Vincent Vale: Difference between revisions

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  | gender = Male
  | gender = Male
  | race = Human
  | race = Human
  | player = 073090 / Numbers Guy
  | player = Numbers Guy
  | image = [[File:Vincent_Vale.jpeg|300px]] [[File:Vincent's_Mask.jpeg|300px]]
  | image = VincentValeCrop.png
  | fullname = Vincent Vale
  | fullname = Vincent Vale
  | nicknames = Vince, Mr. Vale
  | nicknames = Vince, Mr. Vale,<br>The Godless Swordsman,<br>Titanbreaker
  | age = 34
  | age = Unknown
  | deity = Rejected
  | deity = None
  | alignment = True Neutral
  | alignment = Neutral Good
  | occupation = Cleric
  | occupation = Ex-spelljammer pirate, tavern proprietor, relic hunter, monster slayer, champion of mortals.
  | faction = Athar
  | faction = Athar
  | birthplace = Enthar - Cathedral of the Archon
  | birthplace = Enthar
  | height = 6'5" / 2 meters
  | height = 6'5" / 198 cm
  | weight = 258 lbs / 117 kg
  | weight = 258 lbs / 117 kg
  | eyes = Azure
  | eyes = Blue
  | hair = Charcoal
  | hair = Black
  | complexion = Fair
  | complexion = Fair
  | build = Stout
  | build = Muscular
  | features =  
  | features = An imposing figure in armor with the build of a warrior.
  | skills = Magic, Swordplay, Healing
  | skills = Beyond ninth-tier divine magic, master swordsman, supernatural eyesight, great discipline and willpower.
  | gear = Full Plate, Mask, Sword, Shield, Miscellaneous
  | gear = Full plate, helmet, sword, shield, many miscellaneous.
  |}}
  |}}
"The gods have become our greatest creation, and our greatest lie."


<span style="color:#DEECFF;"><center><font size=4>
My tale is lengthy, so I will spare you when I can. My people were forced to toil in an unforgiving and isolated world called Enthar, where life should not have been possible. It's what I later came to know as a heavy gravity world, with a surface that suffered extremely low temperatures with great storms that never seemed to end. But we were strong and stubborn. My parents were farmers that utilized an alchemical process to grow food beneath the surface of our world, where we had a chance at survival. What little time we had upon the surface was greatly cherished, even if it was hardly more than an extended mountain range and rocky bluffs. And despite this, we learned to persist. Our structures were built of rounded stone and angled cleverly against the winds. We learned to resist the raging world around us and our cities became fortresses against our own lands.


== Personality ==
[[File:Storms.png|center]]


A harsh world breeds hard people. There was little room for excess when the struggle for survival filled our everyday mentality. We knew little of art or music or magic, and our society was grim and utilitarian compared to most. Those that developed the ability to manipulate energy were regarded as the peak of our societies, but the honor came with a burden. Everyone was evaluated for their aptitude at a young age to see if they might have the inclination later in life. I was little more than a child, but I vaguely recall a series of mental tests to assess my eligibility. When I proved to have potential, they took me far from my home and lead me up into the mountains. A cathedral was nestled into a valley where the storms could not reach, and I found myself learning with other youths. They taught us how to focus our minds and channel our wills, and we demonstrated our devotion to our god through monthly rituals. They never permitted any of us to leave, claiming we were too valuable to let wander.


Vincent is a man consisting of as much reserve as mystery. Little of his past is known to others, save for a few close companions. He is one with little patience for wordplay or devices, often preferring blunt statements over lavish narratives. Due to his previously solitary lifestyle, he exhibits a quiet stoicism that may be construed as intimidating. Indeed, something about the man is imposing, even when he is relaxed. While his size and reputation with a blade ostensibly contribute to this perception, he tends to command the respect of someone experienced.
[[File:Temple.png|center]]


Many years passed in the temple and I had learned all I could from the masters by the time I was a young adult. They said I had a rare knack even among the gifted, but I suppose I threw myself into the study to alleviate my boredom and sate my restless spirit. Truthfully, I missed my family and despised being confined to the cathedral grounds for all those years, but I did have an escape beyond my studies. I discovered the temple was built over a cavernous ruin that predated our civilization. The grounds were practically treated as a holy place, and few had ventured down into the tunnels for centuries. Deep into the heart of the mountain beyond many winding tunnels, there was a great archway in the center of a great cavern filled with ruins. I spent a deal of time exploring those ruins, but the archway was always the focus of my fascination.


Those that come to know Vincent quickly learn that he is not some mercenary looking for an easy wage to squander on a weekend of revelry. Rather, he seems to be regularly involved in something significant, though he rarely speaks of his role on the subject. It can be difficult to see beneath the sterile mask of his emotions, as he is someone in complete control of himself. In fact, it would seem very little will phase the man in general. Vincent has been known to let his guard down in the right company, and the few that know him best may come to understand the man behind the intense eyes.
[[File:TunnelRuins.png|center]]


Even this grew dull in time, and I recall my young mind burning with the thought of an escape. I suppose it didn't help that I was told I would be remaining in the temple, stuck teaching future generations that made their way there. It helped to know that I was bringing honor to my family, and I had other distractions with my first romantic encounter. She was a fellow disciple around my age, but such things are fleeting and I would prefer not to linger on this part of the story. A sense of restlessness took me one night and I found myself abandoning my bed and visiting those old ruins again. It had been nearly a year since my last visit, but something drew me once more to that archway. As I peered up at those ancient pillars ascending far above my candlelight into the void above, my childhood awe returned to me for the first time in many years.


I eventually dozed off there at the base of that archway, and what followed is something I didn't understand for a long time. I awoke in a cold sweat, suddenly being met with a violent wind. A dark vortex swirled within the two pillars with old runes ablaze with white light. My mind flickered between exhilaration and terror, finally deciding on the latter as I was swept inside that darkness.


== Religion ==
[[File:TempleVortex.png|center]]


I vaguely recall drifting in that black void for a time. It was a bleak, dreamless emptiness that felt like I was lost between existence. Perhaps unaware and yet not truly asleep in some ageless oblivion- until, at last, a fracture of light in the veil of blackness. I remember landing hard on the ground, left reeling from the pain and confusion of what had happened. Neither could compare to the shock when I saw the world of verdant foliage around me. After a life spent surrounded by rocky landscapes and grey skies, the vibrance that existed before me was enough to inpsire the hardest of hearts.


Vincent's religious ideologies are closely related to one of Sigil's factions known as the Athar. He follows no deity and argues that power, especially the power of gods, is to be respected rather than worshiped. While he once did not directly associate himself with the Deniers, he has since decided to join their cause. Like many of them, he does not faithfully serve a patron, but instead has the ability to channel divine energy through what they refer to as the Great Unknown. Vincent came to his current understanding after discovering the pantheon he once knew was limited to the imagination of his species. He now believes what many societies refer to as gods are merely ascended mortals with great power.
[[File:Wildlands.png|center]]


I was stranded on that Prime for many years. Adjusting to such a lush world came easily enough, though I soon came to realize that there were no people anywhere regardless of how far I traveled. As I shed the final years of my youth, my thoughts soon became restless again. The understanding that other worlds existed opened my mind to the possibilities, and I directed all my skills towards honing the ability. I can promise you that few things in my life have frustrated me so greatly as teaching myself the technique over the years, but I believe I did mention how stubborn my people could be.


[[File:Learning.png|center]]


== Life Before Sigil ==
Planar travel was a freedom that I had been looking for all my life. It became almost like an addiction for me as I roamed the vast cosmos, overcoming danger at every turn. But like everything else in my life, the satisfaction was not without the eventual diminishing of fulfillment. My planar jaunts slowly became less about exploration and more focused upon finding my home. Despite the freedom I now enjoyed, I still longed for familiarity. I suppose it is a very human thing to spend a life longing for escape, and then to finally achieve that goal- only find yourself missing aspects of what once was. That was the beginning of my search for home, though I told myself I would stay only long enough to visit my family.
<br>
[[File:Entharian_Prime.jpeg|600px|left|]]
<br>


[[File:Travel.png|center]]


