The War God of the Cosmos, Gurgas, is dying. The immortal god has taken a mortal wound, having incurred the wrath of his sister-wife Helia for having one too many dalliances. She took her grievances to Hulcan, the god of the heavenly forge and found succour in his arms. Together, through blood sacrifices, they made what had never been made before – the Gauntlet of Immortal Death!
Gurgas had been on a dragon-slaying quest to the cave at the summit of Mount Greatsword. He was hoping to rid the universe of the malice of the dragon and win for himself the immense wealth that the dragon had amassed.
Whilst Gurgas was in the midst of his melee with Taufner the Totality Dragon, Helia appeared by Gurgas' side. She pretended to be offering him support, but just as Gurgas was throttling the dragon with his bare hands, she stood by him and thrust the studded Gauntlet into his side – the studs were dipped in poison. Gurgas reeled in shock, but kept his choke hold on the dragon. He strangled the beast to death and then slumped to the ground.
"What have you done, Helia? I feel as though… I might be dying! But I am an immortal god…how can this be?"
"Oh, you will die, Gurgas. But the poison on the Gauntlet of Immortal Death will take its time to work its way through your body. Eventually the poison will settle in your bowels, and you will shit yourself to death. Your immortal life force will be pulled into your intestines and eventually shat out with the final drops of poison." Helia cackled in triumph and left Gurgas to his fate.
With the dragon now deceased, Gurgas had no time to enjoy the horde of SOL that Taufner had been guarding.
"I must find my successor!" he mumbled to himself. "Before I die, I will anoint my successor. I must find an eternal champion who can take my place as the War God of the Cosmos. But where will I find such a champion? I must lure the best candidates – yes, gather them together. The reward will be eternal life and war and glory forever! And I will entice them with an immense pile of SOL!"
With what strength remained in his intoxicated body, he built a multi-level dungeon. The entrance to the dungeon was the cave mouth at the top of Taufner's mountain. He quickly carved it out with magical strength and relocated the dragon's horde – the pile of SOL – in the basement – on Level 14.
Then, searching through time and space, he finally arrived on Earth during the Dark Ages. He issued a godly proclamation:"All ye who would be the God of War of the Cosmos – come forth! Only the best warriors amongst you are eligible. 8,192 is decreed to be the magic number. Meet me here, and we will travel hence to Mount Greatsword. The rewards are great…"
Lo and behold, throughout the land, word spread. And before long 8,192 warriors emerged to present their credentials to Gurgas. Satisfied with the number of combatants, he carried them off the to the summit of the mountain."All of you must enter the cave – if you are to become my successor and eternal champion. Go through to the first level of the dungeon – I will meet you there."
As the group of hopeful champions gathered in the great domed cavern that Gurgas had affectionally named 'Level 1', he appeared before them, addressing them thus:
"I have a surprise for you all!" The members of the assembled host looked at each other in apprehension, wondering amongst themselves, what was going to happen?
"In order to get through each level of the dungeon, you must eliminate one of your rivals*. Only half of you will make it through to the next level. You must fight each other… to the death! There can only be one ultimate victor. I will now make my way to Level 14, where only the last of you remaining and final Champion will be allowed to enter. May the best one amongst you prevail!" With these final words, Gurgas shimmered and disappeared. He now lies squatted-over in pain atop of pile of SOL, waiting for his champion to emerge…
*unless you have accrued enough EXP to maybe earn a bye…