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Ferios
2017-02-18, 12:15 AM
Origin of Emperor Zauvat

Here is the revised version, let me know if it's any better guys! Thanks for the feedback

As the lord of destruction and power, Zauvat lives his life hell bent on shaping the world to his image. Zauvat has nearly boundless resources to do so as well. His arsenal of power is not just limited to he standard powers that any normal wizard may hold. Powers beyond those of any mortal.

Zauvat is well versed in Scrolls of power. In this campaign, there are additional wondrous items. These items are the Effentian Scrolls, Scrolls of pure power and creation. Each has its own effect on the world around. The Effentian Scrolls are simply existing, no one knows from whence they came. Each has its own symbol correlating to its effect.

The effect of the Scrolls is up to the DM. They can be as simple as the word return. This Scroll could be cast on an archer's quiver, allowing for each unbroken arrow to magically return to his quiver. Or as complex as a spell that changes the weather, the color or properties of an object. The combinations are only limited by the imagination of the DM.

Zauvat cares little for anything besides something that would improve upon his own power, unless it might be amusing to him. His motivation is to increase his power, and to punish the world. He blames all others for the death of his precious and beloved daughter. To this end, he seeks vengeance on everything. When it comes to bargaining, he will never take any deal unless it benefits him or will entertain him. If his daughter's name is ever mentioned, he becomes more irrational and angry than normal.

He desires control and power. His plan is to combine many different Scrolls in such a way that he can shape the world to the way that he desires. This can be determined by the DM. He will use his evil faction Al Tharmen, to dominate the world in any way that he can.

Side note before his backstory - location names and player names are optional. Specific locations are unimportant, but Zauvat needs to come across some ancient source of information to find the effentian Scrolls.

Zauvat began his life as a human sage named Mirandus Zedrenel. Mirandus was a very talented wizard, and had spent all of his life perfecting his craft. He had two children. A son named Tendel, and a his daughter Ethri. Their mother Isrill died when giving birth to Ethri. When she died Tendel was only six and Mirandus was left with the burden of raising the children by himself. The family lived well until the time that Ethri became 15.

Three days after she turned 15, a strange man came to their doorstep. That morning, Mirandus had left for the city to acquire some supplies and food. The hooded hermit came to their door asking for help, and then collapsed shortly after. The two siblings took him into their small home and began to take care of him. Unbeknownst to them however, this person had no normal ailment.

Just the night before coming upon their home, the hermit had found himself in the center of a violent thunderstorm. He was trying to shamble under a rock to safety, when he was struck by lightning. At that moment, the hermit died and a copy was made. His copy stole his items and went on. He was very ill, and already hurt due to the fact that he made a copy of a dying man. He came upon the first house he could find. He deceived the siblings into helping him. His true identity however, was no shambling and needy hermit.

If their father had been with them, he would've identified the hermit as what he was. He was a Termentus, an evil storm spirit. The two siblings were not very versed in this area, detecting magical presence and evil beings was more of their fathers expertise. Ethri began using her healing magic for the rest of that day to aid the hermits ailments. The next morning she continued his treatment, bringing him almost back to full health.

He regained consciousness shortly before Mirandus returned home. He began explaining to the siblings a falsehood about where he came from. Midway through the story, Mirandus had returned home. As soon as Mirandus returned home and walked through the door, he looked at the Termentus. His gaze met the spirit first with a tint of confusion, then shock, and was tainted with a mix of determination and rage. As soon as the Termentus was aware of the fact that Mirandus knew what he was, he took his daughter captive.

Immediately the look of rage on his face dissipated and was replaced with something desperate. He asked the spirit what it was that he wanted. The spirit met his question with a laughter filled with energy and power. As if he could split a tree with a blast of energy using only his voice. He then proceeded to speak with a voice reminiscent of the laughter, something inhuman.