Vincent originates from an isolated prime world consisting of a single planet and star. The Enthar belong to a peculiar subrace of humans with various traits that set them apart from the norm. Vincent describes his prime world as ''heavier'', which is due to a gravitational warping that causes everything on the surface to be roughly 30% heavier than average. Time inside the plane is greatly slowed relative to the other planes, which he estimates to be roughly a day-to-year ratio. Due to the planes extreme contortions, the surface of the planet is regularly afflicted by monstrous supercell storms that are capable of covering half the planet at a time.
My search began with the optimism of youth and I quickly lost count of all the worlds I visited. For each one, I learned a little more and became a little stronger. The realms I encountered were numerous and perilous, but I came to know a determination. There were times as though I felt like I might belong somewhere, but I rarely let myself linger. The yearning for home bubbled ever under the surface until that same restlessness pushed me on again. It was many years before I found myself walking under a familiar, stormy sky. I had never realized it before, but my return showed me how impeded magic was on my world. My abilities felt greatly dulled, but I made do. Traveling when the storms permitted, I traversed my old world for weeks until I finally came upon a ruin in the dark. The site was unknown to me and no more than old and weathered stones barely peaking the surface, but useful protection against the coming winds.
<br>


[[File:Enthar.jpeg|600px|left|]]
[[File:RuinStorm.png|center]]


In his youth, Vincent was a shy and soft-spoken child with an affinity for manipulating energy. Magic was a rare ability among his people and his natural instinct was considered to be a great gift. At a young age, he was taken from his home and permanently placed in a small covenant of similarly prodigious youth. Far from any city was a temple built on top of a cavernous ruin that predated their civilization. The grounds were treated as a holy place, despite nothing truly being known of the faded runes depicted on the great central archway. In their naivety, the Entharians believed it would one day open to the heavens of their creators as a final test.
The storm persisted throughout the night and half the next day while I huddled in the remnants of a home that was little more than a hollowed-out hole beneath the surface. My emergence with daylight allowed me a better look at the surrounding area, but the old ruins proved to be of little help. It was at that point that something at the back of my mind began to bother me. I had never heard of ruins as old as those anywhere on Enthar, except beneath the old cathedral. A sinking feeling hit my gut as I rotated in place to look out across the landscape. The surrounding mountains had changed, but there were enough similarities to confirm the nagging suspicion. My mind returned to thoughts of that void that was like a half-forgotten dream to me. How long I must have drifted.
<br>


[[File:Entharian_Temple.jpeg|600px|left|]]
I spent the following months walking across my world to make my way to each of the colonies I knew about from childhood. They were all in much the same state as the others. I ventured back up into the mountains and found the old temple still standing, but long since abandoned. I surmised the valley protected most of the structure from the ravages of time beneath Enthar's winds, but it was still little better. It was at that point that I had seen enough. There was nothing for me there. I was truly alone in the multiverse. A quick spell and a few weeks of walking had me back to my old lifestyle, if now lacking a goal. I wandered, walking world after world until my youth was suddenly far behind me. I was content to roam the planes alone for the remainder of my life, and my kind are not short-lived.
<br clear=all>


[[File:Alone.png|center]]


As time passed and lingering memories filled Vincent’s head, he began to miss his family more each day.<br> He fought the pain, knowing his time with the other gifted would grant his underprivileged family some small<br> amount of honor. As years past with this guiding thought, Vincent’s abilities rivaled that of the adults in his<br> community. He could not explain his own skill, as it was more of a burning ache inside of him that manifested<br> with his emotions. He learned early on that the other children shunned him for his differences, and yet he was<br> glad for it. Magic was the one thing in his life that he could always appreciate, the only thing that made sense.
The years added up and I realized I could look back to count the decades. My priorities must have changed along the way because I settled down more than once. You get tired of walking after a time, and a quiet spot by a waterfall starts to look like the perfect place for a cabin. It was over the course of these years that I came to know a few others intimately, friends and lovers both. For one reason or another, all of them came to an end. I do not dwell on most of them, but I will always mourn a wife and our son that were both taken from me in a manner that would break most men. I will say this.. those responsible were met with the storm of my fury the likes of which may only be compared to the winds of Enthar.


The following years were a dark time in my life. I forsook my god for abandoning me in the time of my greatest need. I was a bitter and callous man, but I had discovered a truth that holds true for me even now. We are alone in this life and can only expect to ever depend on ourselves in the end.


[[File:Temporal_Gateway.jpeg|600px|left|]]
[[File:Vengeance.png|center]]
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It was during this time that I came to Sigil. It was not my first visit to the City of Doors, but this return is where the story hinges upon and lays the foundation for who I am today. I met a young woman named Aerin Grey and she caught my interest despite my hardened nature. She was part of a spelljammer crew called the Styx Silhouette that fancied themselves pirates. In truth, they were not pirates as you might imagine them, but rather cosmic explorers and pioneers of a new age. I ended up becoming one of them in time. My initial interest was to watch over Aerin from the dangers such a crew would inevitably face, but I found myself growing fond of the lifestyle. I suppose it was good to have a purpose again, and those I came to know on Freedom's Keel became some of my closest friends. I began to heal and my sordid past felt further away from me.


When Vincent came of age, the desire to escape his life had burned through him like a fever. The elders in<br> his covenant could no longer teach him anything he had not already done better himself. He wanted nothing<br> better than to travel and experience the world firsthand, but he knew it he would never have the chance. His<br> path was ahead of him, confined to the temple for his lifespan to pass on knowledge as others had done<br> before him. Restlessness eventually took Vincent one night and he abandoned his bed to visit the ruins as<br> he had done so many sleepless nights before. The darkness of the vast hall loomed around his flickering<br> candle as he stared upon the colossal gateway with unfading awe. A haze crept over him where he sat,<br> and before long, he curled up and slept like a child once more. He dreamed of freedom.
[[File:TheKeel.png|center]]


There is much about that time that I cannot divulge, and I would prefer to be succinct in the interest of keeping this story manageable. I will say that we redirected a section of the River Styx and assembled the Rod of Law for a purpose best left undisclosed. I learned to heal after so much loss, and I came to know love again. We accomplished much and subverted great evils, but at a cost. The Keel was destroyed, our captain killed, and the crew inevitably disbanded. Aerin and I persisted, and what happened in the Styx Silhouette changed us forever. We bought the Ubiquitous Wayfarer and refurbished it into what most know it as today. We decided to create a place where anyone would be welcome regardless of faction or screed, so long as they followed the rules.


[[File:Pre-Enthar_Ruins.jpeg|600px|left|]]
[[File:TheWayfarer.png|center]]
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Over the years, The Wayfarer became something of a haven. The oppressed found succor within those walls, and I lost count of how many Clueless I helped find a place to rest and gain a foothold in such an unforgiving city. Somewhere along the way, I found myself taking this ideal and expanding on it with a new ambition with new allies. My eyes were opened to the suffering of the Wheel as gods preyed upon the desperate and fiendish incursions that continued to rise in frequency. I became one of the Defiers, and defy I did. My strength only increased over the years as I opposed all that would seek to abuse mortals. Everywhere I looked, I saw those in power with an agenda, and it all boiled down to people. Gods use belief to elevate themselves to their divinity, and the souls of followers go to their realms to bolster their strength. Fiends on both sides barter, trick, or steal souls from mortals as currency in the Lower Planes. The list goes on and there seemed to be endless abuse on every side. It disgusted me.


Vincent was thrust awake in a thrashing fit of cold sweat on the damp stone floor. When he lifted his hands,<br> they were a luminescent pulse of energy. The light branched out, connecting him to swirling patterns of magic<br> ascending up the two great pillars of the archway. To his terror, he saw a flicker of energy as a doorway tore<br> open before him. A fierce wind overtook him and began pulling him toward the unyielding threshold. He<br> desperately clawed at the rocky floor, but the fury of the tempest sucked him into the darkness of the vortex.<br> The last thing his mind could comprehend was a great eye looking back at him through the gateway, then<br> nothingness. He drifted between existence, unaware, yet not truly asleep. Bleak, dreamless emptiness was<br> his only existence for uncountable lifetimes until, at last, a crack of light in the veil of blackness swept open<br> before him. His first conscious moment in ageless oblivion was a raw understanding that everyone he had<br> ever known was gone.
I championed people for many years, facing and defeating endless opposition. Dao overlords enslaving countless thousands. Ventrax rampaging across the torus. The Kingpin rising up to rule the Hive. Slaying the God Beast Kraken which had been feeding upon a Power. Plagues, cults, lich queens, madmen with powerful relics.. The evils were endless, the corruption spread infinitely. When one fell, another simply took its place. But through it all, the greatest threat began to manifest in my awareness. The Alliance of Change. I had opposed them before, but I began to see their once shadow organization for what it really was. My greatest victory against them early on was halting an invasion into Limbo to reshape the chaotic essence into a new Abyss. But as always with them, their schemes persisted and we clashed countless times before their eventual full-scale invasion. In the end, my efforts only slowed them down.


