Written by Kanyon Pierce
The corrupt Lich Lord Grachyn Hulckrak used to be a very profound Wizard from the land of Sharn. Long ago he gave up his past life to embrace his newfound power as a Lich. But contrary to popular belief He was far more powerful than Acreack, he had a secret that led to this power, that secret was that he was trained as a swordsman by a long-forgotten God of War named Drotkoi. Drotkoi’s lack of popularity, Did not hinder his power, He was a Master Swordsman Whose Battle Prowess was that of pure legend. When Drotkoi first met young Grachyn he sensed His Potential. Though Drotkoi did not usually commune with humans due to his pride, he knew he must teach Grachyn because it would be a travesty to waste all his potential. Soon after the start of his training Grachyn became far better than any other mortal at sword fighting. But he knew if he revealed this talent to the world, he would be a prime target for assassins and bounty hunters. Because of this fear, he asked Drotkoi to make him a God. Drotkoi agreed if Grachyn promised him that he would always claim to be inferior to Drotkoi, Lord of Swords. Grachyn eagerly agreed without giving a second thought to the evil influence of power. Grachyn, soon after his rise to Godliness, decided to invest his time in the gaining of knowledge. He quickly became entranced in the history of magic across the planes. This led to his becoming a Wizard. But the mix of power corruption and hunger for knowledge led to his becoming a Lich. His Godly Arcane Knowledge and deadly sword fighting made him out to be one of the most powerful Liches of all time.
The Sword of Balance
The Sword of Balance is a legendary artifact that is wielded by the newly arisen Lich, Lord Grachyn Hulckrak. This artifact was forged by a Primeval Titan named Thalis Teyc. Thalis was very affectionate of Goliaths and was particularly interested in their concept of Fair Play*, because of this affection he created The Sword of Balance and challenged many hundreds of Goliath tribes to find one that was worthy. Legend tells that only one tribe finished the excruciatingly hard challenges, that tribe was led by a Goliath named Grachyn Hulckrak. The purpose of the Sword of Balance was to make fights perfectly balanced, sadly though, many years of power corruption obliterated Grachyn’s morals with the loss of his belief in Fair Play the Sword of Balance that was gifted to him lost much power. So much so it now only can push the condition of the wielder on every other creature in the battle. Some say the reason the sword still has any power at all is that there is still a fragment of his past life left in him. If this is true then he may still be able to be redeemed. If this is not true then may the Gods spare us from the destruction he plans to bring upon all the planes of existence…
* The Concept of “Fair Play” also known as “Fair Game”, is the belief that a victory without fairness is dishonorable. Furthermore, Goliaths universally agree that even fighting when conditions are unfair to one party is also dishonorable. Stories tell that over the ages any Goliath that publicly disagrees with this belief is stripped of their position in the tribe and sometimes in rare situations removed entirely from the tribe itself.
