The Chronicle of Kindred

By James Hayes. All names are (c) their original owners. (usually WOTC)

(Found in the rubble of the Swirling Tankard Inn, A.K.A the Black-Jade Abbey)

We, were always as we are now, we did not however fully realize this at first.

Greatness was never one of those things that were difficult for us. We were born the son of a wealthy, though impeccably inconsequential, land baron and an arch-wizardess. With a silver spoon in our mouth and powerful magics at our fingertips, greatness was never something to be achieved, instead it was a tool used to inspire fear and respect in others.

Our father, in hindsight was a bumbling fool, merely a coin purse and a male benefactor necessary for creating life for mother, the means to an end. And although there may be some feels that could be miscommunicated as appreciation for our mother, chiefly for our instruction in the ways of magic, her memory is met with no more love then that of our father. Though at the time growing up in our mansion we loved each other as a family, we were not truly happy not as we know the word now. We found it amusing, the naiveté of youth is a comical thing, back then we were still one, not yet awake and aware of our full potential, Richard, we believe, yes little Richard Aern, he loved them very much despite their parental misgivings.

Both wanted a successor in their own right, though mother was by far the more forceful of the two. So our formative years were made up of constant practice and training, both in the bearing and regality associated with noble life, and the practice of basic spells and magical effects. It was during this time that our proficiency for getting ourselves out of impending trouble manifested itself, as well as an instinctive dislike of animals that mother found particularly disturbing. It was also during these years that we met little Sera Danovich, the daughter of a neighboring lord. There were plans among our parents to have us pledged to each other. Mother was expressly against this, but it was during this time that father finally decided to assert himself, wizardess or not, it was his job to look after their estate and this was the best plan he could conceive, old fool. Sera was always a bright person, using any occasion to poke fun at Richard. The two were around each other when we weren't with mother practicing our magics. We were happy together and possibly would have continued to be so if not for mother's foolishness.

Now we turn to the tragic part in this story, our mother had a few skeletons in her closet when it came to her "beloved" first born son. In her years as an adventurer, we discovered later, she had made a pact with a group of infernomancers at the secretive Black-Jade Abbey. In return for some unnamed great power, she pledged her first born son on his wedding night. So in the dead of night after our wedding to Sera whom we loved so very much, we were awakened by a scream as she was cut down by a pair of intruders. One had eyes that glowed like hellfire as it wiped its blood from its claws; the other was a withered and skeletal figure. The cultists had come for our soul but we gave them something they did not expect. Due to our training with mother we were already an accomplished wizard in our own right despite our youth and naiveté.

Despite our best efforts however, Richard was overcome. But instead of becoming a sacrifice like was originally planned the Abbot decided to put us to the test to see if we would be accepted within the ranks of the "Jaded". This "test" turned out to be little more then being chained to the wall and tortured on a constant basis in their dungeon deep below the Abbey proper. However this experience proved to be the appropriate catalyst to for our growth and eventual awakening for our of this pain we learned of our mother betrayal and true intentions. We would have fallen there, lost to madness and despair among those vile minions and their masters with souls of coal, but for one thing. The memory of Sera was a constant light, she was an innocent and though her life had been brief she used it to bring light to the world and it was her alone that shed the light on these black souls and allowed us to see them and render them powerless. She was proof against every word that spilled out of their poisoned mouths.

We wished to hate our captors for what they did to Sera and our imprisonment, but a curious knowledge crept over us as we sat in that vile place. Our mind and body was becoming tainted, scarred we were becoming like our torturers and the beasts they spawned. At first we could not comprehend this, how can our heart remain true and our body and thoughts betray us so? But in a flash of inspiration we came up with the answer, and we realized what our purpose was and we were awake. Through this trial we had been put on the path of perfection. Earlier experiments with magic had unlocked the door, and our imprisonment had opened the door in our mind, now all that was left was the path ahead of us.

This knowledge and its implications were all too much for our mortal mind to fathom all at once, so using a piece of bone from a nearby neighbor we began writing on the walls of our prison. Soon we were solving equations that we would learn later as advanced demonic and infernal formulae on the wall of our dungeon. When our captors came back and they saw our work, they realized their methods had proven effective, and we were accepted as a junior brother in the Black-Jade Abbey.

Working under the guise of a well established inn the Abbey has been the perfect place to hone our craft and explore our newfound learning, as the passerby have never ceased to supply us with rich information or at least not a few test subjects.

We soon thereafter adopted the name Kindred as we realize that we are the embodiment of the dualist nature of the universe, and thus are representative of everything. It is because of this peculiar worldview that after the ten years that we have resided here in the Abbey even our superiors grow nervous when we are around. We are different from them we have found, and avoid all conversation with them as long as possible. And interact with their vile brood only to further our own agenda. They all searched for dominion and control through hellish chaos, but I had found the need for something else. Most wished to chain a Demon Lord or even replace one, become a black tyrant wielding the dark flames of hell itself.

But we, we ridiculed their shortsighted and laughable plans. Yes, that all was just too simplistic for us. We had been touched by innocence, just a spark of the divine that made us different from those other demon-mongers. Unlike them, eternally disliked and distanced from existence, we had had a genuine experience and due to that we worked towards something far greater then simple hell raising. No these vile beasts were tool towards a greater end, we are something else entirely. Our research has lead us to this particular thought process and we believe the others are starting to believe that our intentions aren't as "pure" as theirs.

We have been plotting our escape from the Abbey for sometime now, since we deduced our inner light, the part of our soul that the demons are unable to sway with their greedy promises or consume with their hatred. Fortunately however, there will have been no need for grand battles of demon versus demon; the forces of good have means of doing this. Already a troupe of paladins and clerics from the temple of Lythander come to burn that blight that is the Black-Jade Abbey from these lands. So tonight at midnight we will steal into the abbots chambers and take his prized Chronocharm right from his throat, steal from him as he stole from us, and with this last revenge exacted we will make our escape while Lythander's lackeys will ensure that we have no pursuers. It will do the body good to get some field research done. Perhaps we will inquire with one of the local guilds.

-We are Kindred

We are Legion