Asmodan
Berkana evoked a spell from the "Book of Shadows", or the book of Val'Des, causing a pathway to be opened for Fenr'al to return to the Dream. Besides warning of Asmodan, Fenr'al revealed the identities of Asmodan's relations, and Berkana's identity as the niece of Asmodan's great rival.
Asmodan found a path back from his exile with his unwitting son Darion, who had been lost in the chaos and was returned through the efforts of Munchkin and Ilandria. By a faery trick, Munchkin's sister Istania was able to "Shadow Form" Asmodan to gain him access to the city. In the tenth month of the Year of Revelations, an extremely dark and powerful Elder appeared in the Dream City Firestorming all who witnessed his arrival in Umbric Plains. Rumours spread through the City that Asmodan was linked with the Old house Keepers of the Eternal Shadow, vying for a dictatorship. It became known that Asmodan was empowered with vile new arts, and that he was trying to capture the secrets of Dreamstrike.
Asmodan was said to be a "Shardsman" who held the ability to traverse the shards of Cloudsbreak by his blend of dark magic. He had three children in the dream: Illandria, Ravageone, and Darion, to whom he bore a striking resemblance. He also had a history on Cloudsbreak with a former consort, Rayvenfire, and he drew upon her associations and emotions to serve his causes in the Dream City, seducing her into relinquishing the "Book of Shadows" that had been protected deep in the vaults of the Protectors of Radiance. The reason for his obsession with the "Book of Shadows" was unclear, though it is said that it contained secrets of the Keepers. When Asmodan realized that the book he held was an empty shell of the real volume, he set new plans into motion.
At the end of that month, Asmodan struck revenge on one of the heirs of an old rivalry: Berkana. Berkana was the niece of Val'Des, a figure rumoured to be his former mentor and superior in the Keepers of Old. In his brief, yet turmoltuous stay in the post-Great Loss Dream City, Asmodan tasked Dremorus to find what each of the Keepers cherished most. When Asmodan heard Berkana's answer, "Flagg," Asmodan hatched plans to bring about revenge upon the family. On a fateful autumn night, Asmodan forced Flagg's exile in a very dramatic show of his powers, hurtling a small glowing stone at Flagg's avatar and dissolving it into a soulsphere, before evoking a violent column of light on the soulsphere, howling down on it and tearing it to shreds. Those present feared that the Dark Elder may have discovered the means to Dreamstrike. Berkana's suffering brought Asmodan great pleasure.
After this, Asmodan began to threaten Purple Lace with the same fate, when she turned to Ibn'Ghazi for his help. Ibn'Ghazi agreed to help rid the menacing warlock from the dream, if given the Chaos Cloak from Asmodan's shoulders. Purple Lace recounts that the cloak was "made of pure chaos and has a will and mind of its own. It betrays Asmodan....and Asmodan cant stay in threshold very long because of this cloak ." Berkana performed tests on the cloak to find Asmodan's weaknesses. "He was in sanctuary, and I lashed at (his cloak) a shard of pure order… it was a fake codex, but he ran… and ran every time I tried to get close to him. He has not returned since. Since then I have been able to obtain a real shard of pure order… and I wait. I will be ready."
Flagg was able to escape his captor, and it was discovered that Asmodan had exiled him from the dream as he himself had once been banished. Asmodan's following went into hiding as the Elder vanished into hibernation.
