The Beginning

In an age of great dragons and satanic demons, the Great War had reached its height of devastation. The smell of blood cursed the realm as the Great Elite. Lords of
Chaos, and Abraxus, Guardians of the Light, slaughtered each other in the open fields of the fallen dead. In the third year of the Great War, Abraxus discovered the
stronghold of the Elite, hidden deep beneath the city of Midgaard.

Abraxus, with this valuable information, began forming the largest army the realms had ever seen. An army comprised of the most powerful warriors and mages and even the best assassins money could buy. The most notable of these soldiers hired by Abraxus was Jade, a very skilled thief and deadly assassin who used his skills to better those who could not defend themselves.

The assault of Elite's stronghold, which lasted for seven months, ended with the fall of the once powerful enemy of the people. Jade, finding the master of the Elite,
quickly ended the four year war with a well placed dagger in the back of his enemy. The entire realm had celebrated their freedom from the evil for a full month, and Jade had entered the honors of becoming one of the greatest legends of the realms. Kings declared holidays as the bloodied battlefields made way for fields of colorful flowers. The realm had at long last been embraced in peace.

With the evil gone and Abraxus maintaining the peace throughout the lands, other groups were free to rise up and declare themselves clans. Several clans had emerged from the charred ruins of war, content with keeping to themselves. Grasping Dark was such a clan, led by the evil dark mage Simm.

The Grasping Dark was as any other clan, keeping to themselves to better their clan as they struggled to survive in the war torn lands, but something had soon changed as the Grasping Dark took on a different role in the scheme of things. It is unsure what had caused the Grasping Dark to turn to such violence... some believed it to be Simm's motives all along, but the truth is unclear. Simm knew that he had to face Abraxus before long, and though Simm feared no living being, he knew Jade would be no easy kill. Simm, knowing that only Jade alone could ruin his destiny as ruler of the realms, knew he needed powerful allies to deal with this great enemy. Simm recruited a very deadly vixen and skilled assassin to aid his cause, Opal.

Twisted by the evil Simm fed Opal, she began a reign of terror across the land, a terror no one could possibly forget for a very long time. As strong as Opal was, Jade
proved to be more so and managed to fend off the attacks of Opal and Simm. Simm, realizing Jade's power and ability, ordered Opal to attack Jade's greatest asset,
Abraxus. One by one Abraxus had fallen to the blade of the deadly Opal. Jade was soon left to stand-alone as the Grasping Dark had caused the Guardians of the Light to flicker.

Simm's domination of Abraxus did not come as quickly as he had desired. Other clans had begun to grow more powerful in the anticipation of Grasping Dark's attack. To increase the destructive power of the Grasping Dark, Simm recruited a powerful vampire, a fallen lord called Gerald. With the combined powers of Opal and Gerald, and Abraxus out of the way, Simm and his army of darkened souls began a reign of terror that would affect all forever. Countless souls fell victim to the Grasping Dark as they destroyed several clans from existence.

Simm and the Grasping Dark ruled the realm, as there was no one to stand in the Darkened Lord's path. This overwhelming power began to warp Simm's evil into
insanity, an insanity which Opal and Gerald became very aware of. Simm's demands on his two most trusted warriors quickly became orders which derived from the
mind of a madman. This insanity began the eventual downfall of the Grasping Dark, as Simm had lost one of his greatest warriors to his own ambitions, Gerald.

The Betrayer

As Simm's increasing instability became more and more apparent, Gerald began acting more and more outside of his authority. Many became convinced that the
madness seeping through Simm had infected the vampiric lord himself and this was merely the first sign. Gerald became progressively paranoid, and obsessed with hell, damnation and redemption. He was often seen searching forbidden tomes within the great library of the Grasping Dark and began making discreet inquiries as to the origin of its vicious leader. Yet even as he came closer and closer to the truth of Simm's origin; he began to realize just how tightly controlled he was. Simm through Opal extended an aura of darkness into his being. Even his close proximity to Simm was enough for the mage's taint to putrefy the remains of his soul.

Shocked and concerned, he renounced his inner darkness, clinging to the righteousness of honor held by the living. In the depths of his hatred, he damned Simm and his followers and left the great keep of the Grasping Dark as the sun set knowing that he would be hunted forever. He robbed Simm of two sorceress tomes: the Book of Erebus and the Abraxus Compendium of Light.

