Correries

The first mortal to ascend to godhood after the Korvak War, driven by ambition inherited from his father and manipulated by a hidden enemy of the world whose true purpose he never fully understood.

Overview

Correries was a councilman on the High Council of Aegea, serving alongside Magerris. He was the son of Kjeldin, known as Kjeldin the Destroyer, one of the five original Gift-Bearers of the Korvak War.

Correries inherited his father's obsession with the power of the Gifts. His pursuit of that power eventually transformed him from a powerful mortal wizard into the first mortal to ascend to godhood after the Korvak War.

His ascension began a chain of events that culminated in the divine war, the destruction of the Age of Wonders, and the Fall of the Age of Wonders.

The Pythia prophecy identifies him as the "son of destruction", whose ascension would bring about the end of days. (Collected Translations of Pythia the Mad Prophet, 7/10/2009)

Although Correries became one of the most powerful beings in the world, he was himself being manipulated by Marstalbin, a surviving Korvak who used Correries as part of a much larger plan to return the Korvaks to the world.

Mortal Life

Son of Kjeldin

Correries was the son of Kjeldin the Destroyer, one of the five original Gift-Bearers.

Kjeldin had wielded the Second Gift during the Korvak War. After the war, he became obsessed with recovering the Gift after it had been returned to Demmazon and subsequently hidden.

Kjeldin eventually died while searching for the lost Gift.

Correries inherited his father's obsession and eventually became a powerful wizard and member of the High Council of Aegea, where he served alongside Magerris.

Marstalbin's Manipulation

Correries was secretly approached by Marstalbin, a Korvak survivor who had remained hidden in the world disguised as a human.

Marstalbin possessed the blue Gift that had been lost after the Korvak War. Because Korvak magic differed from the magic of the mortal world, Marstalbin was unable to use the Gift himself. He therefore gave the Gift to Correries.

Marstalbin manipulated Correries into helping him construct a means of trapping Demmazon within his own realm. Correries believed he was pursuing his own ambitions, but his actions were ultimately serving Marstalbin's plan to remove Demmazon from the world and create the opportunity for the Korvaks to return.

The Creation of the Orcs and Drow

As Correries' power grew, he began experimenting on elves in an attempt to create a powerful race capable of serving his ambitions.

Correries and his ally Ulanthar experimented on hundreds of elves, attempting to transform beings that were naturally good into creatures capable of absolute evil.

The experiments produced numerous failures. These creatures eventually became the orcs.

Ulanthar eventually discovered a method of successfully corrupting the elves. His experiments produced the race that became known as the drow.

Correries intended to use these creations as part of the armies he was assembling.

Riatin and the Undead

Another of Correries' allies was Riatin.

Riatin experimented with the power of the Gifts on dead bodies and eventually discovered how to reanimate the dead. He became the creator of the first undead.

Riatin ultimately transformed himself into the first lich, while his cohort Cain became the first vampire.

Riatin later commanded undead forces during Correries' war, though he was ultimately destroyed by the Heroes of Aegea.

The War

Correries eventually unleashed his armies upon the world.

The resulting conflict devastated the civilized world and destroyed Aegea, the city in which Correries and Magerris had once served together on the High Council.

The war became increasingly centered on the struggle for control of the remaining Gifts.

The Theft at Alantarin's Temple

Alantarin the Wise guarded two Gifts in his hidden temple: his own Red (Protection) Gift, and the Yellow (Evocation) Gift — Kjeldin's Gift, entrusted to Alantarin after the Korvak War ended. Kjeldin had died searching for it many years later. When Magerris sent the Heroes of Aegea to request Alantarin's help, Correries had his sister Zaraleth ("Zut") follow them, and she stole both Gifts from the temple before the Heroes arrived.

Before she could deliver the Gifts to Correries, however, the Heroes of Aegea intercepted her and took the Gifts from her.

This led directly to a major confrontation between Correries and the Heroes.

The Battle and The Gap

During the confrontation, Correries and Magerris fought, and Magerris was ultimately knocked unconscious. Otheron, one of the Heroes, picked up the red Gift from Magerris and not knowing what he was doing, accidentally unleashed the full power of the Red Gift against Correries. The resulting blast was catastrophic.

Correries used the Blue Gift to protect himself, surviving the attack while the unleashed power tore through the surrounding mountains and carved a trench several miles long into the landscape.

The enormous geological scar became known as The Gap of Otheron.

The true origin of The Gap would eventually be lost to history. More than ten thousand years later, the feature still exists and is known in the modern era as Oath's Gap. Modern peoples possess multiple conflicting and incorrect legends concerning both its creation and the origin of its name.

In the aftermath of the battle, Correries managed to recover the Red Gift from the Heroes.

The immediate result was:

Bearer	Gifts
Correries	Red + Blue
Heroes of Aegea	White + Yellow

This left Correries in possession of two of the Five Gifts and the Heroes of Aegea in possession of the other two Gifts.

Ascension

Correries discovered that the power of a Gift could be absorbed directly into himself rather than remaining contained within the physical artifact. Correries absorbed the power of the red Gift into himself, destroying the artifact in the process.

The absorption did not transfer all of the Gift's power to Correries. A significant portion of its power was lost in the destruction of the Gift. Nevertheless, the power he retained allowed Correries to transcend mortality, and was powerful enough that even another Gift-wielder would be at a disadvantage against him.

He became the first mortal to ascend to godhood after the Korvak War.

