There
are, and have been for countless millions of years, two states of being.
One is the state of possibility, defined by a creature known as The Creator,
The One God but commonly known
as Promethius. The second state is that of The Void, the nothingness against
which all Promethius brings into being is set, and is universally known
as The Unmaker.
Put simply
Promethius creates the setting and The Unmaker strives to destroy this
- their conflict generates the Universe that all life struggles within.
This conflict has spanned thousands of universes and, until Grayhawk;
the outcome was always the same…The Unmaker returned all of Promethius’
efforts to its natural state - The Void. Two thousand years ago that universe
(a living, breathing force which some term, incorrectly, Mother Nature)
contrived to destroy both Promethius and his eternal antagonist, thus
freeing the universe from the cycle of creation/oblivion.
Grayhawk
has existed in this state for two millennia although the spirit of the
two beings can be felt in every aspect of the world. Promethius created
Time, Sorcery, Seasons, Planes of existence…what you experienced when
you stepped into The Void was the Universe’s harnessing of the spirits
of the two creatures. The only surviving legacy from that battle two millennia
ago was the huge black blade that was The Unmaker’s vehicle of destruction.
It unmakes everything it touches (you only have to see what happened to
Richard’s assassin to understand) and can only be handled or wielded by
someone who has mastered The Void.
The Void
The Void
is, as has been said, the nothingness that is everything the universe
isn’t. It’s potential has been tapped several times throughout history
(usually with The Unmaker driving the events for his own ends) - most
notably by the Black Hand Assassins. These legendary killers (five in
all and all trained indirectly by The Unmaker) were so powerful that it
took the universe a thousand years to kill them! The blade - usually referred
to as The Great Black Blade - was instrumental in the downfall of the
two creatures.
It is
indestructible.
The Universe
has no way to destroy it and nowhere to hide it, so from time to time
it rolls it out when events take a turn for the worse. One of the binding
aspects of the universe is that Promethius set into place Laws that would
govern, regulate and maintain the status quo, thus perpetuating its own
existence. These Laws can be profound or rather small but they are vital
for the survival of all things. For instance, there is a Law that makes
night follow day just as there is a Law that forbids the resurrection
of dead creatures.
Sprinkled
throughout Grayhawk’s turbulent history are creatures that gain, learn
or steal the power to break these eternal Laws of the Universe. Fermat
has that power (or at least Qarnak believes he has) and it is because
of this that you now have the Great Black Blade. The universe may be on
your side but it is worth bearing in mind that it is the act of breaking
Laws that ultimately leads to the destruction of all things.
Mastery
of the Void
As you
have discovered The Void is a highly destructive force…a kind of absolute
emptiness that exists everywhere. Beings created by Promethius cannot
survive this primeval nothingness…they only exist by the Laws that the
creator brought into being.
Mastery
of the Void is slightly misleading. The Unmaker needed allies if he was
to defeat Promethius so he enlisted the help the very beings he was trying
to destroy. There are certain situations where the Laws of the universe
are bent to allow individuals access to that phenomenal well of power.
When you cast the Rune of Void you reached up through the physical plane
of the universe and into that immense nothingness. There were only two
outcomes - either your body would have disintegrated or you would survive.
There
is no mastery of the Void as such; there is only survival. Your body will
now always be able to exist within it until you die. The aforementioned
Black Hand assassins used the Void to move unseen (in fact they were totally
undetectable) and developed a frightening reputation to move through anything,
to break any barrier and to slip through any defence. Your mastery of
the Void can be augmented by the use of your rune.
The Great
Black Blade is a slice of the Void bound (by The Unmaker) into the physical
world of Promethius. The wielder harnesses its awesome destructive power
in two distinct ways. Firstly there is the obvious unmaking ability but
the secondary ability of the blade is directly linked to The Unmaker’s
binding. Because of the significant power that binding required it inadvertently
bound the skill of every wielder to it. Put simply; you wield the blade
with the collective skill of all its wielders!
There
have been several but three wielders names dominate the many. Doctor X,
Shadazaar and Quizet Daesil.
Perhaps
your mastery of the rune of the Void will allow you to discover more about
these three historical figures…
Or even
to harness some of the power within the blade itself…