[[File:VincentVSAlliance.png|center]]


[[File:Stranded.jpeg|600px|left|]]
But with each victory, I became stronger. With each horror vanquished, my will became greater. I accomplished more than I thought possible and saved more lives than I could count. Looking back, I believe my path was inevitable. That is not to say I am bound to a fate not of my own making. Each choice was my own and each strand of my history is stylized by my own hand despite those that have tried to manipulate me. It was these choices that lead me to uncover a truth about my origin that even all my wonderous journies could not measure up to.
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I will take you back to a time many years ago when I began to have visions of another life. In these dreams, I was alone and in a life-and-death battle against a myriad of foes. An enormous dragon of indeterminate type, an oriental man in ornate armor, a nimble woman and master with the flute, a glabrezu, and a solar. Curiously enough, the fiend and celestial acted as if old comrades in their fight against me. The battle was evenly matched with both sides trading blows until a powerful attack caught me off-guard. A bearded man in a toga mocked me and blasted me with lightning bolts, one after another. I resisted, but their combined might was too much and I felt myself fading.. The dreams persisted every night until the wounds that I took in my subconscious began to leave sore spots on me upon my waking.


After being jaunted from his dimension, the knowledge of planar travel opened new possibilities for Vincent.<br> The fear of remaining alone drove him to master the skill within a year. After that point, he spent the better<br> part of his life combing the planes for his small home. For each world he searched, he learned little more<br> and became a little stronger. The realms he encountered were numerous and perilous, but he came to know<br> determination. There were times when Vincent felt as though he might actually belong somewhere, but he<br> never allowed himself to linger long.  The yearning for his home ever bubbled under the surface until his<br> restless spirit pushed him on again. It wasn’t until a decade later that Vincent found himself gazing upon a<br> familiar sky. After two weeks of crossing the wilderness, he finally came to the crumbling ruin that was<br> his home. In his heart, he knew a great amount of time had passed, but never had he suspected this. He<br> truly was alone.
I considered attempting to block these scenes from my mind, but my curiosity led me onwards. I hired a specialist to analyze what I was seeing and he came to the conclusion that a Power was likely reaching out to me. I may have been curious before, but now I wanted to know exactly why a god would be reaching out to a Defier. I assessed what information I had and pieced together the few clues I could. The trail took me deep into the Lower Planes along the River Styx and to the solar from these visions. Arkanthides, as I learned he was called, was in the midst of killing a group of cultists when I found him. He was not forthcoming with the answers I sought, but he claimed that the very same cultist group were followers of some kind of primordial titan. I say cult because that was his word for them, though I believe it was merely meant to be derogatory. His disdain for them was obvious, but I could sense some underlying malice. What little I did learn from him before my departure was that Zeus had assigned him to root out these followers and to block all planar pathways to whatever it was they worshipped. I had never heard of Zeus in conflict with this entity, but I was not particularly surprised to learn he was at odds with yet another titan.


[[File:Arkanthides.png|center]]


[[File:Enthar_in_Ruin.jpeg|600px|left|]]
I wanted to know more, but Arkanthides divulged very little else. He sent me to where more of these followers were known to be hidden, and where they held captive the glabrezu from my visions. Penance, as he was named, had apparently long ago turned away from his natural impulses for a life of redemption. Arkanthides feared the followers of Enthar were using him for something sinister and told me to slay them and to determine if Penance had regressed while held prisoner. Naturally, I did nothing of the sort. Arkanthides' lack of transparency was disconcerting and his mannerism was bordering on discomfort as we spoke. It seemed like he may have feared this titan, but I couldn't be sure. I went deep into the Dwarven Mountains to find their fortress carved into the side of a rocky bluff.
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I was not met with the hostility that I was told to anticipate. Rather, this group claimed their fortress was a temple and sanctuary for travelers. When I asked about their religion, I was told that this primordial was one of the first beings to exist in the Great Wheel. A cosmic entity that was from a time before the gods, when the verse was in a primeval state. It was the last of its kind when the first gods came upon it in a state of torpor. Fearing that such a colossal being would simply be too destructive in nature to exist alongside their new works, Zeus intended to handle it as he did with Chronus. Gathering those I had seen in my visions, he assaulted the titan.


But like all primordial deities, killing them was not so easy. Just as Zeus and his siblings imprisoned the titans in Tartarus, he fashioned a new prison of sorts. This primordial was forced into a wakeless slumber and cocooned in a bubble of greatly decreased time flow. It slept through the ages and was blocked off from the multiverse, but it was not completely without influence. It accumulated a following over the eons by reaching out to others, just as it had done with me. They said Zeus' cage was imperfect by itself, or perhaps incomplete. I can only assume Zeus was eager to return to cheating on his wife and impregnating mortal women. So in order to keep such a being asleep for so long, he placed people upon it and assigned Arkanthides to teach them rituals to sap its strength and keep it dormant. But it was believed something happened to those people long ago, and that most eventually died off except for a small group yet remaining within the mountain range of Enthar's spine.


== Life In Sigil ==
[[File:EntharImprisoned.png|center]]


So you see, a new realization dawned upon me. Enthar was never a harsh Prime like we had believed, but a world-sized primordial titan. My people survived in the microcosm of its existence, slowly growing stronger and more distinct from humankind since almost the beginning of the Great Wheel. Yes, an Athar that was born into the microcosm of a god-like being. The irony was not lost on me. It was not an easy thing to accept. My ire with Zeus and Arkanthides was palpable, but I took solace in knowing some of my people were still alive after all this time. I wasn't alone in the Wheel as I had believed for so long. When I told this group of my revelation, they seemed more willing to trust me and treated me almost like a holy prophet. They divulged that more and more pathways were opening to Enthar, and that they would be using one in a few weeks from that time. I still had my reservations about this group, but my people became my first priority.


[[File:Freedom's_Keel.jpeg|600px|left|]]
When it was time, I followed the group into Hades to find Arkanthides and other celestials waiting for us at our pathway to Enthar. The group consisted of a few Planetars and followers of Zeus, and none of them looked particularly pleased. I tried to speak with them, but all reason was lost on Arkanthides in his anger. I tried to convince him that the cage around Enthar was breaking and that he was ignoring all the signs. I told him that the titan was stirring more than ever and we both knew what that meant for what was left of my people. In the end, he would not accept it. He seemed to believe he could fix what was happening. Fear of Enthar was corrupting him and he lashed out at me in a rage when I accused him of participating in the near genocide of my species. He moved against me alone while his retinue made for the followers of Enthar. As you might imagine, Arkanthides was formidable, but he was ultimately in my way. I took him down before his allies could proceed, but I held back the killing blow. I was angry, but not enough to kill him. I shouted for his allies to take him and go, in which they thankfully complied. There was nothing left between me and my home.
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[[File:Return.png|center]]


Vincent's life in Sigil truly began on Freedom's Keel when he met a young woman of the crew named Aerin<br> Grey. She caught his interest early on, and with her help, Vincent shortly demonstrated his capability to the<br> captain and earned his keep on the vessel. The late Lord Regand Azureus was a man of passion and to<br> Vincent's surprise, great honor for a pirate king. Over time, the crew became like family to Vincent with Aerin<br> as his lover.
Enthar was different from what I recalled even a few decades before. There was a hostility to the place and the wildlife, and ancient elementals roamed the surface with unusual activity. Traveling up into the mountains of Enthar's spine took some time, but I did find an outpost there. They had been telling the truth. A number of my kind were living along the mountain range, scattered out in outposts and underground villages. I spent a whole cycle speaking to as many as I could, though I couldn't travel to them all. They told me about their lives and the difficulties they faced. They told me of how food was becoming more and more scarce as the storms and the quakes only grew worse. We shared stories of our time on Enthar, and I told them some of my life in the planes. The followers of Enthar were fascinated with them, treating them as if they were the chosen few. I suppose they weren't wrong. In the largest village, instructed them to send word across the spine to gather everyone over the next day. I was determined to take them all from that place.


I used the following months for my own preparations, knowing not even a day had passed on Enthar. My people had suffered so much at the hands of those that claimed to follow the path of righteousness, and I knew they deserved peace for once in their lives. In my youth, I came across an uninhabited Prime that I knew would be the ideal place for a new settlement. I returned to the lush valley where I had built a cabin next to a waterfall and set to work. I collected supplies for construction, considering all they would need for agriculture and housing. I imported enough wood, tools, food, and livestock for thousands. A process that might normally take years by myself was hastened by the use of Gates directly from lumber yards, quarries, and farms. I implemented magical bags, allowing me to stock up on hundreds of pounds of material for each visit. There was little left to do by the time of my eventual return to Enthar.


