This guide is meant for those who want to roleplay or are thinking, "You know, maybe roleplaying would add some spice to things." Those of you who think roleplaying is dumb and would rather just play the game like a gamer, no shade! Just warning that this probably won't help you with anything.

As for the lore, I'll touch on it, but I'll assume some of the background basics. Anything you need to know more about can be discovered in the ingame encyclopedia and other places. As for the rest, forgive me if you do know and I explain it like you're five. (And if I have something wrong, do correct me! I only started paying attention to the lore pretty recently in the series.)

For now, this guide will only cover the creation process. Later on, if people seem to want it, I may add some sections about exercising this in play, but... By and large, you can probably pick that up naturally off of what i'll be covering here.

The first step to immersing yourself in any game is getting to know at least a little about its worldbuilding and lore. I won't bore you with excessive details, you can read the ingame encyclopedia if you want to learn more. Instead I'll provide a very quick breakdown of the stuff that matters most to us.

This is the Fourth Age of Wonders. I confess I don't know exactly what constitutes an Age of Wonders, but I can tell you that the Third Age was something of a renaissance where the magic was less awesome, but mortal realms were thriving in the world of Athla... And the Fourth Age is a time of the Wizard Kings' return, when those mortal societies will be tested by the wills of ambitious sorcerers from beyond the pale seeking worlds to sink their greedy claws into and shape to their own whims. Each age, I must conclude, is marked by being a time of great marvels of sword, spell, and/or ingenuity.

Athla was the focus of the first three games, but this time, we reach beyond. Every world you play in Age of Wonders is a realm all its own. Some might not even be worlds proper. Islands adrift in an endless sea of stars would also constitute a "world". Athla was known for certain races. Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Orcs... Many races with their own customs and physiology, all used to varying ends by the Wizard Kings of old and the leaders of the Third Age thereafter.

What you need to know about races in the Fourth Age is that all races sprung from the Well of Creation in the Astral Sea in which the various realms drift. However, not all went to Athla, and not all developed the same way. Take heed, for this is your first rich opportunity for worldbuilding. Soon you'll be creating your own race to rule over, and the fact I've just stated will be an excellent opportunity to become attached to their lore. All Elfkin are "elves", and all are thus among the first of creation. But not all Elfkin are the same kind of elf. Drow would be a good example of Elfkin who developed quite differently from the High Elves of many a fantasy setting. Humans are no different; a Human in Athla might not be the same as a Human from the next realm over, although they came from the same initial stock. We'll return to this later.

In short, we're addressing multiple worlds adrift in the Astral Sea, accessible to us via stable gates in Magehaven, a place where our Pantheon will reside. This is a place where powerful primordial magic prevents any living creature from being harmed, and is thus an excellent place for even bitter rivals to discuss matters in a civil fashion. It also happens to be home to a host of gates to other worlds, which Wizard Kings and Dragon Lords will use to find new realms to influence or conquer.

You play Godir, essentially demigods of tremendous power. Godir do become mighty indeed, but their origins aren't identical. The many Godir who ascend to your Pantheon will come from various backgrounds, and if you want to roleplay, that background is worth considering. The first thing to consider about your ruler is what, exactly, each type of ruler is. In each case, I'll provide lore beats you might consider. Let's start with the pure canon interpretation:

A Champion is someone who's risen from the ranks of a race in their world. You can infer that any Champion in a game comes from a race native to that world. Champions rise up from the ranks of the mortals to meet the challenges of the Fourth Age and, if they survive, potentially even rise to become Godir.

• For the Champion you create, the first world you play in will be their home world. You might use your starting city as a means of fashioning the barest facets of your Champion's backstory. Let its surroundings and situation in the world guide you.
  
• Champions aren't Godir. They might not even be aware of the worlds beyond their own. However, all Champions start their journey by uncovering a glimpse of that greater existence: The tome they start the game with. You can use your starting tome as a means of representing what your Champion already knows, or you can be more true to canon and assume they came upon a tome penned by some ancient Wizard King by some means.
  
• Champions are men and women of their people, so you'll want to consider your race strongly when determining your lore and course. Of course they don't necessarily need to stay there. Perhaps your Champion has ambitions to rise above his own kin. Nevertheless, to begin with, the culture of your people will influence your Champion.

