The Cost of Vengeance

For thirty long years, Mortanius bided his time, struggling against Hash'AkGik's continued possession whenever possible to keep his plan in motion. Meanwhile, the young successor to Ariel's role grew into a man, a wandering noble called Kain who was all too oblivious of his imminent doom orchestrated by Mortanius.

In the course of fleeing a plague which swept through his hometown of Coorhagen, Kain found himself in the town of Ziegsturhl. While seeking to relax with a mug of ale, he found himself cast out from the tavern. With the horrors that roamed ever since Mortanius quit regulating death, many establishments would not dare to stay open during the night. Tossed out into the cold rain of the night, Kain was soon beset by a group of petty bandits. In spite of an admirable fight, he nonetheless found himself knocked down into the dirt moments before an iron blade pierced his heart.

Kain died. Awakening into a realm of fire and shrieking souls, he was greeted by Mortanius. Unknown to Kain at the time, this man was indeed the one who set the assassins upon him. But now, the necromancer offered vengeance, and Kain accepted without thought of the price. Tearing the blade free from Kain's heart, Mortanius offered the weapon to be Kain's instrument of revenge. This offer was also accepted and Kain soon found himself waking again surrounded by dirt and decay: He was lying in the family mausoleum, having been interred after his untimely death.

Climbing free of his coffin, he made his way out of this dusty crypt and into the muted light of a rainy day. And here, he began to notice new things: His hair, once black, had turned purest white. His prized armor, once bearing the lion sigil of the renowned king of Willendorf, was now scorched black by hellfire. In his chest he felt an unfamiliar rhythm, the unique beat of an unholy immortal organ - the black heart that had so long ago been torn out of the chest of the last Ancient, Janos Audron. The rain stung his skin like so many droplets of acid. But most of all, he noticed a strange new appetite. A craving, a need...For blood.