Once free of the influence of the Grasping Dark, Gerald began to plot the Dark Lord's downfall. As unstable and vain as Simm had become, he knew little time
remained before he would be targeted for extinction. He sought out all that would serve his cause, but Opal had left none of the great warriors alive save Jade-who had vanished like the setting sun.

As he evaded the Grasping Dark his path crossed with a Lady named Valentine, a blade master who walked her own shadowy path, fighting against the Grasping Dark. With her beside him, new adventurers came, slowly [but surely] men and women of all walks, some tainted by the darkness hoping for salvation. Dark things also came: vampires and lesser undead came asking for release, hoping for redemption in exchange for their faith and tormented service.

With the Book of Erebus, and the Compendium of Light as a foundation, Gerald wrote a new bible to guide those would forsake Simm's great evil:The Scriptures of
Twilight. His revelation of one God who was greater than all the rest, who held true respite for both the living and the dead, began to spread, and the ideal to bind lesser
evils to destroy greater ones found ears in the hearts of some. As his word spread across the land the flickering light of the just began to steady and burn strong again
against a Darkness that permeated the land like a plague.

In the far north, his own fortress took shape on a mountain shrouded in perpetual dusk, illuminated by the Aurora Borealis, and warmed by the volcanic heat of the land itself.Inside, the exiles of the light and dark trained and prepared for war. While upon the rampart the vampire lord known as Gerald debated the odds against him and his untested Aurora Knights with Valentine.

The message of the Aurora Knights had not spread as quickly as Gerald hoped. He knew that as his fledglings trained, Simm and Opal continued to hone the elite skills of the Grasping Dark to a razor's edge. He realized the need for time. In order to acquire that time he made a deal with a group of dragons known as the Inner Circle, an organization who commanded enough power to stall Simm, Opal, and the Grasping Dark, if only for a while.

Hope

After the fall of Abraxus to the Grasping Dark, five dragons from an uncharted mountain situated in the Dragon Sea decided to roam and observe the torn realm.
Quickly, the mighty dragons learned of the evils that lurked about in the form of the Grasping Dark. To prevent Simm from learning of their existence, one of the dragons, a master in the art of magic and illusion named Juzam, transformed the group of dragons into the form of humans to allow the group to travel unnoticed. Together, the five observers entered the world of The Crypt. When they arrived, the realm was in ruins from the war between Abraxus and the Grasping Dark. They decided to form a very hidden and exclusive clan known as the Inner Circle.

The clan approached those in tune with powerful arcane magic as well as those who knew a blade like no other. The Inner Circle searched the lands for the best the
lands could offer, for their future survival depended on it. The Inner Circle, wise in their ways, knew the value of organization, as they would use this to fend off the
Darkness. It was this need for an organized clan that they formed the Council of Five consisting of Shane, Juzam, Redox, Cadbury and Arcane.

The truce with the Aurora Knights bought the Inner Circle the time they needed to establish their presence in the realms. With this presence, the Inner Circle was able to shake the grasp the Darkened Lord had over the realm. Great battles were waged between the Grasping Dark and the Inner Circle. Neither side gaining nor losing much of the ground that they had claimed as their own. The Inner Circle was successful in holding back the advance of Simm and his legions, but the price was great. Knowing the need to end these battles soon was more than apparent to the Inner Circle. The Grasping Dark had far too many resources for Inner Circle to best.

The Third Influence

Austere had always been a loner. A Temporal being, he existed outside of time finding difficulty making ties, physical or interpersonal, to any plane. In Opal however he found more than his usual curiosity. Simm had found in her a power to exploit. Austere knew her to be an Eternal, but so lost to herself she fell early to the manipulations of the Grasping Dark. Austere had spent many linear years exploring the lands now known as the Crypt before encountering Opal, who presented a unique opportunity for him to learn more of the rare Eternals, beings existing cosynchronously across multiple planes.

