Latest revision as of 22:57, 8 June 2010

The Day A Deathlord Died

Synopsis

The King Beneath the Mountain rules the shadowland Ikitar, in the North. This dormant volcano once a held thriving city in the dim times of the First Age, before the Primordials were overthrown. Ikitar was built by Dragon Kings and later, when men appeared, they joined the Dragon Kings as inhabitants. When the Celestials raised their rebellion against the Primordials, a few humans and Dragon Kings sided with the Primordials. The city of Ikitar held many of these loyalists. During the War, Ikitar was the site of a great battle and here a Primordial fell in battle, creating a vast shadowland and destroying the city to the last. For millennia, Ikitar was silent and empty, a few ancient ghosts of both men and Dragon Kings clinging to the shadow of their city and the memory of their dead god.

When the Deathlords were born, the Malfean who fell at Ikitar purchased the name and the service of the one who would come to be called The King Beneath the Mountain. The King was installed in the caves beneath the volcano and a great Manse was built, the Seat of Frozen Flame.

The King Beneath the Mountain soon learned to fear and hate his new master. He had accepted the Malfean’s deal to escape the Jade Prison but he had not expected to be a master of death; he wanted to return to Creation, alive. Scattered memories of his previous life in the sunlit lands tortured and called to him. Embittered, he began to search the twin realities of Creation and the Underworld for a means of escape from death. His search eventually brought him farther afield, to the living brothers of his masters, the Yozis.

The Yozis, for reasons only they can know, decided to aid The King Beneath the Mountain. They promised in exchange for his service, they would resurrect him into new life and he would be their greatest servant in Creation. He agreed and so became a secret traitor among the Deathlords.

For centuries, he maintained the appearance of a loyal servant of Oblivion. He built his kingdom around the shadowland Ikitar. Sometimes he would war with his closest Deathlord neighbors, The Bishop of Chalcedony Thurible and The Lover Clad In the Raiment of Tears. He was one of the six Deathlords who marched against The First and Forsaken Lion when the Lion conquered Stygia. He helped construct the animated creature that destroyed the Jade Prison and captured the Solar Essences. All the while, he plotted and schemed for his true masters and readied himself to quit the Underworld and return to Creation.

That moment has at last arrived. For a thousand years of loyalty and countless unnamable rites performed in their names, the Yozis are readying to fulfill their end of their bargain with The King Beneath the Mountain. In the fifth Calibration since the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress, the halls of the Seat of Frozen Flame echo with unholy chants and the footsteps of demons. A great rite which will free The King from his bondage and transfer his allegiance to the Yozis is in progress. But all is not well, for The King’s Malfean master is at last awakening to his servant’s betrayal. In the depths of Ikitar, ancient ghosts stir at the behest of the dead god, enraged at The King’s temerity. Across the vast icy plains of the North, the Bishop and the Lover see the chaos in the stars of the Underworld and know their comrade and rival plans some vast scheme and they turn their eyes towards him.

And what of the Deathknights sworn to The King Beneath the Mountain? They yet know nothing of their master’s intent, only that something is very amiss, for the omens are clear: today, a Deathlord will die.