Xander Dawn, one of Lord Rune's two sons, was rescued from Ilvir the Damned and taken to safety by Minnow of the Balance. Placed into an out of the way orphanage in the City of the World Emperor - Viridistan, Xander underwent a name change to Xenon Von Victor (the Von Victor part coming from a famous local actor).

When he was 17, Xenon stumbled across a Chaos ritualist called Gruber. Gruber was in the process of transporting himself to another world when guards suddenly pursued Xenon into the ritualist's basement. The ritual went awry causing Victor and Gruber to be transported onto a boat, somewhere else in the Universe.

Clinging to Gruber like a bad penny, Xenon began to make the ritualist's life a living hell. Everywhere Gruber went, Xenon followed, bringing more Chaos and confusion in moments than the ritualist had caused in years. Eventually though, Gruber had had enough and resolved to kill the annoying young man - Gruber's anger was so great that he dared to summon a Pit Fiend for the job. Unfortunately, Xenon burst in again and broke the summoning circle. This was the last straw and at that moment, Kutal, Baron of Blood and Eternal Lord of Chaos dragged the two of them to his home plane.

Kutal, an immense bloated giant bathing in lakes of blood and eating hapless victims by the cart load, offered Victor a no win scenario - Swear allegiance to Chaos and Kutal or die. Overwhelmed by Kutal's God-like aura, and after only a few minutes contemplation, Victor chose to swearing and distastefully knelt to drink from the blood pool.

Horrified by this seemingly preferential treatment, Gruber resolved to lose Xenon at the earliest opportunity. An opportunity that arose within minutes as the Ritualist tried shoving the young man through a portal to Pandemonium. But Xenon managed to wrestle Gruber to the floor and twist the older man's arm back...

Forced by Kutal to baby-sit the young Xenon (and still mightily miffed), Gruber opened another portal to the realm of Eternium. Kutal had spoken - "Xenon, you will be my Herald on this new World. Enlighten them to my ways."

When Xenon Von Victor awoke again, Gruber had vanished, leaving him alone on a strange World in a barren wilderness. Xenon soon encountered some local soldiers and nearby battle site, but finding himself unjustly received, ran north into the bleakness of the mountains. There he wandered for many days until starving and tired he discovered a strange man-made tunnel. Convinced that Gruber had come this way too, Victor stumbled blindly into the darkness and to the end of his natural life. In the gloom lurked two "Shadows" - undead creatures with a taste for life-force. They fell upon Victor, draining him down to a withered husk.

For any normal person this would have meant death. But Xenon had been "blessed" by Kutal of Chaos. The blood he had imbibed began to change him - infusing his veins and bones with preternatural energy, transforming flesh and mind into something not wholely human - the first of its kind on the World of Eternium.

A year later, Victor awoke, crawling from the tunnel and into the night air. At first he was confused, then horrified by his appearance - shrunken arms, wasted muscles and ghostly white skin. Then the sun began to rise and a panic gripped his vitals unlike anything he had ever known. He began to burn, his arm actually catching fire. He fled back into the tunnel and hid, awaiting night in a dazed stupor.

When night came, Xenon staggered out again and in a crazed mental state, began hunting nearby sheep. Using his bare hands and hardened "claw-like" nails, Xenon tore at their hides and sank fangs into their necks. He had become a monster that craved blood like a savage beast.

Filled with fresh blood in his veins, he noticed his skin healing, filling out and gaining back its color. His strength began to return but in ways he found strange. He could run faster than a horse, leap great distances and land safely from great heights. His senses had been sharpened to such a degree that he could hear things 1000' away, smell blood on the wind at over a mile and see perfectly in the dark. What's more, now he had drunk his fill of sheep blood, his mind became calm and the beast in him placid. He could think more clearly and take charge of his situation.

He explored the tunnel - the shadows letting him pass as they could no longer sense life-force (or life-force of a kind they were used to.)

