Ryko Silverleaf (Rye-co Silver-leaf)

Ryko Silverleaf was a Wood Elf who has gained fame through exploration. Not much was known about his past, but he had done much to help in the mapping of ancient civilizations.

Known Early Life

Ryko Silverleaf was once part of an adventuring party known as the League of the Lost, a renowned group that split up over mysterious circumstances in the year 1224, and used what funds and knowledge he had from his time adventuring to settle down in the town of Nep. For the 27 years following, he ran a map shop known as A Wanderer's Eye, where merchants could get maps of trade routes, and adventurers could purchase maps of and to various points of interest, most of which still unexplored (at least to the knowledge of the mapmaker).
However, there was much more to this elf than there seemed. At some point during his travels, he got his hands on an ancient, evil sword known as The Darkblade, a blade which corrupted his mind, instilling Ryko with a fear of his own mortality, and a lust for power. This cursed blade told Ryko of a way to escape these struggles, a ritual older than all but the most ancient creatures of the world, one that predates many of the realm's gods. A ritual that would allow one to join the ranks of the immortals, with powers on par with the Primary gods themselves.
Ryko started an underground cult during his time as a mapmaker. It took him much time, but after 27 years, he had a large following under the alias of Farjor Darkblade. During this time, he was hard at work searching for the artifacts that he would need for the ritual, though he dared not go after them himself. He had attempted to send members of his cult after them, but to no avail. But one day, he came up with an ingenious plan, but one that would almost lead to his downfall.

The Plan For Ascension 

By this point, Ryko was just as much Farjor as he was himself, if not more so. When he knew a party of capable adventurers were in the town of Nep, he arranged for some of his own cult members to attempt to "steal" maps from his shop that lead to the dungeons which housed the ritual artifacts. As he expected, the adventurers stopped the robbery, and offered to help Ryko track down these artifacts to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, picking up some planted items off the defeated cultists in the process. What the party didn't know was that a few of his cult members had already infiltrated their ranks to make sure that the artifacts ended up in his hands.
After three long days of waiting, the artifacts were within his grasp. The heroes brought them right into his map shop. All he needed was for them to simply hand the items over, which he figured would happen, as he had guaranteed a generous reward for each item given to him. What he didn't anticipate, was that the adventurers wouldn't hand the items over, no matter how much he assured them that he would keep them safe.
However, things ultimately went his way when one member of the party pulled out a wand they had taken from the cultists. Through a combination of what they were told by Ryko and what they had found through using it, the wand seemed to be a Wand of Disintegration. Thus, one of the mages within the adventuring party aimed it at one of the artifacts, and zapped it away, and after some arguing within the party, eventually did the same to the other three.
Ryko did all he could to suppress a smile, as he knew what the wand really did, and the actions of the party saved him a ton of time. By zapping the artifacts with the wand, which was secretly a Wand of Teleportation, they had just sent the artifacts directly to the cult's keep, and straight to the ritual location.
Shortly thereafter, Ryko set off to the Keep of the Darkblade, leaving nothing but a note on his counter directing the adventurers to meet him there. He may have had the artifacts, but he felt that the party had not yet outlived their usefulness. And with a little motivation from the traitors in their midst, the party delved into the heart of the keep to assist him.
And assist him they did, willingly or not. Ryko unveiled his true intentions, dropping the facade of his old identity and fully embracing the name Farjor Darkblade. 

“You are but pawns, play pieces to be manipulated by the powerful. But don’t feel bad, if it hadn’t been for you, we would have had some difficulties collecting all of these artifacts. And of course, I have one last use for you. To fuel my rise to godhood, the ritual will require a few… sacrifices.” -Farjor Darkblade

A battle erupted between Farjor and the seven adventurers. As the balance of the battle shifted in favor of those adventurers, however, the traitors in their midst revealed themselves. Of the five remaining members of the party, one made a dash for the exit, hoping to get help while the other four stalled their adversaries. Unfortunantely, he would not arrive back in time.
The ranger of the party attempted to take Farjor on, one on one. Though he managed to wound him, there was little he could do before Farjor cut him down where he stood. The monk and the fighter were occupied by their traitorous allies, only one of which they were able to incapacitate before falling themselves.  And in that moment, the sorcerer stood alone. Knowing that they did not stand a chance, they dropped to one knee, pledging their alleigance to Farjor. And in his moment of victory, Farjor didn't stop for a second to consider that it may have been a trick.
Farjor turned his back, ready to finish the ritual. And that was the moment that the sorcerer was waiting for.
Without a second though, the sorcerer lunged towards Farjor, pulling a knife from their cloak and stabbing it through his heart from behind.  In this same moment, Farjor swung around, slaying the sorcerer, and thus fulfilling the final condition of the ritual, the deaths of five powerful creatures in the prescence of the four ancient artifacts. 

The knife fell from his back, and clattered against the ground. His ascension had stopped him from dying. Farjor had succeeded in his goals, however he was not satisfied. That final act by the sorcerer had stopped him from ascending to a level of power as high as he desired, and instead of him gaining the power of a primary god, he instead was a tertiary god. His ascencion had released a shockwave of magical energy, shaking even the floating islands of Jamogi.  This wave of energy weaked the souls of many of the powerful beings, and while it was unnoticable for most, the power of the heroes who had dared to challenge him was drastically weakened, whether they had survived or not.  But that wasn't the end of it. For their impertinance towards him, Farjor struck the names of the heroes, their party, and their exploits from history to the greatest extent that he could. As far as those who hadn't known them well were concerned, they had never existed.


From here, Farjor seemed to fade into the background. The newly reborn God of Deciet has begun to sow doubt and distrust from the shadows, using his cult to try and find a way to grant him even greater power.