[[File:Vincent_on_Deck.jpeg|600px|left|]]
My initial return to the portal in Hades was largely uneventful. I gathered a few allies in anticipation of Arkanthides returning with his forces again, but he made no presence. My relief was short-lived as we stepped back through to Enthar. The state of the surface had declined rapidly in just a single day and we struggled to make our way through the storms. When we finally reached the village, it was a relief to find my people alive. There were thousands of them from across Enthar's spine crowded in the many tunnels. It took many hours to funnel everyone through Gates while the world around us began to violently crumble. As the last of them made their way, I could feel the village begin to sink down into the earth.
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[[File:Escape.png|center]]


Vincent came to discover that the members of Freedom's Keel were no mere pirate crew. Even with the<br> powerful spelljammer at their command, they did not seek to rob others for plunder. Instead, they sought<br> something far more unobtainable. They wished to know a truth of the Wheel, the likes of which mortals<br> were never meant to comprehend. Vincent came to know the struggles from success and failure over this<br> time, yet distinguishing himself all the while. He braved the depths of Acheron and fought through waves<br> of powerful outsiders within a labyrinthine Cube connected to Styx.
Away from Enthar, my people were overjoyed. They had never witnessed a world so lush and beautiful. They had never known a world so at peace. I stayed with them for a time to show them how to rebuild and prosper, making sure to visit every few weeks to guide them and to continue ferrying supplies until they had settled.


With my people safely away from Enthar, there was only one thing left to do. The prison made for the titan was breaking and the great primordial would soon be stirring. I saw images in my mind of an enraged colossal that rampaged across the Wheel. I saw the Powers rise up to do battle with it with the multiverse as their battleground. I saw the lives of countless mortals being stamped out in a conflict that they never had a part in. I could see the horrors unfolding before me. I could see the greatest threat to mortals I had ever known, but what was I to do? I was but a man going up against a world-sized being.


[[File:River_Styx.jpeg|600px|left|]]
I returned to my home for one last time and stood upon the surface as the winds raged around me and my companions. I led them to the ancient temple to once more travel deep into the earth to the archway far below. There, I channeled energy into the gateway, as I did long ago. Brilliant arcs of energy flowed up the pillars, pulsating. The tendrils of white light merged in the middle, splitting reality before us. Enthar stirred as the portal ripped open, drawing us into it with a fierce wind.
<br clear=all>


[[File:EntharsMind.png|center]]


After over a year of strife and bloodshed, the knowledge the crew sought was finally their own, but it cost<br> them dearly. The greatness of an individual confers an insatiable appetite that may consume them given<br> the chance. This truth was beyond any of them, and so their destinies were forever altered. Ultimately, the<br> endeavor would claim great personal sacrifice for each member of the crew, the greatest being Captain<br> Regand's very life. With his death and the keel in disrepair, the members took directions of their own.<br> These days, such matters are rarely spoken of, even amongst the disbanded crew themselves.
The fury of the vortex vanished as we entered the mind of a god. There was only a void at first, the darkness around us infinite as we floated listlessly. Departing from the physical world brought about an uneasiness, but I was no longer a child to be swallowed up by the titan's infinite will. My focus was the only barrier that kept us from being lost to a dreamless sleep. I suppose my essence demanded recognition in the gulf between thoughts. I guided them with my conviction, my resolve realized as a plateau appeared in the emptiness.


The stability rose up from the blackness as we moved away from the vast nothingness, the structure like a mental projection of solid light. Before us was an endless network of resplendent pathways that spanned out over the void in stark contrast. Somehow, I instinctively lead them down a specific path, our footfalls creating tiny surges of prismatic brilliance along the palpating mental fabric. Translucent vestiges of the god's slowly waking mind roamed the silver filaments before us. Abnormalities seemed to patrol the webways that made up the dormant titan's consciousness, acting as sentries even in hibernation. Despite these barest of mental defenses, the trek spanned for what seemed like days. It was difficult to truly elucidate time in such a place.


[[File:The_Keel_in_Ruin.jpeg|600px|left|]]
In the distance, we would eventually see a central, disk-like platform with the span of brilliant crystalline networks clustering around the crux. A great pillar of light radiated perpendicular in the center and extended infinitely above and below. Pulsing fragments of energy perpetually crossed the various synapses from the nexus and surged down the span of web-like fibers that surrounded it.  The massive structure seemed to rest in the middle of all things. We crossed a diaphanous membrane to step onto the great stretch of the platform.
<br clear=all>


[[File:EntharsNexus.png|center]]


It was after this time that Vincent and Aerin disappeared without a trace for nearly a year. Their absence<br> was due to Aerin being taken by a cult of demon worshipers that wanted to complete a ritual using those<br> like Aerin with specific abyssal descent. Vincent spent the entirety of this time hunting down those that took<br> his love from him, refusing to suffer from drawbacks and dead ends. Countless alleyway interrogations,<br> often leaving the interrogated bloodied and broken, resulted in Vincent finally discovering the location used<br> to house Aerin during her long captivity.
The spherical film rippled faintly until the last vibrations reached the distant core. As the languid thoughts of the slumbering colossus turned to regard us, the shaft of energy in the center of the nexus thrummed. Each pulse sent forth a wave of abstractions to meet us in combat. The twisted, impossibly angled features of the creatures were projected awkwardly as our minds tried to interpret the confounding shapes. Sleek, glimmering skin as a silhouette coated the manifestations that were of the titan's will. The creatures swarmed forward in droves, falling like shattering glass whenever we felled one.


As the last of the shard-like beings fell, the void surrounding the platform slowly transformed into a whirling cosmos. Distant stars twinkled into existence as the colossus stirred from dormancy. The nexus buzzed again and three more anomalies glided forth. Large and powerfully shaped figures of convoluted contours and shadowy nebulae stepped out from the pillar of the essence to challenge us. We quickly found that these new entities were vastly more difficult to kill, their opaque varnish of dimly reflected starlight resistant to weapons and magic alike. They also inevitably fell as fractured pieces, as if of brittle incandescence.


[[File:Cult_of_the_Pale_Night.jpeg|600px|left|]]
The universe that was the primordial deity's mind blinked into life as vast star systems materialized into being and encircled the nexus with increasing velocity. The colossus was nearly provoked enough to slide from torpor, causing the great shaft of scintillating energy to pulsate again. A massive shape thundered from the near-conscious mind of the titan. It was of radiant brilliance, an impeccable mirror to the stretching infinity that now swirled around the platform. An aurora-like nimbus blossomed across the surface of the nearly perfect creature as it approached- the representation of a god's will.
<br clear=all>


[[File:Nexus.png|center]]


After storming the complex, Vincent carved a path of destruction, leaving dozens of cultists dead in an<br> attempt to find Aerin. After breaking her cell open, they were set upon by forces retaliating against the<br> intrusion. As Vincent held the tide back, he made Aerin invisible and commanded her to run. Once free of<br> worry for her safety, Vincent's fury was a storm. A master swordsman with powerful magic fueling his rage,<br> he slew half a hundred by the time of his own escape. Yet, after Vincent fled the complex, he discovered<br> that he was unable to find Aerin.
The battle with this being was to no avail. The avatar was impervious to our meager attempts to bring it down. Yet the longer I spent in the titan's mind, the more I began to understand. The eons trapped while dimly aware of his kind having been exterminated by Zeus and others had driven him mad. I began to feel his rage through the connection that had once existed only in my dreams. I approached the creature and summoned all my strength to thrust my will upon it. I felt a flood of wild emotion, the boiling madness and rage pressing against my mind at all sides. Our wills were deadlocked as we pushed against each other, until I noticed the flickering of something at the back of my mind. An awareness of my allies and their own minds and souls. Gathering their aid, I guided them so that we focused our unified wills against the creature to slowly pushed back the madness.


While I had entered the mind of Enthar to slay him to prevent a catastrophe, I began to see a new path. To destroy a being as ancient and powerful as this would be an accomplishment that no other could claim, not even the gods, and yet what I chose was something greater still. Imposing my will against the cosmos that was its mind. To pit my mind against it and wash away the eons of misery and grief, to instill a sense of sanity again when all it knew was loss- that is something else.


[[File:Aerin's_Imprisonment.jpeg|600px|left|]]
This was the choice I knew must be made. Enthar was just as much a victim of Zeus as any other. Endlessly mettled with, tugged on from every side while wishing nothing but to be left alone. I found myself relating to Enthar. I found myself comparing him to mortals. I had expected another deific figure that would preside over those seen as lesser, and yet I was shown something so very much like myself. I understood it, and thus I held the power to overcome it. After all, I knew this suffering. To turn the pain and sorrow into a tool. To not let it break you, but to allow it to forge oneself into something indestructible. That is the power of one's will, and that is what one must always remember above all else.
<br clear=all>


As the titan's rage cooled, I approached the infinite pillar of light that was the mind of a god. Reaching out, I felt the connection strengthen between us. It was at that moment that we came to an understanding of what must be done. Enthar's yearning for Zeus to be brought to justice was even greater than my own, but he was incapable of claiming it. If he continued to awaken, the gods would rise up to strike him down in battle. I convinced him that I could champion the cause and seek justice for all of Zeus' wrongdoings, allowing the great titan to continue his slumber.


