Nezerth

Nezerth is an evil godlike villain originating from Arcania, an alternate Earth in which animals are sentient and exist in a manner similar to medieval fantasy such as tales of King Arthur and the Holy Grail.

Nezerth was once a proud warrior who fought in the defence of his land yet his mind would become unhinged in the course of his long struggle against the darkness - ultimately consuming him entirely as he shed his former life in favor of a new path: now devoted to the end of all things Nezerth is a danger not just to his world but to the entire multiverse as he seeks a means to become all-powerful and all-consuming..

Birth
Nezerth was born under a harvest moon to a young field-mouse, his father had been a rat and this was a source of great controversy as the two species were traditionally forbidden from forming relations: considerably more ratlike than mouse even from birth Nezerth was nevertheless loved dearly by his mother and three brethren: however she was extremely poor and could barely afford to keep her family alive - Nezerth's father had sadly passed away before he was born and thus his mother was left alone to raise her children.

Early Life
Nezerth enjoyed his childhood and was cared for by his mother and siblings - though even in his early days Nezerth would experience some hostility and fear due to his appearance and when his mother tried to have him educated he was refused access on the grounds of being "half-blood", left with little choice Nezerth's mother was forced to educate her son from home - he was an eager learner and held an optimistic outlook on life despite his adverse conditions.

Nezerth was raised to be respectful towards all beings and even when faced with cruel taunts or outright abuse he would rarely lash out, his siblings soon took on a protective role and he in turn grew close to them - in fact it was a known fact that the one way to truly get Nezerth angry was to upset his siblings, as one youth found to his peril when he had mocked Nezerth's sister for being a "commoner" - only to find himself dunked in the village well.

Joining The Royal Guard
Although a gentle soul at heart Nezerth was not exempt from the law of Greenwood at stated all able-bodied males over 14 cycles (equivalent to human years) must join the Royal Guard, having already seen his older brother go into the Royal Guard Nezerth was at first happy to be joining but soon came to hate the daily violence he saw as well as the cruelty of his fellow rodents: he once tried to intervene when a group of soldiers attacked an old farmer who couldn't pay tax, in his anger he accidentally killed one of the soldiers and despite being let off with a warning by his commander he would find himself haunted by the memories for years to come.

Despite his hatred of his job he performed his duties admirably and soon grew in rank - however in the latter years of service he began to show serious signs of emotional inbalance, brutally torturing one of his soldiers for disobeying orders: once again his commander simply let the incident slide (in truth Nezerth's commander was a very corrupt and unsympathetic individual who simply didn't care about what was occuring).

Due to the inaction of the commander Nezerth would continue to grow more abusive as time went on - after several soldiers pleaded with the commander to do something he showed his contempt by having Nezerth sent for training as a Grand Knight (shortly afterwards the commander was killed by his own soldiers, who had grown tired of his blatant disregard for their wellbeing).

Becoming A Grand Knight
Having lost his childhood innocence and developed a sadistic personality it was a surprise when Nezerth managed to pass his training as a Grand Knight - though it was almost certainly aided by the sheer fear Nezerth could create, having grown considerably large and strong due to his rat heritage: however not all beings were blind to the dangers Nezerth could pose to the Royal Court and a rat by the name of Longtail would frequently face off against Nezerth when he felt he had overstepped his place, Longtail was also one of the few who openly spoke against Nezerth's inclusion in the order of the Grand Knights on grounds of him being a "torturer of mice".

Despite this Nezerth would become a Grand Knight - a feast was held in his honor at the royal palace of Greenwood, two days later Longtail was gravely injured in a jousting accident and reportedly died of his wounds (though the true cause of death was later revealed to have been poison applied to his system via a laced bandage - the culprit was unknown, though many suspected Nezerth).

Decline Of Sanity
For three years Nezerth would serve as Royal Knight and was respected and fear in equal measure by those in court, he would often travel to the Cornfield to visit his family and was reported to have become extremely distraught when one winter's evening he was called away to his family home, his mother had grown sick and by the rising of the sun she had died: taking his young sister with him Nezerth would keep her in the palace and took a protective role over her, his two brothers were also brought to the palace by his request and put under his protection - though he would soon start to drift from them when they began to grow hostile towards him, having heard of his cruelty.

Things finally reached boiling point when one night after a heated debate he grabbed his eldest brother and almost choked the life out of him with his bare hands - only stopping when his terrified sister yelled out: dropping his brother to the ground Nezerth left the palace to "clear his head".

Nezerth would proceed to walk to a nearby cottage and stormed it, savagely murdering an entire family before returning to the palace as the sun began to rise.

The Cornfield Massacre
Unable to live with their brother all three of Nezerth's siblings fled back to the Cornfield and he went into a rage, however he was already in trouble as King Greypaw had heard to Nezerth's senseless murder the night before and demanded that he resign from his position in the Grand Knights - Nezerth left the palace and cursed Gerypaw's name before heading to the Cornfield himself and massacring dozens of innocent villagers, his own siblings included.

Unable to allow Nezerth's murderous rage continue King Greypaw ordered the other Grand Knights to attack, however things had grown out of control as several renegade Knights betrayed their former king and joined forces with the insane Nezerth: either out of fear or simply out of a deranged admiration for this seemingly unstoppable force of nature.

