the False Immortal

 Kiramax seeks to free himself from his Astral prison and restore himself to power on the Material Plane to rebuild his ancient empire.

 Kiramax craves the worship and adoration of his subjects. 

 Kiramax is trapped within an Astral demiplane which has warped his mind and body, turning him into a cosmic monstrosity and damaging his ability to reason.

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Trusan empire enveloped the majority of the southern continent.  God-King Kiramax VII led the empire to the height of its power as a socio-political force of great magical means unprecedented throughout history and unrivaled since its fall. The Trusans created empire-wide prosperity through their widespread conquering of neighboring lands, allowing for rapid advancements in the fields of science and magic. Many in the empire attributed its success directly to Kiramax, who was viewed as a politically cunning strong-man with divine blood in his veins, making him uniquely suited to the Trusan throne. Kiramax leveraged his immense popularity and wealth to fund what he referred to as his god-given birthright: the Immortal Project. He reasoned that the empire's greatness and the prosperity of its people were brought about by the unique talents of himself and his close confidants. In order to maintain Trusan supremacy, Kiramax and the ruling class would devise a method to grant themselves immortality so that the empire could never fall apart after their deaths. Over a period of years, Kiramax, his clerics, and his council of magi determined that a subject's conscious mind could be implanted into the body of another by routing it through the Astral Plane, thus overriding the host's own consciousness and allowing the subject to exist and live freely in the body of the host. A limited immortality, then, would come from repeating consciousness transfers to younger hosts as required to sustain the consciousness of the subject. This, of course, meant that healthy lives would essentially be sacrificed as their minds were overwritten to facilitate the immortality of the ruling class. The magic showed promise as the Trusans were successful in a number of trials. They received the support of the public, promising that the magic would be used to grant immortality to law-abiding citizens of the empire. They said that host bodies would be sourced from criminals, undesirables, and enemies of the empire captured in war. Kiramax's popularity only increased as the furor against "outsiders" was stoked to solidify the flames of false promises.  He and his companions became known as the Immortals.

Some of the gods took notice. Insulted by the hubris of Kiramax and his sycophants, they began to inflict plagues and calamity across the Trusan empire. Other gods disagreed, believing it admirable that the Trusans sought immortality. They informed Kiramax of the gods' anger and helped the Trusans construct vast facilities in the Underdepths where they could live and continue their research, safe from the holy fire that rained down from the sky upon their cities. For a time, as Trusan cities were destroyed, the Immortals, emboldened by arrogance, continued their research below, believing that the anger of the gods would eventually subside. As the weeks wore on, however, it became clear that the gods' anger would threaten even their subterranean facilities. Using their advanced magic and the aid of the gods who favored them, the Immortals constructed an Astral demiplane they called Valanthia, in which they could hide to save themselves from destruction, thus abandoning their rapidly disintegrating empire.

Now, thousands of years later, the Trusan empire is lost to history. The portal to the connecting Valanthia to the Material Plane has been closed, confining those who flew too close to the sun in a prison of their own making. The passage of time and Astal forces have gradually warped the minds and bodies of the Immortals, turning them into cosmic monstrosities. But Kiramax has not resigned himself to his fate. By invading dreams, he has tried for millennia to send messages back to the Material Plane in hopes of inspiring support. Recently, his call has been heard from beyond the veil. A new cult known as the Great Waking has been formed, who believe Kiramax must be freed from his prison and restored to power. They aim to replicate the consciousness-transferring magic of the Immortals so that Kiramax and the Immortals may return to the Material Plane in mortal forms and rebuild their former empire.

Through dreams, people have heard the Immortals’ call and have organized themselves in pursuit of bringing them back to the Material Plane and restoring them to power. The cult calls itself the Great Waking, and they control temples and safehouses where they hold ceremonies in worship to Kiramax and perform arcane rituals and research in the hopes of transporting the Immortals’ consciousness into vessels on the Material Plane. The 

 are led by a muscular giant of a man with pale skin who calls himself the Prophet and claims to speak directly with Kiramax. 

The Trusans who accompanied Kiramax into the astral demiplane of Valanthia have been warped by the plane’s magic over millennia to become 

. The frayed outsiders are Kiramax’s servants, priests, advisors, and subjects. The vast majority of the frayed outsiders remain intensely loyal to Kiramax, helping him to send messages to those who dream on the Material Plane. A select few, however, have come to resent Kiramax and recognize the hubris they took part in. They oppose his plan to return to the Material Plane, believing instead that they and the so-called God-King should remain imprisoned for eternity. They do not defy Kiramax openly, however, for rightful fear of being destroyed by Kiramax. 

Kiramax has formed a mutually beneficial alliance with 

 of the Astral Plane, who have agreed to act as spies on Kiramax’s behalf in order to sabotage those who oppose the spreading influence of the Great Waking cult. In return, the memory harvesters benefit from astral connections established by the cult, which allow them to visit the Material Plane as frequently as they wish, allowing them to gather memories in greater number. 

The waters of the Sparkling Sea in proximity to the entrance to Valanthia are dense with 

. When Kiramax is angered by an unruly servant or arrogant advisor, he casts them out of Valanthia and into the Sparkling Sea for them to be torn apart by the destroyers. Knowing that Valanthia provides them the opportunity for a steady source of food, the creatures circle endlessly in the surrounding waters, eagerly awaiting a chance at their next meal. 

Kiramax has bought the loyalty of several 

 who sail the Sparkling Sea. In exchange for hundreds of possessions sentimentally valuable to Kiramax and his closest advisors, many astral ferrymen have agreed to provide Kiramax with information gleaned from astral travelers and to misdirect any potential interlopers to Valanthia.

Kiramax’s reaching out to mortals on the Material Plane has created optimum conditions for the spawning of 

. Each time a sleeping person dreams of Kiramax, a brief connection is created between the Material and the Astral that allows for the leeches to manifest. Though the simple-minded creatures are not controlled by nor do they share any alliance with Kiramax, they are an externality of his efforts that brings chaos and fear to the population centers where Kimarax and the Immortals send their messages.

The players may wish to address the growing influence of the Great Waking cult and stop Kiramax and the Immortals from meddling with the Material Plane for a number of reasons. A few of these reasons are outlined below. 

Preachers in the street are gathering larger and larger crowds who watch them speak about the Astral Plane and an old empire’s imminent return to glory. Many of the individuals who listen to the preachers say that they have heard and seen divine messages in their dreams from the ones that the preachers speak about. Void leeches soon begin to manifest in increasing number, their appearance an unexplainable phenomenon. 

A high-ranking official of a local church wants the characters help to investigate the religious group calling themselves the Great Waking. The official suspects the group is a cult conducting illegal activities but lacks hard evidence and cannot investigate the matter themselves due to the public backlash of potential discovery of unjustified lawbreaking. The official asks the characters to sneak or break in to a temple belonging to the Great Waking to learn as much as they can about the group’s activities.

This once-human being has been twisted by the magic of an Astral demiplane constructed to escape the wrath of the gods. He plots a return to his homeland and sends messages to the Material Plane through mystical dreams. 

Kiramax

The False Immortal