“I wish there was more to this world.”
“Then let me open your eyes.”
Arbane Leosandaral was a mage-scholar of
Ril-Annon Ost, the Gleaming City. Long had the city been built around the existing ruins of another, though the ring of doors at the center was pristine. He was young, and foolish, and chose to spend his centuries attempting to break open these doors, to no avail. It was only when he finally shed his stubbornness, that he sought others who shared his passion for delving into the unknown. He found 4 others, and in a matter of years - the group had broken open a
Gleaming Gate, finding only a small, fragmented Demiplane, no more than 30 feet by 30 feet. Distressed, Arbane slid down the wall of this limited cube, and lamented to his partner
Pikyr that the demiplane was nothing more than a Vault. Pikyr, with a hint of gleaming in his eyes, stepped past the wall - and showed Arbane just how far Gleaming could take you.
When Arbane first entered Sigil, he saw the majesty of the multiverse in an instant - and knew the true power of these Gates. They could go anywhere, anywhen, and when he turned to Pikyr, he knew he had just been a tool. Pikyr dragged Arbane and his colleagues back to Ril-Annon Ost, and ripped their souls from their body. Arbane would be Pikyr’s guard over the Gleaming Halls. An inside man, a ghost seen only to those Pikyr chose. And so Arbane began his infinite servitude to Pikyr. As
Rohini was captured, the Empire collapsed, the World falling to
Shothotugg, and soon - rescued.
Though an echo of Arbane still resides in the world, his soul was claimed by the Umbral Court. When Arbane opened the Gleaming Gate, Pikyr used that power to cause great pain and suffering through the Empire - and for years after.
