The anticipation of this special night has drawn a veil over your senses. The impending anniversary of the death of Loramas is distinguished in the lives of the four companions. You feel the full weight of this profound meeting, even as the mists clear and the shadowy, dark figure of a woman approaches. A dry throat, perspiring hands and a pounding heart cannot prepare you for the apparition that enters.

Loramas is quite simply the most beautiful portrayal of female beauty that you have ever seen. Her long, flowing black dress is complemented by symbols and insignia of unknown origin. Such is the demanding presence of the spirit that you find yourself gaping, open mouthed at your grandmother, unable to comprehend what is happening. Without realising it you can see the children of Loramas in her sublime features. Somewhere, you surmise, within the steady gaze and supernatural beauty you can see yourself, like staring into an eerie mirror, the reflection cruel, intelligent and insatiable. You cannot bear a gaze of such directness and look away.

"Few are the creatures that can hold the gaze of our family, my child," the archdemon says calmly. You feel the chill sensation rush up your spine as the words of Loramas chill your very soul. Fear wells up within you and the desire to run is strong.

"You have nought to fear from me, child," Loramas says, as if reading your mind. "I am a mere spirit come to look upon my granddaughter and speak a while. My words will not fall easily into your understanding, but it is my wish that you hear them - hear them and gain an insight into The Bloodlines. Though my death was a tragedy it will not be mourned widely, for I was a cruel leader at best and a savage murderer at worst. That, of course, is not important. The Bloodlines - or more precisely the product of it - is the crucial factor. You must have wondered about my work. There are, I have no doubt, a thousand questions you burn to ask me and in my own way I shall furnish you with the answers.

"My role in the development of Grayhawk has been widespread. Some of my work is so subtle as to be almost invisible so I will keep things simple and try not to wander off the path too much. The structure of the Bloodlines is fairly solid and obvious. At a primary level there were the gods. Here was a wonderful opportunity to tap into the very purest gene pools on Grayhawk and start my work with a good base. With the secondary level came the offspring of these gods and the most interesting phase of The Bloodlines emerged. Kiruk, Cedron, Doctor X and Isula were the ‘doers’ for want of a better word. These four shaped Grayhawk with more certainty and ability than Promethius, Varn, Fatal, Chael and the rest. Never forget that, Dismet, your parents and uncles were the creative force on Grayhawk for they took the ideas of earlier men and moulded them to their own (or my own) ends. I had the added advantage of the gods’ interest in their sons and daughter and the help that these beings awarded their children made my work simple.

"On a tangential point I will talk of prophecies. Prophecy - as any sane creature knows - does not exist. The problem was that if I was to continue my work I would have to in some way occupy the powerful minds of the gods - and any subsequent gods - so that they did not pollute my work. After several centuries I came up with the Law of Recurring Prophecies of which you are familiar. This is nothing but a figment of my imagination, but so convincing were the clues I left that this falsehood began to dominate the thinking of every deity on Grayhawk. A law only ever exists if you try to destroy it. If any of the gods actually tried they would realise that it simply does not exist...it is a lie !!

"Back to the plot...After the secondary lines came the tertiary blood. This includes any of the multiple levels of births. You are technically a tertiary bloodline but I will get back to that shortly. As I was saying then came the tertiary lines. These executed various crucial tasks or met specific criteria that would lead to further events. As an example Nirvanna, the daughter of Kiruk and Turiya, was said to have been the greatest assassin that ever lived. Throughout her long, illustrious career she was responsible for ending the lives of the many offspring of the gods who had decided to dabble in the game of Bloodlines themselves. These tertiary lines played their parts superbly and I was particularly careful to stem their enthusiasm for procreation.

"If you study the Bloodlines you will become aware that on only two occasions in history did direct breeding between secondary lines ever occur. The first was when Isula spawned Cedron’s child - Levakand. The second, obviously, is yourself. Levakand was a mistake. He should have been a she but the nature of Chaos always throws up entertaining anomalies. He was a brilliant young demonologist - just like his mother and incidentally just like yourself - although I was rather relieved when he was finally slain. He was carving up the Abyss and causing many disturbances. You, however, are a quite different matter. It is you, Dismet, that my work has centred round, for as important as any of the others were theirs was only a prelude to what you must face and to what you and your friends rush towards.

"Another tangent is called for. You have recently met Makor, for his scent and impurity hangs around you like the plague. I am sure he will have told you that he was my disciple and I am equally sure that he will have impressed you with his knowledge of me. Although I had many minions I never took a disciple for my work finds expression through you and your ancestors. Makor is a weasel. He merely wishes to rape and plunder my work and devour my power. For all his skulduggery and trickery he is still an awesomely powerful demon who must be handled carefully. Never allow yourself to be alone with him, nor let him touch your naked flesh. Should the opportunity arise skewer the bastard with the Blade of Gaxx. It is the only thing that will harm him on Grayhawk.

"You may already know that Nature has bent the laws somewhat to allow me to in some way to repair the damage perpetrated by Skarvik and Isulan. Unfortunately, the one piece of information that would truly help you I cannot give. It is not permitted. Let there be no misinterpretation here, Dismet, my work is of paramount importance and the burning question within you is:- who shall be your mate ? There is only one candidate and you must get it right first time...there can be no second chances.

"The burden of responsibility upon you is great, sweet one, but do not fear. There is one absolutely certain way of discovering the mate I have placed within your reach. An artefact which I created for you is in the possession of the king of thieves...his acquisition of this object has allowed him to enlist the help of Makor. It is The Crown of Loramas.