Beyond the tunnel lay a crumbling castle in a state of decay. Guarded by shadows that let him pass, the castle appeared dead and silent. But after climbing its walls and walking its halls, he found its sole occupant.
She introduced herself as Valris and when Victor saw her, he knew her to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

See also Shadaraine and Bran & Preyli.
Manna is last of the Drachma - the other half of the Shada soul.

At the age of 7, Manna saw her entire family slaughtered; her mother and older sister raped in front of her while her father and brother were brutally cut down. Culminating in her own rape and multiple stabbing, the event proved so traumatic that Manna literally pushed her mind so far inward that it turned inside out. Her imagination externalized itself around her broken bleeding body.
Suddenly able to imagine away the pain and stab wounds, Manna crawled from the burning house unscathed and out into the world.
As the years passed, her imagination grew in strength, increasing in its area of effect and influence on reality. She learned her true nature to be that of a Shadaraine - but a Shadaraine turned mentally inward rather than outward.

She is a severely traumatized individual, addicted to absolute control over her environment, out of fear.

This makes her almost impossible to fight and hit. She can dodge, move super fast and undetected, then kill. In her area of imagination, the normal laws of reality are bent in her favor. I.e.. Running up walls, leaping, flying, haste etc.

One day, after a very bad rain storm, Goruan wandered through a wood near his home and stumbled across a giant wall of thorns. Nearby he found an old anvil that the storm had unearthed from thick mud. As soon as he laid his hands on it, wolves attacked and savaged him near to death.
When he awoke, he stumbled back to his village and remained on his death bed for several days. Then one night, under the full moon, he transformed into a wolf, killed one of the villagers and fled.

Goruan found the wolves and fought for the right to live with them. They had once all been human, like him, but had long since given up their human forms in favor of their wolf ones. They revered the "Father", largest and strongest of their number and obeyed his wishes.

Deciding to become a smith and follow in Koranarth's footsteps, Goruan set off for Esium city and after several months of mastering the basics (and his ability to shift between man and wolf), he earned an apprenticeship under the Dwarven Master Smith - Corden.

After a couple of years Goruan left Esium and returned to the druids grove. He had manufactured himself special wolf armor to seek out and defeat the "Father" of the wolves. After winning a terrible fight, Goruan became the pack leader.

He then decided to adventure in search of rare metals and materials for his smithcraft. He had heard the best place to find such things was the Catacombs. After many more adventures, with knights, strange temples and a witch that transformed him into a bird, Goruan ended up in Evost Derry, rooting around ancient tombs and burial chambers in search of magic.

This is where he uncovered the secret resting place of Makaila - Princess of the Damned. No sooner than he awakened her she used her milky blood to bind him, thus ensuring his absolute loyalty.

He learned many things from Makaila - ancient history and occult. But he did not learn wisdom. Within days of being with her, he was off exploring again and ended up dead.

This wasn't the end for Goruan though - for Makaila had power of death and her blood coursed through his veins. He returned to her as a living spirit, the Spirit of the Darkmoon.

Adjusting to his new identity and powers, Goruan befriended a young girl of 14 years called Ruth; Ruth proved literally ruthless in her ambition and with Goruan's help, quickly crawled her way out of the pitch dark tunnels under Evost Derry and into the light. With Goruan as an ally, Ruth soon became a living spirit herself, the legacy of Makaila's spirit spreading from one to another.

Each day here on in, Goruan accomplished acts in the background of Evost Derry that would help shape campaign events for years to come. But alas, Goruan himself would not be around much longer. On another of his reckless explorations of the underdeep, Goruan stumbled across an Ancient Titan town and stepped through a strange portal, never to be seen again.

But his adventures beyond the Id of Eldahar were just beginning. After discovering ancient Titan relics and a sword called Krantakyn, Goruan vanished into the infinite folds of reality within the cracked Heartstone, exploring figments of imagination and fragments of the past. He lives on, to this day, as a Ghost, lost in Eldahar's Realms of Possibility.

