History Recap / StartOfDarkness

We then cut to a battle between a small army of goblins, led by Redcloak, Right Eye, and Xykon, attacking the base of the elven druid Lirian, the guardian of the Gate that the Dark One discovered years earlier. The battle is hanging in the balance, (partially due to Xykon's careless use of his spells, which is resulting in nearly as many goblins dying as the defenders of the Gate) when Lirian's secret weapon kicks in: a magically created virus which wipes out the abilities of any spellcasters who aren't protected by Lirian's abilities. While Redcloak isn't effected thanks to the Crimson Mantle, with Xykon and the other goblin spellcasters out of the fight, the goblins are quickly defeated, and most are killed before Lirian gets the more aggressive of her followers to spare the rest and take them prisoner. Redcloak, Right Eye, Xykon, and a few other goblins are left in an underground cell supplied with natural foods such as mushrooms that will let them live for years there.

* DragonInChief: Thoroughly deconstructed. Xykon is essentially hired on to be Redclaok's dragon, but because Xykon is so much more powerful than Redcloak, Redcloak has no means of preventing Xykon from making foolish decisions or mistakes that kill off other goblins, and later loses any ability to control Xykon at all and can only watch as Xykon usurps the title of BigBad.

The story starts about 100 years before the start of the comic, with a four year old boy mourning the death of his dog. He begs the dog to "come back" and suddenly a jolt of energy goes through his body and into the dog. While the boy is confused by what happened, his dog stands back up, clearly zombified. The boy is overjoyed to have his dog back, until a bird flies nearby and the dog attacks and immediately devours it. There's a beat panel, and then the boy exclaims with malicious glee over how "cool" that was and goes off to find more birds for his dog to eat. Or to kill and feed to the dog...

Years later, the boy, now a rather sullen teenager, comes home from school to find a middle aged, handicapped, bald wizard named Xavion in his room. Xavion tells the boy that the boy's parents asked him to come and talk to the boy about his powers. The boy tries to deny having any strange powers, but when his closet is opened to reveal the zombie of his grandmother standing there, craving brains, it's a little hard to deny. Xavion explains to the boy about [[UnequalRites sorcerers and wizards]], and that the boy is a sorcerer, someone to whom the use of magic comes naturally, without the study that wizards must use to control it. Sorcerers aren't often looked kindly upon, since many discover their abilities early in life and use it to pursue selfish goals, so people often mistrust and fear young sorcerers. Xavion has a school though, where he gives these sorcerers a place to learn how to control their abilities and then use them for good. The boy is against the idea of going, both due to the wizard's condescending attitude and a disinterest in helping other people who fear and distrust him. He abruptly murders the wizard, turns him into a zombie, and decides it's time to cut ties to his life and leave home forever. As he goes to kill the rest of his family using the zombies of Xavion and his grandmother, the boy does conceed that everything else aside, Xavion had a cool name, and he should adopt a similar one. Eventually, he comes up with one that he likes: '''Xykon'''.

Quite a few years later, a quiet goblin village is celebrating the ascension of a local youth as an apprentice cleric. The priest who conducts the ceremony tells the youth that he expects great things of the young goblin, to which the youth modestly replies that he simply wants to do a little good for his people. The youth is celebrating with his various family members afterward, (including an uncle, his mother, a respected warrior older brother and a pair of bratty younger siblings, a boy and a girl) when the festivities are disrupted by a group of Paladins and clerics from Azure City arrive and start massacring the village. Their primary target is the High Priest who was in charge of the ceremony, but they are quite happy to slaughter all the other goblins around, including the youth's elderly mother, who is one of the first casualties and is standing mere feet away from him when she's killed.

The goblins attempt to fight back, but are no match for the paladins and clerics attacking them. The High Priest urges the confused youth to run, while the High Priest calls attention to himself and tries to hold off the human attackers. He kills several of them but is soon swarmed by the attacking humans and before long is very thoroughly dead. With him dead, the humans move to wipe out all of the other villagers still around. With the High Priest's body momentarily forgotten, the youth goes back and sees the ghost of his old teacher, who urges the young goblin to take his cloak and put it on. The young goblin protests, as the Crimson Mantle is the symbol of their god's High Priest, but the ghost points out that with the slaughter going on, soon the young apprentice may be the only cleric left, at least in this area. So the young goblin takes the Crimson Mantle and puts it on... and receives a communication directly from his god. In a haze, he starts to wander away from the site of the battle, until he hears the voice of his younger brother pleading for help, because he's already wounded, (and lost an eye) and a paladin is about to finish him off. The goblin with the Crimson Mantle saves his brother by killing the paladin, then looks to find his little sister, the only member of his family who is unaccounted for... and sees her impaled on the katana of a nearby female paladin. The two brothers leave, perhaps the only goblins to survive the encounter.

