Arthur Pendragon

Wielder of Excalibur. King of Camelot and the Britons.

A figure who straddles the line between history and myth, between fact and outright fantasy. For some he was simply a dark age warlord, for others the king of a long gone kingdom.

The truth is far stranger and more fantastic than could ever be imagined. That the life of King Arthur began centuries ago... and continues to this day in a place far from Earth, yet merely a footstep away.

The Rise and Fall of Camelot

The man who would become known as King Arthur began through the machinations of the Wizard Myrddin (Mur-Thin). This enigmatic figure sought to forge a Kingdom that could bring unity to what he saw a world in dire need of it, and Arthur would be the key to accomplishing that.

And it worked, for a time.

Arthur was a superlative warrior and leader, a statesman who could inspire greatness in those around him and who could lead his forces and triumph in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. He wielded a sword of mythic power and seemed more than human. Camelot would grow in power and strength, uniting the British Isles and then ever onward.

But human nature and weakness conspired to bring all it toppling down. The machinations of rival powers who saw Myrddin's grand scheme a danger to their own plans and thus was Camelot doomed and King Arthur consigned to myth and folklore.

But, his story did not end there.

Arthur Reborn

After the battle of Camlann in which Arthur was mortally wounded by his son and rival Mordred, the Wizard Myrddin knew his plans had failed. Camelot would fall and pass into memory and then myth, fact becoming utterly interwoven with fiction over the passing years. Various nations would claim ownership of the legend and innumerable variations on the life and legend of the great King Arthur would be woven.

Yet Arthur did not die. He was not entirely human for he was the product of much design by Myrddin to create a champion, a living weapon.

He awoke, his wounds healed, his body strong and hale. Myrddin revealed to Arthur of his destiny.

He was to be a protector, not just of his homeland but of the human race. There existed numerous threats to humanity, ancient horrors who still roamed the world for this was a time when magic had yet to fade entirely. His kingdom was gone, but his duty remained. Myrddin, as ever following his own unknowable machinations, showed Arthur the dangers that humankind faced and would face.

Arthur accepted, taking upon himself the burden of Champion.

And so for the following years, then decades, centuries and millennia Arthur was the unsung and unseen protector of humanity. An unstoppable superhuman warrior whose martial skills only increased over the centuries. He fought ancient evils and rogue Gods. He toppled cults dedicated to abominable intelligences that sought to plunge the world into blood and madness. He slew monsters and tyrants, secret societies and would be Gods and Emperors. In secret wars in alliances with other secret powers, Arthur saved the world from nightmares and apocalypses.

And then as World War II raged, he disappeared. Arthur had been reluctant to join in the conflict between the Allies and the Axis powers but had been convinced to when he learnt that a rogue occultist loosley affilated with the Nazi regime sought to open a portal into another world. Though the reasons were unknown it was generally accepted that it was not to be beneficial to humanity as a whole. So Arthur, along with a team of British and French soldiers and a scion of the infamous Raven family, travelled into Germany to a castle that did not appear on any maps and there stopped the portal from opening, though at great cost for Arthur was lost as he sealed the portal.

Elijah Raven, the man who accompanied the team, knew of Arthur for his family had long had dealings with him. He knew the loss Britain and the world just suffered and of the incredible sacrifice the man most people believed to be mere myth had done.

Into Otherworld

Arthur of course did not perish. He was trapped in a new world, beneath an alien sky. It was a world of wonders peopled by strange beings and fantastic creatures. It was the world that had inspired so many legends back on Earth across the planet. And it was not just one single world but many, all connected through a network that bridged impossible distances, allowing a traveller to step from one world to another. These were dangerous yes, filled with hostile beings and creatures. But Arthur had fought monsters for more than a millennia.

He felt at home in Otherworld, as if a part of him belonged here. He suspected that the old Wizard Myrddin perhaps came from Otherworld and that its magic had played a part in his creation.

Here Arthur need not hide away. Here, he need not be King or warrior. He could simply live. Here, he could be free.

Alas, his freedom would not last long.

In the late twenty-first century Earth began its invasion of Otherworld via the long defunct portals. Armed with weapons of horrific potency the invading armies of Earth, little more than private legions in the employ of monolithic megacorporations, paved the way for colonists to establish footholds in Otherworld. Arthur watched as the humans he had fought millennia to protect waged war on the denizens of these worlds, the Orcs and the Giants and the human nations who knew of Earth only as myth. The magic of the natives was for a time enough to keep these invaders at bay but Earth could not be stopped for long.

So Arthur gathered an army of Otherworld natives and led them against the invaders. He was still a great leader and keen tactician, yet he fought an enemy in position of weapons beyond what he had known and the magic of Otherworld could not even the odds. He forged an alliance with the Elnorian High King, the powerful ruler of Caenar; one of the most important kingdoms of Otherworld. Yet even that was not enough. And when the High King was betrayed allowing an assault upon his Castle, the Elnorian support crumbled and with it the chance to drive back the armies of Earth were lost too.

Arthur knew he could not win. The armies of Earth were too powerful and he saw behind the greedy megacorporations another power; perhaps the true threat. After all, who had reopened the dormant portals from Earth to Otherworld? They had been closed for untold time, even before his birth. It reeked of something that Arthur knew to be dark and corruptive, yet did not know why. The part of him that was not human stirred. He looked for signs of his ancient mentor and friend Myrddin but found none though there existed across Otherworld beings like him. He needed to find out and disappeared, becoming a part of the nascent resistance movement, travelling paths known only to the wise of Otherworld, a boogeyman the colonizing forces of Earth were not entirely sure was real, lending his knowledge and occasionally a helping hand to those opposing the occupation. All the while he seeks to unravel the mystery of the real power behind the invasion of Otherworld.