My very being, my very soul is at war; and the prize? Dominion over my body. I
can feel these two forces tearing at the very fabric of my existence, gaining
ground and losing ground. This battle is between two forces I know well, one an
effulgent eternal source of inspiring light and the other, a void of darkness,
despair, and power. I am known by two names, each bringing terror to my
enemies and shouts of triumph from my allies. I am Kaes Lightsbane, equal to
the demon lords in my lust for power, their servant imbued with all their
powers, and a master of the tainted elemental earth. Yet I am also Rhaegar
Darksbane, true servant to the dictates of the light, a master of the
benevolent cosmic forces bestowed by all five supernals, and a mage of the
cleansing water. I am a true servant of the darkness, tainting and beggaring
the world for my own ends. I am a true servant of the light, bettering and
cleansing the world in which I live. I live the cruelest existence imaginable.
Since that cruel day my soul has torn itself to shreds, as each force inside me
gathers its strength. I wait, with the hope that death will come in some form.
What is life, abhorring my very existence and yet loving it? What is life, if I
am insane? What is life if I do not control my own destiny? As I write this, I
pray that somehow someway, the Gods will let me die. I can only pray.

-A stone tablet written in blood and magic

Rhaegar wandered futilely through the Razine Mountains, bereft of hope of
rejoining either the living or the dead. There would be no peace within him.
So fundamentally different were the forces within Kaes, that for every benign
act he made, it reciprocated an equally malevolent and insane act. During the
course of his wanderings to find life within himself, he rescued an
expeditionary force from Rockholm, sent out to explore new areas for mining.
He returned them to their village and with a kind word set off… only to turn
around and obliterate the life of every child within the village with great
relish. He revived a girl from the brink of death with healing waters only to,
later call the earth to swallow her. He senselessly tortured a band of
explorers to see them suffer, then cured them all and left them thousands of
gold for their trouble. He killed for the pleasure of it, and would resurrect
others for nothing, just to see them happily live life again. He was
ironically the most powerful man alive and in the least control of his own
life. Months after the incident he dropped down comatose…

He remembered vividly the events that had transpired on Nil and Celestia,
making his first pact with Supreme Master Luciphage and Lady Elohora, the
greatest of the cosmic beings.

Rhaegar was back on Celestia with angelic wings sprouting out of his back. The
journey to Lady Elohora was short and blissful, through the pillars of light and
into the arms of a supernal. The giggling of cherubs, the blissful light, and
the peace sanctified and radiated through all of Celestia. It was calm, and
Rhaegar was content and determined in his quest to reach the Mistress of
Eternal Light. Walking deferentially along corridors of light he saw Her.
Archangels wielding flaming swords with eyes of fire surrounded Her. She
emanated an incomprehensible aura of power, almost godlike power that bathed
the length of the room in a beautiful evanescence of light. Lady Elohora was
the light given solid form. He kneeled and pledged his service to the light.
She accepted and blessed him with a touch, filling him with exuberance and
enormous amounts of power, which granted him the authority to summon an angel
from Celestia. "Go with my blessings, my child. And remember that the light
will always guide you," she said in melodiously soothing tones. He embraced
Her and was returned home to the Pool of Stars, blessed and ready to battle the
epitome of evil, the taint.

Kaes was back on Nil, demonic wings and scales surrounding him. A lust for
power had brought him to make a pact with Luciphage, greatest of the demon
lords in strength and cunning. Nil was a desolate place. Gaping holes twisted
the blackened land, and screams of agony rent the air, as if alive. Despair
drowned all thoughts of feelings of hope and kindness. Kaes traveled across
the tainted plane. filled with horrors and evils beyond imagining, smiling
inwardly to himself, dreaming of the power he would attain. He entered the Pit
of Cruelty and was horrified as countless tortures rent his body into shear and
inexplicable torment. When it ceased he groveled humbly before Lady Nifilhema
to take him to Supreme Master Luciphage. Her visage was hideous, and she
responded with a kiss on the lips that caused massive white-hot pain to envelop
his body. He was sticky with blood and convulsing in violent paroxysms, until
it finally stopped, where he found himself surrounded by total and unending
darkness, with only the faintest hope of light, leading down. Kaes traveled
down and through a Labyrinth, as he had heard it from fellow Nihilists, the
Labyrinth of the Damned. Approaching, he could feel the being's insatiable
cruelty and inexhaustible power. Before a massive golden throne stood Supreme
Master Luciphage, surrounded by grotesque and hideous demons. Luciphage was
extraordinarily handsome, bearing a slight resemblance to the Viscanti race,
only more purely tainted. His cunning and guile was evident by the look on his
face, which seemed to fetter out one's deepest secrets. Emanating from Him was
an aura so evil and foreboding that even the most sanctified of beings would be
hard pressed not to feel damned in His presence. Groveling to Luciphage, Kaes
threw all his might and strength to form a pact with Luciphage. The Great Lord
smiled, touched him, and just like that destroyed him and released his soul.
The imps around him were stirred to a great fury of joy and anger. The ritual
began and Kaes was excruciatingly bonded to the Great Lord of Nil. Being sent
back to the megalith he knew that he was no mere mortal, but a vessel of the
Demon Lords. He could feel the Supreme Master's presence filling him with
power. He was now ready to crush the fallacies of the light, and finally bring
change to the world.

The two the most powerful contradictions in his life collided in an absolutely
devastating blast, he saw what the taint had done to him, and he saw what the
light had done to him. Both were bitter enemies of the other. They were both
justified from their own perspectives. Yet, there could be no balance, no
peace, until one was put to rest and the other realized. He would decide now,
which soul he would part with. Light or taint, now was the time. In a cascade
of light and dark, both sides collided in one final struggle.

He made his choice.