Mikhalinn (It'Ept Warlock)

Mikhalinn, aspiring Avatar of Oblivion.

The It'Ept known to the magi as Mikhalinn, the Dark Lord, was a powerful warlock who rose to rule the subterranean civilisation of his people, having come into possession of the unholy text of Oblivion itself. He promised his people swift victory over their ages-ling rivals, the Girestab, in the form of an opened gateway to Hell itself. The armies of terrible beings which would emerge, he claimed, would be bound to his command and serve his people's wishes, over running their enemies. it is not known whether or not he knew this to be a falsehood or not.

## **History**

Mikhalinn's true name is unknown (although texts uncovered by the satyr Chittel hint that he may have been the priest known as Goojua). he is assumed to have grown up entirely within the confines of the It'Ept civilisation, but may have travelled abroad in order to somehow gain possession of the Book of Ahriman. The It'Ept were one of the most mysterious peoples of the world, almost entirely unknown to all other species, and as such details of childhood and cultural influences upon him are likewise shrouded in mystery.

What is known is that he came to rule the It'Ept at the height of their desperation and fear, when they were threatened with extinction at the hands of the warlike Girestab peoples of the jungles above. Such was his power that even the magus Seth Mastiphal, hero and prospective entrant to the Ennead Order, was slain by his black magics when he tried to topple his rule.

Harnessing his people's terror and rage at their imminent defeat, he opened a gateway to the Outer Darkness and ushered in the demonic army, which proceeded to slaughter both populations and rampage throughout the jungles beyond. The goddess Arikel, fearing the Unravelling had somehow come, abandoned her post at the Dawnbridge and descended to fight off the demons, driving many of them back. However, Oblivion slipped across the Bridge of Dawn and, taking the Sun by surprise, brutally murdered it, plunging the world into a night which lasted for a full cycle of 99 days in which the Moon glowed angry crimson.

The Scourge of Shadows had commenced at the hands of Mikhalinn the warlock, and having done his dark master's bidding, he ascended to the surface world to claim the Aeons from the Order of Ennead and then lead an army against the city of Tolnor, where King Sorin-Sam guarded over the legendary Beacon of Belenos, hoping to claim it for himself for darker purposes. However, in the final days of the Scourge he was defeated by Sorin-Sam and stole the Beacon in spirit form before being ultimately banished from the world by the Ritual of One Thousand Tongues enacted by Stevahl and Green Qrurrawk, which ripped the Aeon of Flame from his possession and led to his exile by the Seal of Saints. Oblivion's armies retreated or were destroyed and the Darkness was once more defeated.

Or so the story goes.

## **What Really Happened at the Dawn of the Scourge**

Unknown to the world at large, the truth of the Shadow Scourge is quite different from the one believed even by the two remaining members of the Order of Nine, and is under much greater threat than it realises. All is not what it seems, and the Dark has not been defeated.

In truth, by the time Seth Mastiphal, apprentice under Blademaster Stevahl and bearer of the Aeon of Flame, set foot in the It'Ept city to confront Mikhalinn, he was a broken and tormented man already in the thrall of the Moon. The trials and tribulations of life had left him a remnant of his former self, and the murder of his ideals by his own hand rendered him a pawn of the Dark. He confronted Mikhalinn not to stop his machinations, but to claim his title as Avatar, for Oblivion had judged him superior material. He struck down the arrogant It'Ept warlock and from then onwards claimed the name of the Dark Lord for himself. Reading choice passages of the Book of Ahriman, it was he who ushered in the demons and he who saw the fall of Arikel and triggered the death of the Sun. He was the architect of the Scourge of Shadows.

The reason that there was no coordinated attack upon order during the Scourge is because Oblivion intended only to weaken his enemies for what was to come. Mikhalinn instructed most of his followers to remain in waiting when he departed for Tolnor's battlefields with his armies of quisling humans and undead hordes, in order to deceive the forces opposing them into believing that Darkness had been vanquished when it in fact hadn't been. Once the Tomb of Saints, the last remnant of the Light-Bringers, lay despoiled in ruin, Darkness could finally and decisively usher in the world's end. Seeking the Beacon of Belenos which would open the Tomb, Mikhalinn allowed Sorin-Sam to kill his mortal form so that he might enter Tolnor undercover in spirit form through possession and steal the artefact. With it in his possession, he journeyed to the Tomb of Saints and was only stopped at the last minute by Stevahl's great ritual.

Mikhalinn's immediate subordinates knew that all was not yet lost to them, however. With the Order of Ennead decimated and cities in ruin, there would be a growth in fanaticism and persecution in the aftermath, and Oblivion had designs for the fallen Seraph Asmodeus. Restoration of nations would require heavy funding, and it had plans to make use of the talfar as a weapon against those who thought city walls could defend them. All it had to do was put its servants to the task of returning its Avatar to the world and gathering armies for the right moment to strike a complacent and unsuspecting foe. With Mikhalinn's return, he could recover the Aeon of Flame from its new possessor, open the Seal and speak the specific formula that would despoil the Tomb of Saints. Then the cleansing Dark could do its work.

Even if Mikhalinn was foiled again, he knew that the dorogar's Burning Crusade would swamp the world in blood and fire, sowing such despair and ruin in their "righteous cause" that his army of demons would gain entrance anyway in the fullness of time.