A Familiar Evil Returns

[Ellisio]

A Familiar Evil Returns
Part I

It is a silent night in Athkatla, the moon is covered with dark clouds and wind is blowing harshly over the river.

A hooded figure approaches the city gates and the men guarding it, a look of fear covers their faces as they realise who has returned, they step out of the way immediately and no words are exchanged. The apparition shuffles his way into North Athkatla and toward the Copper Coronet, he is dressed in dark armor with a pitch black hood and a shadowy cloak draping over the battleaxe strapped to his back.

It is near midnight and the tavern is alive with the sound of drunken men and garbled talk, the shadow enters and the place falls silent. Not a soul utters a word or even looks as the figure floats over to the notice board, has a brief glance across it and exits.

The cloaked man wanders in the direction of the Imperial Palace, an amulet drops down from his sleeve and he grabs it by the chain so that it's dangling from his hand. He approaches the guard...

"What do you want peasant?" the guard barks.

Frustrated, the hooded man swings the amulet across the guard's face, leaving a cut over his cheek. The shadow tilts his hood back slightly and reveals his face to the guard.

The guard turns almost pure white and falls to one knee as he realises who has returned. It is Kaspar, but he has changed.....

[Ellisio]

The Return of the Emperor
Part II

Kaspar enters the main hall of the Imperial Palace, it is cold and lifeless with no one around to greet him, he tilts his hood back down over his face and shuffles into the Throne Room and across the royal carpets toward the master piece that is the Imperial Throne.

He throws his arm to the side forcing his cape back and brushes his fingertips over the arm of the throne with a slight grin on his face.

Kaspar’s plans now that he has returned are uncertain to most, some speculate he will remain a background figure in Athkatla, others believe he will lead the armies of Amn to victory over the Freelands and against the new power rising in Waterdeep. The remaining few prophesise he will bring utter destruction to Amn and they seek to have him killed.

Uncertain of what has happened in his absence, Kaspar would confine himself in a hidden location until the time is right to cover Amn in a 2nd age of darkness.

All hail the return of the Emperor!

[Ellisio]

Kaspar the Immortal?
Part III

Is Kaspar an immortal? Well I’ve had a few people ask me this over the years and as one of his closest friends I can probably explain it best…

His soul was originally possessed by a child of Demogorgon by the name of Gadriel, who at the time was leader of the Black Tower situated in the Dragonspire Mountains, his soul was hers to command in return for an ancient resurrection tome. It was short lived however as Gadriel disappeared without a trace and Kaspar’s soul was returned to him.

During this time he was Shadow Master of Athkatla and during a trip to the graveyard, soon after Gadriel’s disappearance, he came across a Reaper of Souls and became his champion. Little did Kaspar know that this deal would cost him his soul once again and as long as the Reaper possesses Kaspar’s soul he will never age a day.

One could say he is partial undead now...

[Ellisio]

Darkness Prevails
Part IV

Not being able to age might be thought of as the greatest reward, but it is more like a curse believe me… destined to walk the world for eternity, being forced into the shadows by those who would call you evil and have you hunted for what you are. And the only way to stop being hunted is to hunt your hunters and become what you are called.

But I have grown to enjoy it…

Life amongst the mortal men of Amn is no longer possible, many already suspect my extended life is linked to an evil force beyond this plane of existence and so I must disappear and leave humanity.

The power of Amn now falls into the hands of lesser men…

[Ellisio]

The Awakening
Part V

Word spreads quickly of Kaspar's demise in the Dragontooth Mountains, but it was all too premature...

A group of Bhaal Faithfuls had gathered the charred remains of Kaspar and took him deep into the mountains where the power of Bhaal was strongest.

The Bhaalspawn Moztepol would seize this opertunity to gain a powerful new ally, Kaspar lived once again, but he knew that if he wanted to survive he would have to do as Moztepol commanded.

For several months he patrolled the Dragontooth Mountains with the Zhentarim. However, when a group of righteous crusaders from Waterdeep and the Freelands rallied an attack on Dragontooth it forced Moztepol to send his ally into combat... This encounter would see Kaspar slip away from the clutches of Moztepol and into freedom once again.

