The Six Circles

The Six Circles was a near-cataclysmic event that happened in 1882 AR. It is frequently considered the first major interaction the Mortal Realm had with The Old Ones, as well as a turning point in mortal understanding of The Nine Hells.

The Beginning
Early in the year 1881 AR, several areas on the outskirts of Kerrington and other neighboring kingdoms began to see a large spike in the increase in Demon activity. While an occasional mad summoner was known to let hellish creatures roam freely out of the hopes of gaining their favor or simply pure malice, the sheer number was unprecedented. The local populations were constantly terrorized by the summoned beasts, prompting individual such as Kryssmun, the wandering paladin, to step forward and try to contain the outbreak.

However, despite the general weakness of the monsters, their numbers seemed limitless, maintaining a constant flow despite the efforts of many warriors. This continued throughout the year, until in mid 882-AR, a loremaster named Kalimos traveled to a small town at the edge of Kerrington's territory, and sent out summons for several of the more active individuals. This included the paladin Kryssmun as well as a monk named Kenpin Xi'anjing who had traveled from the distant land of Kajiwara to investigate the influx of demons and help banish them. Kalimos brought with him a third man named Raskolnikov, who was a prisoner from the frozen land of Froskal. Kalimos felt that Rask's apparent insanity and expertise in the occult would do well to aid their efforts.

Tale of the "Six Sigils"
Once all three of the would-be heroes were gathered, Kalimos informed them of the apparent cause of their plight. Across Tyravia a series of six infernal sigils were created long ago, spread across the land in a particular pattern. These seals were created by the Devil Lords long ago, in order to one day open a gateway directly into Hell itself. Over many years these seals had been accumulating power, and the appearance of the Demonic hordes was merely an effect of the portal being prepared to be opened.

Kalimos then clarified that each sigil was protected by a singular guardian, whose life force was directly tied to the seal in question. By killing all the guardians before they could pass on their title, the sigils could be broken and the crisis could be averted. But, it would not be an easy task, as each guardian had been granted a number of boons as payment for their services. They were also all identifiable by the masks they wore, said to be used as symbols of their status.

Despite the danger, all three men agreed to aid Kalimos in his mission. Notably, Ken suggested that apprehending the guardians could do well to help understand what was happening, but both Kryssmun and Kalimos dismissed such a notion as a waste of time. Ken chose not to press the matter, and the three were off, although Kryssmun was not happy having to escort a madman who believed his axe was alive, but gave his word to Kalimos that he would allow Rask to stick with the group regardless.

The Alchemist
The first target that Kalimos offered was the guardian known as The Alchemist, an eccentric chemist who lived in a tower built out in the flatlands northeast of Kerrington. The tower had been there as long as any records existed, and the locals began calling him "Baron Dorhn" due to his reclusive behavior and how he violently claimed ownership of several acres of land around his tower, and his status as a guardian shed light as to why, and where his deep knowledge of chemistry had stemmed from.

The three set off to confront him, although were a few times side-tracked by a group of Orcs attempting to toll a road, and then finding Rask who had wandered off with a stolen cart full of their corpses. Kryssmun, irritated by Rask's violent idiocy and Ken's passiveness, declared himself the leader of the expedition. Upon reaching the tower, Kryssmun pounded upon the door and declared his intent on challenging The Alchemist to honorable combat. The reclusive scientist, of course, refused and simply further barricaded the entrance to his lab.

Through Rask's brute strength they group was able to breach the door and confront the man in his lab, only to find that he had taken the moment to prepare for them. He unleashed a Golem crafted from mud and flesh to defeat the trio, hurling vials of noxious chemicals at them from a safe distance. These chemicals would also invariably repair his creation while it kept him infuriatingly out of harm's reach. Thankfully, Ken's acrobatic skill allowed him to close the distance while Kryssmun and Rask finished off the golem.

