The Great Stitching

The Abyss is a realm of many titles, men call it the End and the ignorant call it dangerous, to the world of Rathnir this realm has remained only a legend, a tale to tell of great horrors and adventures. However to billions this realm was once home, once this dimension of darkness and evil was vibrant and full of life, many civilizations were built atop the floating islands over the vast ocean of the void, wars were fought and peace was made and many went about their lives. One of these people went by the name Hallderfaine son of Valder the Indomitable, ruler of an empire that stretched over the mighty Abyss and the slayer of the tyrant dragon who once many eons ago emerged from the void and subjected the people of the Abyss to great agony. Hallderfaine was a normal child for the son of a conqueror and spent most of his days with the King's spiritual advisor who taught the boy many secrets about the Abyss and how the Great Ancients once used powerful magics to bend it to their will and how he, a descendant of their blood, could use it to help his people.

The young prince however was far too ambitious for the slow and methodical approach needed to control his power safely, so one night Hallderfaine entered the ancient library where the oldest texts and scrolls were kept, and he found the book of Mer, the first recorded Great Ancient, and began reading it. Over the next few weeks Hallderfaine developed a sickly appearance, his eyes were sunken in, his skin became a ghostly pale, and his hair became thin, he also was noticed to be quick to anger over minute slights by his friends and family. One night his father Valder discovered Hallderfaine in the library with the book and became enraged at his son, that he was practicing such dark magic, but when Valder attempted to take the book away from Hallderfaine he spoke in an ancient tongue and his father collapsed. Hallderfaine had thought he had killed his father but after a moment the body of Valder convulsed and made a terrible crackling noise as it rose to its feet, Valder was now a husk, a rotten corpse under Hallderfaine's command.

When Hallderfaine had realized what he had done he began to laugh, the book and the power it commanded had corrupted his mind, and he was mad with power, he decided that he wasn't happy with the meagre empire his father had conquered, he wanted all of the Abyss to be under his control. As Hallderfaine made his way out of the royal palace he was confronted by the King's guard who, to the horror of bystanders, all collapsed and rose again as rotting puppets controlled by Hallderfaine. With his new army Hallderfaine marched deeper into the capital city of Dathraheim and as he went he announced to the people that their savior had arrived and that he was to deliver them from their suffering, and turned them into his undead army. He made his way to the monument of where his father had slain the dragon tyrant and he knelt to touch the ground, a great tremor was felt as the ground cracked and split, purple light poured into the Abyss as the great beast was now awoken and under the command of Hallderfaine, the Undead Emperor.

The Undead Emperor made his way throughout the Abyss, turning the land to cinder and the people into his army of the dead, and the whole way he laughed like a child who found a new plaything while slaughtering millions. After a few rotations, the Abyss was completely under the control of the Undead Emperor, and the billions who once resided there were now under Hallderfaine 's control, or hiding deep in the labyrinths and caverns that stretched under the ground of many islands. While for a moment Hallderfaine was content with his conquest, it quickly became apparent that his hunger was not satisfied, he wanted more, he wanted all there was to be under his control. He consulted the ancient book once more and found a new page, a page that spoke of a world called Rathnir "a land of great kingdoms and empires'', said the book, and Hallderfaine was enthralled at the thought of a whole new world to conquer and immediately began preparations on opening a gateway to lead his legions of undead onto the world of Rathnir.

As he consulted the book on how to open the ancient gateway to Rathnir, he read a warning "For whom speaks these words must give their soul", in order for the spell to work Hallderfaine would have to give what little humanity he had left in order to open the gateway. Given his nature he gave the warning little thought and began preparing himself to use all his power for one spell, once he was through the gateway he would conquer the world of Rathnir and fulfill his fantasies. When he gathered his armies at the ancient gateway he looked out over all he had done, all he had killed and all he had destroyed, and he laughed, he began to speak the dark spell and as he did the ground began to tremble and the sky itself shook with terror. Hallderfaine screamed in agony as his body began to decay and his eyes became empty holes, the spell was taking his soul, but as he screamed he proclaimed " I...AM...ETERNAL '' . The fabric of reality itself was ripped and the now rotten king stepped through it, but as he did the gateway closed behind him and the undead army began to regain their minds, and as they looked around in confusion they realized that they were trapped, the land was scorched and desolate and now the gateway was eternally sealed. The people of the Abyss now free of their tyrant still are tapped by him, in their desolate prison unable to die and unable to live, ready to exact their anger on anything and anyone they see, if freed they have vowed to reduce Rathnir and their former ruler who had damned them to ashes, and their oppressor was given the name Lord Stitcher, imprisoner of the Abyss.