| abstract | - There are few wizards powerful enough to call lightning. There are even fewer whom could move the sky. There has only been one who has ever used the fury of a hurricane to defeat an army, and that is Euripiderious the Stormbringer. Born a lesser son of a modest family, Euripiderious had few prospects open to him. His eldest brother would inherit his father's business. The second oldest was granted a commission in the army and was destined for glory on the battlefield. His sisters were both fair and beautiful and would have their choice of men to court them. The only real option was to join the clergy of some religious order or another. Not being very pious, Euripiderious sought other options wherever he could. One day, while researching some subject or another in the home of a local sage, the wizard Thadeol Goblinbane came in, looking for the very book Euripiderious was using. More amused than irritated by Euripiderious' refusal to hand over the book until he was done, Thadeol saw great potential in the boy. Within the month, Euripiderious was apprenticed to Thadeol and took up residence in Xaparat Tower, which would be his home for the rest of his life. By the time Euripiderious was fully grown, he had surpassed his mentor in power, but still looked to him for guidance. When the Emperor asked for armor that could withstand the hottest fires, it was Euripiderious who crafted it. When the High Priestess of Erathis requested a holy symbol of unearthly beauty to show the grace and power of her god, Euripiderious created it. Highborn and common folk from all over the Empire came to his doorstep. But his crowning achievement came at the end of his life. For years, he had served the Empire with honor and dignity. Then there came a time when creatures of such grotesque shape and form became a threat against his people. Beings known as Aboleth, strange creatures with immeasurable memories and power, so ught to control the Storm Coast and the people of the Empire. They attacked with elementals and people transformed into walking horrors. The land was ravaged and there seemed little hope for the Empire. Euripiderious, nearly a century old, gathered his apprentices and left Xaparat Tower for the water's edge. With his assistants, Euripiderious set forth a ritual to gather all the power and might of the numerous stormfronts that wandered the waters off the Storm Coast. Five, ten, fifty storms, he gathered together and with one final word, sent all that power streaming into the sea. The Aboleth and their servants screamed in pain and found themselves ripped apart by the power. The few that survived retreated into the depths of the ocean and have never seen fit to launch an assault since. Weakened by the ordeal, Euripiderious returned to Xaparat Tower, his face haggard and worn. Within days, a fever struck him, and soon after he was dead. But the people of the Empire have never forgotten what he did for them.
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