A young family, the newly appointed governors of Moonglow, were on their way home from the theatre one evening, foolishly decided to take a shortcut through a moongate, which mistakenly deposited them on a dark path near the Chaos Shrine. A rasping voice from the shadows demanded their valuables, and the moonlight could be seen glinting off a sharp blade.

The father stepped in front of his wife and son, and almost instantly fell to the brigand’s sword. His young wife screamed, pushing their son behind her.

“This’ll shut you up!” the murderous robber proclaimed, throwing a dagger at her, hitting her squarely in the throat, splitting her pearl necklace, and causing her to fall backwards, dead.

The son knelt beside his fallen parents, glaring at their murderer with hatred in his eyes.  He called out – “Any defender of the virtues! I demand justice and vengence! Is there anyone out there, in the dark night? Vengence for Moonglow’s leaders! Vengence for my parents!”

As the murderer approached the boy to dispatch him, and loot his parents corpses, a dark shape grew from the shrine nearby. At first, looking somewhat like a mongbat, but rapidly growing bigger and bigger, until it towered over the path. Then it turned, shrank, and became a stream of darkness, flowing into the boy. The boy’s eyes began to glow.

The brigand turned to flee, but a huge, dark claw grabbed him, and new screams filled the night.

…

In the coming week, Moonglow found it had a new governor. One who was, most certainly, too young to hold office. One who seemed to have forsaken the virtues – most particularly compassion. The slightest offence carried the death penalty, and there was a dark pall hanging over the city. The citizens trembled, afraid to act, afraid to speak, in case they offended their young demi-god of a leader.

Word soon reached King Blackthorn, who dispatched guards to investigate. Within the day, a moongate opened above Castle Blackthorn, and the twisted remains of those guards fell from the sky, splattering on the rooftops of the castle.

How to oppose a demi-god with the mind of a child? A deeply hurt, grieving child?  Assuming they could even reach him, none of the guards wanted to be known as a child-killer – children were few, in the land, ever since Mondain’s shattering of the gem.

Blackthorn called his most trusted advisors to him, and they began to discuss strategy…