Eventually, the paths of Xykon and the young goblin would cross. The goblin and his brother met with other goblins who were driven from their lands and into a large swamp by crusades of the paladins, where they tried to make a life from themselves. When the paladins began encroaching even there and building local fortresses, the goblins planned to fight back and drive the paladins out, only for the local lizard people to try to one-up them and get to it first. As that is happening Xykon happens to be flying nearby, and begins wiping out the paladins, while also carelessly killing a number of the lizard people as well. Impressed by the power of the now elderly sorcerer, both the lizard people and the goblins attempt to recruit him for their various schemes. After Xykon offhandedly murders the chief of the lizard people for having a long, difficult to pronounce name, the goblin with the Crimson Mantle introduces himself as '''Redcloak''', and his one-eyed brother as Right Eye.

Redcloak then explains to Xykon about the vision he received when he first put on the Crimson Mantle: how his god, The Dark One, was once a mortal goblin with unusual, purplish skin tone who united the goblinoid races and fought for their betterment, only to be assassinated at a truce conference with human and elven leaders, then how the worship and rampages of his followers committed in his name allowed the spirit of The Dark One to ascend to godhood, and finally after becoming a god he discovered the existence of The Snarl, the embodiment of discord between the gods that had destroyed the first world the three pantheons made together and slaughtered another pantheon of gods. Furthermore The Dark One discovered that there were holes or rifts in the fabric of the current world where the Snarl could reach through and effect things. The Dark One then created the Crimson Mantle to empower his high cleric and allow said cleric to seize the Rift while The Dark One tried to find a way to make use of it, but said cleric was beaten to the punch by a group of mortal adventurers, who created a Gate to seal the Rift. Still, The Dark One found a way to use this, by creating a ritual using a divine and arcane spellcaster to control the location of the Rift... and here Xykon jumps to a conclusion, thinking the Gate can be moved to threaten mortal enemies, and allow you to TakeOverTheWorld. Redcloak allows him to believe this, and Xykon agrees to be part of the scheme. Later conversation between the two goblins reveals the true purpose: the Ritual would allow The Dark One to change its location in time and space, so he could use it to do things like transport the Gate into the throne room of gods and threaten to unleash The Snarl on them unless his demands for a better life for goblinkind were met. Redcloak fondly dreams of the ideal civilization goblinkind could build if only they had the resources of the other races, and figures that as a consolation prize they'll give the elderly Xykon a cushy and privileged position in their new society.

We then cut to a battle between a small army of goblins, led by Redcloak, Right Eye, and Xykon, attacking the base of the elven druid Lirian, the guardian of the Gate that the Dark One discovered year earlier. The battle is hanging in the balance, (somewhat due to Xykon's careless use of his spells, which is resulting in nearly as many goblins dying as the defenders of the Gate) when Lirian's secret weapon kicks in: a magical virus which wipes out the abilities of spellcasters. Only Redcloak (thanks to the Crimson Mantle) and the Gate's defenders are unaffected, and with Xykon and the other goblin spellcasters out of the fight, the goblins are quickly defeated, and most are killed before Lirian gets the more aggressive of her followers to spare the rest and take them prisoner. Redcloak, Right Eye, Xykon, and a few other goblins are left in an underground cell supplied with natural foods such as mushrooms that will let them live for years there.

Redcloak, however, comes up with an idea to escape: turn Xykon into a Lich, so that he will be powerful enough to break through the prison's wards and be immune to Lirian's plague. Xykon gleefully accepts the chance to gain more power, but Right-Eye is hesitant, believing that this will only make Xykon harder to control. Redcloak dismisses his brother's fears, reasoning that they can goad him into cooperating by threatening to harm his phylactery. The transition is a success, and Xykon goes to fight Lirian while Redcloak and Right-Eye capture the Gate. Things go wrong when Redcloak sets the forest on fire defending himself from [[WhenTreesAttack some Treents]], causing the Gate to collapse. But all is not lost for our villains, for Lirian lets slip that there are ''four'' other Gates just before Xykon snaps her neck. Xykon zombifies Lirian, seals her soul inside a gem, and recovers Redcloak and Right-Eye, the three regrouping before beginning to plot their next move. Unfortunately for the goblins, transforming Xykon into a lich mean Xyon has lost all the other earthly joys in his life besides killing people, (most notably his deep seated love for coffee) and an enraged Xykon not only comes dangerously close to killing both brothers but also calls Redcloak's bluff about harming the phylactery, which Xykon correctly realizes is a meaningless threat unless his body is destroyed and his soul inside the phylactery. Redcloak barely manages to talk Xykon out of killing them, (by convincing Xykon that if he doesn't go through with The Plan then Xykon will have done all this for nothing, and he needs Redcloak to continue The Plan) but Xykon usurps Redcloak and declares himself the leader of the team.

Years later, Right-Eye has grown disillusioned with the quest, and after trying and failing to convince Eugene Greenhilt to go out and kill Xykon, (Eugene has given up revenge by that point and doesn't want to take any chances that Xykon might harm his family as payback should an attempt on Xykon's life fail) he decides to leave and start a new life elsewhere. He eventually found a secluded valley where goblins are living in peace with surrounding human villages, and settled down there, working as a carpenter and raising a small family. After taking his children on a trip to the local circus to see their favorite attraction, ("It", AKA The Monster in the Darkness) they encounter Redcloak again. Redcloak explains that Xykon vanished a few years ago, and Redcloak is in between schemes at the moment and needs a place to rest. He too sees the [=MitD=] and knowing both what it is and how powerful it is, Redcloak decides to free/kidnap it, recruiting his oldest nephew for the task. Things go wrong and they are almost caught by the circus guards before Right-Eye bails them out, the goblins retreating with their prize in tow. However, the whole experience set off a change in Redcloak, and he decides to rework the Plan and try to build up the goblins from what they have already instead of ripping other societies down.