In studying Opal, Austere slowly found himself in a new position; he began to care for an individual. He found himself going out of his way to speak with her and trying to understand her fears of Simm and her seeming restriction to this planar existence. When Gerald fled the Grasping Dark, Austere began to consider reducing Simm's influence, trying to interest Opal in philosophy and keeping Simm busy with the hunt for Gerald by quietly masking trails and dropping false leads. When the Aurora Knights and Inner Circle built a shallow alliance, Austere saw the opportunity to separate Opal from the Grasping Dark. Thus, Austere remained on the fringe of the alliance, neither truly friend or foe.

The War of Shadow

The days passed to months, until at last Simm, Lord of Darkness decided to unleash his dark desires upon the remaining clans of Crypt. Like a bolt of lightening he
struck, decimating the land and all that opposed him.

Caught by surprise the fragile alliance suffered crushing defeat after defeat. Simm ruthlessly assaulted the Aurora Knights with his sorcery, like an unstoppable tumult he ravaged Gerald's army, leaving only the vampire lord, Valentine, and his elite contingency of the inner guard unscathed.

City after city fell to his dark banner those that would not submit were simply eradicated by wave after wave of soldiers and demons at Opal's command. This
unstoppable force soon rendered almost all of Crypt at Simm's feet. Powerful as the Grasping Dark was, they were unable to destroy Gerald's great fortress, Cerid.
Author's note: The following is taken directly from Kain, the Aurora Knight chronicler."Guardian's Day, October 6th. It has been more than three months since Simm has laid siege to Castle Cerid and although early winter and the grace of God has prevented his capturing the fortress our situation is grim. The living soldiers and civilians are heavily wounded and despite the abundance of serum for the undead tensions between the two are beginning to rise.

To make matters worse one of our vampire scouts returned at dawn yesterday with dire news. Over the past month Simm has been attempting to open a gateway
between our world and Hell. It now appears that he is perilously close to succeeding. Once created he will bring forth Asmodeous. Simm is undoubtedly totally insane, he has no chance of controlling such a demon. If he succeeds he will bring forth the end of all existence, as we know it. The demon Asmodeous will enter the lands at the gate of Castle Cerid. We will undoubtedly be slaughtered, and the rest of crypt will become an extension of hell.

With all this bad news a heavy rainfall seems to be a small thing, but perhaps it shall slow the Grasping Dark's advance just a little. We leave at dusk tonight for
Midgaard."

Finality

Gerald, Valentine, and the Elite Guard set out for Midgaard at dusk, everyone prepared for battle, ready to die to protect the world from Simm, Opal and the Dark Army. On their way, they met up with Coomasie, the high priest of the Inner Circle. Coomasie, master in the holy magic and all that is good, decided to help the group in the attempt to rid the realm of Simm. Keeping to the shadows and trees, they came upon Simm's fortress. Preparing to charge the castle, they entered a secret entrance under the castle. Ready to fight to the death, they stormed into the main hallway, catching the Dark Lord's army off guard.

Gerald's knowledge of the castle was quickly put to good use and the party soon found their way to the doors of the throne room. However, leaning on the doors,
cloaked in shadows was the Grasping Dark's most dangerous assassin, Opal.

A bolt of lightening seared the heavens as Opal studied the warriors. Here gaze took them all in, studying and measuring them in one slow turn of her head. Their clothes were battle worn, their faces grim and all of them filled with an undying defiance. None of them could be a part of Simm's great vision. She kept her tone light and said, "Which one of you wants to die first?"

At that moment the lightening began to intensify outside. Gerald calmly unsheathed his battle sword and began advancing toward Opal. As he stepped he began
gathering Aurora energy from the foundation of castle Cerid. "Austere, Take Valentine and Coomasie into the throne room. Leave Opal to me."

The thought of Opal being harmed pained Austere "Gerald don't do this." he replied "it doesn't have to be this way." "Time is short, and Heaven weeps. This was
decided a long time ago." Gerald said as he and Opal began circling each other. "I'm sorry Austere, please go now."

With a Curse Austere and Coomasie kicked open the door and pulled Valentine inside behind them. Austere sighed, sick at heart that the one person he cared about
was going to die. Yet the chances were in his favor that if she fell, he would soon join her. Gerald rolled away, barely avoiding Opals swift swipe to his neck. He sprung to his feet and released an energy ball from his inner store of energy toward Opal's chest. If not for his vampiric nature he would have been ground to dust by Opal's speed and cunning. His energy ball tagged Opal in the chest before she could defend against it and flew across the room into a stone column. Yet she wasn't down, she rolled smoothly down the column to her feet and rushed him.