Daritan's original background;
Born in the country of Dulapai in the capital of Dulapai, Daritan's life was torn between of honor and war, justice and death, and romance and pain.
His father was Sir Arkor Travellionof the Knight council, a powerful man standing over 6'4'' in height and well over two hundred pounds in weight. With black, often quite shaggy hair and piercing blue eyes, Arkor's overall visage was that of a wild beast. Only on military occasions or parades did he even resemble human and have a wash. Despite this he was a noble man of honor surpassing many knights of higher station with his integrity and friendship to the King and therefore is accorded certain privileges and leniency's. As commander of a legion of knights called the "Bulldog squad" by foreigners but "The Battalion of the Fifth Royal Lancers of Sir Arkor the Honourable and Just, Couragious Knight of Dulapai, Carrier of the Royal Banner of King Aimar Bladerunner the First, Crowned Mimbrate of all sworn to The Code. Long live the King," to others, Arkor knew his son had a lot to live up to.

Daritan's mother was Morella, a noble Dulapaien woman with brown hair and eyes, standing 5'9'' tall and of slender build. She practiced common Lady-like occupations such as sowing and embroidery (all popular in Dulapai at this time), but also trained to be a good sword fighter. Though this was tolerated among the Arkor's family of roughnecks it was running against the grain, being frowned upon by Arkor's political enemies. Morella was always a quiet well composed lady when entertaining or in public but in private had a temper that could brow beat even Arkor.

Arkor and Morella met at a royal ball, with Arkor falling head over heels in love. He courted her in the proper manner for a year before any dowry was exchanged. She then passed into the Travellion family and soon achieved the position of "head of household," after putting Arkor's aunts and sisters in their place.

It was after Daritan's birth that a man called Gurney Hallic was employed by Arkor. A balding man from Glantria, skilled in many weapons and from seemingly an endless variety of backgrounds, he lived in the house and acted over the years as a teacher to the young Daritan, a servant to Morella and a good friend to Lord Arkor.

Lessons in Daritan's early childhood were intermingled with weapon's training. Taught "The Code of honor" and the complete History of Dulapai, Daritan became well read and trained in courtly life. Being a Mimbrate Dulapaien his life was that of a noble compared to the dying serfs living elsewhere in the land. Sheltered from the outside world kept him oblivious to the state of affairs beyond his homeland. To him, serfs were the enemies, ungrateful wretches who deserved to die or be thrown in prison for their crimes.

Daritan had a pet war-dog called Barnaby, a huge beast that grew up alongside him. Soon he could ride the beast and wreak havoc in the gardens terrorizing Morella's dinner parties. Gurney, a man of the World, taught him things that the normal teachers did not, giving some insight into other races, countries and lifestyles.
Weapon and riding training proceeded rapidly from twelve onwards. At fifteen he was sworn in the ancient ceremony of the Mimbrate Knights; Fealty to King, Country and The Code of Honor. It was at this time he was excepted as a young Lancer and provided with a light war-horse, sword and light lance.

Arkor was very proud but always stern and apparently unloving to anyone not used to him. He would not help Daritan achieve rank or position, saying "You must stand on your own big feet."

Most of the time though Arkor was off doing some service for the country like quelling Asturian rebellions. Whenever he returned there was great rejoicing, but an ever widening gap between his wife and son. People would line the streets at his return and being the son of such a well known Knight, Daritan was given a certain amount of respect as well.

Morella's maid was called Janecia, a small servant girl of eighteen years. Daritan used to play with her and occasionally talk over problems. Burjur was Arkor's stable keeper, a fine breeder of war horses. Young Daritan spent a lot of time learning about horses from him.
Mordorel Jeric was a fellow Lancer from the powerful Jeric family and trained alongside Daritan for several years. A good drinking companion, the two of them would often provoke fights with other Lancers and get into trouble.

It was on Daritan's sixteenth birthday that a new family moved into the political neighborhood. They were called the Huders and the Lord of the family, Grendar Huder. When Arkor and Morella entertained them, Daritan met their adopted daughter, Tiffany Bladerunner. She was a half elf of great beauty, born in Dulapai and allowed by personal service to the King to bare the royal surname (a mystery if ever there was one).
Unfortunately things did not got well between Arkor and Grendar, resulting in a minor family feud (Something about Arkor getting drunk and exposing his rear to Grendar's wife Mishlana).

