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[Vian Skyfire]

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The young Prince sat with his head in his hands and his shoulders slumped against the Northern wall of Castle Blackguard. He had blocked out the horrors he had seen in this war to the point where they didn't bother him. Either that, or the young man had not fully understood the ramifications of what he had experienced. Either way, nothing had hit him like this.

Vian had stood in the middle of Sanctus speaking with Ragnar Teach. The Prince's normal quick wit and conviction had been noticeably missing. Here was Ragnar Teach, hero of Sanctus and Stormhaven, having joined up with a group of mercenaries at a time when the Kingdom very much needed his help. This was not the worst of it. The part that made Vian sick, the part that had left him speechless, had rocked him to his core. Ragnar had stood there and defending necromancy to such a degree, Vian was sure his former mentor had taken up the dark art.

Ragnar Teach, the necromancer.

Tomorrow Vian would stand in front of his troops and speak of the resolve they must have in these dark times. He would talk about how they must all be on the watch because even great warriors of good can be tempted by evil. Tomorrow he would tell them how they could not count on yesterdays heroes, and needed become heroes themselves. Tomorrow he would be the leader they needed him to be.

But tonight, it was not that confident, determined Prince of Sanctus that sat against this wall. Tonight, it was simply a little boy who was crushed because he had watched his friend, mentor, and hero turn to evil. The greatest of the good guys had been corrupted and replaced by a necromancer.

The last remnants of childhood in Vian faded from existence that night.

[Rags]

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Ragnar sat on his knees in his study in his Tower in Blackmarsh and meditated on the last few weeks events. After almost a year of drunken wanderings after the disappearance of his friend and battle brother, Talon, and one of his students, Cyrus Skyfire, Ragnar had come to a few conclusions. The power he had possessed, while prodigious, was not enough to protect the ones he cared for from the evils in the world. Ragnar had never been a particularly virtuous man, he had always followed his own path, but he had decided to find different paths to power that his friends did not look kindly upon.

While wandering the streets of Minoc in a semi-drunken haze, Ragnar had stumbled upon the recruitment poster for the Infinite Mercenary Company. The name, Hurst, was vaguely familiar to him as being connected to the isle of Verity, and Ragnar sought the man out. He found Hurst in Hanses Hostel, making polite conversation with the barmaid. He walked up to the man, tried to stop himself from swaying and looked him up and down. To Ragnar the man looked entirely too young to be in charge of a mercenary group, but everyone looked too young to Ragnar, but he did carry himself with a surety that Ragnar recognized. Ragnar sat down in the opposite end of the bar and Hurst looked over to him.

"Ragnar Teach, yes?" The man said, smiling.

Ragnar grunted in response and ordered a hard drink.

"There are some that speak very highly of your combat skills, sir." The smile never left his face but it never reached his eyes as he gave Ragnar an ever appraising look.

"Some people are idiots. I'm but an old man laddie." Ragnar said as he took another drink.

The banter went back and forth as Cal asked probing questions to see if the drunk in front of him was the man he heard of. Before Cal knew it, Ragnar was opening up to him, venom and self disgust in his voice as he spoke of his viewing of failing to be strong enough to protect those he cared for. His body was getting too old, too slow. His magicks were failing him. Cal did not try to stop his self-debasing tirade but rather subtlety encouraged Ragnars line of thought.

"There are magicks out there that can make you stronger, Teach." Cal said, innocently while sipping a bear.

"I have mastered almost all combat magicks that are worthwhile in my day, lad. There is nothing that can stop me from slowly turning into an incompetent old man!" Ragnar spit.

"There are some arts, that are outlawed in this very Kingdom, that can be used to devastating effect." Cal put his drink down and talked to Ragnar in hushed tones. He told him of Necromancy, and how it is just a magic like any other, it is the bearer of the art that is evil, there is no magic that is inherently evil or good. Ragnar listened and finally saw a way to grow stronger for those he cared for.

"Can you teach me these things?" Ragnar asked.

"Well.." Cal begun and then unleashed a barrage of offensive spells at Ragnar.

Ragnar was rocked back at first but quickly recovered as a lifetime of combat and bloodshed saved his life and faced Hurst. The occupants of the bar ran in fear as soon as the offensive magics were started to be thrown about. Cal looked at Ragnar and grinned.

"Good. Even drunk your reflexes and survival instincts are excellent. I will teach you. Come with me." Cal abruptly turned his back and left the bar.

Ragnar looked blankly at the mans back and suppressed the instinct to strike him down while he was vulnerable. He followed the man out of the bar.
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Ragnar was quickly indoctrinated into the ranks of the Infinite Mercenary Company and took swiftly to the Necromatic arts that Hurst showed him. He found his old confidence returning to him once again and stopped drinking. He was not received kindly when he returned to Sanctus. In fact he was attacked by those that he once had trained and mentored. He was saddened by the fact that his former pupils did not understand why he had left. He was a bodyguard and advisor to an absentee King, his time in Sanctus had passed. Vian's look of outrage and hatred as he argued the merits of Necromancy startled Ragnar, but he knew that in time Vian would understand. He urged Sanctus to hire his services as a mercenary but their arrogance stopped them from doing so.

As it stood now his path was aligned with Sanctus', even though he was hired to attack them once. If he was hired to attack them again he would do so knowing that by doing so he was making them stronger. One day they would thank him, one day they would understand.