[quote]The Tavern owner glared at Hrothgar, "Don't cause a scene in my tavern, and for the gods sake don't make it known that you're recruiting people to fight that mad jester in my tavern! He's insane and he'll kill me and my family for this! Listen, the Jester's minions came into my bar last week and threatened my family with rape, murder, and condemnation to the Mad Hell. He knows that you're coming Barbarian, and he's told me to give you this message. You will find him holed up in the the cave of ghosts deep in the black forest..."[/quote]

As soon as these words were uttered, the rogue's image flickered ever so briefly, as he vanished from the tavern but left behind an illusion that he was still there. However, even if someone had noticed the flicker, their memory of the momentary reality adjustment would be eaten away until seconds later, they could not recall what strange thing they had thought they witnessed...

[b][i]Three Days Earlier...[/i][/b]

The hellish realm of Malevora was in chaos, once again. However, it was not a slave uprising that had caused it this time, nor a civil war between the gods of hell. Malevora's chief god Dakhon had been exiled by his junior, the dark, psychotic warlord who had earned the horrific title The Infamous by conquering and torturing and slaughtering his way through the multiverse; most educated in extradimensional travel had at least heard of him, but rarely had anyone seen him and escaped to tell the tale, unless he wanted them to.

Once his mentor, Dakhon had become more of a hindrance to The Infamous. Yet, the revolt that had taken place after that unexpected shift was nothing compared to the factions war that had erupted in Malevora once The Infamous' previous-loyal subordinate Alexandra, a human in charge of the spy/assassin guild called The Citadel, turned on him and led the humans and reptilian Skaar Demons against the Malevoran loyalists. But this had sparked something in the hearts of the other subjugated Malevorans. Millions of slaves and soldiers and even some nobles joined forces with others of their respective species and sought more than freedom now, but also the right to rule the dimension of Malevora.

With so many factions vying for power, The Infamous had no choice but to go underground, most of his powers stripped from him by a goddess he'd thought was faithful to him. She turned out to be leading the other pagan gods against the man...and a man he was - mortal.

Fleeing Malevora, The Infamous found himself at the mercy of others, manipulating them into getting him more power and a way to another realm. Though he managed to retain the ability to teleport within planes, he could not teleport or portal out of one. The Infamous traveled to half a dozen worlds before he found this one...


[b][i]Present[/i][/b]

"Maximilian. I am not here to fight." The Infamous said in an slight Irish accent after he teleported into the cave of ghosts deep in the black forest; he was standing in the shadows behind the elven mage. "Do ye know who I am?"