[[YankTheDogsChain Too bad Xykon returns and press-gangs the village into his new army to attack Dorukan's Gate.]] During his time away, Xykon found the journal of Serini from the Order of the Scribble, and with it determined the location of Dorukan's gate. Xykon encounters the [=MitD=] and is immediately impressed by it, and thinks that it could be valuable insurance. [[CharmPerson He charms the monster]] to kill Redcloak but leave the [[SoulJar phylactery]] unharmed if Redcloak should ever betray Xykon.

Xykon and company lay siege to Dorukan's fortress, but the wizard is content to hide behind his massive amounts of defensive wards and traps. He only comes out when Xykon reveals he has Lirian's body and soul, and intends to torture the latter by having an ogre chop up and devour the former. As the two spellcasters fight, Redcloak orders Right-Eye to attack the castle, but Right-Eye refuses and reveals he has a better plan: kill Xykon with a magically enhanced dagger to avenge all the goblins that have died at his hands/negligence. (Including Right-Eye's entire family save his daughter.) Redcloak again refuses to cut the Lich loose, saying [[IveComeTooFar that they've come too far to back off now]], while Right-Eye accuses his brother of short-shortsightedness and never knowing when to let go. As Right-Eye goes to attack Xykon during a moment of weakness, Redcloak hits his brother with a disintegration spell, mortally wounding him. As Xykon first recovers from his moment of weakness and then finishes up killing Dorukan, Redcloak and Right-Eye have one last conversation during which Right-Eye subtly disowns his brother just before dying.

* TheBadGuyWins[=/=]ForegoneConclusion

** The comic shows us why Redcloak showed a special dislike for paladins and Azure City in the main comic.

* EvilerThanThou: Part of Xykon's speech to Redcloak provides the page quote.
* GutPunch: We get introduced to Right-Eye's intelligent, snarky teenage son and gentle, loving wife. We see them bond with Redclaok and the rest of the family... and then they're ignominiously killed off during a TimeSkip by a group of adventurers that Xykon invited into the goblin camp and then made no move to stop when they began killing off his goblin followers. He was entertained by it, in fact.

* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: The Helldeathdoomfire Volcano, home of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Unholy Master]].
* ISurrenderSuckers: Xykon pretends to surrender by Fyron during their WizardDuel, just before beating Fyron to death with a trophy while his guard is down.

Xykon and company lay siege to Dorukan's fortress, but the wizard is content to hide behind his massive amounts of defensive wards and traps. He only comes out when Xykon reveals he has Lirian's body and soul, and intends to torture the latter by having an ogre chop up and devour the former. As the two spellcasters fight, Redcloak orders Right-Eye to attack the castle, but Right-Eye refuses and reveals he has a better plan: kill Xykon with a magically enhanced dagger to avenge all the goblins that have died at his hands/negligence. (Including Right-Eye's entire family save his daughter.) Redcloak again refuses to cut the Lich loose, saying [[IHaveComeTooFar that they've come too far to back off now]], while Right-Eye accuses his brother of short-shortsightedness and never knowing when to let go. As Right-Eye goes to attack Xykon during a moment of weakness, Redcloak hits his brother with a disintegration spell, mortally wounding him. As Xykon first recovers from his moment of weakness and then finishes up killing Dorukan, Redcloak and Right-Eye have one last conversation during which Right-Eye subtly disowns his brother just before dying.

Eventually, the paths of Xykon and the young goblin would cross. The goblin and his brother met with other goblins who were driven from their lands by crusades of the paladins and into a swamp, where they tried to make a life from themselves. When the paladins began encroaching even there and building local fortresses, the goblins planned to fight back and drive the paladins out, only for the local lizard people to try to one-up them and get to it first. As that is happening Xykon happens to be flying nearby, and begins wiping out the paladins, while also carelessly killing a number of the lizard people as well. Impressed by the power of the now elderly sorcerer, both the lizard people and the goblins attempt to recruit him for their various schemes. After Xykon offhandedly murders the chief of the lizard people for having a long, difficult to pronounce name, the goblin with the Crimson Mantle introduces himself as '''Redcloak''', and his one-eyed brother as Right Eye.

