Void, Prince of darkness

I was once an emissary from the land of Aether, a land filled with magic of all types, creatures beyond natural birth each imbued with their own specialized powers. My position was royal paladin in the capital city of Latarnia, my name was Lucian Alvar. But one day the citizens of the land began to become afflicted with some sort of plague, withering their very souls and reducing them to mindless husks. With all forms of healing magic failing we had no other choice but to look for help from outside sources. 200 emissaries from the royal capital Latarnia were sent out to different dimensions to look for a cure. Included in their ranks were 7 of the most powerful royal mages, I was the 8th.

The emissaries brought back many materials but none were able to stop or even slow the infection. As more went out less came back until all that was left were 3. none of the mages returned, presumably consumed by infection. In a last attempt at salvation I was sent out by the royal family to find the source of the infection while those of royal blood were evacuated to other dimensions as a precaution. Their hope was that because of my high magical affinity for dark magic the infection would have less of an effect on me and I would be able to study it at its epicenter.

I scoured the land going through many regions and finding trace after trace of infection and infected beasts until at last I found the source. A dark spring deep within the Oscuro mountains. I gathered samples, creating a lab at the source, though with each sample I collected my blood became more contaminated until it ran black with infection. However I was able to keep my consciousness, not because of my affinity for dark magic, in fact the infection seemed to feed on my dark magic. The reason I was able to keep my consciousness was because I was the last of a dying species, a Dark Elf. Few of my kind were left and even fewer practiced the old ways of dark magic.

With each passing day the infection coursed through me. I couldn't feel pain anymore, nor hunger or any emotions. However I could see everything, the connections within the creatures around me, their consciousness, and the network within the infection. All that drove me was my duty to my kingdom and the hope that life could persevere. Then I started hearing them, the voices. Souls that had been lost to the infection and within the choir were the voices of the 7 mages, consumed and enraged. whatever this thing was it was like a hivemind, consuming souls to feed to whatever being brought this abomination upon this land. By conversing with the lost souls I determined that in order to stop the infection I would have to kill the creature at the source. So for the sake of my kingdom I reached into the black abyss and using dark magic, linked my soul to it's hivemind in order to be able to traverse the void and find its source.

It was like floating in nothingness, there was no air, no light, no warmth, only the screams of the damned. I flowed through the network dragging my body behind me until finally I saw it, the creature at the heart of it all. A massive beast with skeletal arms, multiple horns and eyes, and wings that flowed with dark magic. Reconnecting my soul to my body I drew my weapon and prepared to fight, however the creature seemed to pay me no mind. I struck it and in that instant I felt my own strike hit me, for the first time since I began studying the infection I felt pain.

I had spent too long interacting with it, I was now completely linked to the hivemind. No matter how much I hit it, I always felt the pain. If I kept going I would die and fail my mission. I had to think of something and fast, the creature seemed to be getting annoyed by my presence, understandable I did constantly stab it.

In a last attempt I once again linked my soul to the network and searched the void for the souls of the lost mages, however with each soul I gathered I lost a part of myself. By the seventh I could hardly hear myself think. With their souls connected to mine I once again connected to my body and faced the beast while preparing a powerful spell. This time however it sensed the souls within me and the power I possessed. Immediately it struck at me, with one blow I felt my very souls rattling within me. It continued to attack but I used the combined powers of the souls to make a light barrier around me. if not for my armor I would have died on the first hit. With my last bits of strength I held onto the creature and completed the spell. A massive gate made of runes appeared beneath us pulling us both in along with the surrounding void and in doing so it released the souls trapped within it.

We were transported to a new world very different from the Aether. In this new world I sensed very limited, if any magic. The creature seemed as confused as I was but before it had the chance to fly back through the gate I used a spell of binding, trapping it within the very void that it used to control. In doing so I severed its link to the network. Giving me control over the void. Normally I wouldn't have the power to do this but with the souls within me and the creature in a slightly weakened state I was able to. With the creature secured I searched the world for a place with a concentration of magic and found it, Epheria.

Using the void I created a home for myself, a place that I could defend while also studying the void I was made of, with the creature gone from the Aether I hoped the land would restore itself, however I was unable to return because of the high concentration of void within me. I was afraid I would start the infection all over again. So I decided I would stay in Epheria until I had full understanding and control of the void so that none of this ever happened again. After a few weeks of training I was able to shape any way I wanted, allowing me to grow to any size I want or mimic any object. The creature awaits atop my castle waiting for a chance to escape.

### Relic: The Bognor Cave Compass/ Stable ender pearl

While exploring the Riverlands I happened to come across the remnant of a past crusade of the Knights of the withered rose. Hidden in a barrel outside of the entrance of the Bognor cave I found the compass. Upon closer inspection the compass not only pointed to the Bognor cave but also granted teleportation to the wielder once thrown. Immediately I recognized its use and inquired of Sir Davos of Thoronor, a knight of the withered rose, if I could keep it. He agreed and ever since it has been in my possession.