This forced Magerris to absorb his own Gift (White) in turn to stand a chance, and the two fought their first god-battle over the city of Rictaria — a fight that destroyed the city and threw up the mountain now known as Godsmount.

The Creation of Milaynee and Ulanthar

After his ascension, Correries used the power of the blue Gift to raise two of his closest allies to godhood. He divided the Gift's power between Milaynee and Ulanthar, elevating both to divine status.

This established the first division of a Gift's power between multiple mortal recipients, and solved the loss of power from one being attempting to absorb an entire Gift

The resulting ascension of Milaynee and Ulanthar began the expansion of the new pantheon and intensified the conflict with Magerris.

Zaraleth's Death

Correries' sister Zaraleth eventually turned against him. During the pursuit of the Heroes from Alantarin's temple, Zaraleth fell in love with the Paladin Tarn Tanglefoot. Torn between her brother and her growing conviction that his ambitions had gone too far, she defected, joining the Heroes against Correries — a choice that would later cost her her life at her own brother's hand.

She came to believe that Correries' ambitions and actions had gone too far and attempted to convince him to abandon his path. Correries refused and killed his own sister.

The Fall of the Age of Wonders

Correries' ascension forced the other Gift-Bearers into a similar struggle for divine power.

Magerris eventually ascended using the First Gift and subsequently divided another Gift between Krom and Tarmikos, raising both to godhood.

The resulting conflict between the newly ascended gods unleashed enormous amounts of magical power upon the world.

The battles between Correries and Magerris devastated the landscape and destroyed cities.

The climactic battle over Rictaria left an enormous permanent scar upon the land, later known as Godsmount.

The conflict ultimately became the Fall of the Age of Wonders.

The Imprisonment of Demmazon

Correries' rise had been made possible in part by Marstalbin's scheme to neutralize Demmazon.

Marstalbin successfully imprisoned Demmazon within his own realm, preventing the creator god from intervening directly in the growing conflict.

The Heroes of Aegea eventually discovered Demmazon's imprisonment and freed him.

They accomplished this by sacrificing themselves to disrupt the mechanism sustaining the prison.

With Demmazon freed, the conflict between the newly ascended gods could no longer continue unchecked.

The Separation of Demmazon's Realm

Demmazon ultimately drew the newly ascended gods into his own realm.

Once they were there, he separated his realm from the mortal world.

The consequences were catastrophic.

The physical world was dramatically altered, with mountains and seas reshaped by the enormous forces unleashed during the separation.

The Age of Wonders came to an end.

The separation also ended the era in which people could freely wield magic. The magical capabilities that had once been broadly available to mortals disappeared, leaving only those sufficiently dedicated to the practice able to manipulate magic.

The separation further created the spiritual barrier that prevented souls from properly passing beyond the world and disrupted the normal functioning of magical resurrection.

Correries and the other newly ascended gods were left imprisoned within Demmazon's separated realm.

Current Status

Correries remains a Chaotic Evil deity.

He is imprisoned within Demmazon's separated realm, along with the other gods who were trapped there during the Fall.

He remains an active deity, although he is largely unable to directly intervene in the mortal world.

His legacy continues through his worshippers and through the races and supernatural forces whose origins are connected to his actions during the Age of Wonders.

Theology & Worship

Correries' divine domains are:

Magic
Knowledge
Air

His favored weapon is the dagger.

His holy symbol is an eye superimposed over a lightning bolt.

His prophetic title is Son of Destruction, derived from the prophecy of Pythia the Mad Prophet.

Correries represents the pursuit of knowledge and magical power without moral restraint. His rise demonstrates the danger posed by the Gifts when placed in the hands of mortals willing to pursue unlimited power.

Canon Notes

First ascended deity: Correries was the first mortal to ascend to godhood after the Korvak War.
Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
Domains: Magic, Knowledge, Air.
Father: Kjeldin / Kjeldin the Destroyer.
Sister: Zaraleth ("Zut").
Primary allies: Ulanthar and Milaynee.
Primary rival: Magerris.
Manipulator: Marstalbin, a surviving Korvak.
Gifts acquired from Alantarin's temple: The Red and Blue Gifts.
Gift possession immediately following the battle at The Gap: Correries possessed the Red and Blue Gifts; the Heroes of Aegea possessed the White and Yellow Gifts.
Ascension: Correries absorbed the power of one Gift directly into himself, destroying the artifact. Not all of its power remained within him.
Gods raised by Correries: Milaynee and Ulanthar.
Riatin: Correries' ally, creator of the first undead, first lich, and creator of the first vampire through Cain.
Orcs: Result of Correries and Ulanthar's failed experiments on elves.
Drow: Result of Ulanthar's successful experiments corrupting elves.
The Gap: Created when Otheron accidentally unleashed the full power of the Red Gift during the confrontation between Correries and the Heroes of Aegea.
Modern name of The Gap: Oath's Gap.
Fall of the Age of Wonders: Correries' actions were a central cause of the conflict that culminated in the Fall.
Current status: Imprisoned within Demmazon's separated realm.

Sources

Campaign Development III (2/27/2008)
Revelations and Recruitment (10/11/2008)
Dark Encounter (1/6/2010)
War! (hoo) What Is It Good For? (12/17/2009)
History of the World: Part I (5/12/2010)
Collected Translations of Pythia the Mad Prophet (7/10/2009)
Author's alignment/domain table (2026)