Beaten, The Alchemist begged for his life, proclaiming that he has important work that needs to be done. Ken asked Kryssmun to allow The Alchemist to explain himself, but the paladin refused, judging and executing the mad chemist on the spot. Beneath his gas mask, Kryssmun found The Alchemist to be just as old and frail as he sounded, gave him a last prayer, and destroyed the laboratory, and consequently the rest of the tower. Under the floorboards of the laboratory they found the remains of a demonic sigil, now inactive and worthless due to the death of its guardian.

The Woodsman
Kalimos contacted them through magic to congratulate them on their first victory. The next closest guardian was even more mysterious than the first, living as a recluse in the woods southeast of Kerrington. What little was known about The Woodsman was that he was a violent sort, and villagers that ventured too far out into his woods had a tendency to go missing. Further investigation of the locals revealed that he was somewhat of a local legend, a huge, malformed murderer with nothing but a woodsman's axe and a crude metal mask.

Rask responded to the tale with an unusual amount of joy, relishing the chance to speak to a fellow "axe enthusiast" and demanded that they venture off into the woods post-haste. Both Kryssmun and Ken agreed to at least wait and gather supplies and information, but their plans were foiled as the lanky Froskalian managed to slip out of sight and wander off into the woods in search of his new "friend". Annoyed and concerned, the other two chased off into the woods after him.

They found Rask already facing off with the Woodsman, his attempts at diplomacy apparently having gone south. Rask insisted that things were going great, however, and that his axe had lead him to the guardian and they were now in the middle of "playing". The three warriors surrounded and, though sustaining significant injuries, brought the brute down with Rask finally beheading him, proclaiming that the axe was now "satisfied". The sigil was found inactive in a nearby log cabin, in the basement.

The Cultist
Another message from Kalimos informed them that the other guardians had heard word of the death of two of their comrades and were now mobilizing. He insisted that their next target, known as The Cultist, be dealt with immediately. As her title implied, Amelia Rendquist had a substantial following of cultists who secretly worshiped the Devil Lords. Her primary hideout was in a small port town named Jofton, where she openly displayed her sigil to her followers.

Kryssmun asked why Kalimos had not shared this information with the Holy Order of Argos before then, with the loremaster answering that he served no particular god or government and had no interest in starting an inquisition before the time was right. Annoyed but satisfied with the answer, Kryssmun vowed to dismantle the cult completely.

Upon reaching Jofton, they immediately began searching for the hidden church or any of its followers with little luck, until Rask declared a sudden "insight" and outed a villager that was carrying a small talisman indicating his membership of Amelia's cult. With a little positive and negative encouragement form Ken and Kryssmun respectively, he cracked and showed them to the inner sanctum.

The three confronted Amelia, who claimed that she was doing a great deed by protecting her sigil and that the Devils were actually on the side of good. Regardless, a battle ensued where Amelia showed her proficiency with Hellfire, further evidenced by the serious burns across her whole body. Amelia was killed in the struggle despite aid from her cult, causing them to flee once the sigil shut down.

The Warlord
Kryssmun, rattled by the Cultist's blasphemy, found himself feeling remorseful that he had slain someone who was clearly just insane and being used by the Devils for their own end. He held a special prayer for Amelia's soul before continuing. Kalimos contacted them once again, giving them the location of their next target. The Warlord was a more straight-forward affair, living in an abandoned keep. His armies had slowly abandoned him and the rampaging hordes of Demons showed no interest in him at all.

The three traveled to the keep right away, where they were confronted by a single man armed with a spear. He identified himself not as the Warlord, but as a different guardian known as The Lancer. He vowed to protect the Warlord from them, shaming them for working with Kalimos to end their ongoing ritual. The Lancer was a powerful fighter, easily defeating Kryssmun and then Rask as well. Ken was able to fight off the injured Lancer, but only just barely. The Lancer retreated, citing his fear of dying before finding a replacement as the reason.

The heavily injured trio forged onward nonetheless, dreading their confrontation with the Warlord. To their surprise, they found not a mighty warrior, but a crippled old man bound to a wheelchair. Barely more than a withered corpse attached to a strange breathing apparatus, the Warlord dared them to kill him, laughing off his death as pointless as the Lancer would eventually find someone to replace him. Begrudgingly, Kryssmun took it upon himself to kill the helpless old cripple, although it would weigh heavily upon him and his honor.

