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Long ago in the Kingdom of Skaxron lived two childhood
friends, Raex, and Vindor. The friends played, fought, competed and grew up
together in their lawful kingdom. As they matured both young men proved to be
the greatest warriors of their generation. They became pledged as knights in
service to their good King Randall. Two years after the knighting of Raex and
Vindor, the War of Ages engulfed their continent, separating the friends as they
fought to save their beloved kingdom. War raged for many years, their good King
Randall was slain, and all the lands were put under the rule of an iron fisted
dark emperor.
Raex and Vindor survived these lean years as mercenaries and
swore complete and utter vengence upon the dark emperor that ruled the land.
They did not have long to wait, for a great and ancient evil was listening.
Bertoxxulous, Lord of Decay, heard the plea and offered to assist Raex and
Vindor for their permanent indentured servitude. For the Plague Lord knew they
were among the greatest of warriors, and would aid him greatly in his rise to
power. Blinded by vengence Raex and Vindor immediately agreed to the deal. With
a snap of his fingers, Bertoxxulous banished his servant, the dark emperor, to
another realm and accepted the two great warriors into his service, for they did
not know Bertoxxulous had conquered their world just to bring them into the
ranks of his minions.
Long ago on the continent of Antonica, within the world of
Norrath, there existed a small village known as Yawnwater. The village of
Yawnwater was a typical village, with happy villagers and flowers that grew all
about the town. In the middle of the village stood a small shrine dedicated to
the goddess of love, Erollisi Marr, located right off of a small river that
flowed down into a great lake. However all did not remain right within the happy
little village of Yawnwater.
On a dark night when the moon was just a sliver inthe night
sky, terror and destruction came down upon the happy little village of
Yawnwater. The dark knight, Carprin Deatharn, determined to prove to his god,
Bertoxxulous, Lord of Decay, that he was an exalted spreader of corruption and
decay that none could match, came upon the village set to destroy it. Caprin
killed off what resistance the village had to offer and then gathered around the
shine to Erollisi Marr, the elderly, the women, and the children, who were to
weak to defend themselves from the dark knight. Carprin then set to
systematically desecrating the temple by performing a dark sacrifice on its
altar.
After the sacrifice he infected the rest of the survivors
with an incurable malady that left them slowly wasting away and dying. When
Bertoxxulous saw all that his servant did in his name he was pleased and raised
him to new and untold levels of power. It was not long after that Caprin
Deatharn would join his master in the Plane of Disease.
In the Plains of Karana in a time not so long ago, the clergy
of Karana erected a small temple in honor of The Rainkeeper. Among those present
at the building of this temple was Young Toluwon, a promising cleric that had
recently been raised up from the position of Acolyte. Young Toluwon was one of
the most promising clerics to come in years. He had shown wisdom beyond his
years, mastered the honored rituals of Karana in a short time, and performed the
extremely difficult Ritual of Thunder and Lightning for the first time in
centuries. However, all this was soon to come to an end for Young Toluwon for he
had a different path to walk.
Young Toluwon returned home soon after helping finish up the
final building stages of the temple. He had to visit his love in the nearby city
of Qeynos. When he arrived at his lover's house, he found a small note asking
him to meet her at a private locale. Concerned, Toluwon made his way immediately
to the locale, to find something he could not believe. His lover was a
worshipper of the dark god Bertoxxulous. She was with a group of people in brown
robes muttering chants to the Lord of Decay. Once he overcame his disbelief he
knew what he must do. He would join her, for she was more important to him than
anything else.
When the decision was made, the worshipers of Bertoxxulous
immediately sent Toluwon out to prove his faith. They sent him against his old
brethren at the newly built temple in the Plains of Karana. When he arrived the
priests were surprised to see him back so early for they knew he loved his woman
dearly. He assured them everything was all right, and told them that he needed
to get some rest. Little did they know what dark plans were about to unfold. In
the dead of night Toluwon crept around and slit the throats of each priest
within the temple. Then performing a dark ritual told to him by the priests of
Bertoxxulous he desecrated the newly erected temple. Toluwon had now become a
full-fledged member of Bertoxxulous' clergy. This is how Bishop Toluwon came to
join the legions of corruption.