A Wizard King is an ancient and powerful mage from a past Age, previously banished from the lands of their birth. Champions can wield magic, sure... But a Wizard King is a truly frightful caster, capable of casting spells far more freely than lesser mages. Unburdened from your forced exile, you now seek new worlds to make your mark upon...

• Wizard Kings are ancient and powerful. Although your power has perhaps diminished from what it used to be thanks to your time in exile, you'll regain it overtime and slowly rise to reclaim your former glory.
  
• Your gaze probably lies beyond that of mere Champions. Arrogance would not be uncommon, even if your alignment tends towards the good, as you perceive existence in a broader way than mortals.
  
• What has your time in banishment done to you? Are you embittered? Have you been locked in the Void so long that your once noble mindset has become corrupted by madness or a desire for revenge? Have you endured with serenity and become that much more unshakable?

• You won't necessarily be tied to the race you lead to start the game. You can possess any physical form, and the culture of the people you lead is most likely not your own.

A Dragon Lord stands at the top of dragonkind. Among dragons, there are wyverns who are the least of the kin. Then there are proper dragons, who are mighty beings that make entire mortal cities tremble with their coming. Then there's you. Dragon Lords are the parents of lesser dragons and possess all the high intellect of any sapient being. More than conquest, you seek to shape worlds. You're a visionary who seeks worlds to form according to your will.

• Dragons desire wealth for its own sake. You can't use artifacts, but you can and will be hoarding them. You might consider the bestowing of these upon heroes who serve you as a tremendous honor that would surely give them a reverence for you. After all, they are your treasures, and you don't part with them lightly.
  
• Those who follow a Dragon Lord probably view them as Godir even before they ascend to a Pantheon. Wizard Kings might be above the affairs of mortals in mind, but you are above them in both mind and form. Even Dragon Lords aligned to good probably inspire fearful awe in their followers, and might even expect it.

There once was a hero who fell in love with two dragons, bearing a son by each. These sons came from a culture that had no concept of "half-"siblings, and considered one another brothers in every sense. They grew much more slowly than the other children thanks to their draconic blood, and by the time they reached their full measure, their father had left the land of the living. The brothers set out to slay the Great Stampede of the southern valley, the beastmen who cut them off from the world, and raid abroad.

Though their successes were great, trouble brewed. When the elder brother went home to recover his strength and left Cahaz to maintain the raiding front, he became embroiled in rivalries and ended up leaving Cahaz a field far longer than planned. Cahaz was resentful, he and his warband barely scraping by for far longer than had been assured them. Eventually Cahaz rose violently against his brother.

Cahaz would have settled this the traditional way, with a duel to decide leadership. But times were changing under his brother. Cahaz was the greater swordsman by far and this society did not slay kin besides, so he was instead defeated with his brother's army.

Ingloriously bound and disarmed of the magical treasures he'd worked to loot, Cahaz was exiled to the frozen reaches of the Roaring Wastes, where the vicious Beastmen alone dwelled, furious over their somewhat recent defeat at the hands of the men they once savaged for their dark godir. There, his long lifespan would cause him to live for decades in these inhospitable conditions, and his expert swordsmanship would keep the beastmen at bay.

The return of the Wizard Kings provided an opportunity for Cahaz in the form of a curious Chaos-aligned Dragon Lord who saw in him an opportunity to revive the havoc that once shaped this world. Gifting him the Tome of Witchcraft, the dragon gave him no wonders. He only allowed a Cahaz warmed by centuries in this hellish place to make his own decision.

Now amassing power on par with a nascent Wizard King, Cahaz has cowed the disparate beast herds and set off into realms unseen to stake claims. He takes the title Warking, which is brother once presumed to lord over him, and gathers resources to himself. With these he will one day return to his homeworld and visit vengeance upon that coward...

(Yes, leader lore can get quite deep if you really want it to! These are Godir in the making, so why not go all out?)

The race you play is one of two things: If you're a Champion, it's your people. The people you've risen to lead by whatever means. You are one of them and live among them, although in a position of status. If you're not a Champion, these are people who serve you. Consider how. Did you reach into the Well of Creation to form them yourself? Is it a people you subjugated in a past Age whose descendants have long awaited your return? A people you subjugated immediately following your return? A superstitious lot who serve you in hopes of escaping your wrath or currying your favor?