Redcloak, however, comes up with an idea to escape: turn Xykon into a Lich, so that he will be powerful enough to break through the prison's wards and be immune to Lirian's plague. Xykon gleefully accepts the chance to gain more power, but Right-Eye is hesitant, believing that this will only make Xykon harder to control. Redcloak dismisses his brother's fears, reasoning that they can goad him into cooperating by threatening to harm his phylactery. The transition is a success, and Xykon goes to fight Lirian while Redcloak and Right-Eye capture the Gate. Things go wrong when Redcloak sets the forest on fire defending himself from [[WhenTreesAttack some Trents]], causing the Gate to collapse. But all is not lost for our villains, for Lirian lets slip that there are ''four'' other Gates just before Xykon snaps her neck. Xykon zombifies Lirian, seals her soul inside a gem, and recovers Redcloak and Right-Eye, the three regrouping before beginning to plot their next move. Unfortunately for the goblins, transforming Xykon into a lich mean Xyon has lost all the other earthly joys in his life besides killing people, (most notably his deep seated love for coffee) and an enraged Xykon not only comes dangerously close to killing both brothers but also calls Redcloak's bluff about harming the phylactery, which Xykon correctly realizes is a meaningless threat unless his body is destroyed and his soul inside the phylactery. Redcloak barely manages to talk Xykon out of killing them, (by convincing Xykon that if he doesn't go through with The Plan then Xykon will have done all this for nothing, and he needs Redcloak to continue The Plan) but Xykon usurps Redcloak and declares himself the leader of the team.

[[YankTheDogsChain Too bad Xykon returns and press-gangs the village into his new army to attack Dorukan's Gate.]] During his time away, Xykon found the journal of Serini from the Order of the Scribble, and with it determined the location of Dorukan's gate. Xykon encounters the [=MitD=] and is immediately impressed by it, and thinks that it could be valuable insurance. He charms the monster to kill Redcloak but leave the phylactery unharmed if Redcloak should ever betray Xykon.

Xykon and company lay siege to Dorukan's fortress, but the wizard is content to hide behind his massive amounts of defensive wards and traps. He only comes out when Xykon reveals he has Lirian's body and soul, and intends to torture the latter by having an ogre chop up and devour the former. As the two spellcasters fight, Redcloak orders Right-Eye to attack the castle, but Right-Eye refuses and reveals he has a better plan: kill Xykon with a magically enhanced dagger to avenge all the goblins that have died at his hands/negligence. (Including Right-Eye's entire family save his daughter.) Redcloak again refuses to cut the Lich loose, saying that they've come too far to back off now, while Right-Eye accuses his brother of short-shortsightedness and never knowing when to let go. As Right-Eye goes to attack Xykon during a moment of weakness, Redcloak hits his brother with a disintegration spell, mortally wounding him. As Xykon finishes up killing Dorukan, Redcloak and Right-Eye have one last conversation during which Right-Eye disowns his brother and dies.

Xykon returns from the fight and orders Redcloak to zombify his brother's corpse. When Redcloak refuses, Xykon reveals that he knew that Right-Eye was plotting against him, had taken measures to protect himself so Right-Eye's attempt to harm him never had a chance of success, and Xykon let it get as far as it did as a SecretTestOfCharacter for Redcloak, in order to see how loyal and dedicated Redcloak was to Xykon and the Plan. One ''massive'' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech the Reason You Suck]][=/=][[BreakThemByTalking Breaking]][=/=][[EvilerThanThou Eviler Than Thou speech]] later, and a very damaged and broken Redcloak complies. The book then ends with Xykon's army marching into the Dungeon of Dorukan, setting the scene for the start of the main comic.

'''Lirian:''' Crap. [Gets a NeckSnap from Xykon]

* ChekhovsGun: There are several that may or may not have still have a role to play in the comic. For exampyle:

* TheCameo Keith Baker, the FriendlyRival of OOTS auther Rich Burlew, has one in the book, as a candidate vying with Xykon and Yydranna to be chosen as the NumberTwo of The Unholy Master.

* GutPunch: We get introduced to Right-Eye's intelligent, snarky teenage son and gentle, loving wife. We see them bond with Redclaok and the rest of the family... and then they're ignominiously killed off during a TimeSkip by a group of adventures that Xykon invited into the goblin camp and then made no move to stop when they began killing off his goblin followers. He was entertained by it, in fact.

Redcloak then explains to Xykon about the vision he received when he first put on the Crimson Mantle: how his god, The Dark One, was once a mortal goblin of usual skin tone who united the goblinoid races and fought for their betterment, only to be assassinated at a truce conference with human and elven leaders, then how the worship and rampages of his followers committed in his name allowed the spirit of The Dark One to ascend to godhood, and finally after becoming a god he discovered the existence of The Snarl, the embodiment of discord between the gods that had destroyed the first world the three pantheons made together and slaughtered another pantheon of gods. Furthermore The Dark One discovered that there were holes or rifts in the fabric of the current world where the Snarl could reach through and effect things. The Dark One then created the Crimson Mantle to empower his high cleric and allow said cleric to seize the Rift while The Dark One tried to find a way to make use of it, but said cleric was beaten to the punch by a group of mortal adventurers, who created a Gate to seal the Rift. Still, The Dark One found a way to use this, by creating a ritual using a divine and arcane spellcaster to control the location of the Rift... and here Xykon jumps to a conclusion, thinking the Gate can be moved to threaten mortal enemies, and allow you to TakeOverTheWorld. Redcloak allows him to believe this, and Xykon agrees to be part of the scheme. Later conversation between the two goblins reveals the true purpose: the Ritual would allow The Dark One to change its location in time and space, so he could use it to do things like transport the Gate into the throne room of gods and threaten to unleash The Snarl on them unless his demands for a better life for goblinkind were met. Redcloak fondly dreams of the ideal civilization goblinkind could build if only they had the resources of the other races, and figures that as a consolation prize they'll give the elderly Xykon a cushy and privileged position in their new society.