The Shadow
Kryssmun, seeing the party's dwindling spirits, gave them a great deal of praise, encouraging them to finish off the remaining two guardians. The penultimate challenge was The Shadow, a mysterious woman lurking in the flooded catacombs beneath the capitol of the small kingdom of Stiggart. Upon gathering information they were surprise to find that no real trouble could be linked to this mysterious figure, the Shadow simply being a local legend of a poor girl who drowned in the catacombs.

With no other alternatives, they descended and braved the flooded depths. Along the way they could hear a girl's violent coughing echoing through the halls, which Ken's keen senses could track to its source. As they got closer they were attacked by a squad of shadow creatures, Kryssmun having to use his holy power to repel the undead spirits. Finally they found THE Shadow, a tall woman with black ooze constantly dripping from the tip of her mask.

No words were exchanged, and the coughing woman revealed herself to be a skilled martial artist rivaling even Ken. She used her twin katars and naturally long arms to her advantage, and revealed that her own shadow was also an undead spirit. The more she exerted herself the worse her cough became, until finally her movements slowed too much to dodge Rask's attacks and she was felled. Unbuckling her mask revealed her to be a young woman, no older than 19 or 20.

On the way back to the surface Kryssmun was burdened by depression. Killing a young girl who caused nobody any harm and wished only to be left alone was beyond the pale for him, so much that his holy powers were in danger of fading. For once, he found Rask's relentless and insane cheerfulness a comfort.

The Lancer
Before they could even return to town, Kalimos messaged them, informing them that their last target was at an old cathedral in what was once a bustling town. Seeking it out, they found that a small village had cropped up around the abandoned structure, and the locals were quite aware of the Lancer. They simply knew him as Alex, and he was the self-proclaimed defender of the town, only ever leaving to run mysterious errands at odd intervals.

Kryssmun immediately headed for the cathedral, finding Alex already there, waiting for them. The Lancer pleaded with Kryssmun to see reason, explaining that he was a good man who had sacrificed his soul to the Devils in order to achieve a greater good. The sigils were not summoning sigils at all, but seals that were keeping something else away. Kryssmun refused to believe such a thing, saying that Alex had been taken advantage of. Although it pained him to do so, he declared that Alex had to die for his infernal pact.

This time, Kryssmun challenged the Lancer to single combat, with Ken needing to keep Rask from interfering with the bout. Their clash lasted a long while, but finally Kryssmun managed to come out on top that time. Kryssmun apologized to his fallen comrade, declaring that he would try to find a way to save him and others from their unjust sentence to Hell. With that, Kryssmun finished him off, ending the last of the six guardians.

The Veil Lifts
Kryssmun, Kenpin, and Raskalnokov didn't even have time to consider Alex's last words before Kalimos entered the Cathedral alongside them. Without explaining his sudden appearance, he applauded the three's tenacity and struggle to do the right thing. It was then that Kalimos shed his magical disguise and revealed himself for what he truly was: A Psychophage. Shocked and upset, Kenpin and Kryssmun both demanded to know why they were deceived. Kalimos happily told them that this church was the site of a great eldritch ritual that took place during the Age of Abandonment, when the first summoners that called out to The Old Ones received their first answer.

Their ritual was to tear open the cosmic barrier between them and let the Mortal Realm return to the primordial chaos of the old times. The hole had been opened by the time the gods had returned, and immediately they began arguing over how to repair the damage. It was the evil gods and their Devil Lords that chose to use mortal souls to create a seal that would temporarily close the gate. So long as there was a mortal soul to fuel the seal, the hole would remain closed. The main seal then had five others created to strengthen it, hence beginning the cycle of the guardians. It was Kalimos's own cult that had been summoning demons from the shadows, and he further mocked the realm's inability to tell the difference between the chaotic Demons and law-bound Devils.