In her panic and confusion from being brainwashed by torture and hallucinations, Aerin used her abilities to<br> planeshift away once free of the dampening field. She went into hiding, even from Vincent, as she was unsure<br> of what she could trust in reality. After recuperating some weeks later, the two reunited and sought the help of<br> old friends. Together, they came to the realization that the masters were likely attempting to perform a ritual to<br> Graz'zt using Aerin's bloodline, as she was in a long line of descendants from the dark lord himself.
In order to make good on my claim, we both knew I would need a weapon unlike any other. Enthar and my mind collided into one for the briefest of moments. It was in that span that I saw the birth of the multiverse and glimpses of all that had transpired since. The forming of stars and their demise, the rise and fall of entire civilizations, and the sheer insignificance even gods had upon all of existence as a whole. I could feel my mind expanding, and my awareness growing to new heights that mortal kind could only ever dream of. An unexpected bond formed, and together, we focused our unified will in that place where belief truly was reality. Thrusting my hand outwards, a silvery blade manifested there.


[[File:CosmicInsight.png|center]]


[[File:Graz'zt.jpeg|600px|left|]]
This sword was simultaneously captivating in its otherworldly, mercurial sheen, and yet difficult to look upon. It maintained a form of near intangibility with a sleek, glimmering surface of dimly reflected starlight. Reality seemed to hang heavy around it and the air emitted a dull roar like a distant forge. Even to this day, it remains an enigma to the most knowledgeable and skilled crafters. Not comprised of neither metal, stone, or organic matter, but something ambiguous that resembles a shadowy, shifting nebula.
<br clear=all>


When ignited by my will, the blade becomes ablaze with white light and the sound of it rises to deafening levels as it roars with power. The swirling depths shift to become an impeccable mirror of an infinitely spanning cosmos. A radiant and blinding inferno envelops it with an essence that extends out to devour all it touches. The edge of the blade seems to devastate anything in its path, severing with such ease and precision as if it begins bisecting at an infinitesimal level.
Forged within the nexus of a cosmic entity's consciousness, this weapon was shaped by the coalescence of great conviction. Bolstered with the power of a Wish, Enthar and I combined our might to thrust it upon a singularity. This manifestation of will was harnessed to conceive the perfect weapon- so potent that it may even harm gods themselves. The birth of this sword heralds the beginning of a claim to justice against Zeus for his transgressions.


Most of the cultists Vincent came across were either brainwashed or blindly following the lies of the cult<br> leaders. As simple pawns, their deaths meant very little to the grander cause. The real danger, the masters<br> behind the veil, remained free with unfinished schemes. Vincent proposed to hunt down these monsters, not<br> only for personal revenge, but to protect the realm from their continued evil. Vincent and Aerin became<br> determined, and with the aid of allies, they set in motion a plan to track down and slay the masters.
[[File:SliverOfInfinity.png|center]]


I took that blade and left Enthar to his slumber. Sometime after that, Arkanthides came to me with a peace offering. He bestowed his gauntlets to me in an apology, having taken some time to realize his path was leading him down a dark road. He has since left Zeus' service and joined the Athar as one of my factioneers.


[[File:The_Masters.jpeg|600px|left|]]
The world I gifted my people has since flourished. At first, many sought to create temples in my honor or to label me as king, but persuaded them otherwise. No one man's word should be absolute or without question. Instead, I have helped them to instill democracy and independence, ensuring the future with higher education and a secular view of the Great Wheel. Khloeros, as they've come to call the metropolis, has since transformed into a paradise.
<br clear=all>


[[File:Metropolis.png|center]]


== Lasting Interactions ==
I have been opposing Zeus ever since, while simultaneously guiding my people to peace and prosperity. There are far too many things to name that have come to pass since my encounter with Enthar, but I will name a few. I killed the child scion of Tiamat. I've destroyed world-killing relics. I stopped Elysium from getting dragged into the Abyss by fiendish forces. I quelled an invading army beneath Sigil's streets. The Alliance of Change invaded the Outlands, and I continued to oppose them at every turn and played a key role in their defeat. I have also continued to grow in my opposition to Zeus. I have since faced Olympian beasts of legend, aided a grandson of Zeus acting against his heritage, and freed the titan Prometheus from his eternal imprisonment and torture- claiming him as an ally in my fight. The road before me is a long one, but I will continue to tear down Zeus' reign at every turn until our inevitable clash.


[[Balthazar De'Medici]], today an influential wizard and renown factor of Sigil's Godsmen. Engineer, inventor, politician, philosopher, the man has a hand in every skill with no amount of mediocrity to be found. Balthazar was the primary engineer and pilot of the keel.
[[File:ZeusFaceoff.png|center]]


 
</center>
[[Hafsa Sarah Shadiya Tabassum Alfarsi]], a Djinn of no small significance. Hafsa has a reputation as one of the most wise and knowledgeable around. Hafsa helped to guide the crew with her immense expertise.
 
 
[[Alec]], a long standing Bleaker of Sigil. The man seems to be a legend around the Wheel, and those nearest to him see that he always seems to have a hand in something crucial in importance. Alec was an honorary addition of the crew and one of the few allowed on the keel without truly being a member.
 
 
[http://sigil-planarlegends.com/forum/m/10910028/viewthread/6780910-tl-strath-from-wildspace-panache-haste Hugh Huxley], formerly known as [http://sigil-planarlegends.com/forum/m/10910028/viewthread/7231250-tl-strath-from-wildspace-anomie-distaste Treylile Strath]; a man who's very nature personified a spelljammer pirate. A charismatic wildspace pioneer, the fellow could lecture his way out of a dragon's maw while stroking his magnificent mustache.
 
 
[[Face]], a friend outside the company that Vincent risked his life for on numerous occasions in the past. Together they fought through an army of para-elementals and Dao wizards in the plane of earth. Their intent was to breech a fortified Dao palace and free thousands of enslaved shapeshifters like Face himself.
 
 
Seluil, a great warrior of Seldarine and founder of the Defiant. Few can match this elf's swordsmanship. Today, the Defiant remains an organization of elites lead by Seluil that seek to purge some of the greater evils in the multiverse. Some time following his life on the keel, Vincent joined their ranks after demonstrating his exceptional talent in a duel with Seluil. The elf appointed him as one of the leading members of the company.
 
 
 
== Rumors ==
 
-He has a bounty on his head for killing a hive lord.<br>
-He's the last survivor of his species.<br>
-He's one of the best swordsman in Sigil.<br>
-He's owed a million jink from a factor.<br>
-He never takes his mask off because he's actually the Worm Lord in disguise.<br>
-He's the only one who really knows what change happened to Alec.<br>
-He's a paragon from his prime.<br>
-He used to be a ruthless spelljammer pirate.<br>
-He owns the Ubiquitous Wayfarer in the Lower Ward.<br>

Latest revision as of 01:32, 2 November 2023

Vincent Vale
Male Human
Player: Numbers Guy
General Information
Full Name: Vincent Vale
Nicknames: Vince, Mr. Vale,
The Godless Swordsman,
Titanbreaker
Age: Unknown
Deity: None
Alignment:
LG LN LE
NG TN NE
CG CN CE
Occupation: Ex-spelljammer pirate, tavern proprietor, relic hunter, monster slayer, champion of mortals.
Faction/Rank: Athar
Place of Birth: Enthar
Physical Attributes
Height: 6'5" / 198 cm
Weight: 258 lbs / 117 kg
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black
Complexion: Fair
Physical Build: Muscular
Physical Features: An imposing figure in armor with the build of a warrior.
Skills
Beyond ninth-tier divine magic, master swordsman, supernatural eyesight, great discipline and willpower.
Equipment and Items
Full plate, helmet, sword, shield, many miscellaneous.


My tale is lengthy, so I will spare you when I can. My people were forced to toil in an unforgiving and isolated world called Enthar, where life should not have been possible. It's what I later came to know as a heavy gravity world, with a surface that suffered extremely low temperatures with great storms that never seemed to end. But we were strong and stubborn. My parents were farmers that utilized an alchemical process to grow food beneath the surface of our world, where we had a chance at survival. What little time we had upon the surface was greatly cherished, even if it was hardly more than an extended mountain range and rocky bluffs. And despite this, we learned to persist. Our structures were built of rounded stone and angled cleverly against the winds. We learned to resist the raging world around us and our cities became fortresses against our own lands.

