Fiction:Crothal

"My mastery of Time and it's movement and pace have brought me much, but have cost me much as well. Such is the way of things. When we reach for objectives, life throws up so many, many problems to break down and destroy. All things, in the end, will come to my design, by force or by natural flow."

- Lord Crothal The Shadowspawn

Crothal the Shadowspawn is one of the highest ranking leaders among the, Lord of the Chronomancers Path, and one of the highest ranking advisors to the Witch-Queen Kirata Cethannia in existence. Taken at a young age from an unknown world, from an unknown species and unknown parents, Crothal started as a slave, was chosen by the Sorcerer Vrimkul the Blessed. Since that day, when he first stepped into his master's service, Crothal has risen to become one of the most powerful Sorcerer-Prophets to lead the Rathanii in their quest to annihilate all life that stands in their way. His quest for power has lead him to mastery the flow and power of time, though has left him weakened and his body slowly fading, though he still has many more centuries then most lifeforms.

He has been entrusted with a number of tasks by his master, Kirata, in order to get a grasp upon the universe they find themselves in now, thanks to the destruction of their own universe by the, and to also gather more servants, followers and powers to their side for the eventual conquest of the universe.

Early Life
Crothal was born in an unknown world, and found by the Sorcerers of Rathan during a slave raid. Many of his kindred would be taken away to the forges and Janissary Barracks, but Crothal was seen as something more then special and useful then any of his kindred. The leader of the warriors who had taken him and many of his peers away, was a high ranking Sorcerer named Vrimkul the Blessed. Vrimkul was interested in several of them, and chose Crothal and a handful of others to study under him as his apprentices. Crothal hated the people who had taken him from his family, but accepted his position as a student. Crothal would study for years under Vrimkul, learning more and more to further his power, often killing and destroying several of his peers in the process to get closer to Vrimkul.

During his training, Crothal rarely, if ever, had to be disciplined by his master for seeking pleasures of the flesh and the like. His mind was focused and readied for all his studies, nothing else, denying himself the finest foods and the like, just so he could have his revenge against Vrimkul. As the years went on, his memories of his kin and his world began to fade further and further, until all that remained was not a desire to avenge his lost world, but rather a spiteful hatred for hatred's sake against his foes.

As he mastered the Spire of the Chronomancers, Vrimkul grew impressed with his student, praising his studious nature, and entrusting him to learn from other Spires without betraying him. Crothal studied the Flesh-Sculptors and their abilities to mutate and modify lifeforms, the World-Shapers to gain powers of Living Lightning and other powers to burn away foes, and from the Cortex Dominators, learned to create illusions, drain knowledge from others, and induce fear and terror in others. He would use his powers to push into Vrimkul's mind, and steal knowledge and details Vrimkul had kept from him. Vrimkul, growing old and weary from his centuries in power, did not sense his apprentice working against him, and in fact, thought they had something of a friendship.

With all of his knowledge, Crothal began the process of looking into the future and past, and mastering the powers of time so he could see into the future and know when the time to attack his master would be most successful. As he did this, he took to managing all of Vrimkul's daily affairs, taking census of the slaves, managing production schedules of the forges, and managing his armies. Though the Sorcerers of Rathan came under the rule of the most powerful civilization in the universe, the, Crothal and most were allowed to maintain their positions, so long as they provided armies when called upon. After sending several of his rivals, both contemporary, and older, to their deaths in far away campaigns, Crothal felt his position was secure to move against his master.

Ascension into Lordship
Crothal, one night, came to his master, and, to celebrate the bounty of slaves brought form Hegemony enemies in Mirus' frontier, and other worlds, brought with him a cask of wine to celebrate. Crothal and Vrimkul drank much that night, and when his master finally grew drunk, Crothal used his powers of time to freeze and stop time around the two, before using his powers to destroy Vrimkul's brain and central nervous system. With his master dead, Crothal was now lord of all of Vrimkul's holdings, and undisputed master, with most of his rivals dead or out of the way. The Sorcerer-Lord, now without worry of any disturbing his plans, began to experiment further with his powers, sending his troops to various locations to further his political position, such as sending a legion of his troops to fight the Khanornusi in Cyrannus, and assisting in turning them into cybernetic golems.

The reigning Witch-Queens and Warlock-Kings that would come and go during Crothal's reign of his realms, regarded him with respect, and often sought to learn from them, but he found no satisfaction in them, or the dark, burning desire that fueled so many others. They regarded him as tool to more power, and he wanted none of this. Power, in his mind, was material, and the truest adherents to the Rathannii creed must free themselves of the material to truly master their creed. Vrimkul, Crothal's kindred form the unknown world and his Sorcerer rivals, were all concerned with material power, and had lost their positions and lives to this desire.

