Shadowbane Lore Archives

Collection of Shadowbane Lore includes rare documents

Mandemus the Mad

Are these heroes I see before me? Or merely fools who laugh at death? Beware, fool, before you tread but one step more! The schemes of a God bear fruit in this noisome swamp, and the power of Morloch shall smite you if you enter. I, who know the treachery of Morloch better than any man, have seen it first hand!

In dream I have seen what the fiend intends, the Doom he would unleash! I have seen all the cities broken, bathed in blood, while Demons cavort among the ruins of all that was, and Morloch wears an iron crown, the ruler of this broken world. And then I looked upon my former brethren of the Temple, and the world they have built, and I wept for I could not tell the two visions apart any longer. At first I prayed for peace, but now I pray no more. Get thee from this place! It is evil! Morloch came here, not long ago, and wrought some foul magic at the very heart of this place. He has called his Orcs to him, and Ettins, and other foul things. It was he who called the horrid isle of Maelstrom to rise from the deep, and all the hosts of Chaos have come to answer his summons. Soon the Gates shall open, and the Second Scourge shall drown us all in lakes of blood.

He has chosen a mighty champion, clothed him in the Destroyer's very semblance, and left him here to guard some dark secret! And now the heretics and traitors all flock here. The false priests of Bellugh Nuatha, the disgraced warriors of the Vorgrim Legions, all the ancient evils gather here, waiting for their master's call.

And I wait too, for once the designs of chaos are fulfilled, then all shall be destroyed, and at last I shall know peace. So again, I entreat you, get thee from this place! Go, and revel in your time, for all of us are doomed! Morloch's Hand is here, and none can withstand him!

Who are you, old man?

Mandemus is my name, once called the Merciful. I donned the crimson armor of the Temple, and wielded the Cleansing Flame of Morloch for righteousness and justice. For saint Malorn I sent entire villages to the flame, and wrung confessions out of heretics and apostates. And then word came to Cair Haldoran that the Archon of Judgement had spoken to prophets in the lands of Tyrranth, that he wished to come down from Heaven to join us in our struggle against sin and darkness! I was chosen, by the Living Saint himself, to utter the invocation and bring Judgement to the world. How could we have been so wrong?

It was no Archon who answered the invocation. It was Morloch, the Maimed God, called Destroyer, lackey of Chaos, traitor to the All-Father, pawn of Chaos who answered. I, who had lived my life for righteousness, had unchained the greatest fiend Aerynth had ever known. The Destroyer set upon a reign of Terror, moving from fragment to fragment, building fortresses of sin and spreading strife, destruction, and terror in his wake. All this I watched. I threw off my armor and renounced my vows, for I am no longer worthy of them. As Mandemus the Meek I tried to rouse the peoples of Aerynth against the Destroyer, but I failed at every turn. And then the dreams began, and after them came the visions. Now I am Mandemus the Mad, and for all my crimes I deserve death, but in this cursed age even death offers no respite. I am cursed to live, to be the herald of the Destroyer, to see and make account of all his dark deeds.

Who are Bellugh Nuatha?

They are the vilest of Heretics! Of all the sinners, they are the most foul, for they have turned their backs on the All-Father, as the Elves did of old.

After the Years of Sorrow, when all Humanity toiled under the dark oppression of the Deathless Empire, it was the Centaurs who taught escaped Human slaves the way of the All-Father and the forgotten history of Ardan, reuniting the Sons of Men with their stolen destiny. There were some lost souls, however, who cursed the All-Father for never saving Ardan. These Men spurned the counsel of the Horse Lords, and set out to find new Gods.

Led by the prophet Bellugh, these renegades worshipped of the elements of earth, wind, sea, and fire. Fire they placed above all the other elements as creator and destroyer, the source and the bane of all that lives. Bellugh's followers made a false God of the Sun, which they named Nuath. But Bellugh led them all astray. There is no Nuath -- it is Khalikryst, mother of the Devil-Men, who toyed with them and granted their heretics powers. For centuries the Sun worshippers practices their foul rites of human sacrifice. The Holy Church of the All-Father denounced the followers of Bellugh as heretics, and sought to destroy them. The Bellugh Nuathal took haven among the pagan Gwendannen, who for a time added Nuath to their pantheon of Gods.

But now the Bellugh Nuathul has reformed, or else emerged from hiding. Indeed, I have seen them here! Priests in the brazen vestments of the Sun God have wandered into these swamps, seeking the aid of creatures born of Chaos. They are fools, and they are doomed -- for while the Destroyer hates the All-Father as surely as they, he will betray all his pawns to death when the Banelords return. I have foreseen it.

Who are the Vorgrim Legion?

That is a black name, once was held in high honor, but now stained with the taint of sin, Chaos, and treachery. The Legion was born of folly, during the War of Scourge, when the mightiest in the armies of Elves and Humanity joined together to form an elite army where the Firstborn and the Sons of Men would fight side by side, under joint command. The Legion won it's greatest fame during the middle years of the conflict, when they managed to halt the advance of Chaos on many fronts. After the retrieval of Shadowbane and the turning of the tide, Malog the War God emerged from his long seclusion to answer the All-Father's call to arms. Malog himself took command of the Vorgrim Legion and led it to many victories. In their pride, the Legion slowly renounced its ties with the lords of Elves or Men, following their mighty general to death and glory.

The Legion's fate was sealed when Malog tried to betray the All-Father to His doom in the Pit of Chaos. The warriors of the Vorgrim were abandoned and trapped with their dark master. Malog's treachery poisoned the name of the Vorgrim Legion forever: the tales and songs of its exploits were deliberately forgotten, and the few surviving members of the Legion renounced it. But now the Legion moves again. Ever since Malog, reborn as Morloch the Destroyer returned to Aerynth, warriors and devotees of Chaos have appeared wearing the ancient suits of armor used by the Legion of old. Morloch is combing ruins and ancient places for the enchanted relics of the Legion, and some fear that the Maimed God intends to reform the legion and use it to conquer all the fragments of Aerynth. If you are bold enough, go and win back the enchanted arms of the Vorgrim and put them once again to honorable use! Though I fear any wounds you do them will only delay the inevitable doom ...

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