Our Enemies
Our primary antagonist, Xulgoth Alduin. I have tried to understand this man, but have sadly failed, and I fear, if you are reading this, I have done so to my own peril. It is likely that he is the direct cause of my death. His motives seem chaotic and mad. His actions doubly so. Why does he wish to bring about the Ancient Ones unto this world? Why does he worship such beings? Where has his mind gone? I fear I may never understand this man, that he is impossible to understand. Perhaps he is beyond saving. But I still believe in the sanctity of life. I still believe that anyone can be saved.
As I have noted before, Xulgoth is no longer the threat he once was. He has since been defeated. But new enemies have now risen to take his place.
The first is Krosin, Dragon Lord of Death. I am positive that everything revolves around this beast. I am certain that Krosin was controlling Xulgoth and that. . .You didn't come here to read my insane theories did you? Apologies. When you've been around the Hidden Archives long enough, you'll develop a few crazy theories of your own.
The next is Graven, the Winter King. He is one of the remaining Undead Kings who went into hiding after the Battle of Konaset. Well, he's back, and he's even more powerful than before. He also seems to have an obsession with Eira, which I fear has gotten into her head. She's been having some post traumatic stress difficulties since we returned from Evergreen City from her encounter with him. Not that she lets any of this on, but she's been having nightmares, having trouble sleeping. She's a bit jumpy. And she has grown even more protective of Kuai and her mother and anyone else she cares about, but especially Kuai, as a result of all of this.
Graven is not an enemy to take lightly. He will get into your head and he will use that against you, and he will use your fear against you. Even if you show no fear, he will still use that against you. Our encounter with him in Evergreen City was only brief. But I think it was long enough to instill some amount of fear in us all. Beware. When you feel chills in the air, when everything all of a sudden seems to grow cold, he is near. Do not take him lightly. He may be even more powerful than Xulgoth ever was. And infinitely more dangerous.
The next is. . . well we're not entirely sure what it is. Shortly after Deanna arrived to meet us in Evergreen City, bodies started popping up. These were shriveled up and dried out, as though they were mummified alive. This was when Deanna revealed that she had come from an excavation site in Northern Almahna, somewhere in King's Valley, known as the Blood Tomb, and her entire archaeological team were now dead, in the exact same fashion. She doesn't know what it is either. It has terrified her to her wits end and she has a hard time talking about it. She feels as though it is her fault, because it happened after she inadvertently opened the Blood Tomb. She doesn't even know how she opened it, though we believe it has some connection to her being the Guardian of Water (I will go into the Guardians a bit later). She's only seen brief flashes of it, whatever it is, something glowing a sickly green.
And lastly, there is an old lady. Well she's not actually an old lady. We knew her a long time as Mrs. Torwind. But we have now learned that was never her name at all. She is in fact a being of terrible power. A being who should never be taken lightly or underestimated. She has been behind every single event as far as anyone can remember. She even apparently toys with the timeline itself for her own enjoyment. There are photos of her from ages long past. She has been around for a very long time, and will probably be around for a long time yet to come.
Her true name is Nyarlathotep. She is in fact a Great Old One or Ancient One, an eldritch god. Don't fall for the kindly old lady routine or her cookies. Especially her cookies.
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