Thousands of years ago in lands long gone there was a
prophecy of power. It said 'One shall be born perched between light and
darkness. They will grow and one day shroud the world in golden light or
encompassing darkness. For they will choose.' Avhi Escron was born shortly
thereafter. She was the child foretold in the prophecy and the forces of light
and dark waged war over her. As time passed Avhi began to show signs of extreme
magical power, unmatched by any ever known to the world. The time for her to
choose was fast approaching.
As the time came upon her Avhi was tempted by the forces of
dark with images of unseen power, wealth beyond imagining, and endless lands to
rule. With these images in her mind, Avhi chose the side of evil, and the world
fell into an encompassing darkness. The ancient evil, known today as
Bertoxxulous, was among the powers that she now served.
Decay and corruption became a daily part of Avhi's life as
she explored the dark arts of necromancy, creating new dark rituals, and spells
became commonplace as she reached the pinnacle of her power. Eventually Avhi
declared herself fully in the service of the Lord of Decay. Soon after she
brought down a mighty spell of foul corruption upon the kingdoms, laying waste
to huge tracts of land. And so Avhi continued until one day she was raised tothe
side of her lord in the Plane of Disease.
The Wemmal Family had ruled their small island in the middle
of the endless sea for years. Not knowing of the other continents and lands of
their world, it was a self-contained island filled with peace. One day that
changed, for chance brought a sole survivor of a shipwreck to a beach on their
land. The survivor was Banford Paffa a cook from a pirate ship that had been
wrecked in a nasty storm. The islanders discovered him on one of the beautiful
beaches and brought him to the royal family.
The Wemmal's were taken with this seemingly charming pirate
from lands unknown. They offered him a position on the cooking staff for he knew
many exotic dishes previously unknown to the islanders. However, the Wemmal's
would soon learn that their new cook had a dark secret. Bandford was a
worshipper of Bertoxxulous, the Lord of Decay. He set to slowly poisoning the
food he served to the royal family. Soon after all of the royal family became
sick and dying. It was discovered that Banford had been poisoning them, but by
then it was to late, and the Wemmals were dead. The islanders maddened by grief
for their beloved royals lynched Banford and hung his corpse from the islands
tallest tree. Bertoxxulous pleased with what Banford accomplished gave him a new
form in the Plane of Disease, where he now serves his lord for eternity.
In the deepest depths of some forgotten tomb, Tarkon Praez, a
necromancer in service to Bertoxxulous, was perfomring experiments on a tribe of
rat men that he had previously enslaved. During this time he bred a variety of
rat men, but none of them were what he wanted. Tarkon wanted a ravenous,
festering, and foul breed that would strike terror and fear into the hearts of
the pure. Tarkon decided to pray one day to his dark god for guidance.
After many hours of prayers, foul rituals and sacrifices,
Bertoxxulous enlightened Tarkon with a vision of what he must do. He would
travel to the farthest reaches and find the necessary components to perform a
ritual of the darkest evil. The four components Tarkon was to gather were a
unicorn heart, tail of a phoenix, tears of a virgin, and the blood of a faerie.
After many trials and tribulations he gathered the necessary components and
began the dark ritual. What took form was more than he expected. An extremely
evil crazed race of rat men that carried a foul plague in their blood and minds.
He dubbed them the Bubonians and set them on the land.
The Bubonians tore apart the lands near the tomb of their
creation, spreading disease, death, and destruction wherever they went. They
continued unhindered for a time, until they were banished from the world by a
good and noble order of knights. Bertoxxulous took the Bubonians into the Crypt
of Decay and that is where they have festered ever since, waiting to lay waste
to the world once again.
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