Originally Posted by The Story So Far…
You are Grand Master Lone Wolf, the sole survivor of a massacre that wiped out the First Order of the Kai—the warrior élite of Sommerlund.
It is the year MS 5080, thirty years since your brave kinsmen perished at the hands of the Darklords of Helgedad. These champions of evil, who were sent forth by Naar, the King of the Darkness, to destroy the fertile world of Magnamund, have themselves since been destroyed. You vowed to avenge the murder of the Kai and you kept your pledge, for it was you who brought about their downfall when alone you infiltrated their foul domain—the Darklands—and caused the destruction of their leader and the base of his power that was the infernal city of Helgedad.
In the wake of their destruction, chaos befell the Darkland armies who had been poised to conquer all of Magnamund. This disorder escalated into a mutinous civil war, which allowed the Freeland armies of Magnamund time in which to recover and launch a counter-offensive. Against the odds, a swift and total victory was secured over the feuding Darkland armies.
For ten unbroken years, peace has reigned in Sommerlund. Under your direction, the once-ruined Monastery of the Kai has been rebuilt and restored to its former glory, and the task of teaching a New Order of Kai warriors the skills and proud traditions of your ancestors is also well established. The new generation of Kai recruits, all of whom were born during the era of war against the Darklords, possess strong latent Kai skills and all show exceptional promise. These skills will be nurtured and honed to perfection during their time at the monastery so that they may teach and inspire future generations, thereby ensuring the continued security of your homeland in future years.
Your attainment of the rank of Kai Grand Master brought with it great rewards. Some, such as the restoration of the Kai and the undying gratitude of your fellow Sommlending, could have been anticipated. Yet there have also been rewards which you could not possibly have foreseen. The discovery that within you lay the potential to develop Kai Disciplines beyond those of the Magnakai (which were thought to be the ultimate that a Kai Master could aspire to) was truly a revelation. Your discovery has inspired you to search for the wisdom and power that no Kai Lord before you has ever possessed. In the name of your creator, the God Kai, and for the greater glory of Sommerlund and the Goddess Ishir, you have vowed to reach the very pinnacle of Kai perfection—to attain all of the Grand Master Disciplines and become the first Kai Supreme Master.
With diligence and determination you set about the restoration of the Kai Monastery and the training of the New Order recruits. Your efforts were soon rewarded and, within the space of two short years, the first raw recruits had graduated to become a cadre of gifted Kai Masters who, in turn, were able to commence the teaching of their skills to subsequent intakes of Kai novices. The Kai Masters rose readily to their newfound responsibilities, leaving you free to devote more of your time to the pursuit and perfection of the Grand Master Disciplines. During this period you also received expert tutelage in the ways of magic from two of your most trusted friends and advisors: Guildmaster Banedon, leader of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, and Lord Rimoah, speaker for the High Council of the Elder Magi.
In the deepest subterranean level of the monastery, one hundred feet below the Tower of the Sun, you ordered the excavation and construction of a special vault. In this magnificent chamber wrought of granite and gold, you placed the seven Lorestones of Nyxator—gems of Kai power which you had recovered during your quest for Kai knowledge. In this vault, bathed in the golden light of those radiant gems, you spent countless hours in pursuit of perfection. Sometimes alone, sometimes in the company of your two able advisors—Banedon and Rimoah—you worked hard to develop your innate Grand Master Disciplines, and grasp the fundamental secrets of Brotherhood and Old Kingdom magic. During this time you noticed many remarkable changes taking place within your body: you became physically and mentally stronger, your five primary senses sharpened beyond all that you had experienced before, and, perhaps most remarkably, your body began to age at a much slower rate. Now for every five years that elapse you age but one year.
In the years since your victory over the Darklords, peace has reigned victorious and the peoples of the Free Kingdoms have rejoiced in the knowledge that the evil which once threatened to destroy them has been banished from the face of Magnamund. Men have readily exchanged their swords for hoes and their shields for ploughs, and now the only marching they do is along the ruts of their freshly furrowed fields. Few are the watchful eyes that scan the distant horizon in fear of what may appear, although there are still some who maintain their vigilance, for the agents of the Dark God Naar come in many guises and there are those upon Magnamund who wait quietly in the shadows for the chance to do his evil bidding.
