Luducus and Genoveva

Around 20 years ago ...

A young group of adventurers went out to conquer the enemies of Tara. It went well at first, but problems arose as romantic rivalries split the party.  Genoveva became involved with Blackthorn, but was eventually won over by the wise wizard Luducus. 

Sean, the youngest of the group and the ranger of the party, left to avoid the drama, and later started a family. His eldest was Tristan, who fell defending the walls of Tara from a zombie incursion. Sean has been missing for over a year now.

 

Luducus and Genoveva later married and had a girl, Marisil. They continued adventuring but tragedy struck fifteen years later. While adventuring with the party, Luducus encountered a rune covered door. The door contained an alien curse, perhaps a virus, that infected him and threatened to drive Luducus insane. 

With the help of the elf king Finrose, along with ancient dragon rituals discovered by Genoveva, a magical solution to the virus was found. A soul gem was used to trap the soul of a dread dragon to bring strength to Luducus’ mind. It also imbued Luducus with knowledge of powerful dragon magic, at the cost of changing his personality.

The ritual turned out to be more vile than the group imagined, as it tortured the dragon’s soul. The tension destroyed the group. Blackthorn foreswore civilization and left for the hills. Genoveva said she could no longer stay with Luducus. Luducus, oblivious to Genoveva, was busy maintaining his sanity while a dragon tried to take over his mind. Their teenage daughter, Marisel, fell for the elf king Finrose, and they left together. Finrose abdicated his throne and now lives to the south in sprawling tree house with Marisel and their two children. 

Now it is clear that Luducus is fading, his soul gem, a red ruby that glows with his vitality, pulses as Luducus expends his energy. Luducus and Genoveva have lost their daughter during all this, and there is a final wish Marisel visits her father one last time before he dies.