Pale Queen
It was the time of trial at the end of the Dawn Times. There existed a beautiful woman, an individual of absolutely unparalleled beauty and grace. This woman, unbeknownst to all but a very few, had fallen in love with a young man. Sadly, this young man loved only power and prestige, and while he courted the beautiful woman, he also deceived her about many things that included even his identity. In time, the man asked for the woman's hand in marriage, and she, unknowing, accepted. In those times a father's consent was not merely a formality; the two could not marry without it. Thus the young couple approached the woman's father, and announced their intentions. The father was perceptive, however. He realized the true identity of the young man, that the marriage was nothing but a tool the young man intended to use to further his own power, and that it was forbidden by the laws of their people. The father both forbade the marriage and further ordered the man to leave his lands and never return.
The woman was shocked and heartbroken, but the young man was seething. He left, as instructed, but some time later he returned, with certain associates, and they murdered the woman's father without warning or warrant during his birthday celebration. The young man's associates then proceeded to murder every member of that family, including the woman who thought to give to him her heart. We know only two things for certain about the woman and her father. The first is that they were elves, and the second is that her father was The First of All, the ruler of all elves and the first sapient being ever created by The Source. The young man who returned brought along none other than Lachendon itself, and the murder (and soul-capture) of The First of All is the first event in the War of Undying. About the young man we know nothing at all, though it is thought he might have been of the third generation and his suit forbidden by the rules in that time forbidding inter-generational marriage.
Time passed, and the great and terrible events of the War of Undying unfolded across the lands of Lia'Neir'Aratha. The young woman, dead, found herself drifting between life and whatever destination called to her soul; she soon realized that in murdering her family Lachendon had worked magic to keep her bound to the mortal realm, though dead. For untold years this woman remained dead-but-not-departed in a limbo existence. Eventually, a being entered this existence; radiance pouring from it in every direction.
Come with me, child. I am here to free you from this torture.Thus was born the Pale Queen. Once mortal, she now reigns immortal in the Shadowlands. There, in the Ivory Palace, she judges the souls of the dead and speeds them along to their final destination among the outer planes. Some are sent to places of perfect law, infinite chaos, incomprehensible good, or unfathomable evil. Others are assigned to serve, for a term, in the Shadowlands as servants of the Queen, to pay a debt or cleanse a minor stain. Whatever their fate, the Pale Queen judges them all, and the one thing she cannot abide, the one crime she will actively hunt and destroy, is the foul magic of unlife by which she herself was once bound. Throughout the world those devoted to her grace do the same, seeking and destroying without trace of ruth or mercy the foul corruptions of unlife. It is said that there exists a legendary weapon, a weapon of such power as to strike the soul from a living body. If one were ever found worthy to wield this weapon, that man (for it must be a man) would soon discover that he had become the Queen's Champion, and that man would discover that his reward for a lifetime of faithful service to The Source is to spend an eternity as consort to the most beautiful, and utterly incorruptible, woman ever born to mortals. Most sages claim this is merely a myth, however, the sort of thing told in romantic stories for the young and foolish.
I cannot return to you the life that was stolen, but I can give you a new purpose, and power to ensure that no soul is ever again left in limbo with nowhere to go.
Who are you, and why am I so chosen?
I am called Liathiar, and I am a servant of The Source. As to why, only The Source knows, but you are chosen for this purpose, and no other can fulfill it.
The Source! I will gladly do all that I may.
Good. Know also that while this task is a lonely one, one day a champion will arrive to defend your honor, defeat your enemies, and assist you in your purpose. In time this one will become your true consort and bring to you the reward of your heart.
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