top and saw that the drachorn was not there. This was

perfect, he could execute his plan immediately.
    
    
    
    
    
 

Marvolo designed a very clever trap in the drachorn’s nest. It worked

exactly like a venus flytrap. He took nightshade, which has an

irresistible scent when ground, and sprinkled it into the nest, to be

certain it wouldn't leave before he could catch it. Then he drew a

giant summoning circle around the nest and waited. After a few

hours the white drachorn came back and was enthralled by the

unfamiliar scent. Marvolo then jumped out of hiding and activated the

summoning circle. There was a blinding flash and then the world turned

a deep red. He had summoned a dimensional gate underneath the nest.

The drachorn tried to escape but it was futile, the creature lost it's

will and was sucked into the gate. The gate then slammed closed and

compressed into a small glowing sphere. Marvolo picked it up and

marveled at it. But then a cry in the distance shattered his calm.

Someone had discovered him. He had to flee. No one was to know of his

doings here. The consequences would be disastrous. He moved with

blinding speed, and jumped off of the sheer rock face. He glided down

aided by an unknown force and sprinted away. Magically enchanting his

appearance to look like a loreroot guardian, he sprinted through miles

of enemy territory, startling quite a few citizens on the way. When he

got to the gate he said that he was going to scout a section of the

perimeter, there have been some reports that marvolo himself broke

into loreroot. The guards promptly let him pass.
    
    
    
    
    
 

He had done it. Marvolo had single handedly infiltrated loreroot and

taken a creature of power on a grand scale. The archivists held a

great feast in celebration. Plenty of mead and laughs all around, all

to distract from the great challenge ahead. Collecting a shade to

match such a creature...
    
    
    
    
    
 

It was nightfall the next day when the archivists finally acknowledged

the issue at hand. Shades of the caliber they needed could only be

found in one place. The Abyss. 
 
      
 

The abyss was the most treacherous terrain in the entire realm. For

there was no light that could penetrate the pain and death which

surrounded it. It was an evil place, it harbored no mercy, no decency,

no hope. There was only blackness.
    
    
    
    
    
  
 
      
 
 
      
 
 
      
 

There were many brave mages in the land. Some were legends and had

faced great peril in their lives. But there were merely four who could

allow themselves to venture into the abyss.
    
    
    
    
    
 
 
      
 
 
      
 
 
      
 

They were told to travel into the heart of the abyss and capture the

most powerful shade they could find. They were given specialized sonar

equipment to allow them to see where there is no light and a talisman

that could detect the presence of shades. They would be let down on

enchanted ropes. They were told that if they needed to be evacuated

they could send some of their vital energy through the ropes and it

would alert wizards who were standing by to summon them back. They

were ready. They had taken every conceivable precaution. It was time

to send them to hell...
    
    
    
    
    
 

As they were lowered down, the air became caustic and black. The men

could barely breathe in this place. Their equipment could only make

out vague outlines of the jagged rock face. But with these obstacles,

they soldiered on, for they were strong and would not be deterred by

any evil. Their feet touched ground and they were relieved. They

started examining the floor and realized it was entirely made of human

bone. Thousands of skeletons fused into a solid mass. It was gut

wrenching. And then, the talisman started shaking and felt warm.

"SHADES!" one of them yelled. They all spun, searching for the shade.

But they couldn't see anything. Then they realized that they were

completely surrounded by shades. A huge mass of them, circling the

mages like a vulture waiting for it's prey to die. The fight began.

One of the mages called forth a massive bone dragon from the floor of

bone beneath them. The dragon devoured the shades with great ease as

the others summoned fire and flood to vanquish the rest. And though

there were many hundreds of shades they were all soon slain. But none

of them had any real power. The mages continued deeper into the abyss.

There were a few more shade encounters but each were as pitiful as the

last, and then they came to a great cave. All of them froze as they

peered inside. It had a creature like shape, as if something had just

walked through the rock face, with no resistance. Then, the talisman

started shaking violently, and they heard a scream that pierced all of

the darkness. The talisman shattered. And from the cave, a demonic

figure came forth with blinding speed. Cackling as it floated above

them. It's mere presence was suffocating, it seemed to consume all

happiness and hope. The mages were convinced they were going to die.

The shade held no concept of mercy. He held one of them down and

slowly carved them with his arm that resembled a blade. He devoured

the mage's organs and tossed the carcass aside. The other mages were

powerless to stop the madness. They couldn't even get close before

collapsing under the sheer weight of the shade's power. The shade

killed another mage, knawing on his bone to sharpen his unholy fangs.

The third mage tried to run, blindly sprinting into walls, his

vitality had been drained away by this creature. He could not escape.

He finally tripped and his limbs were slowly torn from his torso, and

his heart was ripped out of his chest. The last mage felt the shades

power over him weaken as it pursued his comrade. He was able to force

his limbs to move and reached for his sheath. The shade was

approaching fast.  It was upon him. And as the shade raised his arm,

in one last effort, the mage stabbed him in the chest. A crystal in

the hilt shined a great light, and then the shade was gone. The mage

was too terrified to remain there any longer, so he used all of his

remaining strength to alert the wizards on the surface and was

magically teleported back. He woke up in the hospital. Still thinking

he was in the abyss he started thrashing in his bed and was promptly

sedated. A few hours later he awoke, much more calmly than before, and

asked one of the nurses for his sword. They told him that all that was

left of his sword was the crystal imbedded in the cross guard. He had

remembered that marvolo had added that to his blade for good luck. He

would be forever indebted to him.
    
    
    
    
    
 

He went to see marvolo and apologize for not capturing the shade the

next day, and after learning of how the mage managed to survive

marvolo immediately snatched the crystal from his hand. He examined it

and sure enough he found a wisp of shadow contained within the crystal.

They had their shade…
    
    
    
    
    
 

There was a storm, a storm to be remembered for all time. A storm of pain 

and misery. A storm of death. Thrown to the storm were the drachorn and 

the shade. The torment grew, until the earth could not bear it anymore. 

And then there was nothing. No more pain or suffering, he had taken it all, 

he who was born of chaos and order. He who was born of balance. 

The shadowy figure stood, his body still forming. Wings and claws summoned

 from the shadows surrounding him. Building him. Giving him life. He marveled 

at his form, watching his fingers leave short trails of darkness as they moved.  

Hovered for a moment testing his wings. Then he felt a sharp pain. One of the 

researchers had shocked him with an electric rod. He instinctively moved away 

from the shock but more came. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by these shocks. 

He tossed one of the rods aside, and it was matched with a torrent of rods. 

The pain was suffocating. All he wanted was calm. But calm would not come. 

He became filled with rage. With every passing moment his anger grew. And then

 he was hit with a great blast of energy from behind. That had done it. His claws 

blindly slashed through flesh and bone, blue flames pouring from his snout on to 

his enemies, slowly reducing them to nothing but ash. There was a deafening roar

 and then all was silent. He had killed them all, the blood dripping off of his claws. 

And he became euphoric. It was thrilling to kill, magical even. His innocence was 

now erased. He was a demon. A killer. And so it would remain…   
    
 

He fled that place, never to return. But before he glided off, he scratched a message 

for all of necrovian on a slab of stone. The message was signed, Ærø.