Kallus, the Devastation of Everblight is a warlock of the Legion of Everblight but unlike other warlocks of the legion he was not born but was crafted. An existence resulting from mystically imprinting an athanc shard’s intrinsic structure with a new intelligence, drawn in part from the mind of Thagrosh. His every bone and muscle was shaped by Everblight’s will, his mind structured to fulfill the dragon’s need for an imperishable and irrepressibly bold general. Kallus occupies an unusual place in the warlock hierarchy, enjoying the special favor of Thagrosh.[1]
History[]
Wrath of Everblight[]
The Wrath of Everblight armed with the sword Hellbrand march through the fires of battle
Kallus was created in 608 AR as a deliberate experiment in the fabrication of an entirely artificial entity. His genesis was Thagrosh’s idea, the execution of which required testing all Everblight had learned of flesh and form as well as his mastery of his own athanc. The shard chosen for this warlock was subtly altered such that it can transform any flesh into Kallus’ body and mind. The imperishable crystal is imprinted with a pattern for his body and soul based on a version of Thagrosh the dragon honed to emphasize strengths and erase unwanted elements. The modified shard was placed on the body of a captive, who howled as his flesh flowed and melted, his bones shifting and realigning to reveal a new creature not Nyss, ogrun, human, or any simple creature of nature. Thus Kallus was "born", a blank slate informed by the vast repository of lore contained within Everblight but lacking residual memories that might distract him from his service. [1][2]
Kallus’ mind could be preserved as long as the athanc endures, similar to the immortality of the dragons. To him death is but a temporary state, an inconvenience to be borne only until a new victim can be subjugated and transfigured. However Kallus’ personality was still in flux as he learnt his place among his peers. The other warlocks with their individual motivations outside of the dragon’s wishes were all mysteries to him. His own mind was filled with the imperatives of both Thagrosh and Everblight. Learning with a preternatural quickness, Kallus began to suspect that his creation represents the destiny of the Legion and that he is specially empowered to lead Everblight’s army for the glory of conquest.[2]
These abilities were useful when Kallus was sent by Vayl to recover the skeletal remains of Pyromalfic from the Castle of the Keys. Kallus attacked the Skorne and was ambushed and defeated. His body destroyed, the Skorne took the athnac shard. Inside the caste when a skorne mortitheurge took the athnac shard for study, Kallus dominated his mind and forced him to drive the shard into his own chest. His flesh bubbled as if worms slowly wriggled beneath the skin, and his bones snapped as his limbs lengthened. The flesh ripped and reformed into something else, paler and of an entirely different hue. Strange black spurs exploded from his back. His face twisted and transformed, every bone shifting. After several minutes he gasped loudly, sucking in air to reawaken his lungs and Kallus was reborn. Kallus successfully recovered several of the dragon's teeth and also stumbled upon the ritual chambers of an Iosan dragon cult where he recovered an important tome.[2][3]
Devastation of Everblight[]
The Devastation of Everblight slashing through Khadoran forces
Despite his near immortality Kallus faced destruction in 609 AR during the event known as the "Great Hunt" when the Circle Orboros and an alliance of Everblight's siblings allied to hunt down the athnacs of Everblight. The dragon Umbargoven attacked Kallus and after destroying his forces, devoured him. Inside Umbargoven, flame and blight scoured his body and burned away flesh and armor. However Kallus endured and fought back as his unique nature allowed him to fight against absorption, drawing upon the dragon’s own flesh and remaking it into his own, sustaining himself amid a terrifying battle of wills and artificial biology. Screaming cries no one could hear, he experienced the agonizing transformation of his own form continually breaking apart and reforming.[1]
As Umbargoven’s will and blight pressed inexorably upon Kallus’ crystalline essence, the perfect form Everblight imprinted on it changed. The very pattern of his being shifted and adapted, and Everblight’s will joined Kallus’ in finding a new equilibrium that could withstand the foreign blight that opposed him. Kallus needed to integrate the dragon flesh around him into his own body, and so his form became itself more draconic; his body elongated and talons erupted from what remained of his hands, new limbs emerging from where there had been none.[1]
This metamorphosis reached its height as Umbargoven clashed with Toruk the Dragonfather alongside the rest of the dragon alliance. In time Umbargoven would have overcome Kallus and absorbed the athnac shard but the wounds inflicted by Toruk gave Kallus an unexpected chance at escape. Kallus clawed blindly through flesh, bone, and scales until he broke free and emerged in his new form. [1]
His endurance impressed Everblight who granted Kallus the honor of spreading the dragon’s influence to remote areas. For this purpose Kallus led a sizable force of spawn and legionnaires to the subcontinent of Alchiere to establish a new stronghold in the northern reaches of the Wall of Anguish, a mountain range bordering Alchiere’s eastern coast. Here, he has been hard at work constructing a new holding for the Legion, creating spawn to consolidate their position.[1]