Lucius Grakon

Villain of the County.

Lucius Grakon was once a servant of Iuz. But he learned of an ancient relic that incorporated a gem called dweornite which would allow him to seize power here in the County. So he broke away from the Old One and began plotting (Deserted Dominion). Fortunately, his initial plans were foiled by a group of adventurers who attacked him in his home and he was taken and imprisoned in the dungeons below Ventnor Castle (Operation Ixworth).

One half of the relic in the form of an amulet was retrieved from the Hells themselves (Over Hill and Dale) and wound up in the keeping of forces loyal to Countess Belissica. The other half was taken from an old half orc (Brotherhood of the Oath) and fell into the hands of the Lord of the East (Interactive of the Oath, and later addressed by Good Intentions). Countess Belissica and Terard Duncombe II have always been at odds concerning the proper direction the leadership of the County should take and the decision of who was to control the artifact had ramifications none could foresee. Grakkon, acting through agents, had the lord of the town of Dryburgh assassinated (Brookfest '02) and then attempted to have a puppet, loyal to him alone, set up as the replacement. Meanwhile efforts were put in motion by Grakkon to bring the two halves of the relic together. Grakkon's pawn, the sheriff of Dryburgh, failed in his bid for power, but the gems were still brought together (the '03 Bencon Interactive).

Before this, elsewhere in the County, huge stone monoliths had recently been unearthed (Servant of the Prophet & Once and Eagle) which seemed to have strange powers. Today it's understood that these stones are actually gates to the lower planes, but when they were first discovered they were a source of great interest and concern. There were scattered incidents of devils appearing near the stones (Over Hill and Dale) but no one was able to make the connection between the two until it was too late.

The relic was said to join with a sword to become an item of great power, "to command forces granting rulership and dominion." (Mystery of Mystmoor) What no one realized was that the forces the legends referred to were the forces of the Nine Hells. Once the amulet was joined with the stone of power and placed in a sword hilt, the gates within the monoliths opened wide and the devils poured forth (Flames of Ventnor) . . .

Lucius Grakkon escaped when Ventnor Castle was razed (Flames of Ventnor), and if the stories are true seems to be maneuvering behind the scenes once more.