We then cut to a battle between a small army of goblins, led by Redcloak, Right Eye, and Xykon, attacking the base of the elven druid Lirian, the guardian of the Gate that the Dark One discovered year earlier. The battle is hanging in the balance, (somewhat due to Xykon's careless use of his spells, which is resulting in nearly as many goblins dying as the defenders of the Gate) when Lirian's secret weapon kicks: a magical virus which wipes out the abilities of spellcasters. Only Redcloak (thanks to the Crimson Mantle) and the Gate's defenders are unaffected, and with Xykon and the other goblin spellcasters out of the fight, the goblins are quickly defeated, and most are killed before Lirian gets the more aggressive of her followers to spare the rest and take them prisoner. Redcloak, Right Eye, Xykon, and a few other goblins are left in an underground cell supplied with natural foods such as mushrooms that will let them live for years there.

Redcloak, however, comes up with an idea to escape: turn Xykon into a Lich, so that he will be powerful enough to break through the prison's wards and be immune to Lirian's plague. Xykon gleefully accepts the chance to gain more power, but Right-Eye is hesitant, believing that this will only make Xykon harder to control. Redcloak dismisses his brother's fears, reasoning that they can goad him into cooperating by threatening hard to his phylactery. The transition is a success, and Xykon goes to fight Lirian while Redcloak and Right-Eye capture the Gate. Thing go wrong when Redcloak sets the forest on fire defending himself from some Trents, causing the Gate to collapse. But all is not lost for our villains, for Lirian lets slip that there are ''four'' other Gates just before Xykon snaps her neck. Xykon zombifies Lirian, seals her soul inside a gem, and recovers Redcloak and Right-Eye, the three regrouping before beginning to plot their next move. Unfortunately for the goblins, transforming Xykon into a lich mean Xyon has lost all the other earthly joys in his life besides killing people, (most notably his deep seated love for coffee) and an enraged Xykon not only comes dangerously close to killing both brothers but also calls Redcloak's bluff about harming the phylactery, which Xykon correctly realizes is a meaningless threat unless his body is destroyed and his soul inside the phylactery. Redcloak barely manages to talk Xykon out of killing them, (by convincing Xykon that if he doesn't go through with The Plan then Xykon will have done all this for nothing, and he needs Redcloak to continue The Plan) but Xykon usurps Redcloak and declares himself the leader of the team.

Years later, Right-Eye has grown disillusioned with the quest, and after trying and failing to convince Eugene Greenhilt to go out and kill Xykon, (Eugene has given up revenge by that point and doesn't want to take any chances that Xykon might harm his family as payback should an attempt on Xykon's life fail) he decides to leave and start a new life elsewhere. He eventually found a secluded valley where goblins are living in peace with surrounding human villages, and sttled down there, working as a carpenter and raising a small family. After a trip to the local circus to see their favorite attraction ("It", AKA The Monster in the Darkness), they encounter Redcloak again. Redcloak explains that Xykon vanished a few years ago, and Redcloak is in between schemes at the moment and needs a place to rest. He too sees the [=MitD=] and knowing both what it is and how powerful it is, Redcloak decides to free/kidnap it, recruiting his oldest nephew for the task. Things go wrong and they are almost caught by the circus guards before Right-Eye bails them out, the goblins retreating with their prize in tow. However, the whole experience set a change in Redcloak, and he decides to rework the plan and try to build up the goblins from what they have already instead of ripping other societies down.

Xykon nd company lay siege to Dorukan's fortress, but the wizard is content to hide behind his massive amounts of defensive wards and traps. He only comes out when Xykon reveals he has Lirian's body and soul, and intends to torture the latter by having an ogre chop up and devour the former. As the two spellcasters fight, Redcloak orders Right-Eye to attack the castle, but Right-Eye refuses and reveals he has a better plan: kill Xykon with a magically enhanced dagger to avenge all the goblins that have died at his hands/negligence (including Right-Eye's entire family save his daughter). Redcloak again refuses to cut the Lich loose, saying that they've come too far to back off now, while Right-Eye accuses his brother of short-shortsightedness and never knowing when to let go. As Right-Eye goes to attack Xykon during a moment of weakness, Redcloak hits his brother with a disintegration spell, mortally wounding him. As Xykon finishes up killing Dorukan, Redcloak and Right-Eye have one last conversation during which Right-Eye disowns his brother and dies.

* BreakingSpeech: Xykon gives a truly nasty one to Redcloak, as listed [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech here]].
* BroughtDownToNormal: Lirian's virus is an ingenious method of doing this to any spellcaster who tries to take the Gate. Unfortunately for her, Redcloak was unaffected thanks to the Crimson Mantle and had the resource to turn Xykon into a lich, making him immune.

