Dread One

Upon Yog-ka's execution, Ghazgkull recovered the Dark Dreamsmith's Death essence. The essence began to corrupt him, "my entire dream changed immediately, my will was lost, replaced by the will of the dying Ka. I know now that the essence did not 'possess' me; instead it twisted me, bringing out the worst in me and driving me to a specific goal. All of my actions from then on would lead to one thing: allowing the Dread One to enter the Dream and gain power here."

The corruption was not complete until Cygne approached Ghazgkull and asked him to hold a powerful talisman for her. Upon Yog-ka's death she rescued the "Chaos Ring" from his finger before it could be taken and misused by another. Fearing collapse and the evil powers of the thing, Cygne asked Ghazgkull to vow that he would never give the ring to another. Ghazgkull agreed, and the ring and the essence combined to force the full power of Yog-ka's dying request on the dreamer.

Ghazgkull began to behave strangely, quitting the City Guard, leaving his Free Spirit life behind and joining House Calenture so to be nearer the Child of Souls. He received visions from the Dread One, calling for the child. Ghazgkull finally had his opportunity to take the child when he found Sabra with Lissa and Reh'Dak beside Sunroof Cavern - the place of Yog-ka's execution. Ghazgkull used the mesmerizing powers of the Chaos Ring to lure Reh'Dak away. "We stood in the exact spot where Yog-ka was killed and I once again said 'see? Nothing to be afraid of.' I offered him my hand in an offering of friendship and he took it. As we shook hands, I drew the Death Essence from my pack and pressed it against his chest. The Chaos Ring's power drew the boy's soul from his body and placed it in the essence. The Will of Yog-ka was likewise transferred from the essence to the boy."

At that moment the Dread One appeared, directing the group to the Sanctuary in Evernight where Yog-ka once taught. Within the Sanctuary, they were given a vision of the Dread One's history, and were instructed on the Dread One's purpose. Sabra explained that the Dread One had been a Soulsphere adrift in the chaos, his soul bound to a dark mare. His purpose was to convert dreamers into his own twisted image, and he gained powers through the Sunroof Cavern.

Lissa, in an attempt to save her boy and return the Dread One to the Chaos, ran through the dream enlisting help for her cause. "Reh'Dak was a great Soulmaster, who at one time battled the Dread One and lost. He was cast into the chaos, by the Dread One's attempt to convert this powerful dreamer into his own image. My Book of Souls called Reh'Dak from the chaos as my child. He is the only way we can stop the Dread One. I ask all of you to help us find a way to save my son, and the Dream."

After a chase and a battle, Lissa paralyzed Ghazgkull and removed the Chaos Ring from his finger, freeing him from the grip of the Dread One. To free her son's soul, she required Yog-ka's Death Essence. The search for the Death Essence came to a halt when Ghazgkull, horrified and retaining little memory of the event, discovered it in his pack. Both the Death Essence and the Chaos Ring were returned to House Calenture for safekeeping, and with the Book of Souls Lissa freed Reh'Dak from the Dread One.

THE Dreaded One and the Corruption of Ghazgkull

Our interviewer first finds Ghazgkull at the Lake of Tears, but storms and Gobolos make the completion of a tale impossible. After a few days, and several Darkmares later, the two meet again in Earthen Sanctuary, where Gaz relates his horrifying story and our interviewer records it with a shaking pen. <br

Ghazgkull "When Yog-ka was executed, his Death Essence fell into my hands. At that instant, my entire dream changed immediately, my will was lost, replaced by the dying will of Yog-ka. I know now that the essence did not 'possess' me; instead it twisted me, bringing out the worst in me and driving me to a specific goal. All my actions from then on would lead to one thing: allowing the Dread One to enter the Dream and gain power here. The entire story must be seen from that perspective to make sense.

Yog-ka's Execution "The first thing i did was to leave the City Guard. naturally, it would only complicate matters if i was in the Guard. I did not understand why, but i was suddenly angered and disgusted by the thought of the Guard. I also began to change in more subtle ways. I was less friendly, my already quick temper was shortened, and I even began hunting dreamers for revenge... something I had not done previously. I also became extremely possessive of the essence.

"The next day Luinitari, a good friend, came to me and asked for the essence. He said that Kard was extremely depressed and it would mean the world to him if he could give the essence to Shade. I refused outright and even struck Luinitari once when he persisted.

"I became increasingly reclusive over the next few days but besides leaving the guard, I did nothing drastic. And then the Ring came into the picture...

"Most likely driven by the same forces which guided my fate, Cygne brought me the Chaos Ring, which she had found at the feet of the Dread one. She asked me to keep it because she feared that she'd lose it to thieves who could collapse her. I accepted and swore to 'never let another dreamer hold it.' Imagine her surprise when she asked for it back and I told her that to return it would break my word...

