Maestro: A Class of Evil

Welcome to my castle. Do you think you'll survive the experience? It feels like it was yesterday; when I was considered to be everyone's hero on my home world. But then, the Sevin Brotherhood came along and destroyed everything I loved. I dealt with them though, oh yes I did. In the process I became the servant of the Demon god, Graethmael. No longer accepted at home, I left to find my new destiny. That's how I became the King of Demons.

There was another king at the time. He laughed at me and sent me on what he thought would be a futile quest for an ancient artifact. Well, artifacts were old hat to me. I obtained the Sphere of Kings and used it on him, taking over his throne. Now all of this is mine to use as I see fit.

I made myself known to the heroes of this universe by kidnapping a female Starknight and torturing her in my dungeon. But that was minuscule compared to what I really love to do. When I get bored I do things like take over the universe and slaughter heroes. I love to entwine people in traps of words, making them question their own morals. I craft better deals than the Devil himself.

I was a powerful bard in my day, creating magic out of music, but I'm far beyond that now. I have my own powerful magics that play off my golden flute. It's called megasorcery and it's an equal measure of sorcery, bardic and the power to alter reality itself. With it, I can sunder worlds or just peel you like a grape. I alter battlefields to confuse my enemies and then toy with them until they die.

Feel like raiding my castle? Nothing amuses me more than some wannabe hero thinking he's broken in to find me or some trinket I've hidden. I love breaking and entering into my home, it's hilarious. My castle is unstable dimensionally so you never know where opening a simple door will lead you. If the creatures I create don't eat you, the various trap rooms will carve you to pieces. Of course there are my demon guards, but I don't let them in on the fun unless I'm feeling generous.

Oh, and let's not forget that I'm a racist too. I hate Elves. All of them. One thing I want to accomplish in my lifetime (and it's a long life) is the utter genocide of those stupid snobby Elves. They were too busy being pompous and righteous when my world needed their help. Now they can just die.

I am Maestro, King of Demons and it makes me laugh when some do-gooder asks why I do what I do. Foolish heroes, evil needs no reason.

Spotlight: Bards!

Bards are more than just the wandering minstrels of old. They do more in GZ than spread the news. They are powerful spell castors through the force of their music.

Bardic spells are similar in effect to mainstream sorcery except that it's considered a different source of magic. Because of this, a target that is immune to sorcery magics may not be immune to bardic magics.

Bards must use a musical instrument and require the ability to make sound in or to cast their spells. Each Bard picks a favorite instrument from the time he starts training. By they time they've learned most of their intermediate magics, they can make their instrument sound like most of an orchestra all at once.

There is a Bard's Guild run by King Jacob. In the guild, only bards of good alignment are admitted and they link their music to make their spells stronger. There is no requirement to join and not all Bards are interested. For example, Anubis and Horus learned to be Bards, but aren't members of the Guild.

Bards can have powerful effects on their surroundings. How powerful? Well, I went searching for music videos to help me make this point:


So if they get their "rock" on, you best watch out. There are many Bards in GZ and they use all sorts of musical style to work their magic. As you travel the GZ universe, keep your ear open for Bardic messages that may warn you of danger or send information. Yep, you may even have to decipher a song for messages.

Popular Bards are Maestro and Rockaria, but it doesn't stop there.

Coming soon: Showcases! A Showcase is a super short story about a character or group of characters! Stay tuned!