* CoDragons: A young Xykon was this for awhile under The Unholy Master, but a PassedOverPromotion made him angry enough to leave and become an EvilOverlord in his own right.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The main comic certainly has dark moments, but there is no doubt that this prequel goes to much darker places than the main comic does. Genocide and the murder of one's own family are just the ''start'' of what happens during the course of the story.

* DoomedHometown: Redcloak's village is wiped out by overeager Paladins from the Sapphire Guard at the very beginning.
* DragonInChief: Thoroughly deconstructed. Xykon is essentially hired on to be Redclaok's dragon, but is far more powerful, and Redcloak soon loses any ability to control Xykon and watches Xykon usurp the title of BigBad.

* DumbassNoMore: Alive, Xykon was powerful and ruthless, but also foolish and easy to manipulate. Undead, he is much smarter and starts seeing through some of Redcloak's plots and bluffs, and that was very bad news indeed for Redcloak and Right-Eye.

* EvilerThanThou: Xykon provides the page quote.

* PlayerPunch: We get introduced to Right-Eye's intelligent, snarky teenage son and gentle, loving wife. We see them bond with Redclaok and the rest of the family... and then they're ignominiously killed off during a TimeSkip by a group of adventures that Xykon invited into the goblin camp and then made no move to stop when they began killing off his goblin followers. He was entertained by it, in fact.
* PragmaticVillainy: Xykon declines to have anything to do with a scheme that involves kidnapping virgins. He'd rather his women had some experience and knew what they were doing.

* StartOfDarkness: For Redcloak, anyway. Xykon, as we see, was pretty horrible from early childhood.

* TookALevelInBadass: As the book covers more than 100 years, we see this happen repeatedly to both Xykon and Redcloak, but mostly Xykon. With time Xykon goes from a kid who doesn't know what he's doing with his powers, to a small-time villain helpless to do anything more than stand there and take it as the authorities who've arrested him crack cheesy jokes at his expense, to a major threat, and finally, to one of the most dangerous beings in the world.

* TrappedInVillainy: Right-Eye and the rest of the goblins of his village are once Xykon forcibly recruits them.

* WizardDuel: Two are seen, first between Xykon and Eugene's master Fyron. Fyron beats Xykon with magic after a prolonged duel, but is then beaten to death by Xykon. Later we see the lich version of Xykon take on Dorukan and Xykon wins because of BoringButPractical tactics and the advantages granted by being undead.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Where is Right-Eye's daughter? Was the Soul Gem with the souls of Dorukan and Lirian destroyed when Dungeon of Dorukan was destroyed at the end of the first arc?

* PassedOverPromotion: Xykon was actually ok with getting passed over in favor of the evil mage Yydranna, as he admits she's good at what she does and he genuinely respects her. Being passed over in favor of Yydranna ''and'' [[TheCameo Keith Baker]], however, pissed him off to no end and he angrily decided that it was time to the services of the Unholy Master and go StartMyOwn.

* TogetherInDeath: Xykon unwittingly causes this by binding the souls of Lirian and Dorukan to the same Soul Gem. Due to EvilCannotComprehendGood, he thinks the two will be angry with each other for their failures and bad decisions, but it works to reunite the two lovers and give them comfort they otherwise wouldn't have.

Redcloak, however, comes up with an idea to escape: turn Xykon into a Lich, so that he will be powerful enough to break through the prison's wards and be immune to Lirian's plague. Xykon gleefully accepts the chance to gain more power, but Right-Eye is hesitant, believing that this will only make Xykon harder to control. Redcloak dismisses his brother's fears, reasoning that they can goad him into cooperating by threatening hard to his phylactery. The transition is a success, and Xykon goes to fight Lirian while Redcloak and Right-Eye capture the Gate. Thing go wrong when Redcloak sets the forest on fire defending himself from some Trents, causing the Gate to collapse. But all is not lost for our villains, for Lirian lets slip that there are ''four'' other Gates just before Xykon snaps her neck. Xykon zombifies Lirian, seals her soul inside a gem, and recovers Redcloak and Right-Eye, the three regrouping before beginning to plot their next move. Unfortunately for the goblins, Xykon has lost the only other joy in his life besides killing people (drinking coffee), and usurps Redcloak before declaring himself the leader of the team.

Many years later, Right-Eye has grown disillusioned with the quest, and after trying and failing to convince Eugene Greenhilt to go out and kill Xykon he decides to leave and start a new life elsewhere. He eventually found a secluded valley where goblins are able to live in peace with surrounding human nations, settling down as a carpenter and raising a small family. After a trip to the local circus to see their favorite attraction ("It", AKA The Monster in the Darkness), they encounter Redcloak again. Redcloak explains that Xykon vanished a few years ago, and he is in between schemes at the moment and needs a place to rest. He too sees the MitD and decides to free/kidnap it, recruiting his oldest nephew for the task. Things go wrong and they are almost caught by the circus guards before Right-Eye bails them out, the goblins retreating with their prize in tow. However, the whole experience set a change in Redcloak, and he decides to rework the plan and try to build up the goblins from what they have already instead of ripping other societies down.