"Curevar will be fairly possessive of this item since it will bring him enormous power and considerable influence over the creatures of my planes. But it was for you and you alone that this crown was made. A lot has gone before concerning magical maturity. This relic is the only way to achieve this. Only when you place it upon your head will you be ready to hunt and seduce your mate...the crown has the secrets of the Bloodlines locked deep within it and only you, Dismet, can fathom my motives and goals. You have been called the Womb of the World by some folk but they cannot begin to understand the burden you carry. You will sire a very special and unique child, Dismet, but the only help you will receive is a dark crown and my words of advice. Heed them well and you will live to see your child mature.

"I will digress once more. I see that you have come to terms with your unusual parentage. That is good. Ashavia - your surrogate mother - was my handmaiden for many centuries during my warring years. I liked her very much for she was a tireless worker and nothing was too much trouble for her. Her reliability afforded her my favour and I chose her to sire you, since trust is a rare commodity in the Abyss. She performed her task with unswerving loyalty and devotion. For this reason I enlightened her into my schemes and she will be as devoted to you as she was to me...her help and assistance have already been of some use to you I see. Her talents are not readily visible, she does not have the commanding presence of other demons, yet she is a fast learner and has an aptitude for knowing what is right in any situation. Hornak’s horn is both weapon and chalice and must be wielded with impunity against your foes - you will become quickly aware of it’s properties and I highly recommend you drink the blood of your victims !

"The subject of blood leads me to another topic. Rootvile. The study of your illustrious father will no doubt give you a taste of it’s unique properties, but there are things I must add that are beyond human knowledge. Do not become impatient with the power flowing through your veins, for you must not strive to be like your father; his mastery of it was total and your attempts to match his achievements will fall woefully short. Think of it as the ultimate armour. A protection afforded to your complete being - physical, spiritual and soul-related. With Rootvile you can never be possessed - that fact alone will make you one of the strongest demonlords alive - nor can your physical body be usurped. Your whole being will have an inner defence that will shield you from most sorcery. The Law of Telepathy has been broken but you are afforded the opportunity to delve into creatures’ minds without their consent or knowledge. The merest contact of your touch upon a being’s skin will allow you access to their thoughts, fears and ambitions. In a blind world this is a strong light indeed...

"Why Grayhawk ?

"It is the eternal question facing demonlords, for they see their minions craving for a chance to taste the power of Grayhawk - the Prime Material Plane. Simply put, this is the starting point...this is the first page of Promethius’ text, his first sketch was Grayhawk. All other planes of existence sprouted from it and because of this are diluted. Grayhawk was the Primal plane - the home and genesis of Primal power and the masters of these powers are the true kings and emperors of the universe. Your friends and yourself have not come together by accident. You are all driven by a destiny that controls every being on every plane - a destiny that the gods can only too clearly see and understand. You are the spearheads of your particular families - the champions of your arts in a game older than Promethius himself. The battlefield and opponents will align themselves against each other but there will be many battles-within-battles and the profound nature of the conflict may well be missed.

"The gods, Nature, all of the primal powers, every major player in the universe will take the field that day and your survival - and the survival of the Bloodlines - depends upon your quick wits and inner talents. There is much at stake. On the 15th day of the Bear, The Festival of Rakshasha, the Universe will be exactly forty thousand years old by Grayhawk time. An achievement never matched by any previous universe. Old Man Universe has decided to throw a party and people such as you must grasp the opportunities firmly...the Bloodlines depend on it.

"In conclusion I am going to tell you a story that will explain what The Bloodlines is and why I set them in motion. Although Nature will not allow me to divulge specifics I am within my powers to give you the reason for my work.

"We’ll start at the beginning. Promethius, as you probably know, was the creator of the universe. This was not his first work. He has created thousands of universes in the past and this has given him a battleground for his old adversary - The Unmaker. They struggled for billions of years through their various universes.

"There was only ever one universe in place at any one time - that is they could not create a new one before the old one was destroyed. I don’t think any creature on Grayhawk will ever understand why they struggled, but that is not relevant. The fact that they did fight caused these universes to come into being and be destroyed. In some universes the Unmaker would be victorious (the definition of victorious for the Unmaker was the destruction of that particular universe) and in others Promethius would ‘win’. Both creatures draw their power from the same source. That source is called the Primal Maelstrom.

"It is the source of all primal magic and produces several unusual effects upon the creatures of those universes. In effect Promethius and the Unmaker are the regulators of that maelstrom and their presence upon the world causes the creatures within it to struggle on one side or the other. In many cases either one or the other, or both creatures ‘died’ within the particular universe they were in and the effect of their death was always the same. Without Promethius or the Unmaker to regulate the primal power the Maelstrom swallows up the universe and destroys it. The two protagonists then start again on another universe. Understand ?

"I found out about this Primal Maelstrom very early on and I came up with a plan to deal with it. This, simply, is what I proposed to do:- 1) First, I had to breed creatures of sufficient power to master the primal arts as best they could (I’m talking here about those secondary lines I mentioned.) 2) Next, I had to get rid of Promethius and the Unmaker so that I could put my final plan into effect. 3) Finally I had to breed a child capable of stabilising that Primal Maelstrom. That, my sweet child, is where you come in. The first words from your child’s lips will stabilise that power and free Grayhawk forever.

"It is entirely possible that if I succeed Promethius and The Unmaker will cease to exist forever. Now there is the naked truth. That is what The Bloodlines is all about. I hope you understand what a slender thread my work hangs, Dismet. It is in your hands now. Know that I love you..."

Back