Reaper in the Circle of the Dead.
Reaper was one of the two only known sons of the Hero of Oakvale, the other being Luminos, great defender of the Light, and Reaper's moral opposite. When he was 17, Blade began training him in the Will. By the age of 20, Reaper had mastered magic as well as the Ways of the Sword and he set out to complete unofficial "quests". He could not perform real ones because he never recieved Guild Training, and unlike most other Heroes, he had no wishes to serve the Guild. For indeed he despised the Guild and all it stood for after a Hero had killed his best friend when they were in Bowerstone North; however this had been none other than Jack of Blades, who had contrived to turn the future potential Heroes against the Guild, before his defeat at the hands of the Hero of Oakvale years later.
Demolishing the Temples[]
A year later, Reaper took up a quest in which he was comissioned to slaughter the numerous acolytes of the Chapel of Skorm (for it had grown in the past few years) a task which the Temple of Avo had given to him. He did this flawlessly, ignoring the threats that the voice of Skorm sent his way. When he was done, he returned to the Temple of Avo, where he proceeded to strike down their leader and assail them. They never stood a chance, being only monks.
At this time Reaper became known as Liberator, in that he had liberated Albion from the "shackles of the opressive monopolization that we know as religion" as one Bowerstone author wrote 2 years after this event. And also at this time, the second son of the Hero of Oakvale, began his apprenticeship under Blade. At first he had himself known as Runemaster for his extensive knowledge of the various Runes, Scripts, and other writing systems of the numerous cultures of the World, as well as the languages of said cultures.He was 18 years of age when this happened, and had trained at the Guild since the age of 12, though he had stayed there much longer, so long in fact that some even say he was born there.
Blade trained Runemaster in the ways of the Bow first, seeing how great his natural affinity for archery was. And so would his chosen path be. For 3 years Blade trained him until at last they came upon the ruins of the Temple of Avo. Before this point, they had lived in the Northern Wastes, the people of which which had totally sundered themselves from Albion and the rest of the world. So they had no idea of the acts of Reaper until they came across the results of them. When they questioned the residents of Knothole Glade about what had happened, they told them of all that had come to pass. Runemaster was horrified to learn from Blade then that his brother had been the one who had committed such acts, and he vowed to take his revenge. But first he decided to rebuild the Temple of Avo, as the Temple of Virtue.
Meanwhile, Reaper returned to Darkwood and raised there the Necromancers' Guild in place of the Chapel of Skorm. He built as well an outpost for his Guild not far from its site, over the Ancient Cullis Gate of Darkwood. Here he dwelt, and here he would fall after years of reign over Oakvale and Darkwood.
The Duel with Runemaster[]
When three years had come and gone, Runemaster was ready to assault Reaper's fortress. Mustering his strength, he had his master Blade teleport them all to Darkwood. They found themselves in the Trader Camp there, and decided to build it up into a fort. For many a month the forces of the Temple of Virtue built their defenses until at last, after six months, it was ready. It would everafter prosper, and was known as the Darkwood Trader Outpost. It was then that Runemaster proceeded to attack the Fortress of his brother. The following day after they set out, the two forces met and collided in a huge battle.
But even Runemaster's great forces could not defeat the Enemy in his home. And so he reuqested a one-on-one battle with his brother. Reaper granted his request, and he came forth. The battle that insued was glorious, and Runemaster fought valiantly, glowing with a white luminous light of light and virtue, and his brother with a black and red aura of death and evil. They were opposites in the truest sense, and in a moment of amazing fury he dealt a fell blow to Reaper his brother. On his dying breath, Reaper ordered his minions to let his brother go and that he had won fairly.
Then he told Runemaster to kill him and end his pain. But he would do no such thing, for he was far too kind and virtuous. And so he led Reaper back to the Temple of Virtue's encampment. For five months they tended to him, returning him to full health, and hoping to eradicate the evil within him. But even the Home of Light could not defeat the evil seeds that Jack of Blades had sewn so long ago, and when his brother's back was turned he dealt a fatal bolt of lightning to him. As Runemaster fell, Reaper laughed maniacally. "At last my plan has come full circle, and I am left to destroy my enemies. Farewell, Luminous One."
He was taken back to Knothole Glade, his birthplace where he was buried. And above his grave were the words Here lies Luminos, greatest among the Servants of Virtue.
The Circel of the Dead[]
Following Luminos's death, Reaper travelled to Lynchfiel Graveyard. Here he entered the Circle of the Dead and called upon Nostro to help him end the corruption of the Heroes' Guild. Nostro gave no reply, for he was gone from this world. But Virtael, Nostro's right-hand-man heeded his prayer. And so Reaper began to harvest and channel the Souls of the Dead there.
The effort, however, decayed his body, making him seem mummified and dead. And after many days of channelling the souls, Blade arrived on the scene. Filled with wrath for the slaying of Luminos, he challenged reaper to a one on one battle. In his arrogance, Reaper accepted.
As soon as he agreed to fight Blade, he summoned 30 undead soldiers to fight for him. Blade dispatched them with ease, and so Reaper summoned more and more so that each time he dispatched one group the next would assail him. This went on for a day until at last Reaper ran out of souls to summon. Wielding the Necromancer's Staff, he summoned back the souls of those he had slain with it, and building all of the energy into one hand, he dealt Blade a near-fatal blow.
But Blade would not be defeated so easily. As Reaper stood above him in triumph, Blade channeled the power of the Netherworlds for the first time in his life. With the energy he formed Vail, his most frequently used sword (the only other sword ever mentioned as being used by him was the Sword of the Null). The battle did not last much longer, as only 10 minutes later, Blade impaled his protege, killing him.
Following his death, Reaper was buried beside his brother in Knothole Glade.