Karem the pirate lived up to his name by going on several pirating adventures but none more profitable when he seized a ship belonging to the Prince of Avanil. Some cousin of the Prince’s was onboard and trying to smuggle some type of contraband into the Imperial City. After finding out all pertinent information, Karem killed the cousin through bloodthieft and claimed the vessel for himself. Karem then though, hey might as well smuggle this stuff into the Imperial City myself and sell it.

Karem the pirate delivered the contraband to a wizard known as the Swamp Mage in the Imperial City. Karem asked a lot of questions of the Swamp Mage and I pointed out that a smuggler really would not be so nosey. But for whatever reason the Swamp Mage was looking to make some money that day and told Karem that he could make any wish come true for the right amount of gold.

Karem thought it over and came upon the idea that he would love a unit of lizardmen in a battleship. The Swamp Mage and Karem were at the Swamp Mage’s holding in the Imperial City and the two went down to a basement with a large room. The Swamp Mage used his magic to fill the room full of water and mask the two with an invisibility spell. Then the Swamp Mage summoned a drakkar filled with lizardmen warriors, lead by a four-armed lizardman king.

Karem appeared from the invisibility spell and used literally every spell he had available to try and impress the lizardmen. Karem walked on water, talked in tongues, was surrounded by a variety of auras, used light spells and summoned food and drink. The lizardmen were impressed and Karem negotiated the price of delivering two humans a week in tribute to the lizardman king. The Swamp Mage then used more magic to make the summoning of the lizardmen drakkar permanent.

The Swamp Mage told Karem that he should come back and visit and bring others with gold as well. Karem told Alexander Roesone about the wizard and the two returned to the Imperial City with lots of gold. This was still about the time Alexander was undergoing an identity crisis and asked the Swamp Mage if there was a way Alexander could study to be a wizard. The Swamp Mage sold Alexander a scroll that the wizard told the regent that after a year of reading and studying, Alexander would gain the skills of a first level wizard (in actuality the scroll would place a powerful magical geas that would allow the Swamp Mage to control several of Alexander’s actions).

But Alexander sought more than just the knowledge of wizardly magic, Alexander wanted raw power; a magical item that could accomplish anything for him. Alexander paid the Swamp Mage to summon and bind an efreeti in a lamp to grant Alexander three wishes. But after the magical scroll and the magic lamp, Alexander still needed one more thing. The Swamp Mage made a clone of Alexander, the clone would be used to allow Alexander to fake his death after ruining his kingdom. After Alexander and Karem left the Imperial City, neither would see the Swamp Mage again for years.

The efreeti that was bound to the lamp that the Swamp Mage created for Alexander was inhabited by a strong warlord of an efreeti named Firebeard Blackaxe. This particular efreeti would be important in the future but until then the efreeti laid down some ground rules for Alexander; do not summon the efreeti for petty stuff and that all three wishes had to be used in one year.

Alexander made his first wish right away; wishing to be a prince. While this might seem a complicated wish to fulfill, all I did was declare, “ok, you’re a prince now, good for you.” It would not become until much later that Alexander would learn that I made him Prince of the Faries (one of the unseelie). Alexander would next have Sedrie Bellamie summon a nightmare, while Alexander feed the beast platinum shavings in the shape of oak leaves, while the efreeti used a second wish to bind the nightmare to Alexander. This would leave to Alexander taking up the identity of Duke Nightmare.

Alexander Roesone ruled his kingdom with an iron grip; truly living up to the name Black Baron. Alexander lost control of the Church of War (Cuiraecen) but issued many decrees that would tax them heavily. Alexander mustered a large army and secured the building of the bridge between his domain and Medoere and brokered a secret deal with the wizard Hermpedhie and the Red Hood to lead the aid of realm spells for an assault on one of the Duke of Diemed’s castles. While Trogdor’s assembled mercenary army was in the service of Ghoere, Trogdor still had a small band of drake riders at his disposal (elite warriors, with heavy lances and crossbows, mounted on battle drakes) and would be helpful on the assault on a castle in Diemed.

Alexander appealed to the clerics of Medoere for military support for the right to spread their religion unfettered in Roesone. The armies of Roesone crossed Medoere where they were meeting with Medoerean reinforcements and proceeded to cross the borders into Tier and Duene. A series of small battles where fought with local garrisons and scouts of Diemed, the Roesone forces pushing for the river city of Moerel. The Duke of Diemed secured himself in a river castle along the city Moerel, with the wall city being fortified by his troops.

Even more secret dealings were revealed when the wizard Caine used magic to allow Hermpedhie and the Red Hood to cast realm spells in the province of Moere. Using powerful realm spells the wizards razed the castle to the ground leaving the Duke of Diemed exposed in the walled city. That is when Trogdor’s drake raiders assaulted, and an adventuring party lead by Duke Nightmare sought out the ruler of Diemed. The Duke of Diemed put up and good fight and escaped on a boat down the River Maesil. Duke Nightmare then summoned his fiendish steed and gave case down the river after the Duke of Diemed. Over the River Maesil, the rightful regent of Diemed was pierced through the heart by a dark clad warrior wielding a spear, riding a fiery hoofed horse. The death of one duke lead to the rise of anohter; Duke Nightmare.