Thal'zekar, the Corruptor of Dreams
Origin:
Born from the first mortal fears that echoed into the Primordial Abyss, Thal'zekar took form not as a being of flesh, but as a distortion of thought itself. His existence is woven from the broken ambitions, shattered hopes, and nightmares of those who dared to imagine a future beyond their grasp. His realm, the Everchanging Reverie, defies all sense of reality: A world where the sky melts into oceans, towers sprout wings, and the very earth hums with the laughter of mad gods. Dreams and nightmares blend into a singular, shifting landscape, feeding Thal'zekar's insatiable hunger for corrupted hope. He did not rage openly like others of the Abyssal Paragons. Instead, Thal'zekar seeped silently into the hearts of mortals, bending their desires until they became chains dragging them into his thrall.
During the Great Cataclysm:
When the Abyss breached the mortal plane, Thal'zekar was not among the first to march through. Instead, he entered through the fractures of sleeping minds. At night, generals dreamed of their armies dissolving into dust. Kings awoke screaming, believing their bloodline would end in ruin. Heroes faltered, plagued by visions of their inevitable failure. Entire cities fell not by siege, but by despair. Whole populations simply surrendered, convinced resistance was pointless. It was Thal'zekar who ensured that the mortal alliance was fractured long before the Demon Lords' armies reached the battlefield. In the final battles, few could even speak his name. He was the fear whispered behind every breath, the sense of doom hanging over every campfire. Though driven back and trapped behind the rift seals, traces of his influence remained lodged in mortal consciousness — scars that no healing could erase.
Thal’zekar in the Current Era:
The Everchanging Reverie still drifts in the black tides beyond the sealed rift, but Thal'zekar's tendrils reach further than his prison would suggest. Through cracks in forgotten rituals and through the deep, vulnerable places of dreaming minds, he still works. Plagues of nightmares sweep across villages and cities, leaving the afflicted hollow-eyed and listless. Wandering prophets speak in riddles of futures that wither before they bloom. Dream cults have formed — secret circles of dreamers who believe true salvation lies in abandoning reality altogether and embracing Thal'zekar's chaotic mercy. Rare dream-walkers sometimes stumble across shards of the Everchanging Reverie while asleep, and when they awaken, they carry pieces of his realm back into the waking world. Illusions made real. Nightmares given flesh. The Watchers stationed at his fortress — The Dreamspire Bastion — work tirelessly to reinforce the seal. Their greatest fear is not a direct assault, but a world so broken by despair that the rift simply falls open like an unlocked door. Thal’zekar does not rage.He waits.
And in every trembling breath of doubt, he grows stronger.
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