[[YankTheDogsChain Too bad Xykon returns and press-gangs the village into his new army to attack Dorukan's Gate.]]

Xykon lays siege to Dorukan's fortress, but the wizard is content to hide behind his massive amounts of defensive wards and traps. He only comes out when Xykon reveals he has Lirian's body and soul, and intends to torture the latter by having an ogre chop up and devour the former. As the two spellcasters fight, Redcloak orders Right-Eye to attack the castle, but Right-Eye refuses and reveals he has a better plan: kill Xykon with a magically enhanced dagger to avenge all the goblins that have died at his hands/negligence (including Right-Eye's entire family save his daughter). Redcloak again refuses to cut the Lich loose, saying that they've come too far to back off now, while Right-Eye accuses his brother of short-shortsightedness and never knowing when to let go. As Right-Eye goes to attack Xykon during a moment of weakness, Redcloak hits his brother with a disintegration spell, mortally wounding him. As Xykon finishes up killing Dorukan, Redcloak and Right-Eye have one last conversation during which Right-Eye disowns his brother and dies.

* BullyingADragon: Eugene Greenhilt points out both that Right-Eye is doing this at one point, and the inherent foolishness of it. Right-Eye, disgruntled in his final days under Xykon's employ, covertly contacts Eugene and attempt to get Euegene to take out Xykon. Eugene refuses, and Right-Eye gets angry about it, and makes like he's going to attack Eugene. Eugene points out that if Right-Eye is trying to recruit him, then Right-Eye has clearly come to the conclusion that Eugene is considerably stronger and has a better chance at taking down Xykon, so attempting to threaten Eugene is a really bad idea, complete with a [[IntimidationDemonstration demonstration of Eugene's magical power]]. Right-Eye quickly backs down.

* DyingDeclarationOfHate: Right-Eye does a rather more subtle one than usual. As he lays dying, redcloak tells him "Goodbye, brother" and Right-Eye responds with "Goodbye... Redcloak." Right-Eye had refused to call Redcloak that title all throughout the story, instead insisting on calling him brother. He in fact, considers "Redcloak" to be something like a demeaning slave name put on for Xykon, so the fact that he calls his brothe rthat with his dying breath is quite a rebuke and insult... and Redcloak doesn't even appear to notice it.

** Xykon has an endless stream of them in the book, between cruelty to animals, making an innocent plead for his life on the basis of IHaveAFamily and then killing the guy after Xykon had said he wouldn't, murdering people like Xavion or the waitress on a whim, forcibly recruiting Right-Eye's village into his army and then getting them killed when he could have easily saved them, etc. Burlew wrote that one of the great challenges of writing the book was to make sure Xykon wasn't sympathetic once readers saw his whole story and experienced life through his eyes. "I mean, he's wholly and unapologetically evil, but more to the point, he's kind of a dick" is how Burlew sums up the matter.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Nobody on Team evil, not Redcloak, Xykon, or even The Dark One, knew there was more than one Gate until Lirian knowing her Gate had been destroyed, told Xykon that her he'd never be able to get control of one of the other Gates.

* PassedOverPromotion: Xykon was actually ok with getting passed over in favor of the evil mage Yydranna, as he admits she's good at what she does and he genuinely respects her. Being passed over in favor of Yydranna ''and'' [[TheCameo Keith Baker]], however, pissed him off to no end and he angrily decided that it was time to the services of the Unholy Master and StartMyOwn.

* TrappedInVillainy: Right-Eye and the rest of the goblins of his village are this once Xykon forcibly recruits them.
* VillainousFriendship: A number of examples, but the story goes to great lengths to show that Xykon and Redcloak are not friends at all. Readers who read itback when it looked like Xykon and Redcloak might have a case of this got a nasty shock at the end of the book.

* BroughtDownToNormal: Lirian's virus is an ingenious method of doing this to any spellcaster who tries to take the Gate. Unfortunately for her, Redcloak was unaffected thanks to the Crimson MAntle and had the resource to turn Xykon into a lich, making him immune.

Xykon returns from the fight and orders Redcloak to zombify his brother's corpse. When Redcloak refuses, Xykon reveals that he knew that Right-Eye was plotting against him, and let it get as far as it did so Redcloak would kill him and ensure his loyalty to Xykon. One TheReasonYouSuckSpeech later, and Redcloak complies, Xykon's army marching into the Dungeon of Dorukan and setting the scene for the main adventure.

* TheBadGuyWins / ForegoneConclusion

* EvilerThanThou: Xykon provides the page quote.

We then cut to a battle between a small army of goblins, led by Redcloak, Right Eye, and Xykon, attacking the base of the elven druid Lirian, the guardian of the Gate that the Dark One discovered year earlier. The battle is hanging in the balance, (somewhat due to Xykon's careless use of his spells, which is resulting in nearly as many goblins dying as the defenders of the Gate) when Lirian's secret weapon kicks: a magical virus which stops wipes out the abilities of spellcasters. Only Redcloak (thanks to the Crimson Mantle) and the Gate's defenders are unaffected, and with Xykon and the other goblin spellcasters out of the fight, the goblins are quickly defeated, and most are killed before Lirian gets the more aggressive of her followers to spare the rest and take them prisoner. Redcloak, Right Eye, Xykon, and a few other goblins are left in an underground cell supplied with natural foods such as mushrooms that will let them live for years there.

