Long ago, a man named Roen lived alone by the sea. His was a
dark and quiet life,filled with the gentle wash of the surf in the
cove, the call of the seagull, the wind through
his thatched roof.
He was a man at peace with himself, and at
war with forces unseen. He was haunted,
chased by a demon most vile.
The demon's name was Grbrthrxs.
Roen was a mage, powerful beyond imagine. The land bent to
his will, the lightning ate from his fingers. He was a creator,
spending his life making the world around him better for those
who came after.
He had, many years in the past, killed a Dark Knight in battle. The
knight was a the half-human child of the demon Grbrthrxs. Since
then, his nights had been filled with screams, his days filled with
study, trying to find a way to defeat the agent of pure evil.
Every night, the demon would come forth and try to take over
the mage's mind, to rip his soul from his body. Grbrthrxs hoped to
enslave Roen's life's essence, and keep him witness while the
demon destroyed the land Roen so dearly loved.
While perusing tomes discovered deep in the library at Dre' Kesthai,
he found this:
"... a mage of true power, of pure heart, and of iron
will may take over the body of another creature, and
use that body for his own purposes. This good chance
that, once switched, you will never be able to return.."
Roen formulated a plan. When the demon came, and attempted
to take his body, he would be doing the same. He assumed that
in the form of a demon, his power would be so immense that
he could crush the will of Grbrthrxs, return to his own body, and
destroy Grbrthrx's avatar.
He made the grueling preparations, and readied himself in the
center of his protective runes. Grbrthrxs came to him, a huge black
apparition, burning with hell's fire. Roen recited the incantation
just as Grbrthrx's huge black hands breached the protective circle...
...and he watched, through his new eyes, as hands closed around
his own throat, and the life drained from his body.
He had no body to return to. He felt nothing of the demon's
presence, and his powers had increased a hundredfold.
Saddened, he vowed to spend his remaining days in seclusion,
shaping the land around him.