“What I desire is beyond any one thing a mortal such as yourself could give me. I am a spirit of hate, a soul bent on destruction. I destroy forests with my fire, raze boats with waves laced with pure destruction. I destroy mountains over decades, widling them away with only the use of rainwater. I desire to destroy all things old man, to send this world into chaos. I am Clumendus, lord of the Termenti; spirits of the storm and herald of destruction, and I will start with destroying you.”

Mirandus worked with incredible haste whilst the spirit rambled. He had come across a few of these before, yet never had he seen one emanate such an aura of power. He worked with his hands in his satchel, trusting that he knew what he was mixing. He took the wraith essence and mixed it with the silver dust. After spending many years studying the multiverse, he knew how to handle such a spirit. Clutching the mixture in his hands, he began to gather energy to blast the spirit away. As he was about to destroy the spirit, Clumendus realized his intentions, and clutched Ethri closer.

Mirandus acted quickly, and synergized the mixture with a blast of fire that rivaled the forges of weapon making fires. With a blast of desperation and determination he set forth a beam of fiery energy sparking with blue light. As the blast was cascading through the air, leaving behind an arc of light and destruction, Clumendus made his last move. He cursed Ethri only a moment before the spell slammed into his chest. Clumendus converged into a ball of energy and exploded with a surge of destruction, tearing the meager boards of their house to splinters. A sound of thunderous ringing filled Mirandus’ ears, and he collapsed to the earth.

Once he regained consciousness, he examined the scene surrounding him. Left behind where the storm spirit had just been, was some tattered robes and a seared satchel. Mirandus ordered his son to pick up his daughter. As Tendel went over to his unconscious sister, his father went to examine the satchel. He picked it up, and out fell a scroll the likes of he had never seen before. Scribed with strange marks and lines. He accidentally stepped on the Scroll, and light emanated from it as it disappeared and absorbed into the shambled floor boards. Immediately the rubble began to shift.

Pebbles sifted, wood creaked, and in a blur all the fragments of their home began moving all at once. Before Mirandus could fully comprehend what was happening, the ethereal magic had diffused. What he saw before him now, was his house restored to its original condition. Coming out of his awestruck stupor, Mirandus and his son began taking as best care of Ethri as they could. The situation was more grave than they thought.

Mirandus left Tendel to care for his sister, and made towards the city as swiftly as he could. Making his way down the cascading switchbacks, following the trail that cascaded down the mountainside. He went straight through the gates of the city and to the closest healer he could find. They rode together on horseback after he paid the healer a copious amount of money. He explained as best he could, and the healer a young half elf woman nodded in understanding.

They came upon the home and the young woman began weaving spell after spell. The young healer named Peldre eventually stopped chanting, and was exhausted from the effort. As soon as she gained back her breath, she described what she was able to do. She was only able to prolong the progression of the curse. Clumendus was a mighty spirit, and with the added power of Ethri’s healing magic he had an additional advantage when placing the curse on her. Mirandus thanked the young lady for her assistance, and let her outside to her horse.

She was to awake in a few hours, but would be weak and unable to stand. Almost as if she was fallen to a great illness. There was no cure to her ailment known. Mirandus was stricken with grief. He kept trying to think of ways he could help his daughter, to keep right by her mother and always protect her. He scoured all of the information he could gather at the city library and found no solution. He was near surrendering trying to find a solution when he remembered the strange Scroll the Termentus had in its possession.

If there was a scroll that could re-assemble an entire home, who's to say that there wasn't one who could heal his daughter. She had a little less than a year left, and he was desperate to save her. He considered this option for two days, then spoke to his children. He told them that their only hope for saving her was one of these Scrolls. Tendel at the mature age of 21, was more than willing to take care of his sister while his father went looking for another Scroll. Mirandus departed the next morning, and began to head towards the only place he knew that might have information on the Scrolls. The ancient elven kingdom of Genselor in the Ivelios forest at the base of the Kretchdane mountains.