Gerald's sword met Opal's in a clash of metal. From his parry his blade sprung off Opal's weapon and attacked her side. With seemingly effortless movements she
deflected his weapon and sent him spiraling to the ground with a backhand to the face. His sword flew from his grasp onto the tiled floor with a metallic thud.

Gerald dodged out of harms way seconds before Opal's sword smashed the tile where his head was in a cascade of sparks. He threw his arm out and grabbed his
sword in one fluid handspring that temporarily put Opal beyond weapons range. "You'll never win, you know. Even if I die, you will never win.", yelled Opal. "It's too late Gerald soon there will be no good, or evil. Only chaos will remain. The lies that bind us will all be dissolved by The Dark Lord!"

Gerald wiped a trickle of precious blood from his lip with a bruised hand and said, "In the name of the faith of all who embrace the light give me strength; for alas, two souls are housed within my breast." The room became still, the wind died and the rain spattering died down for but a moment. In a blinding light Gerald became two men, each with a replica of his weapons, armor, consciousness and soul. Divided by the faith of good and evil. The two men named Gerald charged Opal.

Totally unprepared Opal sliced at the first vampire and round housed the other. The first Gerald dodged her slice and sliced a deep gash down her arm, forcing her to
drop her sword. The second ducked her kick and hamstrung the Grasping Dark vixen forcing her to fall.

Knowing she had to escape she grabbed at the first Gerald with her good arm and threw him into the other; sending them both to the ground. Backing up, Opal made her way to Simm. Merging into one being again, Gerald followed closely behind her into the darkened chamber. "Ah...everyone's finally arrived! Now you all shall see the power that I possess!" exclaimed Simm as he raised his arms, and began speaking in an unknown tongue. As Simm chanted, flames began striking about widely within the room, then in one brief instant, Simm pointed at Gerald, and a bolt of searing flame leaped out at him. Launching herself in front of Gerald, Valentine was struck down, completely engulfed in flames.

From the darkness, as if from no where, Jade appeared at Valentine's side and began extinguishing the flames. With a yell, Gerald bent down, cradling Valentine in his arms. She smiled briefly, as she spoke her last words to Gerald, "Things are as they should be, my love. It was meant this way." With that, Valentine's soul left the realm. Gerald was consumed with an anger unmatched by any other as he shot a look at Simm, which could have shattered stone. Gripping the hilt of his sword until his knuckles bore white, Gerald stood ready to act. Standing with a sinister grin, Simm realized the joy he felt through the pain of Gerald.

Seeking the death of this darkened lord or his own release from the pain he felt, Gerald lunged forward at the lord. Knowing Gerald alone would have little chance of
striking the darkened lord, Jade too raised arms and ran into the fray. Simm would not have his plans interrupted once more as he stood and watched the two heroes
advance, weapons poised for a devastating blow. As Gerald and Jade reached weapons range, they began their downward swings that could have even slain an
Immortal, yet Simm held his position. As the powerful blades of the heroes met with Simm, Gerald and Jade were fully prepared to use there own strength to aid the
blades in digging as deeply into the body of this great enemy as possible. Both heroes were caught off guard as their blades passed through Simm, leaving the lord
untouched and sending the heroes plummeting to the ground.

After the initial shock, Opal and Austere had realized that Simm had somehow entered the Astral Plane, forcing his body to become temporal, an ability believed to be outside Simm's grasp. "How pathetic you all must feel at this very moment! At the moment of your deaths, you still fail to realize the power I possess." Simm stated as his arms raised in preparation for another spell. Again in an unknown language, Simm began to chant words of a mystical and satanic power. "Now you shall feel the true power of the Darkened Lord!" Simm exclaimed as the walls began to bleed with the blood of demons. In an instant, the room was engulfed with a searing fire fueled by the gateway Simm was attempting to open behind him.

