Sogun's Lament

Over 30 years ago, the regal lineage of the Stratus bore fractures that tore at its very core. These internecine conflicts rent the royal family asunder, their ceaseless feuding corroding the trust of the people. As the youngest brother in the family ascended the throne, Prince Sogun lost his mind.

Soon, a chance conversation would change everything, as a handmaiden told Sogun of a ritual performed in ancient times, the Divine Mandate ritual. The thought of Sogun proving himself worthy in the eyes of the Heavens to rule the Stratus Empire, that he might oust his insolent brother and claim the throne, was irresistible. In Sogun's bid to anoint himself as the next emperor, he conducted the Divine Mandate right in the city of Highland Central, the capital of the Eastern Continent.

Before the ritual, Highland Central's streets bustled with the haggling of merchant and customer. At night, it was a sea of lights in the darkness. But, in the end, the Divine Mandate failed. Princess Solaan was sacrificed, and the once vibrant city turned into a hellish nightmare, reduced to little more than a city of the dead, all but deserted by the living. Aside from the valiant Snapjaw keeping the encroaching Dark Chi at bay, all that remained were bloodthirsty undead, fiends, and occult abominations.

Having perished in the aftermath of the botched ceremony, Sogun was soon after revived by fiends from the Dark Realm. His psyche remained trapped in a turbulent state of perpetual unrest. In the chambers of his grand palace, Sogun's tormented thoughts echoed through the halls. The weight of his desires clashed with the memories of his past, and his thoughts became a desperate attempt to reconcile his fractured soul.

Struggling to silence his doubts, Sogun transformed, embodying the scorching fury and icy malice that once consumed the prince's very being. Sogun has returned stronger than ever before, ready to continue his quest for world domination.