The Balance

Between all things.

Within the Multiverse, three wars rage… Chaos seeks to overthrow Order, Death seeks to choke out Life and Balance seeks to preserve them all. The Blood Wars raged through the millennia, as the Legions of Hell - sometimes aided by the Divine Host - swathed a bloody path through the Demonic Hosts whenever threaten the home of the Hells. The alliance, although strained, was one of necessity. The Demons sought absolute chaos, while the Lords of the Nine need order to continue their contractual ways. Without the Laws of Order there would be no way for the souls of the fallen to be collected, and thus there would be no Hells for the Lords to rule. The Divine Host’s role was far more obvious, their obligation as old as time itself.
More subtly, the energies of the negative and positive planes ebb and flow with the march of time. Primordial energies pushing and pulling against one another. As the mortal instruments of these entropic entities grew to learn of these energies, schools of magic would develop. The school of Necromancy took the forefront, focusing solely on the manipulation of life and death. Accessing the necrotic energies of the negative plane directly, the scales began to tip. The winds of magic began to saturate the mortal planes, allowing more energy to be tapped and manipulated. As a result, the creatures of the Material Plane began to obsess over the mastery of these energies, believing themselves beyond the limitations of mortality. The subordinates of the gods began to intervene, seeking to restore Balance before it was too late. The gods anointed protectors of Life and Death, mortals who had proven themselves a thousand times worthy or creatures moulded by the gods themselves. There were to be 5 of each; The Custodians of Life and Death. The gods did not foresee the terrible corruption that was to befall the Custodians of Death, the prolonged exposure to the necrotic energies proving too much for even the mightiest of souls to handle. Soon Death herself took champions of her own, and thus the The Harbingers of Death were born.
It is seldom that a Primordial energy takes a physical form, manifesting in a manner akin to the great deities of the Planes. But one such as Death, engorged on millennia of slaughter, disease and decay, coalesced in an event that shook the very foundations of the Multiverse. Not existing in a single shape or form, Death could not be contained, only suppressed. As such, the gods created artifacts of great power, given to each of their Custodians to keep the forces of Death at bay. These artifacts, known as the Vitashards, would be stored and protected by the Custodians of Life in their respective Planes.
But, this was not enough. As the Blood Wars raged on, and the eternal fires of conquest and conflict burned bright, the Essence of Death grew in power. Before long it gained a sentience unique to Primordial energies, creating an altogether unfathomable entity. All sides would soon suffer as the The March of Death began.
It was not until a pact was drawn up by the Lords of the Nine and the Angels of the Divine that the March of Death would be halted. This pact, consisting of Seven Seals, would re-purpose the energies of Death and ensure the Balance be maintained for eternity. Siphoning the energies from Death, a council was created. This council would see to it that the Balance never falls away, and its members would be known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Entities without bias or opinion, they could not be bought, persuaded or bargained with. They were to be the hand of justice for the Multiverse itself, only appearing together when the Seventh Seal is broken and the end is nigh. To look upon any of the Four Horsemen is to look one’s death in the face, for none survive their reckoning. They were Death (reborn), War, Famine and Conquest. Their names but monikers for mortals to speak, their true forms unconquerable.
Should the Balance ever again be threatened, the Call will be given, and the Four Horsemen will ride once again, the Apocalypse at their heels.