Kryssmun, devastated by the deception and this new information, attacked Kalimos with the help of his allies. Unfortunately the mad mage evaded their attacks long enough to cast a summoning spell that stained the last, fading seal too much and the barrier once again split. A small but slowly-expanding portal leading to a realm of eldritch horror ripped open, spewing forth a number of Eldritch Abominations that the group had no hope of besting. Kryssmun's attempts at nobly sacrificing himself were thwarted when Kenpin dragged him out of the cathedral with Rask close behind.

The Group Splits
The three retreated to the safety of Kerrington, where they informed the kingdom of the impending danger. Rask had, after being exposed to the nightmarish portal, entered a state of catatonia, never speaking and just staring blankly when not following the others. Kryssmun, on the other hand, had become irrational and furious. Their attempts to do good only ended in disaster, while the ones he claimed were evil had been protecting the realm all along. Even Kenpin was rattled by the experience, feeling a strange new fear creeping up within him.

Kryssmun chose to abandon Rask in a local asylum, no longer caring to deal with his madness but unable to bring himself to put him out of his misery. Afterwards, Kryssmun fled into the night, during which time he did the unthinkable. He abandoned his paladin oath and pledged his allegiance to the Devil Lord Mephistopheles, whom he contacted through a crude animal sacrifice ritual he had once destroyed. Mephisto, enraged that the seal had been destroyed was eager to accept Kryssmun's pledge, and gave him one simple task: kill Kalimos.

After learning what Kryssmun had done and seeing his friend in his newly blackened and bloody armor, Ken despaired. Kryssmun insisted that if good would not save the world, it was up to the forces of evil. Ken, unwilling to aid Kryssmun in his dark purpose, left in order to seek wisdom on the matter.

A Blackguard's Duty
Kryssmun learned from Mephisto that the tear would take time to truly manifest, and the elder things that crawled through could only exist for a short time in the Mortal Realm, for the time being. Thus, Kryssmun's main duty became to hunt down Kalimos's servants, just as he'd done with the guardians. The former paladin took to his new profession with alarming speed, using his new infernal powers to hunt down the Eldritch cultists. Nothing would stop him from saving these people, not even themselves. Over time he collected a small following, brutes that would do anything to banish these horrible creatures.

Interrogation, torture, invading peoples' homes, nothing was too far for Kryssmun's mission. Even if it meant killing uncooperative mortals, he would find his targets. And find them he did, one by one. The more brutal he allowed himself to be, the stronger his power grew. The Darkness in his heart would continue to grow, tempered by his already finely-honed sense of duty. Even if his sense of justice became more and more twisted, it remained a steadfast beacon for him to follow. The ends would simply have no choice but to justify the means.

An Enlightened Path
While Kryssmun waged a year-long campaign of terror, Kenpin resumed his wandering. Going from town to town, he would stop and meditate at every temple or shrine he could find. At first, he simply wanted to clear his mind of the horrors he'd seen, for he had gazed into depths no mortal mind should. Soon, however, his goal became to become closer to the gods and come to a greater understanding of their motives.

Soon, Ken broadened his studies to western religious literature, combining them with the eastern teachings that he was already familiar with. He found that studying the same gods from both perspectives made him feel closer to them, and soon began receiving prophetic visions. It was not a weakness or a lack of dedication that had lead them to their hesitation to seal the gate, but a consideration of life. The Devils, not having the moral center to take on the burden of such a consideration, had no problem sealing the portal the quickest and easiest way they knew how. All had become clear, and he knew what he had to do. Armed with his knowledge and newfound divine power, he went to seek out Raskolnikov so they could reunite with the corrupted Kryssmun.

A Battle in the Mind
Rask had not moved in his cell, but in his mind much was happening. The axe called out to him, explaining that he needed to return to the portal, to cleave the flesh of fleshless beings. He wandered through fields of hanging corpses, through forests without trees, through rivers of bile, and through castles of eyes. The axe was always there, encouraging, insulting, always there. Each journey was like pulling a thread and needle through one more stitch of his mind.