The accounts of what happened in the clash and the events that took place afterwards were never recorded.

[Ellisio]

Interview with the Damned
Part VI


*Found in the Great Library of Athkatla, in a history book about previous leaders of Amn, is the following entry by an unknown author*


[The Year of the Haunting, 1377]

He came to me, a man of deadly shadow... he told me a story of great sadness and vicious destruction, it was an encounter I would not wish to experience again but a story worth hearing over and over again...

"It began two years ago, after the loss of my first love at the hands of bounty hunters who were hunting me and murdered her to draw me out. I could not run forever and my heart was filled with anger and regret, upon visiting her grave I was visited by a Reaper of Souls who, in exchange for my soul, would give me the power to avenge my lost love.

The bounty hunters came for me, over and over again, and the effects of my new power became apparent as I dispatched each of them one by one until no other would dare challenge me, but the new powers took over and I found myself killing the inocent to quench the bloodlust.

I became a nameless fear throughout the Coast, until I found balance again in the form of Pandora Draakenleir, she was my guide through the darkness and in the shadows I found peace.

Today, I turn over a new leaf as I come to realise I will never regain my soul, I will never age, I will never die, naturally, and today you become the first man to escape my wrath and the first to hear my story."


*The entry is but a piece of paper slotted between the age of Emperor Elralion Elandinai and the single page of Emperor Talias Blackblade*

[Ellisio]

Equilibrium
Part VII

True balance comes only after you have experienced both extremes, when one understands both sides of neutrality they can truely begin their search for inner peace. In Kaspar's case, it took over 100 years to find mental equilibrium...

Having aquainted himself with the boundries of both love and self-sacrifice, and hate and destruction, Kaspar decides to journey home to Astoria in hope of discovering who he once was before his cursed affliction.

He leaves from the gates of Athkatla and travels east to Eshpurta, he then follows the path to Iriaebor and then the trade route through The Stormhorns mountain range to Marsember and across the outskirts of The Dragonmere to the forest in which he made his escape from Cormyr all those years ago.

As Kaspar nears Silverpine Forest on the border of Astoria, the realisation of his past life hits him. His brother Nar'canis was kidnapped, his father was murdered and the farm he grew up on was burned to the ground...

Approaching the ruins of his childhood home he notices a wooden cross and engraved in the wood is a name, Jacob Orillion, his father. Orillion being the name he left behind after escaping the Astorian Guard over 100 years ago and the name he now takes back to honor his father.

Kaspar, now a changed man, begins his long journey back to the Sword Coast.

[Red Ape]

My quick eyes ran on
From stately nave to nave, from vault to vault,
Through bow'rs of fragrant and enwreathed light
And diamond paved lustrous long arcades.
Kaspar rush'd by the bright Hyperion;
His flaming robes stream'd out beyond his heels,
And gave a roar, as if of earthly fire,
That scared away the meek ethereal hours
And made their dove wings tremble. On he flared.

....excerpt from the Song of Kaspar as sung by Melian Morningstar

[Ellisio]

Trouble in Tethyr
Part VIII

Relations between Amn and Tethyr have been secure for centuries now, constant trade and information exchanges have cemented the alliance for this long. Now the sudden death of the young Tethyrian King has stirred political unrest and uncertainty in the region.

The provincial governors have rallied together a temporary senate to discuss who should succeed as their is no heir. At the head of resolving the issue is a man called Praska Aurilion, the recently elected governor of Amkethran who has gained considerable favor among the denizens of Tethyr. Both Human and Elf alike agree that Lord Praska would be the best choice to become Supreme Chancellor of Tethyr.

Some still question the origins of Praska but the majority live in blissful ignorance, secure in their minds that Lord Praska is a good man with only the wishes of the people in mind. Although many of the elders sense a dark shadow over Praska and a hidden agenda they still pledge their full support in all of Praska's endeavours.

A request has been sent to Amn to discuss continuing the alliance and trade with the two regions.