At the sight of the searing flame, Coomasie immediately raised a holy shield in an attempt to block the flames. But to his dismay, he discovered that the shield couldn't maintain it's cohesion so close to the gates of Hell. Soon enough, the heroes, adorned with flammable materials ranging from magical potions to the cloth robes they wore, began to find themselves consumed within the flames. Opal herself, who once believed that her Immortal essence would protect her from such harm, was shocked to find that even she had begun to burn alive. The gateway to hell that Simm fought so hard to create had begun to grow to the full size of the room, as demons could be heard being drawn closer to the gateways opening.

Fighting a lost battle, Gerald, Jade, Opal, Austere, and Coomasie had no choice but to leave the room or become heapes of blackened flesh. The heroes knew they had to regroup and rethink their strategy and they now had Opal away from the master who fed her soul. Quickly training their blades on Opal, they were once again left in despair as Opal vanished from view, not to be seen again that day. Hope was quickly becoming a scarce resource the heroes desperately needed. Having no choice but to end what they had come to do by killing Simm, the four remaining heroes charged into the anti-chamber where Simm continued to empower his gateway to Hell. Knowing that their sealed fate laid before them, Gerald, Jade and Austere advanced swiftly on Simm with the intent of ending the darkened lords life and the evil he has brought the land.

This time knowing what to expect and the ability that Simm possessed, Coomasie conjured a spell that allowed the heroes to enter the temporal plane where Simm sits. With Simm's concentration on the gateway and the demons on the verge of the entranceway, Gerald summoned all the power that the Aurora Knight Leader could and sent it hurling into Simm in the form of a concentrated bolt of energy. Leaving a hole the size of a melon passing through the Dark Lords upper back. Jade, the consummate warrior, followed up Gerald's attack by stabbing Simm with his sword, deeply passing through his lower back, forcing Simm to turn in agony. Now turned, the strike from Austere landed squarely in Simm's chest. Bleeding profusely and screaming from the pain and the realization that his dream now stood before him faltered for the first time, Simm's expression quickly turned from one of pain to that of one who knew what fate lie in store for all who stood near the now faltering gateway of Hell.

Shock found its way to the faces of the heroes as they realized that without Simm controlling the stability of the gateway its power would quickly grow wild with
unexpected results. The intensity of the demons screams grew as they themselves could sense that something had gone awry as they begun to step through the gateway. The first demon, a large Pit Fiend, plucked Simm up off the ground with its massive clawed hand and threw the darkened lord into the dimensional vortex. Unsure how to handle the demon which now faced them, Gerald and Jade began to advance on the demon which stood before them, but they would never have the chance to engage the beast.

With a jolt of electricity, the gateway emitted a shockwave which flew through the castle. Austere knew that this powerful gateway had lost control of itself and buckle under its own power, Austere knew the danger to the entire party. Another jolt of electricity swept Gerald into the dimensional vortex, where he too disappeared.

Sensing Austere's urgency, Jade, and Coomasie were forced to flee the chamber with Austere in hopes of escaping the force that would soon be released by the
gateway. It is unclear as to how this motley group of heroes made it out of the catacombs alive, some believe Opal and her ability to travel in and out of the Astral Plane while others believe it to be due to the skill of the legendary heroes.

What is known, however, is that soon after the heroes escape from the castle, the gateway exploded, destroying the Grasping Dark fortress. The Grasping Dark without Opal or Simm to guide it fell apart. Leaving the land in peace once again.

Epilogue

The entire realm had celebrated their freedom from the evil for a full week, and like Jade, Austere, Coomasie was given the honor of becoming one of the greatest
legends of the realms. The bloodied battlefields again made way for fields of colorful flowers.Since that fateful day, peace has reigned in the land of Crypt for nearly three hundred years. War has been only a memory told by elves and scholars to children late at night. However the hands of destiny have again embraced the coming darkness. The ruins of the great fortress of the Grasping Dark have again sparked to life as a expansive temporal rift opened.

Austere looked toward the heavens one starry evening, as a temporal being, he could feel the disturbance in the temporal plain. Tonight it bubbled and crackled with
anticipation, longing and apprehension. He looked back to the trail ahead and continued his walk down it on his quest to find Opal. He adjusted his coat as if cold, yet he
knew better. Farther away beyond both the temporal realm and the lands of Crypt, he could feel something else- a dark tempest that hungered destruction.

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