Already your newfound skills have been tested against Naar’s agents and you have, on each occasion, acquitted yourself admirably. Yet your continuing victories have enraged the Dark God and inflamed his lust for vengeance. Three years ago, you and your new Kai kinsmen achieved a glorious victory over a host of deadly Lavas. These dragon-like horrors were sent by Naar to destroy the Kai Monastery and lay waste to Sommerlund, and yet, despite their supernatural strength, they were defeated in battle by the sheer courage and skill of the New Order Kai who fought magnificently under your leadership.
After the ignominious defeat of his minions, Naar retreated to the Plane of Darkness to plot and scheme anew. Victory at the monastery had won for you a respite in the Dark God’s war against Sommerlund and the Kai. The following three years were peaceful for your homeland, yet elsewhere on Magnamund the agents of Naar continued their insidious work. On several occasions your special skills were sought by envoys from foreign realms whose leaders were desperate to rid themselves of Naar’s minions. Courageously you undertook many of these dangerous missions and, by succeeding where no other mortal could, you brought fresh glories upon yourself and your fellow Kai.
In the summer of MS 5080, during a return voyage by sea from a successful quest to distant Dessi, an act of sabotage very nearly wrecked the sailing ship that was transporting you home. Only fair weather and skilful repairs by the Sommlending crew saved the ship from being lost in the Gulf of Durenor. When the damaged craft limped into its home port of Anskaven, more than two weeks late, the reception you received was far from welcoming. The normally cheerful seafaring folk of this busy port were in a strangely sullen mood. Clearly they all recognized you, yet none cheered as you disembarked on Anskaven quay. The crowd was quietly hostile. Before you could determine their reasons, the uneasy silence was shattered by a troop of heavily-armoured cavalrymen who came galloping along the quayside, their gleaming swords drawn. The crowd scattered as the horsemen drew up in a circle around you. Their leader, a nervous young lieutenant whose coat bore the black eagle and three hearts motif of Avan Caldar, Baron of Anskaven, curtly ordered you to lay down your weapons. Not wishing to provoke these city troopers, you obeyed the command and allowed them to escort you to Baron Caldar’s castle where you felt sure their inglorious mistake would be swiftly punished.
Baron Caldar formally received you in the Great Hall of his castle. You had met previously on many state occasions at King Ulnar’s court in Holmgard and had always held each other in high esteem. Yet Caldar, flanked by more than a dozen armed bodyguards, could barely bring himself to conceal his contempt. He spoke to you as if you were a hated criminal. You asked why you were being treated in such a manner, but your pleas fell on deaf ears. Without further explanation, he ordered that you be taken immediately to the dungeons and placed in irons.
Later that evening, using your mental Kai Disciplines to help loosen the tight-lipped resolve of a dungeon guard, you learned the reasons for your apparent fall from grace.
‘You first arrived in Anskaven by ship eighteen days ago, as expected,’ said the gaoler, in response to your psychic commands. ‘Baron Caldar met you personally at the quayside and gave you a horse and six of his best troopers to escort you to Toran. During your ride to that city, they say you murdered his men and burnt their bodies. On arriving at Toran, you tried to assassinate Banedon—the Guildmaster of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. He survived, yet much of the Guildmaster’s Hall was destroyed by your doing. To cover your escape from the city, you poisoned the wells causing hundreds of deaths. At first it was said that a Helghast had adopted your likeness to gain entry to the Guildhall, but Guildmaster Banedon refuted these claims. He is convinced that you are possessed by the spirit of Naar. The Guildmaster dispatched the Toran militia to spread this message across Sommerlund. A few days later at the forest village of Durnfallow, near Tyso, the Fryearl of Durnfallow was murdered and his manor house was torched to the ground. The villagers say they saw you riding away from the blazing ruins, howling like a crazed wolf. The people are terrified by the thought that Naar has corrupted you—their greatest hero—and turned you against your own. They are scared and they are demanding swift justice. King Ulnar has bowed to their will; he has sent all of his Border Rangers to Tyso with orders to find and kill you on sight.’
The news of your alleged crimes comes as a bitter blow. You are sure that it is all the handiwork of an agent of Naar, and you resolve to find and vanquish this impostor at the first opportunity. However, as you cast your eyes around the damp walls of the castle dungeon, you can only pray to Ishir and Kai that the Baron and his guards will believe your story and allow you a chance to reclaim your honour.