He began his trek across the mountain range. Going as far as he could each day without stopping. On the 5th night, two days before he was supposed to get there, he seemed refuge for the night in a dark cave. As he entered he noticed the end of the cave curved around into a wall that he couldn't see behind from the entrance. As he walked over to peer behind the corner, he stepped onto a weakened fault, and the stone beneath him broke. He fell through into a corridor, and the cave he was in collapsed.

He was not hurt, and began examining the symbols on the walls. Scribed into the stone he saw two symbols he recognized and was caught in disbelief. Unbelievably, he had accidentally stumbled upon the long lost kingdom of the mountain elves. He was in Tro’Darken, the citadel of the mountains. Long before the dwarfs took refuge in the mountain, the elves held this stronghold first. During the time of storms and the chaos of the first Great War, this was a refuge from the world.

The war was only an ancient legend, the original combatants were forgotten with time. He delved deeper into the caves, each room lot with a magical light as he entered. He scoured the mountain for a way out, and for potential information. Deep in the depths under the mountain, he continued to search. Eventually, he came across the temple of magic; Triphyra. Walking under arches ascending into the earth itself. Inlaid in the black stone walls were several different types of glowing crystals and rare metals. Most of which were far too high to reach.

At the end of the Cathedral on either side of the altar, stood two statues. One, was dedicated to the king of Tro’Darken, Tarlan Everht’tar. The other statue was in the likeness of Shirlua, the Shardmind that helped the elves win the original war by gifting them with powerful magic, and showed them the secrets of the earth. He continued examining the room, and his keen eyes noticed something. This statue was only slightly offset from the statue of the ancient king.

He looked at the floor, and could see a hint of a trail of dust leading from the statue to its right. He examined the statue more closely, and noticed one of the stones on the statue's right arm was slightly more lustrous than the rest, a sign that if was touched often. He laid his hand on the stone and slid it downwards, and the statue moved over the exact trail of dust he had examined before. He peered into the illuminated opening behind where the statue was just a moment before, and entered into the secret passage. He continued down a brief flight of stairs, and a short hallway which led to a set of great marble stone doors. He opened the doors without a great deal of effort. He had discovered the ancient hidden archives of Triphyra herself.

He was ecstatic! If there was anywhere in the world that would have information on those strange Scrolls, it would be this place. He began scouring for information, exploring he cast shelves and two levels worth of information. He stayed for what seemed a day, then two, then five. Eventually time blurred together. He was getting more and more desperate. He found plenty of information on things that many scholars would kill for. Translations for many lost ancient languages. Transcriptions and first person accounts of battle from the first Great War. Many magic spells and techniques that wools trick and amaze most modern sorcerers.

All this information, that would've been lost without his coming upon it. Part of him was desperate to find information, but by what felt the 6th day there was a time in which he was so lost in the information he had forgotten why he had originally came for a time. Sleeping on the seventh day, he awoke with a panic. He had a night terror about the Termentus and his daughter.

He looked at the small stone in his satchel that allowed him to check on his daughter's condition. She was still alive and Tendel was feeding her rabbit stew. His son had grown up to be such a wonderful child that it made his heart beat with joy. Even if his son was more athletic and more of a hunter than he was, he still loved him with all his heart and cherished him as well as his sister. He reached for his food, the Last of his rations. He would have to leave this place soon, so he was determined to finish looking through the rest of information this archive could be hoarding before he left.

After what seemed like endless hours of searching, he was ready to give up. Unbelievably however, he came across a transcript from Triphyra herself. She described a Scroll the likes of which she had never observed. The description fit perfect to what Mirandus himself had seen. The Scroll she came across had caused a storm as soon as it was opened, and the rain healed all of her ally combatants on the battlefield. Additionally, it acted as acid on the enemy skin. She had only deciphered one symbol before the Scroll had disappeared. The symbol of power, Effentias. Thus Shirlua had named these strange Scrolls, the Effentian Scrolls.

