This story begins many years ago, in the very first years of the
Midnight Age. At that time, many things were yet unformed, and many
dreaded creatures lurked unknown and unnoticed in the deepest parts of
the world. One such being was a lady of great power, one who called
herself Queen of the Underworld. Her name was Llazuth, the demonic
mistress of many earth-dwelling beings. The personal servants of Llazuth
were arachnids, for in that crafty, dark race did she find the greatest
utility. It was said that to those arachnids which showed particular
promise, the dark Queen granted special powers, allowing them the
intelligence and even appearance of humanoids. One such being was the
arachnid Suri, who, for her loyal service, gained the ability to form
into an Atavian

Llazuth did not dwell in her dark halls in peace, for but a mile below,
another Lord of great power claimed domain over the dark realm. He was
Zsarachnor, Lord of Vampires, and it was not long before the skirmishes
between his undead and the spider armies of Llazuth turned into a full
scale war.

Time passed, with much blood shed on both sides. From her position as
the elite guardian of Llazuth, Suri watched in awe the undead Lord
stride forth with his armies. And, as so often is the case, her soul
cried out for the immortality he was able to give. For Suri above all
desired power, and an endless life. To achieve this goal, she ventured
to the lair of Zsarachnor, and put before his feet the very life of her
mistress, asking in return the gift of immortality.

Zsarachnor was overjoyed that for such a slight price he might buy the
defeat of his enemy. And so Suri was able to trick Llazuth to the lower
dungeons of Azdun, alone and unprotected. There, the legions of undead
fell upon her. Great was the power of the Dark Queen, and she would have
succeeded in beating off her attackers, had not the traitorous Suri
thought through her rebellion. Reaching towards her mistress, she tore
away the sacred amulet into which Llazuth invested much of her power,
and broke it upon the stones of the dungeons. Devoid of this source for
her strength, Llazuth fell to the screaming hordes, and her spirit was
trapped in the dense rock of the Azdun dungeons. To prevent her return
to power, Zsarachnor scattered Llazuth's artifacts in the deepest parts
of Aetolia. He then bestowed unto Suri the gift of undeath, further
granting her the status of his mistress in the darkness of the crypt.

Years passed, and the empire Llazuth once brought forth crumbled. The
spirit of Llazuth was waning with every moment, despaired of ever
finding a means to return. Until one day, a bleeding, half-dead woman
stumbled through the echoing hallways of lower Azdun. Such was the state
of the woman that the malevolent spirit of Llazuth managed to penetrate
her mind, and learn of her story. For this young girl too desired
immortality, and had set off to the crypt of the Vampire Lord harboring
this tentative hope. Alas, she was instead beaten and cast out by
Zsarachnor's mistress, who would stand for no rivals in her domain.

Yet within this broken body, Llazuth sensed such a brilliant mind and a
thirst of power, that she knew at last her hour had come. Whispering
within the mind of the girl, she allowed a portion of her spirit to flow
into her, giving the woman enough strength to find her way from the
dreaded dungeons. There, under the careful guidance of Llazuth, the girl
performed a dark ritual, making her body a sanctuary for the demonic
spirit. Her very form was transformed in the process, and it was at that
moment that Lachesis, Mistress of Spiders came into this world.

For many years did Lachesis labor to rebuild the empire of Llazuth, and
to find the means to set the dreaded queen free once more. Yet it was
not until recently that rumors were brought to her by the industrious
Rohan and Achavis, who spoke of strange boulders having been unearthed
in Moghedu and Bloodloch.

Lachesis was not eager to act quickly. Instead, she sent out her minions
to investigate. What her reports brought back shocked her greatly, for
she now had reason to believe that the two missing artifacts needed to
restore her lady - the Daegger of Despair and the Amulet of Llazuth -
had indeed been found again! Immediately, she called all those upper
worlders who had given their word to aid her in the quest. She quickly
formulated a plan to raid the mines of Moghedu and retrieve the first
stone. Achavis led the diversionary force of many spiders, which caused
a great commotion in the mines. In the meantime, Lachesis herself joined
a company led by Zephy, and penetrated the very depths of Moghedu where
the stone was rumored to lie.

