Spring, Year 1 of Her Reign
From the Heavens She came. Malkuth, the Unforgiving princess, Queen of the Sky.
The black priests that first caught Her attention had other names they called her. Names She did not approve of, but until She had become manifest there was little She could do about that. She had been imprisoned for centuries and She would not let the key to freedom be lost only because She did not like the follies of the human mind.
The humans who had found faith in Her were in need of help. Their kingdom a ruin and their faith shattered. They needed Her guidance perhaps as much as She needed their prayers.
But She was not alone. The human race is a fickle one and they pray to many gods. Tagg Klatu, She could recall the name, but nothing more, was praised as Lord of Rivers and King of Pestilence by the cursed nation of Man.
Another being of remarkable arrogance had been worshiped for a while as King of Kings, the Fortifier, the Brilliant God, the One that Contains Everything. King of Kings! She would have to do something about this when Her shackles were broken. Slay a couple of unimaginative priests to start with, then slay the pompous lord of Marignon.
The backward nation of Jomon seem to have found a backward God to prove their worth. Kintoshi, the Earthmonster, the Unshakable, Patron of Arbitrators. Hardly worth any notice.
But humans are not the only people left in the wake of the Pantokrator's Realm. Abominable lava-men and their crossbred inhabitants. Practitioners of bloodmagic and vices even worse. Not that She cared much, her own people had adopted bloodmagic long before the malediction hit them. Before the arrival of the Pantokrator and the Celestial ban on blood magic She and her worshipers had practiced the same magic that the Abysians now use. Dantheol, God of Astral Fires, God of Heavenly Fires, the Mountain Lord is their chosen Lord. Claiming dominion over fire and mountain, heaven and star, this might prove a powerful adversary.
A final contestant to godhood has emerged, and he seems to be free already. A coward hiding during the Pantokrator's reign, but free to roam the world while She has to wait for her shackles to break. The Burning Soul, Prince of Flames is worshiped by the ugly lizardmen of C'tis. Unaesthetic parodies of the divine shape. They even needed tails not to loose balance. Their creator must have been blind, primitive or just plain mean.
Anyway, these lesser pretenders were no match for the Unforgiving Princess. She would show them the truth and the light.
She needed a servant, and found Thorismund. A simple man, but with useful skills. He would do for now. Hopefully the zealous priests would leave him to Her schemes. They had occasionally killed promising subjects in the misconception that she disproved of magic. The malediction obviously still haunted her people. Better lure some of these Illuminated Ones to her service. They seem capable of avoiding the inquisition.
She also needed faithful servants ready to die for her and she found the Ruined Keep. Subject to a vile Hunger the Ghoul Guardians of the Keep promised to be a most loyal and powerful force, if properly fed.
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Thorismund awoke with a headache. He had had too much to drink, or too little perhaps. He still remembered the previous week. Bad that! He had been out on a mission in the Tintalan Mesa when the vision had struck him. Every evening for a week She had appeared in the splendor of the setting sun. He had tried to close his eyes, but it didn't help him much. Her demanding voice still echoed in his brain and made the headache worse.
Why me? He asked to no one in particular. I never wanted any attention, especially from an imprisoned Princess with questionable motives. OK. Just give me a pint of ale and be done with it.
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Malkuth is an imprisoned Virtue. Her dominion is the Sky, the warmth of Blood and the comfort in Afterlife. In other words, she has Air, blood and death magic.
Under Her will Ulm is orderly and productive, but she is a stern Lady and misfortunes often hit the land and mages better ply their trade somewhere else. THe traces of the malediction still lingers.
Thorismund is a Ranger Captain. He is now reluctantly becoming the Prophet of the Unforgiving Princess.
I recruit a Member of the Second Tier and a Couple of Ghoul Guardians.