Tarrus the One-Eyed

In 3280 CE, a child was born in a small village on the eastern edge of Greenwood Forest, a child with only one eye. As was the custom, the superstitious parents left the imperfect infant in the woods to be consumed by the wild beasts. But, before any hungry animal found the child, Noxil, the Wizard of the Wood, heard the baby’s cries and took it to his cottage.   He named the infant boy, Tarrus, and taught him all that he knew of what it was to be a man in a hostile world. Tarrus loved the kindly old wizard and worked hard to please Noxil. He learned the arcane arts and to respect life. He learned the very secret of life and that greater power carries with it greater responsibility.   When Tarrus had grown and could learn no more, he left Noxil's woodland home to find his place among civilized man. His journeys eventually led him to the city of Liem. Here he worked his magics to help the people and establish order in the impoverished town. His good will, intelligence and enthusiasm quickly made him head of Liem’s town council.   Granted the authority over the town with this position, Tarrus made the most of this opportunity to make Liem a more pleasant town. He built walls across the Pass of Liem, trained the jobless as soldiers and charged merchants tariffs for goods brought through Liem. The wealth that this created raised the living standard of the town and attracted new wealth. Tarrus had become a great hero and was granted full control over Liem.   As the years passed, differing factions fought for the right of succession to Tarrus’ position. Doubting the good will of these groups, Tarrus used his sorcery to discover a means to prolong his life and remain in control.   This was Tarrus’ downfall.   The process that gave him longer life also ate away at his reasonn. As he watching the rising power of the malevolent Church of Baal in the South, Tarrus became convinced that the only means to combat the burgeoning threat of this fascist theocracy was by using the very powers of the Abyss. These thoughts became an obsession as his mind was warped by the tales his old master had told him of a powerful set of five artifacts known as of the Keys of Telku, which could be used to open the gates to the realm of Chaos.   Tarrus requisitioned his old friend Lord Kitaya, Overlord of Pandona, to provide him with a ninja of the Amita K’un as his retainer. Lord Kitaya sent one of his best, a woman by the name of Delia, who went by the code-name Night. Under the servitude of Tarrus, Night gathered several other Adventurers: Argent – a young wizard; Adrienne– a gillwoman swashbuckler; Treon– a seasoned barbarian from the Northern Wastes; Florina- a fierce elven magus; Gideon– a grim inquisitor of Ciril; Min– a ratfolk arcanist; Sonya and Stazia– a druid and her raptor companion; and Coron – a priest of the death god, Accuris.   Their first mission for Tarrus was to enter the ruined city of Tecumeth. Though they successfully recovered the first Key of Telku, it had come at a price. Treon lost his life within the city walls, and Min was abducted by drow slavers, perhaps never to be seen again.   Tempted with yet more promises of gold, Tarru's ever shifting team of Adventurers, this time made up of Adrienne, Gideon, Coron, Night, Florina, Nari (a sorceress who also had her own pet raptor, Jozu), and Sultar, a cowardly gnome who trafficked in fire magicks, journeyed next to the town of Nolivar, where a series of misadventures finally lead them to the Red Keep, the location of the second Key of Telku, and also a tribe of brutal ogre slavers. The Adventurers succeeded in a great part thanks to their ingenuity and Sultar unleashing hellfire upon the ogre inhabitants of the keep. Along the way, the party picked up new recruits Sebastian, the dwarven monk, Galadriel, the half-elven cleric of Cabrael, Arty, the everyman thief, and Apri, an aasimar summoner.   For the third Key of Telku, Tarrus has the Adventurers searching for a lost temple known as the Pillars of Midnight. Of the original team, only Coron and Adrienne, who has since lost her memory due to effects of an obliviax potion, are still present. Helping them are Nari & Jozu, as well as newcomers Roisyll, another member of the Greenwood druids, and Moss, a strange being known as a seedling who claims to be a descendant of the treeants. The story of this adventure continues to be written, and we shall see whether Tarrus succeeds in his quest to unite all five Keys and open the gates of Chaos.