A key thing to consider about race is that it serves as an extension of your ruler. You might think of it in the sense of, "So-and-so AND their..." Consider a narrator speaking of the appearing of Laryssa Mirabilis and her Commonwealth Philosophers onto the scene. Or a rival Wizard King spitefully spitting the name of Karissa the Red and her Enthralled Orcs meddling in his affairs. Even if you're not a Champion, your core race is an extension of your character that will follow you from world to world, so their lore should reflect this in some way.

Races need not be confined to the norms of their chosen form. For example, Artica's Gnarled Frostlings are just ferocious Humans who've adapted to cold weather. This is reflected visually by their greenish-blue skin and white hair. Cinren Toliath's Ashborn Hedonists are Elfkin, but with their red skin and occult sense of fashion, they look rather more like demons. This is a reflection of their arcane resistance, which the First Elves of Zaethyl Silverleaf don't possess. Presumably thanks to their exposure to heat, if their name is any indication.

Remember what I said about each race developing differently in its own world? Consider the kind of world your race came from. How did they develop as a result of their life there? What sort of situation were they in? If you're a Champion, think about the kind of world you'll do your first run in and let that influence it, or write the lore backwards: Let your race and its presence in your world write some of the world's lore.

Finally, let's also remember culture! Culture is as much a part of your race as physiology. Even one minor difference can be huge in the lore. Asgera Spinesplitter's Bloodfang Orcs are identical to the Enthralled Orcs who serve Karissa but for one difference: Where they hunt, Karissa's orcs engage in ritual cannibalism. Magnify such differences when crafting your lore. Let your race's culture be more than just a pair of mechanics.




In a certain world there was a man descended from a human hero and his dragon beloved, who had cast off her draconic form for the sake of peace. (This very same man is the brother of Cahaz!) This dragon was remarkably powerful in the arcane, and this passed to her son through the blood. Though he was no mage, he had exceptional potential for magic and was strongly resilient against it. This man went on to conquer his world, taking many wives and concubines to himself over the course of his centuries-long life.

Those born to draconic mothers were called imperial scions, and could expect the chance to attain a position of status in the world. The vast majority, however, were not. These were called "Alluvians" (from alluvium, the Latin word for gravel run-off deposited by running water) and were essentially not imperial issue at all. They were instead educated in a dedicated curriculum outside the palace and released to make their own way. Many became mercenaries or soldiers, owing to the warrior blood of their heroic grandfather making them comfortable when blooded. Others wound up living as vagabonds, searching for purpose.

When a certain mighty Alluvian son became an exceptionally powerful mage, he began to glimpse the secrets of the Astral Sea beyond his world. When the way was ripped open by Wizard Kings who eyed his realm with covetous eyes, he gathered many Alluvians to himself and set forth to rise above his station. He sent his Alluvian Harbingers ahead to pave his way.

The Alluvian Harbingers are Humans with the Resistant, Tenacious, and Adaptable traits. Resistant from their father's draconic bloodline, Tenacious from their father's warrior pedigree hardening their fight or flight response towards "fight", and Adaptable like many other Humans. They have the Feudal culture of their upbringing and remain Imperialists like others of their father's people, whom they lived among as equals. They also take the Prolific Swarmers trait, being apt to take many wives and produce many warriors, as their culture expected and their father exemplified in their creation.

Ruler and race can become one and create a nice interplay that adds the final punctuation to your lore. Take Nemain Scathanna for instance. Her Bog Drowned aren't simply Elfkin who've adapted to swamp life. Nemain is a necromancer wielding the Tome of Souls! These Elfkin were drowned in the swamps they now call home and raised into unlife by their master. Their Resilient trait is surely not a result of their lifestyle, but rather of their being undead. Likewise, this phase can be where you truly nail down why it is that these people call your character their master.




In a dense forest of a certain world there lived of the Elfkin who made their homes in the thickly interwoven canopy of the tall trees. These Arborborn Elves were once druids living in this forest, caring for its inhabitants with their nurturing magic. That was before the Savage Hunt.