This was the only account Mirandus could find in the whole cavern. It wasn't much, but it was something, and he was determined to find another one of these Scrolls. He was out of food, and out of water. He needed to leave. He left behind the tattered robes of the Termentus. He gathered his things and some of the Scrolls with the most important information, and began to depart. After he walked out of the archives, he heard a noise coming from further down the tunnel. It was a strange noise, definitely magic. His curiosity got the best of him. He continued down the passage to investigate the source of the noise.

It was almost reminiscent Of a sound of running water. When he rounded and bend and found the source of the noise, he was brought immense amounts of confusion. Before him on the cave wall, swirled a mixture of red and orange light. He had never seen or heard of something like this, and he felt oddly compelled to walk towards the convergence. As he approached, trying to discern what this could possibly be, he forgot about his need to leave. In the back of his mind was that itching desire for knowledge and power again, compelling him to forget about his daughter. He continued towards the strange light until he was inches from it. He reached forward, and touched the strange light. Immediately he was knocked unconscious, and had woken up in somewhere new. He was inside a great temple.

The temple made the temple of magic look as though it were crafted by barbarians. This temple was timeless, and beyond impressive. Almost as if he was looking into heaven itself. Outside light illuminated through the massive windows, a red yellow and orange swirling light. He was startled by a voice behind him. Behind him sat a figure of a dead man on a chair. The figure told him he was in the realm of pure power, creation, and chaos. This was the only refuge from destruction and pandemonium in the whole realm. He was in the Naddax temple, the cathedral of power. Here, he found infinitely more amounts of information then he ever found in the other temple. He began scouring searching through the archives, and found anything he could ever want. Information on the scrolls, what they could do, what power they held, and how to wield them.

He was so distracted by this, that he had entirely forgotten about his daughter. He no longer had the need for food or water here, he was able to sustain his life with the information he found. He searched and found and scavenged. Finding out more and more each moment. How long had it been? Days? Weeks? He had lost track, he was almost on the cusp of remembering his daughter, when someone else had come into the temple. The young man appeared right where Mirandus had, and collapsed. Mirandus, being a man with a good heart, tended to the man and he was awake in no time. This man was a young cleric.

The cleric had stumbled upon this place by accident. He had spent the past week tracking the essence of the storm spirit Mirandus had killed. That was the same spirit that murdered his family, and he was determined to kill it. However, now that he was in this place, it seemed much less important to him. Mirandus began teaching him all he knew, excited to share this information with another. The young man was very engaged in the whole process, caught in euphoria with what he had come across. The young mans name was Feldrin Ja-Dane. He was probably about Tendel’s age.

Mirandus continued to search through the information for all the time he could. After what felt like a few days, Feldrin became curious as to why Mirandus had come here in the first place. Feldrin asked him about it, and he would look distant, then say he would explain later. After a few times of this, Feldrin became more and more curious. One day, when Mirandus was searching through the shelves, Feldrin decided to search through his teachers satchel when he wasn't looking. Inside he found some Scrolls and basic supplies, nothing too interesting. However, there was a curious little stone near the bottom of the bag. He picked it up, and examined the stone in his hand. As he touched it, an image appeared inside of the stone.

Inside a humble little shack, a young woman was on a bed. She looked very ill, and she looked as though she were about to die. By her side sat a young man, he assumed her brother. He was doing his best to tend to her, he seemed almost distraught. As he was peering into the stones image, Mirandus turned and saw Feldrin looking at the stone. Filled with a sense of rage and betrayal, he ran over to Feldrin and knocked him down with a spell. He took he stone, and saw the image within. He had forgotten about his daughter. Ethri, she was nearly dead. He watched as she reached for her brothers face, and her hand fell limp.
Tendel tried shaking her, but she would not move. She was dead. Tendel cried out in a whale of agony, and he image faded. Mirandus’ precious daughter had died, and he was responsible.