A harsh world breeds hard people. There was little room for excess when the struggle for survival filled our everyday mentality. We knew little of art or music or magic, and our society was grim and utilitarian compared to most. Those that developed the ability to manipulate energy were regarded as the peak of our societies, but the honor came with a burden. Everyone was evaluated for their aptitude at a young age to see if they might have the inclination later in life. I was little more than a child, but I vaguely recall a series of mental tests to assess my eligibility. When I proved to have potential, they took me far from my home and lead me up into the mountains. A cathedral was nestled into a valley where the storms could not reach, and I found myself learning with other youths. They taught us how to focus our minds and channel our wills, and we demonstrated our devotion to our god through monthly rituals. They never permitted any of us to leave, claiming we were too valuable to let wander.

Many years passed in the temple and I had learned all I could from the masters by the time I was a young adult. They said I had a rare knack even among the gifted, but I suppose I threw myself into the study to alleviate my boredom and sate my restless spirit. Truthfully, I missed my family and despised being confined to the cathedral grounds for all those years, but I did have an escape beyond my studies. I discovered the temple was built over a cavernous ruin that predated our civilization. The grounds were practically treated as a holy place, and few had ventured down into the tunnels for centuries. Deep into the heart of the mountain beyond many winding tunnels, there was a great archway in the center of a great cavern filled with ruins. I spent a deal of time exploring those ruins, but the archway was always the focus of my fascination.

Even this grew dull in time, and I recall my young mind burning with the thought of an escape. I suppose it didn't help that I was told I would be remaining in the temple, stuck teaching future generations that made their way there. It helped to know that I was bringing honor to my family, and I had other distractions with my first romantic encounter. She was a fellow disciple around my age, but such things are fleeting and I would prefer not to linger on this part of the story. A sense of restlessness took me one night and I found myself abandoning my bed and visiting those old ruins again. It had been nearly a year since my last visit, but something drew me once more to that archway. As I peered up at those ancient pillars ascending far above my candlelight into the void above, my childhood awe returned to me for the first time in many years.

I eventually dozed off there at the base of that archway, and what followed is something I didn't understand for a long time. I awoke in a cold sweat, suddenly being met with a violent wind. A dark vortex swirled within the two pillars with old runes ablaze with white light. My mind flickered between exhilaration and terror, finally deciding on the latter as I was swept inside that darkness.

I vaguely recall drifting in that black void for a time. It was a bleak, dreamless emptiness that felt like I was lost between existence. Perhaps unaware and yet not truly asleep in some ageless oblivion- until, at last, a fracture of light in the veil of blackness. I remember landing hard on the ground, left reeling from the pain and confusion of what had happened. Neither could compare to the shock when I saw the world of verdant foliage around me. After a life spent surrounded by rocky landscapes and grey skies, the vibrance that existed before me was enough to inpsire the hardest of hearts.

I was stranded on that Prime for many years. Adjusting to such a lush world came easily enough, though I soon came to realize that there were no people anywhere regardless of how far I traveled. As I shed the final years of my youth, my thoughts soon became restless again. The understanding that other worlds existed opened my mind to the possibilities, and I directed all my skills towards honing the ability. I can promise you that few things in my life have frustrated me so greatly as teaching myself the technique over the years, but I believe I did mention how stubborn my people could be.

Planar travel was a freedom that I had been looking for all my life. It became almost like an addiction for me as I roamed the vast cosmos, overcoming danger at every turn. But like everything else in my life, the satisfaction was not without the eventual diminishing of fulfillment. My planar jaunts slowly became less about exploration and more focused upon finding my home. Despite the freedom I now enjoyed, I still longed for familiarity. I suppose it is a very human thing to spend a life longing for escape, and then to finally achieve that goal- only find yourself missing aspects of what once was. That was the beginning of my search for home, though I told myself I would stay only long enough to visit my family.

My search began with the optimism of youth and I quickly lost count of all the worlds I visited. For each one, I learned a little more and became a little stronger. The realms I encountered were numerous and perilous, but I came to know a determination. There were times as though I felt like I might belong somewhere, but I rarely let myself linger. The yearning for home bubbled ever under the surface until that same restlessness pushed me on again. It was many years before I found myself walking under a familiar, stormy sky. I had never realized it before, but my return showed me how impeded magic was on my world. My abilities felt greatly dulled, but I made do. Traveling when the storms permitted, I traversed my old world for weeks until I finally came upon a ruin in the dark. The site was unknown to me and no more than old and weathered stones barely peaking the surface, but useful protection against the coming winds.

The storm persisted throughout the night and half the next day while I huddled in the remnants of a home that was little more than a hollowed-out hole beneath the surface. My emergence with daylight allowed me a better look at the surrounding area, but the old ruins proved to be of little help. It was at that point that something at the back of my mind began to bother me. I had never heard of ruins as old as those anywhere on Enthar, except beneath the old cathedral. A sinking feeling hit my gut as I rotated in place to look out across the landscape. The surrounding mountains had changed, but there were enough similarities to confirm the nagging suspicion. My mind returned to thoughts of that void that was like a half-forgotten dream to me. How long I must have drifted.

I spent the following months walking across my world to make my way to each of the colonies I knew about from childhood. They were all in much the same state as the others. I ventured back up into the mountains and found the old temple still standing, but long since abandoned. I surmised the valley protected most of the structure from the ravages of time beneath Enthar's winds, but it was still little better. It was at that point that I had seen enough. There was nothing for me there. I was truly alone in the multiverse. A quick spell and a few weeks of walking had me back to my old lifestyle, if now lacking a goal. I wandered, walking world after world until my youth was suddenly far behind me. I was content to roam the planes alone for the remainder of my life, and my kind are not short-lived.

The years added up and I realized I could look back to count the decades. My priorities must have changed along the way because I settled down more than once. You get tired of walking after a time, and a quiet spot by a waterfall starts to look like the perfect place for a cabin. It was over the course of these years that I came to know a few others intimately, friends and lovers both. For one reason or another, all of them came to an end. I do not dwell on most of them, but I will always mourn a wife and our son that were both taken from me in a manner that would break most men. I will say this.. those responsible were met with the storm of my fury the likes of which may only be compared to the winds of Enthar.

The following years were a dark time in my life. I forsook my god for abandoning me in the time of my greatest need. I was a bitter and callous man, but I had discovered a truth that holds true for me even now. We are alone in this life and can only expect to ever depend on ourselves in the end.

It was during this time that I came to Sigil. It was not my first visit to the City of Doors, but this return is where the story hinges upon and lays the foundation for who I am today. I met a young woman named Aerin Grey and she caught my interest despite my hardened nature. She was part of a spelljammer crew called the Styx Silhouette that fancied themselves pirates. In truth, they were not pirates as you might imagine them, but rather cosmic explorers and pioneers of a new age. I ended up becoming one of them in time. My initial interest was to watch over Aerin from the dangers such a crew would inevitably face, but I found myself growing fond of the lifestyle. I suppose it was good to have a purpose again, and those I came to know on Freedom's Keel became some of my closest friends. I began to heal and my sordid past felt further away from me.

There is much about that time that I cannot divulge, and I would prefer to be succinct in the interest of keeping this story manageable. I will say that we redirected a section of the River Styx and assembled the Rod of Law for a purpose best left undisclosed. I learned to heal after so much loss, and I came to know love again. We accomplished much and subverted great evils, but at a cost. The Keel was destroyed, our captain killed, and the crew inevitably disbanded. Aerin and I persisted, and what happened in the Styx Silhouette changed us forever. We bought the Ubiquitous Wayfarer and refurbished it into what most know it as today. We decided to create a place where anyone would be welcome regardless of faction or screed, so long as they followed the rules.

Over the years, The Wayfarer became something of a haven. The oppressed found succor within those walls, and I lost count of how many Clueless I helped find a place to rest and gain a foothold in such an unforgiving city. Somewhere along the way, I found myself taking this ideal and expanding on it with a new ambition with new allies. My eyes were opened to the suffering of the Wheel as gods preyed upon the desperate and fiendish incursions that continued to rise in frequency. I became one of the Defiers, and defy I did. My strength only increased over the years as I opposed all that would seek to abuse mortals. Everywhere I looked, I saw those in power with an agenda, and it all boiled down to people. Gods use belief to elevate themselves to their divinity, and the souls of followers go to their realms to bolster their strength. Fiends on both sides barter, trick, or steal souls from mortals as currency in the Lower Planes. The list goes on and there seemed to be endless abuse on every side. It disgusted me.