[Ellisio]

Revelations
Part IX

Paranoia swept through Amn as the mysterious Praska Aurillion arrived to meet with the Council of Six. Many suspected that it was the former Emperor Kaspar returned to assassinate the leaders of Athkatla in one swift move, in order to seize the throne of Amn once again, but this was not his intention at all.

A meeting with Selekiir was called and Kaspar reveals himself and his plans for a peaceful trade alliance between the two nations, however, the meeting did not go as planned... a mysterious elven bard by the name of Melian Morningstar, formally of the Crescent Moon made an appearance and claimed to be with Kaspar.

Words were exchanged between Selekiir and Melian and after stating that she would kill Selekiir for his evil deeds Melian then lunged into an attack on Selekiir! A short clash followed and Selekiir brushed her aside and ordered her to be taken to the dungeon. A furious Selekiir then ordered his guards to escort Kaspar out of the city, and was told never to return.

Upon returning to his new home in Amkethran, Kaspar finds it a burnt out ruin, he is welcomed by the smell of decaying flesh and bloodstained streets. Selekiir the foul had done the unspeakable... and for what reason...

Kaspar... a magnet for pain and misery? Having lost everything once again he now decides to go where he might get some answers...

[Ellisio]

Shadows Keep You
Part X

Shadows keep Kaspar safe as he ventures north through the land he was exiled from, the flat countryside of Amn makes for an easy journey through the day and the scattered woods make for safe refuge during nightfall, the steep mountains in northern Amn prove only a minor inconvenience, yet neccessary if he wishes to avoid hostile border patrols.

Kaspar's time travelling through the Freelands is spent thinking of the past, all he remembers is death and the eventual loss of everthing he ever cares about... even his god Myrkul is gone...

His journey past Waterdeep proves alarming however, at the foot of the dragontooth mountains, Lord Ethrun stands with his comrades from Amn ready to attack the Zhentarim, Selekiir is not present however... perhaps Kaspar will pass unchallenged. The two make eye contact briefly, yet it seems like an eternity for Kaspar but words or threats are not exchanged. Something was strange about the encounter, but Kaspar was weary from travelling and thought nothing more of it.

He continues northeast through the High Forest, sticking to the shadows as always, avoiding the dread Massiffs and remaining peaceful towards to the native elves of the regions.

One evening upon entering a cave to rest, he is ambushed by a trio of Stinger soldiers... grabbing his vorpal edged axe he charges to meet them head on, he barely manages to dispatch two of them before being struck in the back by the third, Kaspar swings his axe round in one last move before falling to the ground... the last Stinger follows him to the ground, without it's head.

Kaspar tilts his head up to the sky, he can see a single star through the canopy... he mutters a few words and then collapses completely.

[Ellisio]

Whispering Spirit
Part XI

Kaspar's eyes open at last, he looks around at the stone built room he now resides in and down at the bed he was laying in. He wonders for a moment if he is dreaming, or if he was dreaming all along. He looks down at himself, his wounds are healed and he is dressed in silky robes, they feel unearthly to touch and they radiate with a calming aura.

A siloutte appears at the entrance to his room, the light coming through is blinding enough that Kaspar cannot make out who or what it is. The light disapates and the figure comes into focus... the slim and elegant figure before him steps out of view before Kaspar can see its face.

Curious, as is human nature, Kaspar jumps up and steps into the doorway... and before him stands a magnificant Elven city, high in the trees, gleaming with magical lights and rustling with the sound of nature. Kaspar steps back into his room in apparent shock and sits by the bed, confused by what is happening... what occured after the Stinger attack and how did he get to where he is now?

The apparition returns, it is a High Elf maiden, dressed in a long white gown and wearing a tiara made from what looks like branches from a tree. She smiles and gazes into Kaspar's eyes, no words are exchanged yet Kaspar suddenly becomes aware of what happened.....

Kaspar had somehow passed into the spirit realm, he had used an ancient elven incantation to call out for help on an unconscious level. The incantation is one that can only be taught by an elf, so Kaspar had no idea where he learned it. He somehow lead this elven maiden to his battered body and she brought him to the city to recover.

