It happened in 257 AA, long before the time of the Western Wars, that the province of Saleth had fallen, betrayed by the very allies of their own. Saleth, the province of warlocks, had been overseen by the mages, and consequently by the kingdom of Leathod ever since their settling in 705 RA, when the outlander invasion of Balneor had brought many kins after itself: many hostile, as the ones the first Aldeeari kings fought, and a few friendly, like the warlocks themselves. Saleth was named after their leader, Saleth the Undying, who remained the leader of their kin from the first second they entered the Aldeaar Kingdoms to the last breath of his brethren, hundreds of years later: some say the Salethian sacrificed animals by the hundreds for their leader’s immortality, and some hold it that the demon gods themselves gave him his powers. And so it is held that Rethan the Purger, King of Balneor, Sixth of the Aldeaari Kings, had decided on an inspection throughout the kingdoms, based on the suggestion of his loyal paladins. Ever since their settling, the Salethian were peaceful and mindful of only their rituals and the matters concerning their gods: but the Order of Light had reached Saleth as they did so many others, and brought only persecution and ruin.

King Rethan, the first of his line with a religiously homogenous kingdom in his heart’s desires, upon arrival had declared the warlocks heretics, and had sent for the King of Leathod, Daugus. Daugus tried to reason with Rethan, but the zealous king declared harboring heretics high treason, and imprisoned the king of Leathod along with all the Salethian right away. He brought the prisoners back north, to Leathod, and had ordered an execution on the main square: the people of city witnessed with fear as one warlock after another had fallen prey to the greatsword of the paladins, leaving hundreds of heads rolling on the ground, and blood seeping through the cobblestone beneath their feet. Saleth and Daugus were to be executed last: after all the Salethian were dead, Rethan grabbed Daugus personally, and after putting him to the block, he cried: “People of Leathod, remember the cost of choosing darkness over light!” Yet, as now we know based on the records of Balneor, he had not accounted for one thing: All the blood that was spilled had only fueled the dark powers of the meditating Saleth, and as Rethan’s blade separated Daugus’ head from his body,

from the warlock’s hands came a devastating hellfire, burning through the square and the people in it, turning into ashes the paladin scores, the ordinary soldiers, and the innocent Leathodians as well — and with it came a dreadful laughter that would reportedly haunt Rethan for the rest of his life. The flames had reached the King’s face, burning off his skin before he finally could call to God for help, and being a paladin himself, shielded his body with divine forces. Saleth, seeing the burnt king on his knees, ended the spell of his and gazed upon the destruction he brought before finally adressing Rethan. “Kin of Aldeaari, remember the cost of your lust for blood, and your hatred for the unknown.” Would have Rethan acted, he most likely would have not lived another day: but the king stood on his knees in silence as Saleth walked out of the scorched Leathod, pouring smoke all over the sky of the eastern parts of Balneor from its fiery wounds. So it happened that Rethan the Purger received his famous mark on his face, burned by the very crime of his, and dooming his kin to fear the wrath and return of the very Prophet of the Demon Gods, Saleth the Undying himself.

Fulburius