THE ARCANE: Birth of Revenge

Ten years ago, Kendric Von served as second-in-command to Supreme Commander Philip Butcher. Philip ruled Westfield through strength and fear, and Kendric was his most trusted officer. Publicly, he was loyal. Privately, he was calculating. While Westfield prepared for a military conflict with a rival nation, Kendric began executing a plan he had spent years refining. On the night the city’s forces were deployed beyond its borders, Kendric acted. He had already influenced a group of soldiers loyal only to him. Together, they assassinated Philip Butcher and his family inside the command quarters. By morning, Kendric Von had claimed the title of Supreme Commander. But great power came at a cost. During the coup, Kendric’s wife, Clara, was killed. Unwilling to accept her death, Kendric preserved her body in a secured chamber beneath his stronghold, using arcane preservation systems to prevent decay. He then began searching for a method of resurrection. Over the following years, he sought forbidden magic, consulted dead mages, and uncovered rituals long erased from official records. All attempts failed. His search led him to information about the Lumen Chain. The necklace was believed to possess the ability to manipulate life and death. However, it was also known to carry a dangerous corruption tied to an ancient entity known as Zeus, The god of darkness, defeated centuries earlier in the city of Mashkal. Zeus had ravaged kingdoms, destroying families and taking far more lives than he ever gave. At the height of his reign, the greatest priests of the age united against him, sealing him deep beneath the earth, bound by magic no mortal power was meant to undo. In his final moments—before his imprisonment, Zeus infused a fragment of his power into the necklace and cast it into the sky. Over time, the Lumen Chain resurfaced in Westfield. The chain came under the protection of Cyrus and Maya—Kael's parents, two among the most powerful priests of their time, who understood its true nature and the history behind it's existence. They believed the Lumen Chain was far too dangerous to be used, as it could release Zeus’s dormant influence and consume its wielder. for this sole reason, they kept it hidden over the years. When Kendric Von learned of the chain’s location, he demanded it. Cyrus and Maya refused and went into hiding with their two sons—Kael and Rowan, to keep the necklace out of his reach. For years, they remained hidden within Westfield. Recently, Kendric discovered they were still alive, and he cannot fail this time.