Life Story
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Vengeance upon the Greater Warped One Ged-that was the purpose that gave Gillion's life meaning.
Gillion was born in a small and unremarkable village on the continent's frontier. There, amidst a humble peace, he grew under the warmth of his parents' love, learning the hard-earned wisdom of life from his father, once a mercenary.
"The day the Abyss opens draws near."
His father often said this, a shielding arm around his son.
Even as a child, Gillion could feel the fear beneath those words, and he carved his father's teachings deep into his heart.
His father's words became reality when Gillion was thirteen. The Abyss yawned wide, swallowing the village whole, and the Greater Warped One's onslaught fell upon the village. Gillion tried to stand and fight beside his father. But his father, seeking to save Gillion, gave him a mission of his own.
"I entrust them all to you. Swear that you will protect them."
Sensing the weight of his father's resolve, Gillion nodded solemnly, and swore to protect without fail. Taking his mother's hand, he led the villagers away, fleeing through smoke and ruin as the Warped Ones gave chase.
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Days passed, and from a neighboring elven realm a troop of elves made its way to the place that had once been Gillion's village, having sensed the disturbance in the currents of the world. There they found only ruin-the bodies of the villagers scattered and desecrated by the Warped Ones-and amid the silence of death, within the hollow of a tree, they discovered a boy still clinging to life. Before that hollow, the torn remains of a woman-his mother, most likely-lay as though she had fallen protecting him.
The elves bore away this sole survivor, Gillion, taking him into their custody. The taint of the Abyss had already begun to consume him, but through the skill and unrelenting will of an elven mystic, his life was wrested back from the brink.
When Gillion awoke, he was wracked with guilt. He had been unable to help his father. He had failed to uphold his vow. He had watched as the villagers perished before his eyes. And his mother had died shielding him, giving her life that he might live.
He set out to learn all he could of his nemesis, gathering every whisper and fragment of knowledge. The name of his nemesis was Ged, the Greater Warped One. It sought out the mighty and preyed upon them. And from those he deemed heroes, he carried off their weapons as his prize. Gillion's father had been strong. That was why he had been marked. When Gillion had come to learn this truth, a twisted smile spread across his face.
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To exact vengeance upon his nemesis, Gillion threw himself entirely into training.
"Father's nemesis. Mother's nemesis. The nemesis of his people..."
The mystic looked upon him with pity but did not intervene. Peace would not come to Gillion until vengeance was wrought. Then, as a last concession, the mystic imparted a way to transform the Abyssal curse into a power to fight. Bearing the curse upon his shoulders, Gillion pressed on with his training.
In time, he became a mercenary, following the path of his father. Whenever word came of a Warped One, he joined the hunting party, honing his skill with each battle. He spoke little, smiled rarely, and even in the wake of victory, while comrades rejoiced, he would turn his back upon them and return alone to his training.
Yet with each battle, the curse raged ever fiercer, gnawing at his body and threatening to consume him.
"If you continue on this path, you shall become one of the Warped Ones yourself."
Upon hearing the mystic's words, Gillion realized that his days were numbered.
Through tireless trial and endless error, he finally cast aside the shield, dedicating the remainder of his brief life wholly to the two-handed sword. Only by channeling the strength beyond mortal men, granted by the curse, had he any hope of victory. Gillion swore that he would exact vengeance upon his nemesis before death could claim him.
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Whispers began to spread that there was a cursed war demon...one who howled upon the battlefield like a beast and swung his sword like an evil fiend. Even his own allies came to fear him and kept their distance, yet nothing in Gillion's world existed beyond the singular purpose of vengeance.
That day, as always, he had finished his work of monster-slaying and had taken a solitary moment of rest at a distant outpost. Then a mercenary, knowing of Gillion's goal, came running, breathless, bearing dire tidings: Ged had appeared at the elven village that had taken him in.
Without hesitation, Gillion leapt upon his swiftest steed and rode for the village at break-neck speed. When he arrived, he beheld utter ruin: the settlement had been annihilated, a sea of blood staining the earth. Ged had claimed the swords of the elves who had fought to their last breath, adding them to his ever-growing trove. Among the weapons, Gillion's gaze fell upon the blade of his own father.
Before thought could temper him, he surged forward, meeting the foe in battle. Into his blade he poured all that he was: the teachings of his father, the bitter grief of vows left unfulfilled, the unyielding resolve of vengeance, the strength forged in relentless training, and the storm of anger born anew from yet another loss.
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The fierce resistance of the elves had left Ged wounded.
Still, he faltered not, and unleashed his dreadful might for all to see. Gillion fought on as though each strike drew from the very marrow of his life. He evaded the relentless onslaught again and again, striking at Ged's injuries with heavy, merciless blows.
At last, through sheer will and unyielding determination, his vengeance found its mark: Gillion's blade pierced Ged. As Ged fell, Gillion himself collapsed beside him.
"I failed to keep my vow...but I got my revenge."
The curse rent his armor asunder and his form was slowly unmade, no longer wholly human. Summoning the last of his strength, he seized his father's sword.
"Father... Mother... Am I forgiven...?"
Before the very eyes of his mercenary company, only now just arriving, Gillion drove his blade through his own heart. Ged plunged into the Abyss, the village he himself had warped tumbling down with him. And Gillion's remains vanished into their depths along with them.
Thus the tale of the war demon, clad in malediction, who had slain a Greater Warped One, spread among the mercenaries, and the story greatly stirred their courage and resolve.