Centuries would go by, Crothal's power growing, and many rivals, both within his Spire, and outside of it, would fall. He would, in the end, work his way up the chains and defeat the Chronomancer's leader, Bhzaakal the Iron-Lunged. With no one in his way, Crothal had near-undisputed command of his Spire, and all Sorcerers who studied time, as well as their holdings, and immediately strengthened his position of power over Bhzaakal's own minions and members of his House. At this time, Crothal would father a daughter through one of his mistresses, named, though came to view her with apprehension and disdain, seeing her as a threat to his position of power. He removed all traces of their being related, so she could not be used against him, and treated her much the same as any other servant of the Rathanii Sorcerers, however, his purge was not complete, and the Lorekeepers kept many records of their relations.

Ruling from Kraasii
"You are much too paranoid, Shadowspawn. Your own terror at your offspring is ill-founded. Is it, Bahadur? How many Hegemony-Emperors have fallen to their children? How many Sorcerers have been struck down by their daughters and sons? Look to Aedianus and what became of his mother for the truest example. If you raise them wrong. When you have burned within them a loyalty to your vision, they will march through hellfire for you. But you must treat them with respect and some love. Make them feel needed. This makes you weak, Cethannia. Kirata will use your admiration and love you have for her against you. And Jurisa will come to use her hatred and loathing for you to do the exact same to you, old friend."

- Bahadur Cethannia and Crothal in conversation

Crothal would, later on, relocate his power base to the jungle world of Kraasii, in another galaxy, where he would meditate on the powers of darkness and destruction, guarded by his warriors, Janissaries and attendants. During such times, he would oversee the young Jurisa's training, and was visited by Bahadur Cethannia, he saw to his own daughter's training in the swamps and fens of the world, and the two often putting their children against each other in duels, to see how well their combat and Dark Alchemy abilities had grown, and see to any short comings in their combat styles.

Crothal and Bahadur would have a number of debates and discussions, as the younger attempted to gain Crothal's trust and fear in order to gain his powers over time. Crothal looked down on Bahadur's hypocrisy, believing having at least three children was a testament of creation, not destruction and entropy as Crothal believed the Sorcerers should take. This reflected their differing political believes, and the two very different doctrines that dominated Rathanii politics. Bahadur felt that Crothal hiding the truth from his daughter would only harm him later, and that he must be ready to reveal the deception in order to secure her loyalty. Crothal was surprised Bahadur knew his secrets, but remained stoic enough to counter that one's own children were their greatest threat to power, and were to be kept at arms length, if kept at all.

Their arguments and debates dominated their visits, as Jurisa grew into a great warrior and assassin for her father, to keep his enemies within the court and among the other Houses in line and on their toys, as Kirata began to work her way up the political ladder.

The Fate-Weaver
The reign of Bahardus Cethannia disturbed much of Crothal's reign. Originally given free reign to do as he wished without the limitations of his superiors, Bahadur's reign as Warlock-King continued to undercut and weaken his position of power. As Crothal was unwilling to teach Bahadur the powers of time the young King so desired, the two continued to struggle against one another, the older Crothal weary of Bahadur's position and willingness to execute others for the slightest offenses. Though Crothal maintained his safety due to his power, the old Sorcerer was unsure how long he could maintain this, though had an active interest in Kirata Cethannia, Bahadur's youngest child and only daughter.

When rebels arose to challenge the Hegemony's reign, many of them Rathanii dissidents, Crothal at first thought of joining them, but decided against them, believing his rivalry with Bahadur's was no need to risk his power and position and long-term goals. Instead, he provided aid and advisement to young Kirata, who had been sent as a test by her father to wipe out the rebels. He taught her a number of new abilities to test her enemies, and to keep secret from her father, as well as earning her trust for his powers to see into the future and over prophecies. Her victory lead to many mutilated and desecrated rebel corpses draped all across the Rathanii spires and ziggurats for all to see.

Crothal would be most pleased with Kirata when she, years later, would kill Bahardus in a duel over who would rule the Rathanii, after, ironically enough, he came to try and organize a resistance against the Hegemony's Emperor. Kirata arose to the position of Witch-Queen, and ruled with an iron fist, Crothal helping remove any obstacles in her way to power. Her position secured, as well as his, Crothal withdrew into his personal palace to meditate further on his course of actions.

The Catharsis
Though power, Crothal and his Sorcerers, began to contemplate the future, and used their powers to divine into it. Two of his peers would die of a heart attack over what they saw, and he was nearly driven insane by it. However, focusing his mind and body, he traveled to the palace of the Witch-Queen, and delivered his warnings to her, and asked what their course of action would be. However, to his surprise, she ordered that not a word reach the Hegemony's ears, and instead, concentrated on a way to avoid the visions he had spoken of. If need be, the rest of the Hegemony could be warned, but only after Kirata felt it would be within her best interests, and offer the best rewards. Crothal thought for a few moments, before speaking of a project he had heard of recently. The Emperors of the Cyrannus Galaxy, and rulers of all the Hegemony, had started experimenting with piercing the wall between universes, and journeying into one similar to their own.

