The Valdorian Horror

**The Valdorian Horror** or **Der Palastgeist** was a monstrous masterwork created by the god Zath that secretly corrupted and infiltrated the upper caste of Vurbranntian royal society, ultimately silently killing and replacing over 130 people in the royal palace of Ravenroost over the course of 67 years spanning from 1154-1221 5th Epoch. The people the entity targeted ranged from lowly servants, rich merchants, ambassadors, diplomats, influential court advisors, the Queen consort and even the King himself, King Zerbildt later known as Zerbildt the False One.

The main body of the monster itself which was known as 'The Hive' was a large heart-like organism of rotting flesh that was burrowed deep into the walls of the Ravenroost fortress hidden within the marble architecture. 'The Hive' was supported by a network of sprawling fleshy feelers that spread from the heart structure that burrowed through the palace walls to allow The Hive to exert its influence over the fortress and create the next feature of its organism, 'The Clonal Entities'. When the fleshy feelers were spread into a room the feelers would then break out from behind the marble wall and feed on whoever was in the room where the breach was made. After feeding on the victim, the feelers would swallow the victim into the wall where the breach was made by the feelers and make a perfect copy of the person which was known as a Clonal Entity. This clone maintained the creature's thoughts and personality and was almost completely indistinguishable from the person it mimicked. The Clonal Entity was then reintroduced into the palace to continue its normal routine while secretly furthering the creature's efforts of corrupting the palace.

Overall the network of feelers that were made in the walls spanned a cumulative distance of 20,000 square miles. This included a massive cluster of feelers that sprouted from underneath the palace and routed towards the nearby royal cemetery where it fed on the corpses for nearly 60 years allowing it to grow substantially and rapidly. The Hive's primary function was to produce the bodies that would be used in the Clonal Entities. In The Hive, which was the centre of the system of feelers, it produced the bodies that would then be used by the Clonal Entities birthing them out of the rotting fleshy heart to be sent along the network of feelers, but occainsonally it also constructed its own entirely new bodies that were used to mislead investigation in the palace. In such examples, it created guardsmen, labourers and clerics who were created to mislead individuals who were getting too close to uncovering the gruesome monstrous parasite that fed on the palace.

It is believed The Valdorian Horror was tied to numerous other mysterious events in the palace's history. Such as a string of an uncurable disease that rapidly withered flesh and bone affecting over 40 palace servants. The spread of disease was originally believed to be a result of rotten dishes that were fed to servants but it is now believed that The Valdorian horror was responsible, as numerous tendrils were secretly burrowed behind and in the bedframes of the servants attempting to manipulate their dreams and sway them to the Horror's side.

Another example of a mysterious event that has been retroactivly suspected of being committed by the Valdorian Horror was the large and mysterious invasion of insane avianfolk who stormed the palace and wreaked havoc as they completely lost their minds in the year 1211. During the time nobody knew what caused the mad manticore and eagle attacks but since the Valdorian Horror's discovery, it was revealed that the Horror's tendrils had indeed spread beyond the palace of Ravenroost and even into the Raven mountains beyond, finding its way into numerous eagle and manticore nests explaining the attack.

After 67 years of King Zerbildt's false rule eventually, the monster was discovered. in the year 1221 when a section of the palace was being demolished to expand the underground cellar it revealed to the horrified labourers a gigantic amorphous form of flesh that was living inside palaces marble architecture. After the Bishops of Calabor were sent to destroy the monstrosity and cleanse the foul creature hiding in the castle it revealed to the citizens just how extensive and corrupting the network of entities had become. When the central heart was destroyed the Clonal Entities and the feelers all withered and rotted rapidly. This revealed to the people of Vurbrannt that unbeknownst to them their King, their Queen and 135 other powerful people in the Vurbranntian royal palace were all unnatural monstrosities puppeted by a fell creature hiding in the walls of the fortress controlling the Kingdom for nearly 70 years.

At the point the Valdorian Horror was discovered, with 137 people under its unholy yoke it was revealed that more people were corrupted serving this unseen master than were untouched making the regular people of the palace greatly outnumbered. When The Hive was discovered it was revealed that the bodies of 15 more Clonal Entities were being pieced together showing it was still growing and that had it not been discovered it could have easily completely overrun the palace.