Crizmar Dostrem; All there is and ever was about the Dark Lord Chaos.

      As when telling any tale, it's usually appropriate to start from the beginning. In a small village under the rule of a tyrant king, a man named Sedrick Dostrem and his wife Amillia, gave birth to Crizmar Dostrem, a son. The boy was born into the riches with a silver spoon in his mouth, though such luxuries rarely last. When the tyrant king began to realize that he could have even more power and riches than he already possessed, he sought to gain that potential wealth. The first target to siphon more wealth from was the citizens of his own lands. Of course, no one would willingly hand over their valuables, so the tyrant instructed his knights to use force in claiming them.

       In the 'Royal Claim of the Riches' struggle, Crizmar's parents were both slain. The boy was sent off to live in a local orphanage at the young age of two. Over the course of the next ten years, Crizmar would live with the other peasant (which he'd been reduced to) children and learn nothing beyond basic survival skills. By the time he'd turned thirteen the king was in need of servants around his castle, so Crizmar was pulled into the life of a servant. Though, things weren't as bad as they could have been during this era. Crizmar was always a worker, it was in his blood. Quickly, he learned his chores and finished them with perfection and he'd end up with over half a day to spare. With much free time on his hands, he began to lurk the halls of the palace until he found a set of large double doors that were left open. As he crept closer to these doors, he discovered teaching going on inside; teaching of the royal children. Eavesdropping soon became Crizmar's main source of education. Though, he could not read or write at this point, he was gaining a sense of how things worked in the world.

       As Crizmar approached the late years of his teenage life, the lands in which he lived had entered into a state of war. Knights were a limited resource, as the kingdom was very small. Crizmar, being seventeen years of age, was old enough to wield a blade. The knight captain, Marcus D'Anthur, trained Crizmar and the other young men to wield a blade, as best he could in the four weeks allotted to them. Sent into a full war what little remnants of childhood had remained within Crizmar had quickly fled. Upon the victory of his homelands, Crizmar returned home, a man. The boy was long gone. Many had died in the war. Crizmar was amongst the only three of fifty drafted that returned alive. The tyrant honored Crizmar and the others by sending them off with Marcus for more training.

       By the time Crizmar was nineteen, he was a full knight of the realms. The king in which he served sent Crizmar off on many quests and adventures, all of which he'd succeeded with. One task, however, would change Crizmar's life forever. Rumors were spreading around the lands of a dark knight wielding a powerful blade that had been forgotten for centuries. The king made his point clear in explaining his instructions in the matter to Crizmar; slay the knight and bring the blade to him. Crizmar agreed, not having knowledge of just what he would be getting himself into. It took nearly four months for Crizmar to find the dark knight. When he found the knight, no words were exchanged before a valiant battle began. Swords were clashing for but a few moments when Crizmar's blade was slashed in half by the mighty sword the knight wielded. As Crizmar fell backward, drawing a dagger from his boot, the knight brought that unique blade to his throat. A demonic voice came forward then, speaking some words in dead tongues. Then, as if some force of magic yanked the blade from the dark knight's hand, it went flying and landed several feet away from it's owner. The dark knight looked puzzled for only a second, until Crizmar sprang forward, stabbing the dark knight in the chest with his dagger. With a sudden thud, the dark knight fell, Crizmar atop him. Carefully gathering himself, a well beaten Crizmar wandered over toward that fallen blade. Reaching down, he grasped the hilt of the sword as though it were any other, but quickly dropped it again. The instant that his fingertips touched the hilt, a thousand thoughts of pain rushed his mind all at once, and the world went dark.

       When Crizmar woke up, he was laying in a clearing with the hilt of that strange sword in his hand, and a huge headache. Groan after groan, he walked in the direction of his homelands. Soon, each step caused blurred thoughts of battle to cross his mind. Not even his own battles, just battles, with blurred faces. As he walked, the pictures began to become more clear. Soon enough, it was as though those pictures were his own memories and he could feel parts of his body fill with pain as he watched images of weapons impact the bodies of others. Wince after wince, groan after groan, he continued toward the lands where his king resided.

       When he reached his king's chambers, the king reached his hand out to take the blade. Yet, Crizmar's hand would not release it. The king gave it a hard tug and commanded Crizmar to hand over the blade. A crimson flicker crossed the young man's eyes, as he pulled the blade back, then the world went dark again. When Crizmar woke up this time, there was quite a bit of blood sticking to his armor and hands. The entire royal guard was laying dead around him, his king's head not far away, body across the room. Taking deep breaths, he clenched his chest with one hand, the hilt of that blade with the other. He began to scream commands at his blade, telling it to release him, to release his hand. Though, it was seducing his mind, forcing him to wield it; the blade had chosen him.