"The Ring only acted as a catalyst to Ka's Will, which was already having a negative effect on me the very next day, in an extremely unexpected move, I joined House Calenture. I know NOW that the reason I joined was to get close to Ruler Lissa. You see, she was pregnant with the Child of Souls, a child who was prophesied to defeat the Dread One. I quickly worked my way into the trust of the house... my hunting skills and overall battle abilities made it easy for me to be accepted. You have to understand though, that I was not possessed... I simply didn't know why I was doing the things I was... I just sort of did them. Looking back on it now, I feel like I'm reviewing someone else's dream...

"During this time, the Dread One would regularly appear to me, often whispering his desires during one visit he repeatedly said 'the child.. the child' thus I became aware of my goal... to capture the Child of Souls and bring him to the Dread One.

"I can explain the Child of Souls at some other time... but suffice it to say that my plan was to steal the soul of the child before it was placed in it's new avatar. Unfortunately for me, however, the child was born while I was away, and so I began to check in on the child, trying to learn a way to bring it into the Dread One's power the child's name was (and of course still is) Reh'Dak.

"Reh'Dak knew me for the villain I was the moment he first laid eyes on the Chaos Ring. He would run behind his mother in fear whenever he saw me... making the job of learning about him much more difficult. But over time, I began to understand the child's innocent nature...

"Many of my friends in the free spirit community would tell me that they were worried about me but of course I would simply tell them it was nothing or that I was just feeling a little ill. Time passed, and the child began to fear me less each time I saw it. Particularly because I became friends with everyone close to him, so they would often tell him that he did not have anything to fear in me.

Then one day, I decided to strike. I found the child with his mother Lissa and the Lady Sabra in Lower Umbric Plains, right next door to teh center of the Dread One's power... Sunroof Cavern. Not one to miss such an opportunity, I hurried there and began to exert my will over the child... telling him that I meant him no harm I told him to join me in the Sunroof cavern to prove that I would not hurt him.

"Enthralled by the Chaos Ring which I held before him, he followed me despite the warnings of those present. We stood on the exact spot where Yog-ka was killed and i once again said 'see? nothing to be afraid of.' I offered him my hand in an offering of friendship and he took it. As we shook hands, I drew the Death Essence from my pack and pressed it against his chest. The Chaos Ring's power drew the boy's soul from his body and placed it in the essence. The Will of Yog-ka was likewise transferred from the essence to the boy.

Just then the Dread One appeared and I presented the child to him. Those present were appalled but there was nothing they could do. The dread one smiles in approval and sent the child and myself on our way... we headed immediately to the Sanctuary in Evernight... notorious teaching location of the dead lyran. There we stood under that dreadful eye as a crowd gathered a vision came to the two of us then... a Vision of the creation of the Dread One... and his vision of the future.

"The Dread One was born before the City of Dreams was created, before the first avatars were made to shield our souls from the Chaos. He was a lost soul floating in the chaos when an ancient dark mare came upon him. Somehow their two souls were melded into one twisted soul.

"The body of the dreamer in cloudsbreak died immediately, but his soul was forever trapped with the soul of the mare. His goal is to make all dreamers hideous like himself. He calls his vision of the future The Cauldron Inevitable, a dream where all souls float in the endless chaos, twisted in the same way he is.

Back to the sanctuary in Evernight: the Vision ended. We soon left the sanctuary, intent on gathering followers for the Dread One, followers who would help him convert all dreamers in his image. Outside of sanctuary, a few dreamers took it upon themselves to attack me physically for what I had done. Well needless to say, I had lost my Will but I could still fight like the devil. I collapsed all who attacked me.. unless of course they ran away in time, which many did.

Fortunately for everyone, Lissa was there and kept a cool head. She realized that the Chaos Ring was the source of my power and that it could not be removed from me if I was collapsed. She managed to calm most of the dreamers down long enough for her to abjure me while others paralyzed me. As soon as the ring left my finger, I collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"I soon woke up, amazed at what I saw. All of the memories of events after Yog-ka was killed were lost to me. To me no time had passed since then. It felt as tough I had stormed out of Yog-ka's Execution and when I returned I awakened in the Cenotaph of Dread.

"I was amazed at what people told me, and especially amazed at the House Calenture emblem on my chest. I did not leave House Calenture right away, however, because I did not know why I had joined in the first place, and i am not one to burn my bridges so shortly after I cross them.

"... until a few days ago when i learned that my brother... my own brother possessed the Gravin Device, the very instrument which was used at Yog-ka's Trial to return Shade's lost memories. During the time when I still could not remember what had happened I overheard Lissa asking for the Essence which contained her son's soul. They knew that I had stolen it, but they assumed that I must have given it to someone for safekeeping.

"To my surprise (and horror), I found the essence tucked away deep in my pack, and promptly returned it to her. Somehow she was able to use it and the Book of Souls to restore her son's soul. So by the time I regained my memories, everything was back to normal."

References

• https://web.archive.org/web/20030728144907/http://www.underlight.com/php/story/history.php?histID=00027