Several days pass and Kaspar has recovered enough to leave, he gathers his belongings. He is lead to an exit portal by the maiden who helped him, Kaspar turns round to say thankyou but she is gone...

Kaspar enters the portal.

[Ellisio]

Beyond Evil
Part XII

The Elven portal takes him to the north eastern outskirts of the High Forest, he heads in the direction of Silverymoon, where he hopes he may gain some insight into his future.

Upon entering the gates of Silverymoon he is welcomed by the sound of fighting, he rushes into the city to find the Magic University burning to the ground and soldiers battling in the streets, the dead litter the cobbles and the cries of the dying fill the air... it is happening again, Kaspar thinks.

A foul voice comes from beyond the smoke.

"So you've finally decided to show yourself Kaspar, Lord Ethrun had mentioned you were heading this way. Come to meet with your Elven whore have you?"

Kaspar goes silent for a moment, wondering if he means Melian... if so, how did she escape... not that it mattered, she must hold some of the answers.

"Where is she Selekiir!? What have you done with her!?"

Selekiir goes blank for a second, perhaps trying to come up with a witty reply...

"If I knew where she was do you really think I'd be burning this city to the ground? Oh wait a second, of course I would! HA HA HA!"

Kaspar looks around at the death and destruction, and then down at his own hands.

"It's not me Selekiir... It's you... The blood is on your hands. It was always on your hands! YOU'RE REIGN OF TERROR ENDS TODAY!!"

Kaspar charges into certain doom against the all the odds, but with a clear conscience and a goal with which he can pour his entire heart (and soul?) into. The outcome of this battle will see the end of an era, no matter what the conclusion is.

[Ellisio]

As I retell this story to you, many years along the silent road of time which crosses my oceans of tears, chasms of despair as deep as hell itself and travels through the fertile lands of love and glory too, without a second thought or second glance, I still recall the moment when I awoke to my power to be and to do as I so chose.

After that, nothing was anything. And anything was everything and I was all there was. Much later on, kindly suggestions were made of reconciliation and of unconditional love and it was always all I could do to not burst out laughing at the preposterousness of it all.

Sometimes I thought I really was the angel of vengeance, chosen by the universal mind to kick and hit and hurt and smash through the shabby deceptions of the world.

Sometimes I thought I really was the son of darkness itself, a blacker black so black that black would shudder and shine white in comparison.

Sometimes I thought I was going insane.

[Red Ape]

A new and fairly long fragment of The Song of Kaspar, composed by Melian Morningstar, has recently been recovered by her cousin Melein Zain Abrin in the Great Library of Athkatla, where apparently some if not all of the work was composed. The Song of Kaspar was Melian Morningstar’s cantos (epic poem) and was reportedly completed shortly before her death by the sword of Lord Selekiir the Foul. Only three performances of the complete work are known to have occurred; one in Silvermoon and two at the Friendly Arms Inn. Unfortunately, none of the performances were recorded by a scribe and no complete written copy is known to exist. The newly found fragment is presented here along with the two previously known shorter fragments of her cantos. It seemed appropriate to include them here in the Chronicles of Kaspar.

Jephthah, Master, Jehu Academy of Music and High Arts, Waterdeep


Fragment 1

I heard, I look'd: two senses both at once,
So fine, so subtle, felt the tyranny
Of that fierce threat and the hard task proposed.
Prodigious seem'd the toil, the leaves were yet
Burning when suddenly a palsied chill
Struck from the paved level up my limbs,
And was ascending quick to put cold grasp
Upon those streams that pulse beside the throat:
I shriek'd; and the sharp anguish of my shriek
Stung my own ears I strove hard to escape
The numbness; strove to gain the lowest step.
Slow, heavy, deadly was my pace: the cold
Grew stifling, suffocating, at the heart;
And when I clasp'd my hands I felt them not.
One minute before death, my iced foot touch'd
The lowest stair; and as it touch'd, life seem'd
To pour in at the toes: I mounted up,
As once fair angels on a ladder flew
From the green turf to the heavens. 'Holy Power,'
Cried I, approaching near the horned shrine,
'What am I that should so be saved from death?
'What am I that another death come not
'To choke my utterance sacrilegious here?'
Then said the veiled shadow 'Thou hast felt
'What 'tis to die and live again before
'Thy fated hour. That thou hadst power to do so
'Is thy own safety; thou hast dated on
'Thy doom.' ………………………………….

