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Origin of Count Draku (by Crow)
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When the
Great Cataclysm ended the great Empire of Malgoth (aka Malkora)
historians assume that the nine great demons he had summoned from the nether realms to rule his provinces were also destroyed. (We know not all were but that's another story). One of these would have been 'Rakasha the Great', Demon Prince of Rakshasas,
a being of immense power and cunning. In the dying years of the
Pelorean Empire cultists successfully
summoned him back to Earth and as 'Raglucius', Chancellor to the Emperor, he was instrumental in the Empire's collapse and the onset of the Great Darkness. He attempted to
control the collapsing empire but was defeated in battle by
the estranged wife of the Emperor, Queen Elenore, who seeing through his disguise, then pursued him westward across the lands. Eventually with the help of
Ethilion, the brother of the High King of the Elves, she confronted him,
stripped him of his magic and trapped him underground in an abandoned copper mine. There he remained throughout the Great
Darkness until he was released by Reet settlers colonising the
Cambria region and attempting to open the old mine. (I have reconstructed his timeline from that date as follows)
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| -57 |
Settlers in the Dire Hills region of Cambria, accidently release Rakasha from imprisonement. Although reduced
in power he immediately begins to terrorise the region in his natural form preventing any settlement
of the fertile lands around what is now Pell's Hold. He becomes known as the
'Bloodbeast'. (I have recently found evidence that shows the equivalence between 'Raglucius' and the 'Bloodbeast' is beyond question)
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| -5 |
The 'Bloodbeast' attacks the camp of
St. James and his followers. St. James uses the sword which later became known as the Sword of Erin to banish Rakasha from this
plane.
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| 1084 |
Rakasha is summoned to this plane again by Black Alyss
and her followers. (It might not be a coincidence that the date chosen for this summoning is also the date that in the
prophecies of
Servants of the Real Fire the influence of Malkora would start to grow again. Also by another coincidence the site of the summoning and the mine in which Rakasha was imprisoned for so long are just a few miles apart.).
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| 1105 |
'Count Neelaf'
(aka Count Draku) purchases a farm in Malor (one of the Seven Dominions) with
money illegal siphoned off from the
Servants of the Real Fire. (Over the next decade
'Neelaf' creates a major estate by gradually buying up all the nearby farms in the valley and increasing turning
over their crops to 'Nikatu' the source of the drug that would later afflict Pell's Hold.)
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| 1112 |
A contract for the theft of the Sword of Erin is circulated in the Pells Hold criminal underworld. King Wulhere's younger son Burdred steals
the sword in order to pay off his gambling debts
The money, 25,000gp, had been put up by Count Neelaf with a view to destroying the sword.
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| 1114 |
'Count Neelaf' plots the murder of King Wulfhere with Burdred and for Burdred to seize the Cambrian
throne. Both the Archbishop and Archmage are successfully compromised and bribed by Neelaf.
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| 1115 |
Followers of the
Cult of the Long Night are massacred in
Pell's Hold. (I would speculate that they had been involved in the theft of the
Sword of Erin or the murder of King Wulfhere and this was Draku covering his trail)
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| 1116 |
A
'Count Draku' purchases a property in
Pell's Hold, the first sign that he is using a new alias in Cambria.
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| 1118 |
The leader of the Blue Flame Order of the
Servants of the Real Fire (and secretly also
the international leader of the Cult of the Long Night) is massacred in Miredor. (Draku covering his trail again.)
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| 1124 |
Count Draku is made
head of palace security by
King Burdred.
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| 1125 |
Draku arranges the assassination of Prince Penda (the chosen heir of his father Wulfhere and brother of King Burdred), who is now the Cambrian Ambassador to Sankhar.
The murder is carried out by the Cult of the Long Night in exchange for 25,000 gold pieces and
'three ancient Malkorean Rings of Power'. Drugs based on the Sudland plant 'Nikatu' begin to be a problem in
Pell's Hold.
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| 1127 |
Formation of the criminal gangs financed by many of the nobility in order to enrich themselves from the drugs trade.
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| 1129 |
Draku becomes head of the Red Asps, a new espionage service created by
King Burdred.
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| 1134 |
Draku has Burdred assasinated and assumes the role of 'Regent'.
Alarmed by rumours that an heir to the throne might still be alive in Sankhar he sends a team of Rakshasa assasins
to investigate.
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Grateful thanks to the colleagues who helped me piece this history together (who cannot be named for their own safety). Crow.
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