The story starts about 100 years before the start of the comic, with a four year old boy mourning the death of his dog. He begs the dog to "come back" and suddenly a jolt of energy goes through his body and to the dog. While the boy is confused by what happened, his dog stands back up, clearly zombified. The boy is overjoyed to have his dog back, until a bird flies nearby and the dog attack and immediately devours it. There's a beat panel, and then the boy exclaims with malicious glee over how "cool" that was and goes off to find more birds for his dog to eat. Or to kill and feed to the dog...

A few years later, the boy, now a rather sullen teenager, comes home from school to find a middle aged, handicapped, bald wizard named Xavion in his room. Xavion tells the boy that the boy's parents asked him to come and talk to the boy about his powers. The boy tries to deny having any strange powers, but when his closet is opened to reveal the zombie of his grandmother standing there, craving brains, it's a little hard to deny. Xavion explains to the boy about [[UnequalRites sorcerers and wizards]], and that the boy is a sorcerer, someone to whom the use of magic comes naturally, without the study that wizards must use to control it. Sorcerers aren't often looked kindly upon, since many discover their abilities early in life and use it to pursue selfish goals, so people often mistrust and fear young sorcerers. Xavion has a school though, where he gives these sorcerers a place to learn how to control their abilities and then use them for good. The boy is against the idea of going, both due to the wizard's condescending attitude and a disinterest in helping other people who fear and distrust him. He abruptly murders the wizard, turns him into a zombie, and decides it's time to cut ties to his life and leave home forever. As he goes to kill the rest of his family using the zombies of Xavion and his grandmother, the boy does conceed that everything else aside, Xavion had a cool name, and he should adopt a similar one. Eventually, he comes up with one that he likes: Xykon.

Quite a few years later, a quiet goblin village is celebrating the ascension of a new youth as an apprentice cleric. The priest who conducts the ceremony tells the youth he expects great things of the young goblin, to which the youth modestly replies that he simply wants to do a little good for his people. The youth is celebrating with his various family members afterward, (including an uncle, his mother, a respected warrior older brother and a pair of bratty younger siblings, a boy and a girl) when the festivities are disrupted by a group of Paladins and clerics from Azure City arrive and start massacring the village. Their primary target is the High Priest who was in charge of the ceremony, but they are quite happy to slaughter all the other goblins around, including the youth's elderly mother, who is one of the first casualties and is standing mere feet away from him when she's killed.

Eventually, the paths of the two would cross. The goblin and his brother met with other goblins who were driven from their lands by crusades of the paladins and into a swamp, where they tried to make a life from themselves. When the paladins began encroaching even there and building local fortresses, the goblins planned to fight back and drive the paladins out, only for the local lizard people to try to one-up them and get to it first. As that is happening Xykon happens to be flying nearby, and begins wiping out the paladins, while also carelessly killing a number of the lizard people as well. Impressed by the power of the now elderly sorcerer, both the lizard people and the goblins attempt to recruit him for their various schemes. After Xykon offhandedly murders the chief of the lizard people for having a long, difficult to pronounce name, the goblin with the Crimson Mantle introduces himself as Redcloak, and his one-eyed brother as Right Eye.

To be continued...

A young boy named Xykon finds the death of his dog triggering sorcerous powers and a natural affinity for necromancy. Maliciously gleeful at his zombified dog's taste for brains, he sets off to find more birds to kill and feed to it. At puberty, a crippled wizard finds the budding necromancer and condescendingly offers him a place on a team of sorcerers he is training. Offended, Xykon kills and reanimates the old man and then sets him and his first human zombie -- that of his grandmother -- on his parents. With their murder, he sets off to become a villain for the sheer hell of it.

A quiet goblin village celebrates the ascension of a new youth as an apprentice cleric, the festivities being disrupted when a group of Paladins from Azure City arrive and start massacring the village. His teacher struck down, the apprentice cleric takes his magical red cloak, receiving a communication from his deity about the reasons for goblins suffering in this world.

When these two forces cross, a pact that will shake the world is born...

* BreakingSpeech: Xykon gives a truly nasty one to Redcloak, as listed [[Quotes/TheReasonYouSuckSpeech here]].

* BreakingSpeech: Xykon gives a truly nasty one to Redcloak, as listed [[WebComics/TheReasonYouSuckSpeech here]].

* BreakingSpeech: Xykon gives a truly nasty one to Redcloak.

!Note: As a recap page, all spoilers are unmarked. You have been warned

!Tropes

''This is for the OrderOfTheStick prequel volume. Go [[StartOfDarkness here]] for the trope.''

* BadGuyWins
* BreakingSpeech: Xykon gives a truly nasty one to Redcloak.