Orihalcolm

Orihalcolm is one of the player characters in Randomonia.

Youth
Liútasil Illien was born from elven parents in a long forgotten village, which was razed to the ground in the wars between The Inquisition and The Mages Enclave back in the Age of the Magi.

He spent the first twenty years of his youth fleeing the terrors of war, and became distrustful of humans and religious zealots and their false Gods. Being of Evlish descend he was naturally talented in the arcane. This innate talent made him the target of the hateful and envious humans. On the road, nomadic Mages taught the boy as bast they could, however, Liútasil talents lay with healing spells and illusions, destructive magic simply dissipated around him.

Because of this strange phenomenon the wandering Mages gave him the nickname of 'Orihalcolm', the only alloy that could completely resistant against magic. During their flight his father was executed by inquisitors for serving false Gods, his mother was tortured and interrogated for the same reasons. To pay the price of her sins, his mother was forced to sell Liútasil to a channeler named Gundaur who accepted the boy as an apprentice and paid the woman. The woman was executed for slavery.

Apprenticeship
Gundaur was a powerful and noble Draconic magic-user, who was wealthy-enough to own land and an opulent tower to call his home. In his tower he educated his three apprentices.

One of his apprentices was an Elven lass, Lillar whose talent was control over nature's forces, and infusing life-energy into objects creating Golems, Homunculi and Familiars. She was a talented Formcrafter.

The second apprentice, Thello, a human lad who excelled in powerful destructive magic of the elemental forces of shadows, fire and storms.

Liútasil as his third apprentice, driven by his emotions and bitter memories, wanted to right the wrongs of the World and focused on healing and illusion magic, to become the master of Life.

Sharing the Elven traditions and heritage Lillar and Liútasil bonded, and fell in love. Thello watched them and grew jealous over time. Jealousy became bitterness, bitterness became hate...

Many years went by, Lillar and Liútasil wandered the domain of Gundaur, helping people in need. Eventually they settled down in one of the villages and started a family. Lilliar gave birth to a beautiful daughter, who was named of Illion - the name of the Eternal Life's Goddess of the Elven folk.

During the years while Liútasil's family prospered, Thello kept practicing his destructive talents, eventually turning to darker arts. Gundaur banished him as soon as he could not dissuade Thello from the dark path. Thello, driven by his seething hate and anger built his own stronghold in the Mountains of Gundaur, utilizing the immense power he accumulated over the years. His machinations infected the land around him with strange disease and illness that has never been seen before.

The battle
As Thello's evil spread, blight and desolation took over the land. Forests shed their leaves and withered as they succumbed to evil. Roots came to life as they wrapped around the boots of travelers while ferocious, corrupted animals attacked them and and bled them dry.

The domain of Gundaur, being un-aligned, withstood the power of the Inquisition for many years as Gundaur upheld the balance. Unfortunately Gundaur's former apprentice became too powerful and when Gundaur was overpowered, Randomonia's most fanatic and radical order, The Black Sword marched in to cleanse the land.

The Order sent twelve of its most powerful and respected Inquisitors (who later became Flaming Twelve) to overcome Thello, and end his dark reign. Gundaur himself led the campaign against Thello and asked Lillar and Liútasil too to join.

Liútasil wanted to help, but he did not want to join, he wanted to protect his family. To aid Gundaur and his party, he offered powerful herbs, potions and concoctions enhanced by magic, while Lilliar weaved powerful wards, and infused them with powerful healing magic.

The flaming twelve led by Gundaur and two dozen of Golems destroyed Thello's dark citadel and successfully banished the taint from the domain, but ultimately failed to bring the evil Mage to justice. Even this minor victory did not come without a price. Out of twelve, only four swords remained aflame, and powerful as he was, even Gundaur perished during the battle.

Thello recognized the handiwork of his former friends in the enchantments that aided his foes, the Golems he clashed with were infused with mountain-shattering magical powers, incredible life-force and magic was at work. In his great raging fury Thello conjured a terrible storm of shadows, fire and demons that obliterated the battlefield. The storm's power was so great that even Thello could not control it. The chaotic and dark energies struck Thello, who vanished into the Unknown.

He later reemerged at the door of Liútasil as an ordinary human accursed by the tainted land seeking help.

The curse of the damned
Thello somehow survived and reemerged years later. Driven by revenge, he knocked on the door of Liútasil...

Thello, twisted and malformed by his own dark magics looked nothing like his former self Liútasil did not recognize him. His flesh was rotting and practically melting off of his bones, Lillar and Liútasil took him in and tried everything in their power to cure him, not knowing who he was. Seeing his former friends, Thello discarded the last shards of humanity he revelaed his true self to them, called forth a small legion of demons and cursed Lillar and Liútasil.

True to his nickname, the curse did not effect Orihalcolm, but everyone else was struck. Such powerful magic can not be dissipated easily, Orihalcolm lost his incredible magic resistance. The backlash of the negated curse, along with the powerful wards erected by Lillar, were so powerful, that Thello was utterly destroyed. Only a faint black smoke and an ever-echoing scream remained of the dark magician.

The raging magical energies of the dark storm were too much, the wards around Lillar and Illion could not save them. Liútasil's family was transformed into ghoulish creatures, always hungry, corrupt and decaying. Over time their faces and beautiful features vanished, as flesh melted off bones, eyes turned black. Only hunger and the craving for blood and flesh remained in their hearts...

The oath of Orihalcolm
For years the tragedy remained a secret. The Elven family moved during the night, protected by the blanket of darkness. Wild animals flesh was given to the insatiable Lillar and Illion, Orihalcolm did not have it in him to end their misery.

Even with Thello defeated, his taint lingered. Animals died, plants withered, the prey Orihalcolm used to feed his family grew scarce. Orihalcolm did everything in his power to find a cure. When no animal left to feast on, Ori started to cut off slices of his own flesh, and drain his own blood to keep his family alive, while he used his immense healing powers to keep himself alive.

After countless nights filled with terror, feeling his own wife's teeth tearing into his flesh, and his own daughter drinking his blood, under the withered white skin, and skinny rib cage, Orihalcolms heart finally shattered...

Heartbroken Orihalcolm used a dark tome of unspeakable magic to tear out Lillar's soul of its cursed vessel, and end the torment once and for all. Unknowingly, by doing so, Orihalcolm released dark souls of demons which were only held at bay by the once pure heart of Lillar. When the final spark of life seemed to leave Lillar's body, an immensely powerful demon appeared.

Seeing Orihalcolm's own power, the demon offered a deal. In exchange for a powerful shard of Orihalcolm's soul he'll teach him how to harvest the souls of living beings, and power over the dead. Orihalcolm accepted the offer, and as soon as the deal was struck the demon finally released Lillar's soul from his grasp, ending her life. With a final scream of agony, Lillar ceased being. The demon enjoying the suffering of Orihalcolm, tore his wife's body apart and fashioned a staff out of her bones, infusing it with her soul. With shattered and withered soul, Orihalcolm used his newly acquired knowledge to magically seal his daughter into a vessel designed to hold the unliving and keep the dark magics at bay.

That night Orihalcolm swore The Oath: he will either cure his daughter of the fiendish corruption or make the rest of the world similar to Her.

Since that night Orihalcolm wanders Randomonia to find the cure for the curse...