Scuttlebutt is a peculiar character. He is a small guy with multiple wrinkles on his face. Despite being only 30 years old, he looks like he's 50. Anyone who saw him on the streets would think he was clumsy and slow, but he was extremely capable of performing acrobatics and was so agile that it was said he had been blessed by the Monkey King of Chinese mythology.
Our enigmatic character already had a reputation at this point. He was the most famous treasure hunter in the Five Known Worlds, from the tropical beaches of Antilas to the cold mountains of Sha. He was a wanderer, a nomad, an adventurer who was charged with revealing the secrets of that immense world. He had discovered the lost tomb of the great Han, who had unified the Five Worlds for a century. He had also stolen from the wealthy merchant Light a collar capable of decoding any ancient language and belonging to the Sithe tribe. It should be noted that he returned the object. One of his greatest achievements was entering the world of Elementals and returning alive. On that unique journey, he brought back many interesting objects, including the flame of a phoenix, the horn of a unicorn, and the stored screams of a banshee. These elements were essential for sorcerers and wizards to build objects or potions that could cure deadly diseases.
However, this story is to tell how our protagonist managed to become a villain. From this point on in the history of the Five Worlds, the name Scuttlebutt would be feared and anyone who dared to oppose him was eliminated. Many say that the demon Azabach himself took possession of the adventurer's soul, others that it was the erosion of his soul before the taunts of people for his old and wrinkled appearance, while another small faction says it was due to the rejection of a young lady.
Scuttlebutt did not sell his soul to any demon, but the taunts were just the tip of the iceberg and the young lady was once the princess of the Shadow Kingdom, a place extremely remote from the world where people played with dark arts to master the magic of shadows. However, they did not do it in a malevolent way, but with values very different from those of others. Princess Orae had a character that could be delicate one day and explode in anger the next over any undue comment.
She had loved Scuttlebutt since she was a child, but because in her kingdom, beauty was a sign of power and wealth, she could not reveal her feelings so openly to our protagonist. However, he perceived it. He was not immune to the gothic beauty of our princess. He too was a Casanova who possessed a gift of gab that could not rival that of the famous bard Gunnar. He was not in love, but the obstacle of not possessing the princess for one night led him to perform acts that he would later regret.
She loved him, but he only sought to win the challenge. So, a little hurt in her pride and knowing the adventurer's intentions, she challenged him and urged him to seek the Dark Scroll, where 5 spells capable of changing five things in the physical world were written: the soul, the appearance, the feelings, the mind, and reality. These spells were written by the first ruler and sorcerer of Shadows, Yin.
The soul-changing spell: This spell allowed for the exchange of one person's soul for another's or also transformed that soul from good to bad or vice versa.
The transformation spell: It allowed changing the physical appearance of any person who wished it forever. It was not momentary as some thought.
The feelings-changing spell: As its name suggests, this spell changes a person's feelings towards something or someone. If someone hated another person, love could arise, or if someone had no feelings towards someone, love could suddenly arise. It can also change grief for the loss of a loved one to joy and vice versa.
Mind Spell: With this spell, it is possible to change a person's thoughts only once. The person cannot be dominated or controlled. Only one idea or thought can be changed and their mentality can be altered about that idea they had of the world.
Lastly, the most dangerous spell is the Reality Spell: This spell can invert reality, making everything that was once true false and vice versa. Gods, kings, and laws, everything could change just by reciting the spell, but this powerful spell could only be pronounced by a king of Shadow, that was the condition.
In summary, Scuttlebutt had to overcome many obstacles to obtain the parchment. He faced minotaurs in a labyrinth that changed location with every step, fought fierce shadows, and also fled from a shadow dragon. But finally, from the remains of the first king, he obtained the parchment.
He gave it to Princess Orae. He thought he had won the night he dreamed of with her, but she wanted the parchment to recite the transformation spell. As the language was ancient and difficult to decipher, she inadvertently recited the wrong spell due to translation problems, changing Scuttlebutt's love for adventure to the love for conquering, some say even other things. It might seem like a small change, but it changed everything. Our hero left the princess's court feeling deceived since nothing happened, but unknowingly, he no longer felt the same about adventures. The princess also didn't know what she had done wrong until it was too late.
The next day, the conquest of the kingdom began and from there everything changed. Scuttlebutt became bloodthirsty and used any method to conquer what was not his. He aspired to become the new king, not through marriage, but through force and his effort. In a month, he succeeded, and Princess Orae was imprisoned until she perished with the passing of the years. Efforts were made to repair the damage they had done to the essence of our character, but the parchment remained in Scuttlebutt's hands, who kept it in a tower, not without changing his soul for a darker one that had no limits or values that would hinder him in his conquest.
From that moment on, Scuttlebutt would be called Invictus Scuttlebutt. His story would be told as a plague throughout the Five Worlds, almost overshadowing all the good things he had done in his past. Many heroes tried to reach the Dark Tower and get the parchment, but only a character named Lasswen succeeded.
However, that story is for another occasion.
Cover and Banner made in Canva; Images created by Canva's AI, Separators made in photoshop