(23 unreadable lines)

'They come not here, they have no thought to come;
'And thou art here, for thou art less than they:
'What benefit canst thou do, or all thy tribe,
'To the great world? Thou art a dreaming thing,
'A fever of thyself think of Faerun;
'What bliss even in hope is there for thee?
'What haven? every creature hath its home;
'Every sole man hath days of joy and pain,
'Whether his labours be sublime or low
'The pain alone; the joy alone; distinct:
'Only the dreamer venoms all his days,
'Bearing more woe than all his sins deserve.

(10 unreadable lines)

So answer'd I, continuing, 'If it please,
'Majestic shadow, tell me: sure not all
'Those melodies sung into the world's ear
'Are useless: sure a poet is a sage;
'A humanist, physician to all men.
'That I am none I feel, as vultures feel
'They are no birds when eagles are abroad.
'What am I then? Thou spakest of my tribe:
'What tribe?' The tall shade veil'd in drooping white
Then spake, so much more earnest, that the breath
Moved the thin linen folds that drooping hung
About a golden censer from the hand
Pendent. 'Art thou not of the dreamer tribe?
'The poet and the dreamer are distinct,
'Diverse, sheer opposite, antipodes.
'The one pours out a balm upon the world,
'The other vexes it.' ……………………….

(6 unreadable lines)

Though I breathe death with them it will be life
'To see them sprawl before me into graves.
'Majestic shadow, tell me where I am,
'Whose altar this; for whom this incense curls;
'What image this whose face I cannot see,
'For the broad marble knees; and who thou art,
'Of accent feminine so courteous?'

Fragment 2

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Kaspar!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown;
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Melian, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Fragment 3 (known to be the last stanzas of the cantos)

My quick eyes ran on
From stately nave to nave, from vault to vault,
Through bow'rs of fragrant and enwreathed light
And diamond paved lustrous long arcades.
Kaspar rush'd by the bright Hyperion;
His flaming robes stream'd out beyond his heels,
And gave a roar, as if of earthly fire,
That scared away the meek ethereal hours
And made their dove wings tremble. On he flared.

[Ellisio]

From the following thread and to keep the story in the same place:
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=6962

"//Before I continue I want to note that Kaspar will always be my main character and I won't stop playing him, this is merely an alternative ending for him.

Clueless as to what has happened during the past 100 years of his undeath, he walks away from the scene of his liberty. He glances back at those who saved him from an eternity of darkness, and for a brief moment it looks as if he is about to say something... but he doesn't, he just fades into the distance.

Memories of his past life start flooding back, he looks down at his hands and they seem older somehow, a sharp pain rips through him and he falls to his knees, he starts shaking uncontrolably and then nothing... he remains still for a minute and then bursts into a cloud of dust... gone forever from the realm of the living.

Many who knew of his exsistance speculate at his disappearance, many believe he ascended to godhood, others believe the gods smited him for his past atrocities, some say he still lives deep in the shadows where no living entity dare go.

The truth?

His cure was parallel to his demise, without his affliction he was vulnerable to time and it finally caught up with him."

[Ellisio]

Ascension
Alternative Ending #2
I won't likely use this ending, but I'd like some thoughts perhaps. (make a new thread please)

Kaspar is drawn to the Athkatla Graveyard once again, after 50 years, he knows not why he was drawn to this place but something inside of him compells him. He remembers the last time he was there and the circumstances that lead him to his curse, yet somehow he knows that some closure is about to be brought to his lifelong affliction. He looks down at his Axe of a Thousand Souls, a gift from the Reaper itself and it appears to be glowing bright crimson and blood begins to seep from the blade as if it had just feasted on a fresh soul. The blood is absorbed into the soil below him and the Graveyard becomes even more silent, the wind stops blowing and the scurrying vermin flee. The Reaper of Souls has finally returned.