Of course, this repair did not entail an end to his madness, just a way Rask could make sense of the truly senseless. Instead of horror, Rask began to feel a sort of kinship with the shapeless things, an understanding without understanding. One evening, Rask stirred from his cell, absurd strength allowing him to tear his door loose. Several guards died, but Rask was reunited with the weapon that had called out to him so lovingly all this time. And then, without any reason or rhyme, the madman was off again, hurrying to a location that he just felt he HAD to be at.

Reunion
Rask's hunch was right, in the middle of the stretch of road he'd been sitting at for two days he found his old friend Ken traveling. The monk was overjoyed to see Rask safe and sound, and that his ordeal hadn't dampened his spirits in the slightest. The two then focused on returning to Kryssmun, who was still waging his war against Kalimos's cultists and monsters. He was an easy man to find, but he was also decidedly unhappy to see his two former friends.

After some bickering and insistence, Kryssmun agreed to work with the other two and formulate a plan. Rask declared that, between the three of them, they could shut down the portal. Ken supported Rask's seemingly nonsensical declaration, citing that his mad logic would be useful against a realm of madness. Unconvinced but hungry for blood, Kryssmun finally agreed, and the three chose to strike back against Kalimos one final time, just the three of them.

The Portal Undone
The three heroes trudged through the broken landscape around the old Cathedral. Piles of armor and weapons from defeated armies and destroyed buildings littered the landscape. They had to fight hard through the Horrors that now protected the Cathedral, but Kryssmun's work of dismantling Kalimos's cult had proved fruitful, as they lacked the manpower to maintain their summons and keep up the barrier around the ritual chamber, which Rask's axe could then shatter.

Confronting Kalimos, he merely applauded their attempt and asked if they had not been down that path before. The three attacked, and Kalimos simply floated out of reach while the clawing, grasping horrors in the now-massive tear in reality did their work. It was evident that they could not defeat an infinite number of monstrosities, so another route had to be taken. The three chose to devise a way to disrupt the leylines of the ritual that had caused the portal in the first place, which in his madness Rask could now "see".

Taking up their positions, all three of them channeled their spirit and knowledge into the magic paths, using their Infernal, Divine, and Eldritch power to create a negative shock. The conflicting energies being channeled so potently caused the leylines, weakened over time, to collapse in upon themselves despite Kalimos's desperate attempts to avert it.

The tear began to heal and its connection to whatever Eldritch realm was lost. The portal became a pitch-black vacuum, sucking all the air into the void it had become. While Kalimos wailed and raged at what they had done, Kryssmun ran the mage through the stomach with his sword and hurled him into the portal of nothingness. Soon after the tear finally sealed, locking Kalimos away in a gap between realities; true nothingness.

Epilogue
Finally, Kryssmun had achieved his goal and saved his home, but the cost of the endeavor had become apparent. He had still sworn himself to Mephisto, and such a pact was not easily broken, and worse yet, Kryssmun wasn't sure he even wanted to. Kenpin offered to help save his soul, but Kryssmun rejected him, instead saying his last farewell and leaving to parts unknown. Rask, as irrationally clingy as ever, begged to let him accompany Kryssmun. The blackguard relented and allowed the madman to tag along, having grown fond of his company. The two would not be seen again for many years.

Kenpin bid his friends farewell and respected their wishes to retreat from the world they had saved. As such, he was the only one to receive credit once he reported the events to the Kerrington royalty. However, ever a humble man, Ken snuck out of his own reward ceremony and assumed a different name so that he could continue his wanderings in peace. He would return to his homeland and begin his own monk traditions.

The monarchy of Kerrington, shaken by its brush with annihilation, chose to look into traditionally blasphemous Eldritch and Infernal knowledge a to not be unprepared for any future encounters. The Holy Order of Kerrington was given substantially more funding and power, eventually founding its own colony east of the kingdom. This colony would, in only a few generations, flourish into the kingdom of Bulwark, a land of holy knights sworn to defend the crown and contain any hazardous research.