The Lore of Zelroth of the Valley

Zelroth of the Valley did not wish for the notoriety he achieved, it was thrust upon him at birth, warred with as a youth, accepted as an adult and tuned to devastating results as a master. All throughout the valley, the children's songs tell of the soul eater and his amphibious companion, but few know the truth behind the tale:

What's that tickle in the night?

Don't wake, don't wake because with sight

Zelroth will steal your pure, young soul

So shut your eyes and sleep tonight.

Zelroth was born to a young maiden of the Valley, unattached and self-sufficient. Zelroth's mother was beautiful but aloof and spurning of the Valley men's affections. When the maiden fell pregnant, the Valley chattered with confusion and her many suitors wondered who had won her prized affections.

A perfectly happy baby, loved by his mother, Zelroth was tenderly raised and schooled from a young age. As a boy, he was a tenacious, boisterous Valley lad --- a trickster at school but kind and loyal to his friends.

Zelroth lived a quiet, normal life with his mother until the winter afternoon in his twelfth year, when he discovered the truth behind his parentage.

On this day, returning home in the evening through the Valley's outskirt streets in the first snow, Zelroth heard a hoarse croak and saw a flash of flame disappear behind two trees. As he drew closer, he heard louder croaks and grew concerned for frogs seemed out of place this time of year. Peering to track the source of the sound, he came face with a blood red amphibian, twice the size of any frog he'd ever encountered. Zelroth locked eyes with the frog and immediately felt a tug from within, almost as if his insides were being pulled from his body and toward the creature causing an excruciating and immobilizing pain. But as soon as it seemed to start, the feeling subsided and he felt in his mind's eye a voice;

"It is I, Zelroth, your father. Long have I waited for this day to come! Do not be frightened by my appearance, this is only the current vehicle for my personage. Now that you have come of age, I am appearing to you to collect your mother's promise to me."

Zelroth stirred in the connection, feeling a tremor down his spine. The voice was present and calm, its focus unwavering.

"Death, as I am known, is inevitable. As your mother begged to stave me off until she could raise a child of her own, I relented. On the condition you be returned to me in your twelfth year. You see, I need agents of my making to pursue the collection of pure souls --- wizards who can track the finest souls and capture them for my kingdom before they are snatched up by my rivals in the heavens."

Zelroth, the youth that he was, quaked with fear in this discovery and hated his mother for not revealing the truth. With all his strength, he mustered;

"But I am just a simple boy of the Valley, not a wizard. Please release me from this horrible fate!"

The frog replied; _"It is too late, you are promised to me and I shall accompany you throughout your days, collecting pure souls who feast their eyes upon me in the night. You were never born a normal boy, you are a Wizard, Zelroth. Your powers shall be known to the world and you will be feared for the devastation they bring."_

The frog's maniacal laughter rang through his brain and Zelroth fell back powerless in the fresh snow, into a cold, dark sleep.

As the stories tell, Zelroth began his training with Death --- equal years in number to his life thus far. He developed his powers to rip the souls from the most pure, feeding them in turn to his constant companion, a blood red frog.

From his 24th year onward, Zelroth has roamed the Valley, haunted its streets like a tickling wind, waiting until the darkest hour of night for a soul to wake. And when the restless sleeper opens their eyes, unsuspecting of Zelroth's presence, his dark powers harness and tear the soul from the living to the dead.

The Valley has been Zelroth's these last hundred years and as the children's songs foretell, death swiftly comes to those who are pure of heart who enter here.

Entered by: 0x42dF…4c2f and preserved on chain (see transaction)