Kirata, intrigued as ever, began pulling strings, and with Crothal's help, managed to secure some of the technology that would be needed for this project. Though it took much to remain out of the eye of the Emperor and his bootlicks, Kirata sent a number of her most devout followers into the Prime Universe, and established a number of bases to act as future colonies and relay stations for her forces and the rest of the Hegemony when this "Black Cancer" arrived.

Their planning was undone by the sudden arrival of the Black Cancer,, a few years later. Terrified, the Hegemony began to throw trillions of soldiers and billions of ships at their foes, only for their ships to end up as blasted and ruined wrecks, and their troops to end up in a much worse fate. Hegemony leadership demanded that Kirata send her forces, but she scoffed at such orders as a waste, and lied that The Emperor's father himself, Superintendent of the military, Willelmus Cretacea, had ordered Rathanii forces be sent to back up his own. In their panicked state, and with the Emperor too busy building up forces, Crothal only needed to forge a couple of documents to pull the deceit over their eyes. This worked all the better when the Emperor withdrew all of his support and forces form the outer realms, and began fortifying Cyrannus itself.

Many Sorcerers, eager for slaughter and mayhem, ran rampant across the universe, using the chaos to carry away more slaves and treasures then they had ever seen, while Crothal and Kirata put the last parts of their plan into action, leaving behind a group of fanatics who wished to embrace the Xeranbha, while the majority of their Rathanii warriors and followers journeyed to the Prime universe. Without the Hegemony to oversee and command them, the Rathanii could at least do a they wished with the universe, without the Hegemony's oversight.

Crothal himself, would, after sending out his agents, begin to gather information on the political climate of the Universe they were in, as well as using his powers to find out the Emperor, Aedanius, was still alive, as were a number of remnants of the Hegemony that had escaped, and told his Witch-Queen of these developments. She began planning operations to make contact and rescue Aedanius once they had the ability to do so.

Joining the Phaedra
''Old fart joins Empire. Shit gets weird.''

Personality
Crothal is a strong devotee to the ideals of the Rathanii, namely the destruction of all life and any that oppose them, and the gathering of power for the Time of Ending. He is a cunning, but withdrawn figure, known and feared by all within the Rathanii, but hardly known. Few even know what he looks like, and he prefers to use agents and double-fronts to meet and speak with others, never allowing himself to meet with someone in person unless he finds them worthy, or it is to his personal benefit. Crothal is a meticulous and cunning Rathanii-Devotee, and is used to navigating the capricious political circles of the Sorcerers' ranks in order to rise higher, using the fact he is rarely, if ever, seen by others, as a mean to cultivate not only power and position, but also as a means to keep others off-balance.

Crothal rarely, if ever, feels any sort of liking or respect for another. He scorns his own daughter, though treats her with the respect he reserves for most good servants, but nothing more, and views the likes of Wilson as a blunt instrument and fool who ahs no place among the Rathanii. He holds some respect for Kirata, though it is not a true admiration for her, and more of a respect for the power she yields that can end any foe that crosses her, combined with the ability to hold back more then her predecessors that came before.

Appearance
Crothal is an unknown reptilian being, thin and slightly emaciated, and slightly resembles a life form from Cyrannus. As records regarding slave raids are kept from all of slave descent, regardless of what position they gain, Crothal can only guess at his race. He is a pale white being, with black feathers around his head, crest and tail, and deep, sunken in eyes, that glow with ethereal fire. He commonly adorns himself with night black armor with blood-red highlights across it. The armor is smooth and unusually futuristic looking, as the Sorcerers prefer a more baroque, ancient look to their armor styles.

Abilities
Crothal, as master of the Chronomancers, can alter and direct the flow of time through Dark Alchemy powers, for limited times. Though these abilities were once powerful and made him almost untouchable. However, years of abusing this power as withered and taken it's toll on his physical health and mental stability. He is left haggard and withered by his time, and his physical health allows him to only use this power for 10 seconds at a time. Though it can only last 10 seconds, due to his weakened heart and body, Crothal can stop, reverse, skip, fast forward and slow down time to suite his needs. Combiend with this, is mastery of various Sorcerous powers, including the abilitiy to project lightning from his fingers, create shafts of dark energy from his palms, summon geysers of fire, and mentally probe others with his powers.

All in all, despite the ravages to his body, Crothal is one of, if not, the most powerful Sorcerer-Prophet, outside of Kirata herself.

Equipment
Crothal wears little armor, preferring his robes, though what he does wear is advanced and very protective. He further carries with him a staff of power to project his power, and an Aster Blade to slice and cut through his victims. Though less capable thanks to his old age, he is still able to effectively defend himself against younger, stronger foes.

[[File:Yellow face.png]] Allies
You display a level of competence that surprises.


 * Kirata the Fateweaver - My ruler.
 * Emperor Aedanius - Indirect ruler.

[[File:Orange face.png]] Neutral
I could break your spine with but a gesture.


 * - Although a mistake, you are at least useful.

[[File:Red face.png]] Disliked
I must triumph.


 * Wilson - You belong only to the void, hedonist.

[[File:Red face.png]] Enemies
It is annihilation, then.

Quotes from others

 * Add your own!