Alpha

### Aliases

The First Lord, Alpha Deathmask, Lord Alpha, Alpharius, Ratatoskr, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Great Druid of the Forest of Belanore Circle, Watcher at the Threshold

### Affiliation

Lords, Arendur, Druid Society, (formerly Final Empire)

## Physical description

### Eye color

Green

*“You do not follow me because I am the strongest. Perduke is. You do not follow me because I am the brightest. Bazzel is. You follow me because you do not know where you are going. I do.”*

 -Alpha

## History

*"The greatest trick I ever pulled was convincing the world I didn't exist."*

-Alpha

Alpha was born in the Land of the Fey, becoming a Druid at a very young age. Deeply in tune with the animal world, he spent years of his life in the simple and humble form of a squirrel, before returning to the shape of man and becoming an adventurer.

Alpha's story takes two very divergent paths - one in service to Emperor Monopoly of the Final Empire, the other in service of Tolumvire of Arendur. Each happened in a different timeline, the latter very much a response to the former.

When Emperor Monopoly took control of the Final Empire, Alpha was one of the thirteen heroes who became his Lords. Alpha was chosen by Monopoly to be the first to sit upon the throne, which tapped into his nascent psychic power and gave him great and terrible psionic might. What he and Monopoly did not know was that he was the host of a psionic parasite known as the Gem, which fed upon the throne's energy and grew mighty indeed. It formed a symbiotic relationship with Lord Alpha, empowering his psychic powers further while warping his psyche and transforming him into something monstrous and mad. Donning a skull mask, Alpha began to warp the minds of those around him, reshaping their personalities into forms that suited him. He turned the population of the Final Empire into docile mind-slaves, and frequently wiped memory of his existence from everyone who ever met him. Even the other Lords were shaped into grotesque reflections of their former selves, all save for Lord Bazzel, who managed to escape his fell influence. When the Doom struck down the Final Empire, he was one of many warlords who tried to preserve the world. The Gem abandoned him here, slipping through cracks in time to the past, leaving him bereft of his once mighty psionic power. He was slain in unknown circumstances, and would have been forgotten had the adventurer Marnard Ningel not found his death mask, which had retained a sliver of his personality and psychic force.

In the other path - where Tolumvire of Arendur took the throne instead of Emperor Monopoly - Alpha was never corrupted by the Gem. He pledged fealty to Tolumvire along with the other Lords, becoming a member of the Illuminated. After the Arendur-Ragnarok War, Tolumvire named Alpha his Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was absent from Oranor when the last Arendurians were killed, becoming one of the nation's survivors. He turned to Druid Society politics, swiftly distancing himself from the regime he had once served.

## Personality

Alpha projected an image that was both wise and somber. He typically took leadership, doing what needed to be done, although in retrospect, he was not always the right person for the tasks he undertook. His manner was "like a rock", and he maintained professional distance in all his dealings with people. Alpha always wore a mask, whether literal or not, and behind his solemnity, he had a kind and gentle soul, going so far as to weep when hearing of his own future corruption by the Gem. He far preferred the simplicity of the animal world above the human one. After his corruption, he fell down a slippery slope of guilt, madness, and a desire for redemption. As he indulged more and more in his powers, he became more and more ashamed, and more and more addicted to his own evil.

## War of the Philosopher-Kings

Though he had become more involved in Druid Society politics, Alpha still maintained contacts in Forester's Town. He was deeply reluctant to choose sides between Arendur and the Land of the Fey, and sat out the war. Many in Forester's Town never forgave him for not coming to their aid, calling him a traitor, which greatly disturbed him.

## After the War

With the rise of the great old ones and their cult in New Arendur, Alpha would move permanently to the Land of the Fey, abandoning the city as a lost cause. He serves King Odilon Roy as as an adviser, although the King of Saa Belanore distrusts him.