There existed in this realm three strata of existence: The forest floor which, once teeming with life and abundance, became overrun by violent animals maddened by the Savage Hunt... The canopy, where wooden cities connected by rope bridges thrived in safety... And the mysterious and dangerous "above"; the vast skies beyond the canopy where flying creatures and races had their own concerns. Dangers would often dip down from above into the canopy. Gryphons seeking a meal, or great eagles defending territory.

But there was another. A beautiful Nature dragon named Faenys Elkhorn. She made it her purpose to nurture the life below, impressed by their ability to adapt and thrive in their difficult circumstances. When threats came from above, Faenys would rebuff them. When she learned the troubling truth of what drove them into the canopy, she sought to preserve Nature's order from the Savage Hunt. She purposed to preserve these Elfkin until she could find them a new home... One in a world untouched by the Savage Hunt. In return, the Arborborn Elves would be forever thankful to their Lady Above.

Faenys is a Dragon Lord starting with the Tome of Roots. Her Arborborn Elves are Elfkin with the Keen-Sighted and Sharp Eyes traits, much like their kin... as well as the Light Footed trait, owing to the acrobatics they had to develop in order to adapt to life in the trees. They're a Barbarian society (likely shifting once Primal Fury drops) with the Ancient Druids and Hermit Kingdom traits. The former speaks to their past. The latter speaks to their present. Wherever they go, they just want to be left alone to find their promised land.




Three Ages ago, a war was waged between three brothers in the sky. The eldest of them was Vorakkis, a mighty Dragon Lord with fiery breath and a thirst for violence. So often did he bring violence upon the denizens of the world that his younger brothers saw it necessary to intervene, lest he bring the wrath of every creature in the realm upon their lair. Enlisting the aid of a powerful mountain sorcerer, they warred with Vorakkis and eventually buried him deep beneath the earth.

Sometime during the early stages of the Fourth Age, Vorakkis was uncovered by a primitive race of Lizardfolk who had made the underground their home. Starved and furious, Vorakkis struck out against the Lizardfolk and immediately won their fear, but he saw in them a violence that resonated with his own heart. He quickly turned the Lizardfolk to his advantage and used them to navigate his way to the surface, which had become overgrown by a massive forest. Liberated from his long imprisonment, Vorakkis sent his Mudscale Devourers into the vast forest to slaughter and devour any creature they could find.

Vorakkis' desire for violence had spent three Ages dormant as he lay buried underground. Even a dragon's lifetime would not be enough to satisfy it now. Animals not slaughtered became vicious and bloodthirsty, adapting to their new ecosystem by way of osmosis. The once vibrant forest began to twist into a malignant shell of itself. The Savage Hunt had begun, and it would not soon end. Indeed... It may not even end at the edges of this realm.

Vorakkis Fleshfang is a Dragon Lord starting with the modded Tome of Hunger. His Mudscale Devourers are Lizardfolk with the Underground Adaptation, Cold Blooded, Overwhelm Tactics, and Sharp Eyes traits. This is a race heavily adapted by its master to their new purpose: Although Underground Adaptation is natural to them and their Overwhelm Tactics are rooted in their clutch-driven instincts, they became Cold Blooded and gained their Sharp Eyes as they adapted to the Savage Hunt with the blessing of their chaotic benefactor. They have a Barbarian society who are Prolific Swarmers and Ritual Cannibals. The former is innate to their former culture, while the latter was imparted to them by Vorakkis.

The Primal culture type is tied to various animal totems, this we all know. But the way that manifests? That's up to you. Sure, maybe your people worship an animal spirit and get powers off of that. You can even come up with all kind of lore for what form their "mini-godir" takes. Is it literally a nature spirit, or some trickster godir wannabe that your people buy into? Maybe your Champion becomes the true godir of your people after uncovering this spirit's trickery, stealing its powers, and ascending to the pantheon. But you can also take a different direction. Making your civilization a druidic circle that embodies a specific totem animal more than any other is one way to go. Another is to say that your people naturally embody the traits of their chosen animal. You're not nature-worshipers, you're primal barbarians who bear the bloodline of a great mammoth (don't ask how) and channel your ancestral power when raging. Or your people have some ancient blood ritual that ignites bloodied weapons and uses them to set enemies alight. Get creative with it! Honestly, even if you worship a spirit animal, you need not actually be nature worshipers or even nature dwellers. It could simply be a unifying religion for your otherwise "mundane" people. In this case, your chosen totem animal affects your visuals, so make use of that in your lorecrafting!