Wait no, that couldn't be right. It was the Termentus! How dare such a lowly spirit challenge someone such as him. Had he challenged him in his current state, Mirandus could've eradicated him with no effort and his daughter would've lived. Then it was also Feldrin. If he might not of come, he wouldn't have been so caught up and excited to share what he had learned. And his son, his Tendel. If his son had taken better care of her, she would still be alive and he could've come back and saved her. It was their faults! All three of them. Mirandus was caught in a wave of rage, and with a bellowing scream Feldrin fell unconscious.

When he awoke, he was in a small room, chained to a wall. He was unable to escape his binds. Unbeknownst to him, when Mirandus had tied him up, he had also summoned his son Tendel to the Naddax temple as well. Tendel was in the cell opposite the hallway of Feldrin. Both had no idea what to do, or how to escape. Eventually, Mirandus came to each of them. Screaming at them, blaming them for his daughter's death. They were to be punished to affine for their crimes.

Mirandus took his son's own sword, and enchanted it with a spell. Each time the spell sensed Tendel fall asleep or rest, the sword would lash at his back. This was fit punishment, as he should've been more diligent in his efforts. His father also scared his chest with deep gashes, but kept his “precious” boy just barely alive. Feldrin however, received a much different treatment. Mirandus cursed the gloves he was wearing with a spell that would always coat his hands with a burning plasma. Melting his skin in agonizing pain, but would also heal him simultaneously. This gave him constant pain beyond measure, and was fit punishment for his thieving hands. Mirandus also gave him illusions of terror and fear, plaguing him beyond what he could withstand. Both pleaded with Mirandus. Each time his son cried out in pain, he would remember the times they had been together as a family. He would reminisce, and then return to hate and anger towards his son. Feldrin would plead for mercy, but Mirandus felt no empathy for one such as him.

He was no longer the kind hearted father and teacher, but the shell of that man. And with the death and rebirth of a spirit, comes a new name. Mirandus would no longer be called as such. Instead, he changed his likeness into an entity of fear power and darkness, all the things that he felt. He buried his past deep within, and was lost in his lust for power. He renamed himself lord Zauvat (for the Effentian symbol of power), emperor of power and darkness.

These young men had not yet suffered enough to his pleasing. The death of Ethri was not yet arrived for. He was planning how to make them suffer, when he devised his plan. He would curse each of them to be immortal. Both living on forever in the normal world, until the day that they saw his reign of power and his bringing forth the end of the world as it was. It was the perfect plan, the ultimate suffering. He released both back to the normal world without addressing them directly. Both were utterly relieved, and had no clue of the curse laid upon them. Each went into the world in their own way. Zauvat however, remained in the Naddax temple and continued to search through the information.

He would remain until he knew all there was to know, and then would return to the world to unleash his power. He created the group of evil, named Al-Tharmen (for the Effentian symbol of darkness and domination).

Feldrin, determined to make things right made off into the world in his own respect. With his scarred hands he was determined to help the world. Unlike Zauvat, he would use the power of the Effentian Scrolls for good. To help the world progress. He created a clan, and named his clan The Plasmatics. Symbolizing his scarred hands and the spell Mirandus used on him, he would use what was done with intent of evil towards him for good.

Tendel set out into the world a changed man with a damaged heart. He changed his last name to Briarden, which means destroyer of power. He was determined to destroy every last Effentian scroll, even if it meant his life. He created his faction named the Briarden, and both groups began working in the world as they could for good. Each in their own respect. Waiting for the day that Zauvat would return, and hoping for a chance of ending his reign.