I championed people for many years, facing and defeating endless opposition. Dao overlords enslaving countless thousands. Ventrax rampaging across the torus. The Kingpin rising up to rule the Hive. Slaying the God Beast Kraken which had been feeding upon a Power. Plagues, cults, lich queens, madmen with powerful relics.. The evils were endless, the corruption spread infinitely. When one fell, another simply took its place. But through it all, the greatest threat began to manifest in my awareness. The Alliance of Change. I had opposed them before, but I began to see their once shadow organization for what it really was. My greatest victory against them early on was halting an invasion into Limbo to reshape the chaotic essence into a new Abyss. But as always with them, their schemes persisted and we clashed countless times before their eventual full-scale invasion. In the end, my efforts only slowed them down.

But with each victory, I became stronger. With each horror vanquished, my will became greater. I accomplished more than I thought possible and saved more lives than I could count. Looking back, I believe my path was inevitable. That is not to say I am bound to a fate not of my own making. Each choice was my own and each strand of my history is stylized by my own hand despite those that have tried to manipulate me. It was these choices that lead me to uncover a truth about my origin that even all my wonderous journies could not measure up to.

I will take you back to a time many years ago when I began to have visions of another life. In these dreams, I was alone and in a life-and-death battle against a myriad of foes. An enormous dragon of indeterminate type, an oriental man in ornate armor, a nimble woman and master with the flute, a glabrezu, and a solar. Curiously enough, the fiend and celestial acted as if old comrades in their fight against me. The battle was evenly matched with both sides trading blows until a powerful attack caught me off-guard. A bearded man in a toga mocked me and blasted me with lightning bolts, one after another. I resisted, but their combined might was too much and I felt myself fading.. The dreams persisted every night until the wounds that I took in my subconscious began to leave sore spots on me upon my waking.

I considered attempting to block these scenes from my mind, but my curiosity led me onwards. I hired a specialist to analyze what I was seeing and he came to the conclusion that a Power was likely reaching out to me. I may have been curious before, but now I wanted to know exactly why a god would be reaching out to a Defier. I assessed what information I had and pieced together the few clues I could. The trail took me deep into the Lower Planes along the River Styx and to the solar from these visions. Arkanthides, as I learned he was called, was in the midst of killing a group of cultists when I found him. He was not forthcoming with the answers I sought, but he claimed that the very same cultist group were followers of some kind of primordial titan. I say cult because that was his word for them, though I believe it was merely meant to be derogatory. His disdain for them was obvious, but I could sense some underlying malice. What little I did learn from him before my departure was that Zeus had assigned him to root out these followers and to block all planar pathways to whatever it was they worshipped. I had never heard of Zeus in conflict with this entity, but I was not particularly surprised to learn he was at odds with yet another titan.

I wanted to know more, but Arkanthides divulged very little else. He sent me to where more of these followers were known to be hidden, and where they held captive the glabrezu from my visions. Penance, as he was named, had apparently long ago turned away from his natural impulses for a life of redemption. Arkanthides feared the followers of Enthar were using him for something sinister and told me to slay them and to determine if Penance had regressed while held prisoner. Naturally, I did nothing of the sort. Arkanthides' lack of transparency was disconcerting and his mannerism was bordering on discomfort as we spoke. It seemed like he may have feared this titan, but I couldn't be sure. I went deep into the Dwarven Mountains to find their fortress carved into the side of a rocky bluff.

I was not met with the hostility that I was told to anticipate. Rather, this group claimed their fortress was a temple and sanctuary for travelers. When I asked about their religion, I was told that this primordial was one of the first beings to exist in the Great Wheel. A cosmic entity that was from a time before the gods, when the verse was in a primeval state. It was the last of its kind when the first gods came upon it in a state of torpor. Fearing that such a colossal being would simply be too destructive in nature to exist alongside their new works, Zeus intended to handle it as he did with Chronus. Gathering those I had seen in my visions, he assaulted the titan.

But like all primordial deities, killing them was not so easy. Just as Zeus and his siblings imprisoned the titans in Tartarus, he fashioned a new prison of sorts. This primordial was forced into a wakeless slumber and cocooned in a bubble of greatly decreased time flow. It slept through the ages and was blocked off from the multiverse, but it was not completely without influence. It accumulated a following over the eons by reaching out to others, just as it had done with me. They said Zeus' cage was imperfect by itself, or perhaps incomplete. I can only assume Zeus was eager to return to cheating on his wife and impregnating mortal women. So in order to keep such a being asleep for so long, he placed people upon it and assigned Arkanthides to teach them rituals to sap its strength and keep it dormant. But it was believed something happened to those people long ago, and that most eventually died off except for a small group yet remaining within the mountain range of Enthar's spine.

So you see, a new realization dawned upon me. Enthar was never a harsh Prime like we had believed, but a world-sized primordial titan. My people survived in the microcosm of its existence, slowly growing stronger and more distinct from humankind since almost the beginning of the Great Wheel. Yes, an Athar that was born into the microcosm of a god-like being. The irony was not lost on me. It was not an easy thing to accept. My ire with Zeus and Arkanthides was palpable, but I took solace in knowing some of my people were still alive after all this time. I wasn't alone in the Wheel as I had believed for so long. When I told this group of my revelation, they seemed more willing to trust me and treated me almost like a holy prophet. They divulged that more and more pathways were opening to Enthar, and that they would be using one in a few weeks from that time. I still had my reservations about this group, but my people became my first priority.

When it was time, I followed the group into Hades to find Arkanthides and other celestials waiting for us at our pathway to Enthar. The group consisted of a few Planetars and followers of Zeus, and none of them looked particularly pleased. I tried to speak with them, but all reason was lost on Arkanthides in his anger. I tried to convince him that the cage around Enthar was breaking and that he was ignoring all the signs. I told him that the titan was stirring more than ever and we both knew what that meant for what was left of my people. In the end, he would not accept it. He seemed to believe he could fix what was happening. Fear of Enthar was corrupting him and he lashed out at me in a rage when I accused him of participating in the near genocide of my species. He moved against me alone while his retinue made for the followers of Enthar. As you might imagine, Arkanthides was formidable, but he was ultimately in my way. I took him down before his allies could proceed, but I held back the killing blow. I was angry, but not enough to kill him. I shouted for his allies to take him and go, in which they thankfully complied. There was nothing left between me and my home.

Enthar was different from what I recalled even a few decades before. There was a hostility to the place and the wildlife, and ancient elementals roamed the surface with unusual activity. Traveling up into the mountains of Enthar's spine took some time, but I did find an outpost there. They had been telling the truth. A number of my kind were living along the mountain range, scattered out in outposts and underground villages. I spent a whole cycle speaking to as many as I could, though I couldn't travel to them all. They told me about their lives and the difficulties they faced. They told me of how food was becoming more and more scarce as the storms and the quakes only grew worse. We shared stories of our time on Enthar, and I told them some of my life in the planes. The followers of Enthar were fascinated with them, treating them as if they were the chosen few. I suppose they weren't wrong. In the largest village, instructed them to send word across the spine to gather everyone over the next day. I was determined to take them all from that place.

I used the following months for my own preparations, knowing not even a day had passed on Enthar. My people had suffered so much at the hands of those that claimed to follow the path of righteousness, and I knew they deserved peace for once in their lives. In my youth, I came across an uninhabited Prime that I knew would be the ideal place for a new settlement. I returned to the lush valley where I had built a cabin next to a waterfall and set to work. I collected supplies for construction, considering all they would need for agriculture and housing. I imported enough wood, tools, food, and livestock for thousands. A process that might normally take years by myself was hastened by the use of Gates directly from lumber yards, quarries, and farms. I implemented magical bags, allowing me to stock up on hundreds of pounds of material for each visit. There was little left to do by the time of my eventual return to Enthar.

My initial return to the portal in Hades was largely uneventful. I gathered a few allies in anticipation of Arkanthides returning with his forces again, but he made no presence. My relief was short-lived as we stepped back through to Enthar. The state of the surface had declined rapidly in just a single day and we struggled to make our way through the storms. When we finally reached the village, it was a relief to find my people alive. There were thousands of them from across Enthar's spine crowded in the many tunnels. It took many hours to funnel everyone through Gates while the world around us began to violently crumble. As the last of them made their way, I could feel the village begin to sink down into the earth.

Away from Enthar, my people were overjoyed. They had never witnessed a world so lush and beautiful. They had never known a world so at peace. I stayed with them for a time to show them how to rebuild and prosper, making sure to visit every few weeks to guide them and to continue ferrying supplies until they had settled.

With my people safely away from Enthar, there was only one thing left to do. The prison made for the titan was breaking and the great primordial would soon be stirring. I saw images in my mind of an enraged colossal that rampaged across the Wheel. I saw the Powers rise up to do battle with it with the multiverse as their battleground. I saw the lives of countless mortals being stamped out in a conflict that they never had a part in. I could see the horrors unfolding before me. I could see the greatest threat to mortals I had ever known, but what was I to do? I was but a man going up against a world-sized being.

