Long time ago, in the deep shadows of a world veiled by mist and time, where mountains whispered and the winds told ancient tales, there roamed a warg whose name was known across the lands of the north, whispered in dread, awe, and forgotten reverence. His name was Rarok, and his story was one of power, of betrayal, and of the eternal struggle between the world's magic and the beasts who lived beneath its curse.
It began in an age when the magic of the world was ruled by the great spellcasters of the Lost Circle - an order of wizards whose powers were so vast that they could warp reality itself. Their ambition, however, grew beyond their control, and they sought a spell that would grant them not immortality, but the ability to shape the very essence of the universe. This spell, known as the
Crimson Veil, was said to have the power to rewrite the laws of magic, to fold time and space at will, and even to conquer death itself. Yet, as with all great power, it was cursed. The spell required a sacrifice, a price so high that none dared speak of it aloud.
Rarok, though a mere warg in the eyes of many, was no ordinary creature. His lineage ran deep, tracing back to the primordial beasts that roamed the earth when magic was young. His fur was dark as the night, streaked with silver like the first rays of the moon, and his eyes burned like molten gold. His heart, too, was bound to the arcane forces, for Rarok was no simple animal - he was a beast of fate, a being cursed to be a witness to the destruction that power could cause.
Long before the spellcasters sought the
Crimson Veil, Rarok had wandered the northlands, a silent guardian of the old ways. His kin had fallen in battle, his pack destroyed by men who sought to tame what could not be tamed. It was in this desolation, in the dark hollows of a moonless night, that the warg first encountered the sorcerer named Arathion.
Arathion was one of the last survivors of the Lost Circle, a man whose ambition had long surpassed his humanity. His hair was like silver threads spun by the hands of fate, his skin pale as the mists of dawn. His eyes, however, were the most haunting feature of all - once kind, now cold, like the depths of a starless sky.
It was Arathion who came to Rarok with a proposal.
"You, beast of shadow," he said, his voice carrying the weight of unspoken promises. "You are not just a creature of blood and bone. You are the key to the
Crimson Veil. I have seen it in the stars, in the runes carved deep within the earth. You are the one who can lead me to it."
Rarok had known of the spell, of course. Even the winds knew its name, and the world trembled beneath its power. But he had never known that one such as Arathion would seek it, nor did he understand why this mortal, this man, believed himself worthy of such power.
Still, a part of him - an ancient part, buried deep beneath his primal instincts - understood. The spell, once unlocked, would change the world. It would make Arathion not just a sorcerer, but a god. And in this godhood, Rarok saw the final fall of the world he had always known.
Yet, bound by something beyond comprehension, Rarok agreed to guide Arathion.
Together, they traveled the northern lands, beyond the reach of kingdoms and into the forgotten realms where the old gods still whispered. Through blizzards and frozen forests they ventured, scaling mountains that reached beyond the heavens, descending into caverns so deep that the light of the moon itself could not pierce them. At the heart of these lands, where the stars seemed to fade and time stretched like the great icy plains, lay the Temple of the Forsaken Moon.
It was here that the
Crimson Veil was said to be hidden, protected by the ancient forces of the world. Yet, as they approached the temple's entrance, Rarok sensed something else - a dark presence, an energy older than the spell itself.
"Beware, Arathion," Rarok growled, his voice a low rumble that shook the very earth beneath them. "The cost of this magic is not just your soul. It is the soul of the world itself."
But Arathion, blinded by ambition, pressed on.
Inside the temple, they found the
Crimson Veil - a swirling mass of energy that seemed to pulse with the very heartbeat of the world. The spell was a thing of terrible beauty, its power so great that it warped the air around it, distorting reality.
Rarok stood at the threshold of the temple, his fur bristling, his eyes alight with warning. But it was too late. Arathion, with all the arrogance of man, reached forward and touched the veil.
At that moment, the world trembled.
The
Crimson Veil unraveled, and with it, Arathion's humanity was consumed. His body twisted, his form shifting into something monstrous, something beyond comprehension. He had become the very force he sought to control - a being of unimaginable power and madness.
Rarok, now bound by fate to the unraveling magic, leapt forward in an attempt to stop the sorcerer. But the magic of the
Crimson Veil had already begun its work. The world began to fracture, the skies turning blood-red, the land splitting asunder.
In the final moments, as the temple crumbled around them, Rarok faced Arathion. The sorcerer - now nothing more than a creature of pure power - stared down at the warg with hollow eyes.
"You could have joined me, beast," Arathion whispered, his voice no longer human. "Together, we could have ruled all."
But Rarok did not answer. Instead, he lunged at the sorcerer, sinking his teeth into the magic itself, tearing at the very fabric of the spell.
With a roar, Rarok sacrificed himself, unraveling the magic in an explosion of power so intense that it shattered the temple and sent the
Crimson Veil back into the void from which it had come. But in doing so, Rarok's own essence was lost, consumed by the very magic he sought to destroy.
And so, the warg named Rarok became legend.
It is said that his spirit still roams the northlands, a shadow beneath the moon, guarding against those who would seek the
Crimson Veil again. And on nights when the wind howls like a beast in pain, it is believed that Rarok's soul howls alongside it, a reminder that power comes with a price - and some sacrifices are too great for even the gods to bear.
Thus, the legend of Rarok, the Warg of the Forsaken Moon, endures.