Unfortunately, they arrived to an unpleasant surprise. The Paladins,
refusing to allow any harm to come to the innocent Mhunna, made a final
stand in his defense. Led by Sir Koujin, they bravely fought the
onslaught of darkness. Many perished in the battle, and blood flowed
freely on all sides. Although he fought valiantly, the great Mhunna fell
in battle, his body pierced with many wounds. But at last, the rock
which caused all this commotion was loaded upon the back of a monstrous
spiders, and the forces of darkness retreated to the lair of Lachesis.

Yet here they encountered a problem, for the gigantic spider that
carried the rock to Lachesis could not penetrate the cracks in the
mountainside which led into the Blood Caverns - the resting place of the
second stone. Still, the resourceful Vermillion did not falter. He set
off towards the caverns, enlisting the help of Bloodloch's ally Urgh,
the chieftain of lava daemons. Although Urgh could move the rock, he
lacked the ability of destruction to break it.

Yet the key presented itself, for just as Urgh and Vermillion were
pondering what must be done with the rock, the mad prophet of
destruction Furf skipped into the room. Visited by an unexpected idea,
Urgh handed the rock to Furf, who was so offended at this implication of
his materialism that he tossed the rock into the volcano. The stone
could not take such heat, and it cracked. Before the fragments could be
re-absorbed into the lava, though, Vermillion dove for them, saving the
freed Amulet of Llazuth from fiery destruction.

When Lachesis received the Amulet, she wasted no time in recombining it
with its second half, which she had herself recovered many years ago.
Using the newly restored artifact, she was able to crack open the second
rock, thus freeing the Daegger of Despair. Lachesis explained that to
complete the ritual of Llazuth's return, a sacrifice would be needed.
For this task, Llazuth herself had chosen the once-traitorous Suri, now
consort to Zsarachnor.

Vermillion and Mephiston hurried to the crypt in a desperate attempt to
trick the vampiress from her lord's protection. They managed to convince
her that they wished Lachesis destroyed, and enlisted her help in the
matter - but not until Zsarachnor demanded that Mephiston stay as
hostage until his concubine returned safely.

Alas, the Vampire Lord would never see his lady again, for as soon as
she arrived within Llazuth's lair,she was accosted by a myriad of spider
webs. In a dark ritual, Lachesis carved from the vampiress' body a new
form for her mistress, and, calling on the power of the artifacts,
infused the body of the vampiress with Llazuth's spirit.

Darkness fell upon Azdun, and a deep ringing filled the air. When the
shadows cleared, the allies of Lachesis saw the brilliant figure of a
proud woman standing where the bloody remnants of the vampiress had
been.

Having been warmly welcomed by all those assembled, Llazuth was invited
by Lachesis to step into the dwelling which, in secret, was being built
for her for many years. As the Dark Queen strode over the drawbridge
which now spanned the Azdun gorge, a hundred cheers erupted from the
goblin warriors guarding the bridge as they welcomed their new mistress
to her home.

Within the throneroom of the Black Keep, Llazuth once again welcomed all
her allies, and in a solemn ceremony pledged her gratitude and aid to
the city of Bloodloch, giving as a token of thanks the Daegger of
Despair to the Keeper, Vermillion. For his aid to Llazuth, Achavis also
received an item of power, having been granted Llazuth's amulet. The
Dark Lady then spoke to all those present, informing them of her past
and intentions until time and duties forced her to retire to her work.

And so a new Queen reigns in Azdun, and the betrayed Zsarachnor paces
his lonely crypt, for he knows that the return of the bloody wars of
power is immanent. In Moghedu, the sonorous voices of Mhuns curse the
name of the spider Queen as they mourn the death of their leader, and in
their groves do the druids Esper and Sceverus watch over the fallen
Mhun's body, hoping still to return him to life through the healing
power of Nature.

Darkness gathers, darkness comes. What shall come of these conflicts,
new and old? Only time can tell...


Penned by my hand on the 7th of Slyphian, in the year 94 MA.