Hordes:Legion of Everblight

While the Legion as a whole is only a few years old, the core of this tremendously dangerous organization is the dragon Everblight, an ancient creature born from the lifestone of Lord Toruk, the Dragonfather. Everblight has long considered himself the cleverest and most inventive of the dragons spawned by Toruk thousands of years ago. He has existed aloof from his peers, hatching plans in secret and demonstrating a unique control over his own blight.

All dragons blight their surroundings, emitting a warping and destructive energy that prompts strange growths in living things and can even taint the land itself. This blight arises from the athanc, or lifestone, that is the imperishable core of every dragon. The athanc persists even if a dragon’s formidable body is destroyed, and in time a new body will grow to replace the old. Even in ancient times Everblight showed he could partially control his blight, hiding his presence from other dragons while using this power to enslave and modify other living things or to create terrifying spawn that he sent forth as living weapons.

Several centuries ago the elven armies of Ios destroyed Everblight’s body. They ripped loose his athanc, sealed it away, and sent it to an isolated mountain peak in the frozen north of Khador. For centuries Everblight was thus imprisoned and disembodied, conscious and scheming all the while. This lasted until several years ago when Everblight lured an ogrun named Thagrosh to his prison and prompted the creature to break its seals. Rather than regenerating a dragon body, Everblight merged his athanc with Thagrosh, causing the ogrun’s body to mutate and transform into a monstrous new form. Through Thagrosh, Everblight next seized control of the Nyss, the winter elves inhabiting that frozen northern region. The skilled bladesmen and archers of these Nyss tribes would soon serve as the ideal foot soldiers for Everblight’s newly arisen Legion. Horrendously blighted ogrun from the nearby mountains were soon added to the fighting force, bringing their brawn and insane ferocity to the Legion’s cause.

Everblight has committed to a fiendish plan for which he has divided his athanc numerous times and inserted these slivers into his chosen generals. These have become the warlocks who lead the Legion of Everblight in the dragon’s name. They are an army that includes an ever-growing assortment of serpentine dragonspawn, grown from the blighted blood of the warlocks. Each warlock is connected telepathically to Everblight, giving the army a terrifying singularity of purpose and unparalleled capability to coordinate its actions.

Everblight knows his existence is in peril, as the other dragons would consume him to add to their own power, and therefore he must move quickly and lash out against those who would stop him. Foremost among these enemies is the Circle Orboros, the first group that recognized the threat represented by Everblight and his blighted army. Any creatures that stand in their path will be consumed, assimilated, or crushed underfoot. Everblight’s only hope for long-term survival is to become as strong as possible as quickly as possible, and he cares little for the destruction and bloodshed unleashed by his warlocks in his pursuit of that goal.