King Vexivar

### Aliases

Orosovir Vexivar, The King in the Hole, The Hole King, God of Death, Dark-Seep, Shadow Serpent

King Vexivar or, "The Hole King," as he is more commonly known is an ancient being who was, at one point in time, the king of a vast interstellar empire which has since been lost to time.

## Early Life

King Oros began his life as a relatively normal individual on his home-world. The existence of the Bog and several local AOIs became known within the King's lifetime, prompting his people to seek out its mysteries by studying its phenomenon. Little is known about the specifics of the King's earliest years, but it is very likely he was part of the initiative to investigate The Bog and had direct contact with it on multiple occasions.

## The Thought-Form Bridge and the Nature of Magic

The King's planet slowly began adapting to the presence of the Bog, and like so many other intelligent species, found ways to exploit it. At first, the two primary AOIs on the surface of the planet were simply tapped for resources. AOI-45635034557002725034 and AOI-19624054344533395, known as "Canyon's Wrest," and "Lake Valmalon," respectively became locations of intense scientific interest and eventually even spiritual sites.

Soon the first individuals capable of twisting reality in the presence of the Bog began to step forward. They were foolhardy adventurers who had ventured into the Bog and emerged changed. The King's people soon came to realize that their potential was no longer hindered by the constraints of reality, and nearly anything was possible with a hole in the fabric of space and a little focus.

## The Night Pilgrim

For a brief period in his younger days The King quietly absconded from his world to explore the uncharted depths of the universe. Disguised as lesser being claiming to be an interstellar mariner he developed the moniker of "The Night Pilgrim." The main purpose of these expeditions were essentially to gather intelligence and scout for future adversaries and allies. His observations would inform what kind of power would be required to conquer these worlds in the centuries to come. Notable outcomes from this period were the discovery of Stankbirds and the meeting of Vakul.

## The Woods War and the War of the Risen Dead

The "Woods War," which resulted directly from the changes the Bog had created in the King's society. Rifts were forming between groups of people and tensions were rising as it became clear nothing would ever be the same again in the future of the planet. Subsets of ideologies formed, some who wanted to increase their power further by embracing the Bog, others who wanted continue exploiting the Bog scientifically, and others yet who sought to turn away from the Bog in favor of developing naturally without its corrupting influence.

The aftermath of the Woods War catalyzed the population even further, leading to the creation of two dominant groups: the powers of science and magic. Their conflicts were small and numerous, however costly, and never resulted in headway gained on either side. The individual who would go on to become King Vexivar was likely in the camp of the scientists, waging war using technology and material discovered from within the Bog.

At some point the King made a play for both sides by using a combination of Science and Magic. The so-called "War of the Risen Dead," was the direct result of the King's actions, a unilateral strike formed from the dead remains of his own people. As the war of the Risen Dead raged on, the powers of science and magic attempted to join forces against the King, however Vexivar's abilities were manifesting and advancing rapidly and this final desperate attempt by his enemies was completely and utterly crushed.

## The Ransom Wedding

After claiming victory in the War of the Risen Dead, The King, who had renamed himself Orosovir Vexivar, handed control of the newly minted empire to a council of his most loyal followers and went into seclusion to develop his necromantic abilities.

The King dreamed of a woman sitting in a tree-top, a powerful mage in her own right who might increase his own power. The King eventually learned of a similar women from his council, the leader of a resistance holdout buried deep in the woods, a fortress and enclave which sought to escape the King's wrath. The King traveled there, alone, and discovered the stronghold was populated primarily by women, nearly all of whom where powerful mages. Their leader, the Lady in the Tree, lived her life in the canopy of the forest to avoid contact with the Bog.

The King, for all his power, was in fact outnumbered and would have lost in a battle of magic, however after he was taken prisoner, his trump-card was revealed. He had directed the arsenal of the old world, weapons forged from metal and science, upon this safe-haven; Should he be killed, everyone who lived here would be killed. The Lady in the Tree was both disturbed and amused at this turn of events: The wicked King had not turned over completely to the corruption of the Bog, but retained his pragmatism and cunning.

The Lady in the Tree asked The King what he desired, in return for sparing their enclave. He asked for her to descend from the trees and become his wife, so they might rule together and grow even more powerful. The lady in the tree, who would later take the name Shemak, agreed to the King's conditions and became his queen. The Queen's followers went on to become her personal caste of handmaidens and warriors.

## Strife and Prosperity in the Empire of Death

The royal couple reemerged to the world and vowed that a new order would be established. Their people would walk on the headstones of the old world and turn their heads towards progress, all the while embracing the Bog and the power it offered them. Thus began a new age of development for the King's people, they developed incredible magic and technology, they traveled into the stars and formed colonies on the closest worlds. Not all was well within the kingdom, however, as the lifeblood of this new civilization was the power of death itself. The royal death cult demanded constant sacrifice, the living became the playthings of the powerful necromancers.

The King used his power to forcefully transform his council of loyalist to skeletal liches, each of them bound to his will and compelled to do his willing for all of eternity. They directed society to worship death, to offer up life wantonly for the King's experiments and endless hunger for ever more strength. So his power grew, but his lust for domination also swelled, and the King swiftly outgrew the might of all his peers and so they too were consumed.

## The Great Deception and the Seven Days of Rage

The Queen knew her days were numbered. Soon the King would desire to consume her soul as well, all as part of his quest to become the most powerful being in all of creation. Shemak knew it was too late to stop the King through confrontation alone, so she devised a plan.

Shemak would flee into the universe, taking her handmaidens with her, and transform herself into a new being. She would become an entity composed of many identities, a hive mind that sought consensus and allowed the dead to join willingly, instead of devouring the spirits of the living like the King. Before she left, the Queen would release the Bone Council from the King's control, allowing them to flee his wrath the same as her.

The Queen enacted her plan and vanished from the planet, and it wasn't long before King Orosovir learned of her deception. The King's rage was great, so great that he consumed his entire planet and nearly all who lived upon it and lacked the ability to escape. His rage lasted for seven days, and extended far enough to touch even the furthest colonies of his now-fallen empire.

The King was no longer a person, but a being consumed by hate and rage, powered by the souls of the dead. His newfound quest, to seek out his Queen and destroy her for betraying him, set him on a course to wage war on the entire universe. So it was, one planet at a time, the King brought his dread to bear upon the stars.

## The Endless War and the End of the Endless War

The King's rampage through the universe only increased his power. Each planet he visited resisted in their own way, some were weak, others were strong, but they all crumbled beneath the King's might. The so-called "endless war" came to a screeching halt when the King found his way to the planet earth.

Earth was known to the galactic community for a handful of distinctions: Earth had the best cheese, the best slots, and produced more diarrhea than any other planet in the known universe. The King fell upon the planet from the Darkwood, but before he could begin his reaping he realized that the one he sought, The Queen, was closer than she had ever been before. Long ago, the Queen had called the Darkwood home, and now the King was in reach of the one he despised most.

The King gambled, he elected to settle in the Darkwood, change his strategy so he might defeat Queen Shemak. He tainted the soil, grew fleshy roots into the earth and took up residence underground. To the simpleton Bog-folk, he became known by his now eponymous name: The King in the Hole.

## Current Activities

The King in the Hole has wallowed severely. For millennia he festered underground, biding his time, but the Bog extracted a toll from him and his power has waned. He is still an incredibly powerful being, however it is questionable if he will ever be able to leave the Darkwood without absorbing another powerful entity to boost his powers. Like many who enter the Bog, the King is besieged with sorrow, and grows weaker by the day.