Kalvalax

The kingdom of Kaerok has rarely known a time without war and, at times, conflicts in bordering regions have spilled into the realm, causing great hardship and upheaval. During times such as these come opportunities for those of lower birth to rise to greatness, as it did after the War of the Elves, when a power vacuum engulfed Northridge, a poor, hilly region north of Durham Forest. Sensing just such an opportunity, a border lord in Kaerok sent his most experienced knight to seize the land. The knight’s name was Kalvalax, and though he was no noble, he’d earned his knighthood through great strength and determination. As he was commanded, Kalvalax led his army through Northridge, conquering every settlement he came across. All those who refused to surrender, Kalvalax killed. Unfortunately for Kalvalax’s lord, the king of Kaerok did not reward him for sending Kalvalax to fight on his behalf. Instead, the king declared Kalvalax Baron of Northridge, rewarding his efforts with the task of controlling this new, wild frontier. Free of his lord’s whims, Kalvalax finally had people to call his own. Kalvalax had made clear enemies of the Elves of Durham Forest by this point, and his fellow barons in Kaerok envied him for his rapid rise to power. Even so, Kalvalax ruled his people with an iron fist and governed his province for many seasons. While his people merely survived, Kalvalax himself prospered. One day, a virulent plague swept through Kalvalax’s barony. Houses and small holdings, along with their infected dwellers, were burned to the ground. But the burning failed to stop the spread of disease and seeing no other way to survive, Kalvalax walled himself within his castle, barring the gates against the plague’s grasp. He hoped that while his barony might collapse, his court at least would live to take any survivors through the crisis. In the barony’s darkest hour, a stranger, shrouded in robes of black, arrived at Kalvalax's castle. Being an old man, he was unafraid of the plague, and asked at the gate to speak with Kalvalax, promising he had something the baron would wish to know. The stranger made his offer: he could cure this lethal plague, and Kalvalax’s barony would be saved. Kalvalax cared greatly for his land – without it, he would be nothing, another landless knight. Desperate to keep it, Kalvalax agreed to carry out the stranger’s plan. The next day, Kalvalax opened his gates, and ordered his troops to gather people from throughout the barony. It didn’t matter if they were healthy or sick, rich or poor, man, woman, or child. Eventually, all the people they could muster were gathered in Kalvalax’s castle's square, where his scribes etched magical runes into the cobblestones at the stranger’s direction. When at last everything was in place, Kalvalax raised his fist and gave the order. His soldiers surrounded the people in the square and leveled their weapons at them. Spearmen slaughtered families with thrusts of their weapons, while bowmen perched on the rooftops shot into the hysterical crowd. As the blood of Kalvalax’s people flooded the square, it splashed onto the runes. Kalvalax watched as the runes began to glow a vivid green. As the last victim fell dead, the final rune was lit with a sickly, emerald glow. The stranger said that the magic was drawing the plague’s power to the castle. Now it bathed the castle in light, blinding all around. Kalvalax's sight quickly returned and his heart became filled with joy, seeing the baleful light encircling his castle. Surely the spell was working. The sacrifice of his people would not be in vain. He was desperate to believe. But Kalvalax's joy became agony as the light shot into his body, infusing him with all the plague’s grotesque pestilence. On and on, Kalvalax screamed, his body racked with agony. As the pain finally faded, he opened his eyes, and his body was radiant with power beyond his wildest dreams. With his new power, something stirred within his heart – he no longer cared about the plague. To the horror of his men, Kalvalax gazed upon the pile of corpses and laughed. The stranger offered Kalvalax his hand in an unspoken offer of greater power. The knight took it, and together they left his ruined home behind. In the days that followed, reports of an Undead knight spread throughout Kaerok. This imposing figure bore Kalvalax’s eyes, but they glowed a toxic green, and it killed without remorse. Nobody knows who the stranger who corrupted Kalvalax was, but one thing seems certain. The Kalvalax that ruled Northridge was long gone. All that remained was an avatar of corruption, a literal revenant knight whose only desire now was to spread grim death in its wake.