The same can be true of Oathsworn, which as far as I'm aware are a pretty clean slate lore-wise. I've only been playing since Shadow Magic, but I don't remember another faction with this kind of society. There are all kinds of ways you might imagine these folks. They could simply be a society with incredibly strong ethics, or a religious society bound to a specific ancient godir. Could go the full-blown samurai route, of course, even though they're only a touch samurai in aesthetic. But I'd like to discuss a fun little route I plan to take, which I'll use in my examples. I'm a bit fan of a genre called xianxia. Short explanation: It's a Chinese high fantasy genre in which people try to cultivate immortality and basically become gods, gaining tremendous power along the way. Like-minded cultivators often form sects, and it's not uncommon to see these sects war with one another for resources and even territory. This sort of thing could also apply here. If you don't wanna go all in, dial it back Mists of Pandaria style: Make your people an upstart martial arts sect, becoming an empire. Or even just an empire that uses martial arts in war. Plenty of movies and such with examples of this.

Now Eldritch Sovereigns... From what I understand, the story here is that you came upon some ancient forbidden magic and became an elder god in the making. What's your story? Are you a cultist who followed your occult ways into the Umbral Abyss, transformed into something "more"? Or are you fallen from the chambers of umbral power, seeking to reclaim your former glory? However you came to be, you now have a cult forming around you. Your tangible, visible faction – the units you field and the cities you build – likely represents your "chosen". The cream of the crop among your cultists who are worthy to be more than mere thralls. You trust them with responsibility. Power. They follow you with unflinching loyalty, and you reward them by changing them. Molding them to better extend your twisted will to the worlds you infest. None of these loyal few are so few, so loyal, or so capable as your heroes. You can think of heroes of all stripes as the leaders of your cult. You don't lead, your ways are too lofty for that. You go and do as you please, and your people follow. It's your heroes who coordinate these efforts, being those who understand your desires best.

The faction itself can come in one of two broad flavors: Those you already shaped to suit your desires, or those who serve you seeking a transformation. In general, they're probably going to be loyal and willing followers, but do you! If you have a compelling idea for something a bit more iron-fisted, by all means, embrace the spark of creativity. Either way, those who you haven't already molded to suit you needn't be anything in particular. You can make anything work pretty easily. You can even have a Good-aligned faction, believe it or not! Either your aims somehow serve a greater good, or your faction believes they do. Or maybe your faction's leaders are trying to do good by borrowing power from an evil abomination. Let me stress though, you do not need to be evil! In fact, you're likely to be a neutral sort. Your goals stretch beyond good and evil into unknowable realms. How the masses interpret them... Well, why should that concern one so beyond as yourself?

A daughter of a minor noble family, Saruneh-Kahet was a naturally adept craftsman who mastered her family's art of Scalebinding in her teens. This unique practice draws upon blessings from Wajset, the Crocodile Queen revered by the Queshari, to weave the materials of crocodiles who have died naturally with mana and create sharp bone weapons and powerful spears. Her mother, known as Mistbringer, was a legendary Scalebinder whose creations were rumored to hold the very essence of the Crocodile Queen herself. By all rights, Saruneh-Kahet should have succeeded her. That all changed with the Wrath of Wajset. This mighty flood took many lives and ruined the economy of Nemaset, the Queshari capital. Instead of priming herself for succession, Saruneh-Kahet found herself robbed of her entire family. Her younger brothers were claimed by the flood itself, but it was the transformed land that took her mother, who took ill with some terrible disease bred in the stagnant waters.

The distant king who ruled the Queshari was absent through the entire affair. When the Queshari sent dangerous missions across the desert to ask his aid, he shooed them away. Saruneh-Kahet was furious, and she was not alone. She took up her mother's craft once more... This time to equip a warband. With vengeance as their battlecry, the Queshari declared themselves free of this unconcerned dryland king's authority, and they followed Saruneh-Kahet to overthrow him. They would speak to Wajset through their priests. Embrace the mire. And then they would bring the Wrath upon the drylands, building new and more glorious settlements in their place. They began covering themselves in natural camouflage, accenting their dark skin with mud that would dry to form a thin layer of protection against weapons, helping them to maneuver in battle without concern. Like the crocodiles they ride, they would lurk in the mire, undetected, and snap when the time was right. The Queshari would not be known as those lost to the mire, but those who found themselves in it.