Beneath
2017-02-18, 02:39 AM
Concrit:
Paragraph breaks are your friend
Purple prose is not
Lead with useful information; create interest before you go into backstory. As it is you're advertising a villain and delivering what looks like the unformatted first draft of the middle chapter of a story (he's obviously powerful beforehand, but we don't know anything about how he got there; he just has arbitrary powers as the story needs them). A villain I can use leads with what he's trying to do, how he can accomplish that, and what his resources are to do that. You wouldn't write up a pirate ship encounter by starting with several pages about how the ship was built; you'd lead with the ship's course (on the adventure map, most likely, rather than in the encounter text), and then follow up with what demands they're likely to make before engaging in combat and stats for the ship and crew and possible points of fracture if the PCs go into extended negotiation with individuals on the crew; the ship's backstory is saved for when you tell them about the treasure they can get if they win decisively, if then.
There are a lot of world elements this story introduces (the mountain elves, the destruction spirits) well before it makes this guy either interesting or a villain, which leaves me wondering why I'm supposed to be more interested in him than in any of the other things
There's also a lot that seems to be assumed rather than explained (why is he, of all the magic people in this story, the only one who can tell a destruction spirit in disguise?)

Arbane
2017-02-18, 02:46 AM
ADD PARAGRAPH BREAKS.

Or everyone's takeaway from this will be that your villain is trying to build a Great Wall of Text that leaves everyone who gazes upon it too uninterested to fight their armies, or something.

ATHATH
2017-02-18, 04:15 AM
Red Fel, Red Fel, Red Fel.

TheTeaMustFlow
2017-02-18, 08:37 AM
Paragraph breaks are your friend
So is the spellchecker, incidentally.

Ferios
2017-02-18, 10:16 AM
Concrit:
Paragraph breaks are your friend
Purple prose is not
Lead with useful information; create interest before you go into backstory. As it is you're advertising a villain and delivering what looks like the unformatted first draft of the middle chapter of a story (he's obviously powerful beforehand, but we don't know anything about how he got there; he just has arbitrary powers as the story needs them). A villain I can use leads with what he's trying to do, how he can accomplish that, and what his resources are to do that. You wouldn't write up a pirate ship encounter by starting with several pages about how the ship was built; you'd lead with the ship's course (on the adventure map, most likely, rather than in the encounter text), and then follow up with what demands they're likely to make before engaging in combat and stats for the ship and crew and possible points of fracture if the PCs go into extended negotiation with individuals on the crew; the ship's backstory is saved for when you tell them about the treasure they can get if they win decisively, if then.
There are a lot of world elements this story introduces (the mountain elves, the destruction spirits) well before it makes this guy either interesting or a villain, which leaves me wondering why I'm supposed to be more interested in him than in any of the other things
There's also a lot that seems to be assumed rather than explained (why is he, of all the magic people in this story, the only one who can tell a destruction spirit in disguise?)



Alright sounds good! Thanks for the advice, I'll do some revisions and post them when it's fixed. And this was indeed a first draft, I had literally just finished typing out the last word before I posted it here

Ferios
2017-02-18, 06:29 PM
Concrit:
Paragraph breaks are your friend
Purple prose is not
Lead with useful information; create interest before you go into backstory. As it is you're advertising a villain and delivering what looks like the unformatted first draft of the middle chapter of a story (he's obviously powerful beforehand, but we don't know anything about how he got there; he just has arbitrary powers as the story needs them). A villain I can use leads with what he's trying to do, how he can accomplish that, and what his resources are to do that. You wouldn't write up a pirate ship encounter by starting with several pages about how the ship was built; you'd lead with the ship's course (on the adventure map, most likely, rather than in the encounter text), and then follow up with what demands they're likely to make before engaging in combat and stats for the ship and crew and possible points of fracture if the PCs go into extended negotiation with individuals on the crew; the ship's backstory is saved for when you tell them about the treasure they can get if they win decisively, if then.
There are a lot of world elements this story introduces (the mountain elves, the destruction spirits) well before it makes this guy either interesting or a villain, which leaves me wondering why I'm supposed to be more interested in him than in any of the other things
There's also a lot that seems to be assumed rather than explained (why is he, of all the magic people in this story, the only one who can tell a destruction spirit in disguise?)



Hey there, I just reposted the revised version. Let me know what you think!