       There was a long period of chaos in his life, where he was quite evil. He'd kill anyone in his path, believing their only goal was to take his sword. Though, as he and the blade became more attached, he began to regain a bit of himself. Seeking knowledge from the libraries, he was amazed to discover he knew how to read now. Though he'd never been taught, he could understand the words upon the pages of each book now. Finding information on that sword he carried, it was the legendary Crimson Legacy. According to the lore that he could find, it was forged by the devil himself, as a beacon for evil to overcome all that was good and right amongst the mortal races. Taking that information to heart, Crizmar, or "Chaos" as the people he'd encountered had begun to call him, decided to rival the sword's purpose. Controlling the sword was proving to be quite the task, but soon enough Chaos was able to do one good deed every once in a while, and soon it happened more frequently. Eventually, all he did was good deeds. Though, the fire was still burning inside.

       When Chaos had decided he had control over himself once again, he also determined it was time to pledge loyalty to another kingdom. Asking around the local taverns, a man named Ledrin LaDevia guided him toward the kingdom of Brimstone. That same night, he made haste in going to introduce himself to the queen of those lands, Deva LaDevia. After a few nights of lingering in the lands and enjoying it, Chaos asked Queen Deva to go for a walk with him. Oddly enough, she agreed. For some reason, Chaos found such walks with a companion to be fun and seeing that particular woman to be exciting. During the course of each night then he began to take walks with his queen. Though, one thing lead to another, and soon the dark knight had fallen in love. Love had previously been an emotion that sickened him, but the charm of his queen had changed his aspect of the emotion. With due time, Chaos asked Deva to wed him and become his wife. She accepted, though she also beckoned him to become her king and rule at her side; something he had no anticipated or requested. Originally he'd just wanted the woman that he loved so dearly to become his wife, though seeing that she truly wanted him at her side, he agreed to become her king.

       Ruling Brimstone with his new wife had proven to be quite a task. Something was always happening that placed a trial upon their relationship, but Chaos was determined to stick by his wife at all costs. Though, through the course of the fates, someone had misinformed his wife of their relationship status at the same time she had miscarried their child. While Deva was vulnerable, she was tricked into believing that Chaos had betrayed her, like so many in the past. With haste, she banished him from the lands of Brimstone. Wandering from then on, Chaos continued his travels for nearly two years until Ledrin and he crossed paths once more. This time, Ledrin taunted Chaos, forcing him into a state of bloodthirsty rage. Luring him back into the lands of Brimstone, Ledrin rushed to his sister, Deva, and forced Chaos to confess his eternal love for Deva at a time when his emotions were not under his control. Thus, began the second round of marriage between Chaos and Deva. This time they lasted a bit longer than the previous attempt at marriage, but Chaos did something horrible and had slain Deva's own brother, Ledrin; whom has reunited them together. Rather than facing her and confessing of his self-defense action, he ran. He was confused and almost certain that if kicking him out once was doable, a second time would be cake.

       Chaos and Deva never divorced; Chaos would never have it. He'd always been a strong believer that marriage was eternal and he'd chosen the woman he wished to love forever, even if she would not have him. They met up one final time. A cold, uncaring, Deva wandered back into Crizmar's life. (Crizmar again because he'd regained total control of himself.) She lived with him for a couple of days before Crizmar woke up one morning and she was gone. Like a dream; his angel had come and then vanished. In his heart, he'd always love Deva LaDevia, his wife and the object of all his affection. In his mind, he'll always believe they could have made it together if no other people had been around to spoil things between them, as love was never a question on his end of things. For a moment, he held heaven in his arms, but after an hour the lights faded and the fires raged, then darkness. But to this day, the wedding ring with a "B" still adorns his left ring finger as a symbol of the dream he once lived.

       In the present status of things, Crizmar Dostrem still lives in the last location that Deva had wandered into. Though, things have changed. Rather than continuing with the path of being a knight; a hero, he's more focused on craftsmanship. He's mastered the arts of woodworking and carpentry. To keep him company on the lonely nights, he adopted Haze, a wolf he'd found badly injured after nasty fall down a rocky slope. For the most part, he remains locked within the confines of his home, unless he goes out to harvest some supplies for woodwork or goes into town just to purchase some food.

To be continued...