No words are exchanged to begin with and Kaspar appears completely at ease despite not even knowing why he was drawn back to the graveyard. The Reaper remains silent, however the shadow's glowing red eyes do not leave Kaspar for even a moment. The Reaper finally utters some words:

"I knew that granting you my powers was the wrong thing to do, my memories were not quite as secure as I thought. So you have found my Crown of Horns, what do you plan to do with it? Do you wish to return it to it's rightful owner? Or have you come to claim the power for yourself?"

His crown? Kaspar thinks back to his time spent studing in the Great Library of Athkatla... The Crown of Horns, an artifact left by Myrkul during the Time of Troubles which contains the remnants of his essence and the powers of the Dead. Kaspar, now realising that Myrkul was the "dark god" to whom the Reaper was referring to all those years ago, but this Reaper is the shell of the former god of the dead? Kaspar replies without thinking much further:

"Your power is mines by right, your soul is mine by right after what you did to me. You used me to feed your diminishing power to then steal my very life from me! I am going to take back what you took from me right now!"

The Reaper snorts at the threat, "Do not think yourself totally innocent in this tiny little piece of history, you were the one who accepted the price in the first place and as my champion you were granted a portion of my own strength in order to do my bidding, a fair deal in anyone's book."

He looks up at the crown again, "You would be wise to hand over that crown right now, or face the consequences for not..."

Kaspar dives toward the Reaper in a blinding rage with his axe at the ready, "Never! It ends now one way or the other!".

He lands and rolls up behind the Reaper and in one swift move swings the axe into the torso of the wraith. An excruciating wail can be heard as the shadow enters an ethereal state in an attempt to flee, but the powers of the Axe of a Thousand souls drags the essence of the wraith back into the blade of the axe, consuming Myrkul's shell.

The axe pulses with energy, the crimson glow begins to flicker like lightning as if the Reaper is trying to break free but Kaspar keeps the axe firmly in hand. The lightning grows fiercer and Kaspar holds the axe away from his body but a stray bolt comes flying outwards toward Kaspar's head, striking the Crown of Horns and shattering it completely. Kaspar is forced onto his back by the force of the blast but the axe never leaves his hand, the axe lays calmer now but still pulsing in his grasp and Kaspar feels a sense of impending doom, like someone just walked over his grave.

Suddenly the Axe shatters in his hand, but this is no ordinary shattering, every piece of the blade fly toward Kaspar like a magnet and pierce his body like a pincushion. Kaspar loses consciousness...

Kaspar awakes into nothingness, it is entirely black around him, almost as if he is blind. His vision comes into focus slowly as he tries to make out what he is sitting on. He picks up a nearby by object... a round shape which feels unnatural to touch, his eyes focus on it and he drops it immediately. It was a humanoid skull...

His vision becomes more and more into focus, all he can see are humanoid skulls below him and what seems to be an endless pit surrounding the grim skull made throne which he is nestled upon. The realisation finally strikes Kaspar now...

He has become the new Lord of the Dead!


//Okay, so for the purposes of the novel he can't use the name Myrkul as he is truly dead now, nor can he remain Kaspar Orillion as the true name of a God is rarely revealed. He is self dubbed Omen, Lord of the Dead and a demi-power during this ascended state. The portfolio for the the powers of the Dead were in conflict after Myrkul was slain during the Time of Troubles, Cyric had the powers for a short time but it was ultimately granted to Kelemvor. So now that the powers have been taken by Omen (Kaspar) this will act as one of his rivalries and could possibly lead to another kind of novel, or short stories.

Yes, I know some of you may think this is a bit too far. I'm just brainstorming, but any input is welcome.

[VampIieletan]

totally unrelevant to your writing, how did you manage 4,8k views on this thread barry?

[Ellisio]

" by Ellisio on March 1, 2005, 11:31 pm "

It's been up a long time and the playerbase was high at one point during this time *shrugs*. I think there's another thread with 20k hits or something. People like re-reading it? I do check this thread a lot for references, 150 of these views might just be me alone. Most of this stuff is just for my own personal storage and opinions do help my thought process.