I returned to my home for one last time and stood upon the surface as the winds raged around me and my companions. I led them to the ancient temple to once more travel deep into the earth to the archway far below. There, I channeled energy into the gateway, as I did long ago. Brilliant arcs of energy flowed up the pillars, pulsating. The tendrils of white light merged in the middle, splitting reality before us. Enthar stirred as the portal ripped open, drawing us into it with a fierce wind.

The fury of the vortex vanished as we entered the mind of a god. There was only a void at first, the darkness around us infinite as we floated listlessly. Departing from the physical world brought about an uneasiness, but I was no longer a child to be swallowed up by the titan's infinite will. My focus was the only barrier that kept us from being lost to a dreamless sleep. I suppose my essence demanded recognition in the gulf between thoughts. I guided them with my conviction, my resolve realized as a plateau appeared in the emptiness.

The stability rose up from the blackness as we moved away from the vast nothingness, the structure like a mental projection of solid light. Before us was an endless network of resplendent pathways that spanned out over the void in stark contrast. Somehow, I instinctively lead them down a specific path, our footfalls creating tiny surges of prismatic brilliance along the palpating mental fabric. Translucent vestiges of the god's slowly waking mind roamed the silver filaments before us. Abnormalities seemed to patrol the webways that made up the dormant titan's consciousness, acting as sentries even in hibernation. Despite these barest of mental defenses, the trek spanned for what seemed like days. It was difficult to truly elucidate time in such a place.

In the distance, we would eventually see a central, disk-like platform with the span of brilliant crystalline networks clustering around the crux. A great pillar of light radiated perpendicular in the center and extended infinitely above and below. Pulsing fragments of energy perpetually crossed the various synapses from the nexus and surged down the span of web-like fibers that surrounded it. The massive structure seemed to rest in the middle of all things. We crossed a diaphanous membrane to step onto the great stretch of the platform.

The spherical film rippled faintly until the last vibrations reached the distant core. As the languid thoughts of the slumbering colossus turned to regard us, the shaft of energy in the center of the nexus thrummed. Each pulse sent forth a wave of abstractions to meet us in combat. The twisted, impossibly angled features of the creatures were projected awkwardly as our minds tried to interpret the confounding shapes. Sleek, glimmering skin as a silhouette coated the manifestations that were of the titan's will. The creatures swarmed forward in droves, falling like shattering glass whenever we felled one.

As the last of the shard-like beings fell, the void surrounding the platform slowly transformed into a whirling cosmos. Distant stars twinkled into existence as the colossus stirred from dormancy. The nexus buzzed again and three more anomalies glided forth. Large and powerfully shaped figures of convoluted contours and shadowy nebulae stepped out from the pillar of the essence to challenge us. We quickly found that these new entities were vastly more difficult to kill, their opaque varnish of dimly reflected starlight resistant to weapons and magic alike. They also inevitably fell as fractured pieces, as if of brittle incandescence.

The universe that was the primordial deity's mind blinked into life as vast star systems materialized into being and encircled the nexus with increasing velocity. The colossus was nearly provoked enough to slide from torpor, causing the great shaft of scintillating energy to pulsate again. A massive shape thundered from the near-conscious mind of the titan. It was of radiant brilliance, an impeccable mirror to the stretching infinity that now swirled around the platform. An aurora-like nimbus blossomed across the surface of the nearly perfect creature as it approached- the representation of a god's will.

The battle with this being was to no avail. The avatar was impervious to our meager attempts to bring it down. Yet the longer I spent in the titan's mind, the more I began to understand. The eons trapped while dimly aware of his kind having been exterminated by Zeus and others had driven him mad. I began to feel his rage through the connection that had once existed only in my dreams. I approached the creature and summoned all my strength to thrust my will upon it. I felt a flood of wild emotion, the boiling madness and rage pressing against my mind at all sides. Our wills were deadlocked as we pushed against each other, until I noticed the flickering of something at the back of my mind. An awareness of my allies and their own minds and souls. Gathering their aid, I guided them so that we focused our unified wills against the creature to slowly pushed back the madness.

While I had entered the mind of Enthar to slay him to prevent a catastrophe, I began to see a new path. To destroy a being as ancient and powerful as this would be an accomplishment that no other could claim, not even the gods, and yet what I chose was something greater still. Imposing my will against the cosmos that was its mind. To pit my mind against it and wash away the eons of misery and grief, to instill a sense of sanity again when all it knew was loss- that is something else.

This was the choice I knew must be made. Enthar was just as much a victim of Zeus as any other. Endlessly mettled with, tugged on from every side while wishing nothing but to be left alone. I found myself relating to Enthar. I found myself comparing him to mortals. I had expected another deific figure that would preside over those seen as lesser, and yet I was shown something so very much like myself. I understood it, and thus I held the power to overcome it. After all, I knew this suffering. To turn the pain and sorrow into a tool. To not let it break you, but to allow it to forge oneself into something indestructible. That is the power of one's will, and that is what one must always remember above all else.

As the titan's rage cooled, I approached the infinite pillar of light that was the mind of a god. Reaching out, I felt the connection strengthen between us. It was at that moment that we came to an understanding of what must be done. Enthar's yearning for Zeus to be brought to justice was even greater than my own, but he was incapable of claiming it. If he continued to awaken, the gods would rise up to strike him down in battle. I convinced him that I could champion the cause and seek justice for all of Zeus' wrongdoings, allowing the great titan to continue his slumber.

In order to make good on my claim, we both knew I would need a weapon unlike any other. Enthar and my mind collided into one for the briefest of moments. It was in that span that I saw the birth of the multiverse and glimpses of all that had transpired since. The forming of stars and their demise, the rise and fall of entire civilizations, and the sheer insignificance even gods had upon all of existence as a whole. I could feel my mind expanding, and my awareness growing to new heights that mortal kind could only ever dream of. An unexpected bond formed, and together, we focused our unified will in that place where belief truly was reality. Thrusting my hand outwards, a silvery blade manifested there.

This sword was simultaneously captivating in its otherworldly, mercurial sheen, and yet difficult to look upon. It maintained a form of near intangibility with a sleek, glimmering surface of dimly reflected starlight. Reality seemed to hang heavy around it and the air emitted a dull roar like a distant forge. Even to this day, it remains an enigma to the most knowledgeable and skilled crafters. Not comprised of neither metal, stone, or organic matter, but something ambiguous that resembles a shadowy, shifting nebula.

When ignited by my will, the blade becomes ablaze with white light and the sound of it rises to deafening levels as it roars with power. The swirling depths shift to become an impeccable mirror of an infinitely spanning cosmos. A radiant and blinding inferno envelops it with an essence that extends out to devour all it touches. The edge of the blade seems to devastate anything in its path, severing with such ease and precision as if it begins bisecting at an infinitesimal level. Forged within the nexus of a cosmic entity's consciousness, this weapon was shaped by the coalescence of great conviction. Bolstered with the power of a Wish, Enthar and I combined our might to thrust it upon a singularity. This manifestation of will was harnessed to conceive the perfect weapon- so potent that it may even harm gods themselves. The birth of this sword heralds the beginning of a claim to justice against Zeus for his transgressions.

I took that blade and left Enthar to his slumber. Sometime after that, Arkanthides came to me with a peace offering. He bestowed his gauntlets to me in an apology, having taken some time to realize his path was leading him down a dark road. He has since left Zeus' service and joined the Athar as one of my factioneers.

The world I gifted my people has since flourished. At first, many sought to create temples in my honor or to label me as king, but persuaded them otherwise. No one man's word should be absolute or without question. Instead, I have helped them to instill democracy and independence, ensuring the future with higher education and a secular view of the Great Wheel. Khloeros, as they've come to call the metropolis, has since transformed into a paradise.

I have been opposing Zeus ever since, while simultaneously guiding my people to peace and prosperity. There are far too many things to name that have come to pass since my encounter with Enthar, but I will name a few. I killed the child scion of Tiamat. I've destroyed world-killing relics. I stopped Elysium from getting dragged into the Abyss by fiendish forces. I quelled an invading army beneath Sigil's streets. The Alliance of Change invaded the Outlands, and I continued to oppose them at every turn and played a key role in their defeat. I have also continued to grow in my opposition to Zeus. I have since faced Olympian beasts of legend, aided a grandson of Zeus acting against his heritage, and freed the titan Prometheus from his eternal imprisonment and torture- claiming him as an ally in my fight. The road before me is a long one, but I will continue to tear down Zeus' reign at every turn until our inevitable clash.