Despite this feud, Daritan and Tiffany still sought each other out. Occasionally seeing her after returning from minor battles, Daritan found himself falling in love. However her adopted father made the whole thing very difficult - Arkor's rear was something you didn't easily forget.

Tiffany wasn't the only young Dulapaien lady in Daritan's life. Many tried to marry into the Travellion family by throwing themselves at the young Lancer. In all cases, if they weren't scared witless by Arkor's barbarous behavior off the field or Morella's sharp tongue, Daritan managed to avoid them... by jumping on his horse and riding off to battle. In any case, marriage in Mimbrate society is decided by the father. He turned them all down even if Daritan didn't.

As for Daritan's home, he lived in a huge castle just outside of the capital and several miles east. It was a grand affair with towers, pennons and three huge gatehouse's. A mighty fortress of stone protected by one hundred of Arkor's men out of a total of eight hundred. Also sheltering there, within the walls were over sixty servants with their families and in the surrounding land several hundred serfs in villages and on farms.

It was not long after the death of Grendar Huder that Daritan and Tiffany were arranged to be wed. However in Grendar's will, it forbid Tiffany to marry anyone from certain families unless they first performed a quest of honor and several good deeds. In addition to this, the suitor had to show before the girl's guardian an amount coming to one hundred gold orbs that when sworn by sacred oath, should have been collected honorably. Arkor was furious but honor bound to accept the conditions on behalf of his son.  As Daritan had also been planning to wed her, he accepted the conditions to uphold his honor and love.

So it was that Daritan embarked on the quest that would bring him to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

A letter found in Daritan's saddle bags after his return to Dulapay;-

The Jeric Estate, 
16 CHARGE AVENUE,  Dulapay

To Daritan the Colossal,

Daritan you young Lancer. I've been wandering over the past year and a half where you've been. I thought mayhap that thee had taken off with some busty Arendish maid to the horizon. Now it is that I am the last to hear of your exploits. Life back here is dreary, with far too many drills and far too many an eager Commander to keep us poor Lancers on our toes. Yet I hear that you have made a startling impact on the Sendars.

Your father is extremely proud at the moment of you, and sometimes the men at the barrack do mention your name. Though not I must hasten to add with too much joy. I say damned to what they do whisper and would eagerly take up lance for any member of your family. The Red Flag Inn is still frequented by  I and Humgoh. Thy absence from our regular drinking sessions doth pain us greatly. (Not that we can remember the next day however).

I am hoping that this letter reaches you for I hath some news to impart to you and you only. A plot is afoot here in the capital I fear, which  is being manipulated by the Asturians. I and a few others have stumbled upon it, yet have found  it to be possibly connected with the Huder family. I would not lie in these matters for they are indeed serious accusations. Sympathizers to the Asturian rebellions should be hung. For they are traitors to the crown.

It grieves me that your beloved Tiffany is a Huder. However she has been absent from Dulapai ever since this came to light. Therefore I believe with all my heart that she is innocent. As your friend I felt this information should be imparted upon you.

Back to more happy matters. Your father fell off his horse this morning and it was most embarrassing for him. However he moved his bulk back up and then said aloud "Well ! If my very own horse complains about my weight, then I think I shall use Barnaby instead as a steed !" He is in good health.
Janecia is due to be married soon to a studious type of man called Jagok. I too have my eye on a wholesome woman, but you will have to wait to see.
How many people have you killed ? What are the Sendars like ? Are they still weak of backbone and lacking in military support ? It is not without envy I write, for soon I must report back to drill practice. My father says I ride the saddle lopsidedly. I think it is because he is drunk half the time and staggering.
Well I must depart. Good luck and may over a hundred Orbs just fall in your path. Give my regards to Tiffany and your newly found friends. A gnome and an elf I hear ?

Mordorel Jeric
The battalion of the Fifth Royal Lancers