Saruneh-Kahet a Mortal Champion. She is the Scalebinder of the Queshari people—a Defender (Handaxe and Shield) in battle, and a Revolutionary Diplomat in the courts. Her ambition is Raider, as she wants to avenge whatever poor sod turned a blind eye to their suffering. Her first tome is the Tome of Enchantment, reflecting her Scalebinding background.

The Queshari are Humans with Sneaky (practiced ambush tactics and camouflage practices), Elusive (hardened mud protects against grazing attacks while on the move), and Defensive Tactics (they've built their defensive strategy around overlaid Scalebound shields and prefer to maneuver in lines). They're a Primal society (Mire Crocodile) with Great Builders and Wonder Architects, honestly purely because my thoughts took a lot of Egyptian beats when conceptualizing them. I saw a crocodile and my brain went to Egypt.

In an Age before Ages, there was an abyssal terror known by the name Novuu—in the tongue of the Arcanians, "Devouring One". She appeared in their realm, consuming entire cities in the great maw that served as her lower body. After exhausting absolutely all known methods to destroy her, a certain Arcanian sage devised a costly and intricate seal which would sacrifice many Arcanian lives to seal Novuu in a willing Arcanian's body, thereby buying time for someone to come up with a way to destroy her. To ensure she would not merge with the fragments of her essence scattered about the realm, the Arcanian host was exiled to another realm entirely. There she lived for four entire Ages, just watching that world pass her by. The stories she saw unfold could fill all the world's libraries... Most recently, revolving around a colony of overgrown termites who vexed the realm greatly, sapping cities and chrysalize captives into new termites. Heroes rose to stop them in the Third Age... but by the Fourth, those heroes had gone and the termites had returned.

These termites would be Novuu's escape route. You see, they were not native to this realm. The termites dug expansive tunnels to grow their brood as they consumed the world around them, and in their last world, they had incidentally struck an astral flow. With Novuu's host weakening with age, these termites would be her way out. Using forgotten magic, Novuu bound herself to the termite queen, transforming its body to accommodate her features... and became the Broodmother of the termites. She followed the astral flow back to the world the termites had already destroyed, and the Arcanian was too weak to follow. Novuu was free at long last, although a shadow of her former self. But her new brood was loyal. Mindlessly so. She would have them dig and dig tirelessly until they finally found a way to the Umbral Abyss, and with its powers, she would change them. Conform them to her will, and make them carriers of an umbral plague that would infest the worlds they came for. With this brood going before her, Novuu struck out to once more claim that forbidden knowledge she once possessed... and find her way back to the Arcanians who had sealed her away.

Novuu the Broodmother is an Mage (Relic of the Cosmos). She is a Sinister Spy with the Delver ambition—she wants her termites to dig wide and find her treasure she can use to reclaim her power. Her starting tome is the Tome of the Tentacle.

The Abyssal Termites are Insectoids with Overwhelm Tactics (they thrive on overrunning their enemies), Ferocious (they're strong and bred for battle), and Underground Adaptation (they dwell beneath the earth, digging expansive tunnel networks as their home). They have a Dark society, as they only have society at all because of their new mistress. They possess the Prolific Swarmers (chrysalization) and Umbral Disciples (Novuu's elevation of their species) society traits.

I swear this character limit wasn't present the last time I made a guide but this got cut off, so I had to put it in its own section.

Among cultivators, there are two broad categories: Orthodox, denoting those with some semblance of a code of honor who cultivate through self-discipline, spiritual enlightenment, or harmony... and Heterodox, those who are utterly ambiguous with their morals and use forbidden, often evil techniques to cultivate. Zhong Baizhi was in the former camp. A core disciple of the orthodox Radiant Sun Sect, he was gifted with pure spirit roots attuned to primordial yin. The sun always casts a shadow, and there was a branch of his sect which dealt with the inverse of bright, warm yang. He was the personal disciple of the Grand Elder in charge of that branch. Baizhi was a dutiful member of the sect, and prodigal. He formed the Nine-Phases Lunar Core after only fifteen years, establishing his foundation more swiftly and more comprehensively than anyone since his shifu had before him. He was a capable wielder of lightning techniques who personally defeated six enemy cultivators before reaching his next bottleneck. But all was not well.

