Almooth, Savor and Betrayer

In the time of the great plagues it was learned through the Sister Spirits of the Rivers that the epidemic had not been caused by chance. It seemed the plague was spreading through the water though the Spirits of the waters could not quickly discern its source. In those days, the Ronra people paid homage to the Sister Spirits of the Rivers by offering baskets of woven reeds died with aquamarine dust. A young man of no official standing was placing such a basket upon an ern erected for just this purpose by a great river when the Sister Spirits appeared to him has dryads. He was overcome with wonder and promised his life in devotion if they would grant him the power to combat this plague which was ravaging his village. The spirits had him drink from a cup of living willow, imbuing him with some of their power. He was indeed given supernatural power and used it to great effect against the plague. This man was Almooth, and with the continued help of the spirits he was able to stop the plague, but not before the majority of the Ronra Empire was already laid to waste by the plague. He was nevertheless hailed as a hero and became a man of great importance.
When the Red Tide came out of the East, the Spirits summoned him, giving him instruction on how to defeat the new threat. It is said he did fight valiantly against the Tide but could not hold them until they pushed him and his man beyond the Emilom River. With the help from the people of Koland, he and his men were finally able to prevent the invaders from advancing beyond the river.
When the High Elves finally came to the aid of the men, a great bitterness had already seeded itself in the hearts of some of the men who were left. For they had borne heavy casualties and the first real victories against the enemies, yet the elves seemed to dismiss their importance and would not hold council with them. The Elves of Aber pushed the Tide back through what was once the proud Ronra Empire just a few months earlier, but now was just a land of ruins.
It was in these early days of victory that Almooth ordered some of his men to spy on the elves, for he began to believe the elves planned on taking the lands for themselves once the original invaders had been defeated. This is how he learned that Aber was sending an emissary to Galvania since it was known the Red Tide had began to push into those lands and the Galvanian King asked for aid. Almooth decided he and his most loyal men would go to Galvania to turn them against the elves and make him their general. In his pride he had not considered that perhaps his great prowess was not known in the land of Galvania, so when they dismissed him and his men, he became blind with rage.
Legend has it he traveled across the Ever Winter peaks and sought to use his powers to summon a great fey force with which he would march back across the mountains saving Galvania. He convinced his small band of men that once this was complete, they could save the country not only from the Red Tide but also from the elves of Aber. Then he would be made King of Galvania. He convinced most, but two saw the evil growing in his heart and were disturbed by the oaths we began to make, and by which spirits he swore those oaths. They decided to sneak away in the night and warn the people of Galvania of what he was planning.
Well Womelsdorf was besieged at the time of the mens arrive, but Alagosseth, High Mother of the Church of Galvania, an elve and true seerer, was aware of their arriving and bore upon a hypogriff to meet them. When they told her of what Almooth was planning, she sped to the Almooths camp in the Burning Sands without so much as a note to anyone on where she was going, such was the need for haste she perceived.
When she arrived, she found Almooth all alone surrounded by the corpes of his men. He had his arms outstretched and a great chasm was opening in front of him. Already the dark magic had started taking hold of him. Powered by the souls of his men, he was opening a fissure to summon his new army.
Alagosseth ordered him to stop, warning him that his bitterness and pride would only bring destruction to those he had vowed to protect. He refused to listen and instead tried to kill Alagosseth with a great force of energy. Alagosseth harbored the light of the Great Spirit though, which deflected the blow back to Almooth, killing him before he could react. Alagosseth did what she could to repair the fissure, but it is said the land is still scarred and that the intelligent salamanders that now live in parts of the Desolate Steppe were created by the remnants of magic left in that canyon.

Related People

• Almooth