With the threat of civil war looming King Greypaw decided that he would personally lead the assault against Nezerth and thus the stage was set for one of Greenwood's greatest battles..

The Woodland Purge
Having massacred the Cornfield Nezerth looked towards the nearby Woodland, he had grown totally insane by this point and order the few traitors who had come to his aid to "purge" the Woodland - Nezerth and his followers caused untold havoc as they began to clear the Woodland, burning large portions of it to the ground and engaging the tree-dwelling tribes of Woodland in fierce battles.

Battle With King Greypaw
However just as Nezerth and his followers prepared to attack the Great Tree that lay in the centre of Woodland (inevitably sparking a war between the two nations) they were attacked by King Greypaw and his Knights, as the Knights clashed with the traitors King Greypaw challenged Nezerth to single combat and the two fought first with sword and then with tooth and claw as a symbolic battle raged: with King Greypaw representing the rule of Law and Nezerth represent the tide of anarchy - in the end Nezerth was defeated and fled deep into the shadows alongside a few traitors, the remaining traitors were all captured and ordered to serve fifteen cycles imprisonment for their crimes against Greenwood.

King Greypaw's actions also earned him the trust of Lady Silvius, who ruled over Woodland, in gratitude for Greypaw's defence of her stronghold she would form an alliance between the two nations - in an ironic twist Nezerth's efforts to spark a war succeeded only in strengthening the peace.

Exile
Beaten and humiliated Nezerth lived in exile for a full decade, having only the company of a small band of traitors for company - during his travels he would begin to experiment in sorcery and soon found himself excelling in the forbidden art of necromancy: several of his followers began to see him as a messiah-like figure, destined to avenge their defeat and bring true order to the world, at first dismissive of their beliefs Nezerth soon grew to enjoy the praise and in time began to believe his own lie as his power in necromancy grew.

Developing a god complex and a sociopathic hatred of all life Nezerth became fully corrupt, taking to calling himself the "god of destruction" his madness was only worsened by the fact that his followers stayed loyal even as he talked of destruction and ruin - though this may of been down to the fact that one follower who spoke against Nezerth was killed and eaten, installing great fear in the others.

Taking Over Rodentia
After a decade of waiting Nezerth and his followers attacked a nearby colony and enslaved the population, Nezerth would then display his "miracles" to the terrified population - making it rain blood, animating the corpses of enemies to "dance" to his will and summoning tormented souls to act as his "angels".

Nezerth then ordered the population to be freed and ordered them to worship him as their new god and ruler - those that refused were put to death and thus Nezerth had formed a new stronghold for himself, which he named Rodentia.

Nezerth was very clear on how Rodentia should grow and stated that all buildings should be left to fall into disrepair as shrines to decay, the population were free to do as they pleased but were expected to give excessive offerings of food to Nezerth on a daily basis: often resulting in starvation - at the same time Nezerth was wise enough to show occassional mercy to his population, knowing that if he was too push them too far they would rebel.

Some of Nezerth's mercies were the right to free schooling (though all schools were forced to teach an altered version of history, that had Nezerth as a godlike figure), access to clean water and military-protection - being an expert necromancer Nezerth was also able to install great fear in his population and many geniunely saw him as a god, which made rebellion (in their eyes) all but impossible.

Forming The Nezerth Order
Knowing that he would have to expand his power further than Rodentia Nezerth formed the Nezerth Order, his answer to the Grand Knights - made up of only the most loyal and fanatical of his followers the Nezerth Order were given the greatest weapons and armor at Nezerth's disposal and were also granted immunity to Rodentian law, making them formidable enforcers of Nezerth's will.

War With Greenwood
Gathering his forces Nezerth attempted to return to Greenwood several decades after his defeat by King Greypaw and was a terrible opponent on the battlefield as his necromancy ensured that for every opponent that fell a new addition to his army was formed: however Nezerth was not prepared for the intervention of Woodland - who came to Greenwood's aid and drove back Nezerth's forces.

In a rage Nezerth formed a plague cloud and cast it over Woodland, killing hundreds - however before the curse could be completed Lady Silvius countered the spell with her own powerful magic and sent the plague cloud hurling into Rodentia, killing many of Nezerth's followers in retaliation: however her actions were futile as Nezerth simply revived those who had died and gained further support from his people as a result.

Most damaging of all was that during this war several traitors from Greenwood and Woodland would abandon their nations and join with Nezerth, some were mercenaries and vagabonds while others were clearly insane - all were welcomed into Rodentia and although a failure Nezerth still believes the war against Greenwood was worthwhile as he gained something from the carnage..

Current Affairs
Nezerth continues to rule of Rodentia and plots ways to defile the land and exterminate life, he has recently ordered the first major construction in Rodentia in the form of the "Great Eye", a huge tower which he wishes to ascend as high as the heavens themselves - this seems to contradict with his previous rule to leave Rodentia in ruins but for those who know the truth this massive tower is not so much a monument as a weapon, with Nezerth already looking at ways to utilise crystals and forbidden magic to create what he describes as a "giant magnifying glass - capable of burning the land just as one burns ants" - how long it will take for the completion of such a deranged device is unknown, nor is it known how the inhabitants of Greenwood or Woodland would defend themselves should the "Great Eye" ever be completed..