The Moon Shadow branch was seen by many to be an afterthought. The arrogant elders of the main branch dismissed the Moon Shadow branch, rarely considering their members for promotion and casting them only scraps as far as cultivation materials were concerned. This stifled Zhong Baizhi's growth and infuriated not only him, but many other members of the Moon Shadow branch. Worse, his shifu would do nothing about it. He had lived in the shadow of the main branch for 230 years and saw value in not rocking the boat. When Baizhi formed his Golden Core, some of his Moon Shadow juniors and even seniors began to look to him as their leader. Their future. Baizhi began organizing secret missions, unsanctioned by the sect elders, to search for immortal caves and other sites of power to find cultivation materials that would not be announced to the sect. Instead, they would be hoarded for use by Baizhi and his dissidents. One of these treasures would be the Dragon's Maw Scripture... A cultivation manual containing a forgotten forbidden cultivation method.

By devouring the essence of demonic beasts, Dragon's Maw enabled the cultivation of the powerful Obsidian Dragon Constitution and a plethora of other abilities, all with the goal of transcending human limitations. Baizhi and his sect began cultivating this method in secret, and before long, Baizhi was ready to retreat into the cave and step into the next realm of cultivation. That is, until the elders discovered their trove of materials. A group led by Elder Hong Luo came to seize Baizhi while he was in seclusion, forming his Nascent Soul, with the goal of destroying his cultivation as punishment for leading the dissidents. His adherents fought hard to hold them back, knowing that if Baizhi could break through, Hong Luo with his mid-grade Golden Core would be no match. At the critical moment, the barrier protecting the cave shattered and a dark, overwhelming pressure vented out across the site of the battle. Out walked Baizhi, his body reshaped, his aura dark and oppressive, to utterly destroy Hong Luo and his followers.

They would not return to the Radiant Sun. That day was the birth of a new sect – the Obsidian Fang Sect – dedicated to scouring the world for cultivation materials and rare artifacts, even... No, particularly if they must be taken from the ashes of other sects. With the Balefire Forge Art contained in the Dragon's Maw Scripture, they could refine these artifacts into something greater and use them for their own climb up the ladder. They had been denied a seat at the table long enough. It was time to flip the table and take its bounty for themselves. Baizhi would soon discard his name and take on the moniker of Wyrmking Yehuo; "Wyrmking Night Fire". The cultivation world would come to fear this name as he amassed more and more power to himself, his terrible magic coming for sect after sect like a storm of tribulation.

Wyrmking Yehuo is a Wizard King Mage (Lightning Orb). He is a Demon Warlord with the Collector ambition. What else? His starting tome is the Tome of Evolution, embodying the core principles of his Dragon's Maw Scripture. I could have just as easily chosen Disciple again for Monks, and indeed it's probably the second tome I'd get on him.

The Obsidian Fang Sect are Ogrekin with Tough, Strong, and Hardy, all traits gained through the core practice of their cultivation. Theirs is an Oathbound society focused on Strife. They are Ancient Wise Ones (long-lived cultivators seeking forbidden knowledge) and Reclaimers (they refine captured artifacts into more powerful forms) as far as their society.

Thanks for reading to the end. Hopefully this inspires you for your next run or three. Forgive any typos (I make them often and my patience for proofreading is almost nonexistent), and if this inspires any lore, I'd love to read about it in the comments.

Happy conquering, friends!

Speaking of conquest, did you know Christ conquered death for all men? That's right, all, not just those who believe! Sure, there's a special (and early) salvation for those given (not drumming up) the faith to believe now. But verses like 1 Timothy 4:10, Colossians 1:20, and 1 Corinthians 15:22-28 make pretty clear that eventually, all will come under the glorious effect of God's grace.

This includes atheists and pagans! Judgment won't be any fun, but it's corrective and eonian[www.mercyonall.org], not unending (which would be ἀτελείωτος, not αἰώνιος).

I won't derail the topic too much but I just like for people to know that. It really is great news. Blessings from the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ to you all.