Long ago a world of advanced science and technology existed. This world was filled with great beauty, but also with great corruption. This world was the hub of a vast interstellar empire, bringing in beings from all over the known universe. This world was also the home of a brillant, but corrupt scientist named Dr. Dendilar Ithis. Dr. Ithis specialized in advanced cybernetics and was an expert at manipulating people. Due to his skill at manipulating and his scientific prowess, he was a favorite of the Imperial Court and in the running to be the successor to the aging, childless Emperor when he died. Dendilar wanted control over everything, having more power than even the Emperor. To this end, he developed a device called the Memory Scrambler. The Memory Scrambler worked on the principles of new energy fields that were recently discovered by Dr. Robert Tanoki, Dendilar's chief rival and the Empire's top scientist. Dendilar was able to create the device easily, but the power source he needed was a chunk of mysterious ore that had somehow fallen through a tear in the fabric of reality. The ore had been sealed away by the Emperor's order and could not be found. Or at least, not found through legitimate means.
Dendilar decided that the only way to access the ore with through the network of organized crime. He soon began to spread his feelers through the criminal world, seeking out those in positions of power and making deals with them. His own power in the criminal world began to grow as he secretly hired assassins and his associates died off. In time, Dendilar became a powerful crimelord known simply as the Scorpion. He was called the Scorpion because in public he kept up the image of the kind-hearted scientist while in his criminal life he was totally ruthless, spreading his poison of crime throughout the Empire. Only one person was aware of Dendilar's dual identities. Her name was Illeana Tanoki. She was an ace investigative reporter for the Sentinel, the Empire's top newspaper, and she was Dr. Robert Tanoki's younger sister. Through her contacts in the criminal underworld, Illeana learned of the rise of the Scorpion and began to secretly dig into the mysterious person's past, becoming ever more determined to expose this crimelord for the entire Empire to see.
Illeana's prying did not go unnoticed, however. Dendilar found out about Illeana's investigations, and did his best to eliminate her. This continued for three years, as Illeana and Dendilar became very deadly enemies to one another. Illeana moved into the home of her older brother, knowing that Dendilar would not dare strike her there, under her brother's, and consquently the Emperor's protection. She was right, Dendilar could not strike her there, but she knew that the Scorpion wouldn't stop until he'd killed her and the dangerous knowledge that she possessed. The Scorpion was most scared because Illeana knew his true identity, even though she didn't have the evidence to implicate him in anything major yet.
Dendilar seemed on the verge of becoming the new Emperor when he finally made a mistake. He finally had the power he needed to obtain the ore and he had sent his criminals to steal the ore from its' resting place. One of his thugs left behind a jacket with a scorpion insignia on it. Illeana, thanks to an tip by an informant, was the first reporter on the scene, and got pictures of the insignia before the Imperial soldiers showed up and took the jacket away as evidence. Combining the photos of the insignia with the other bits and pieces of evidence that she hoarded over the years was what finally gave Illeana the evidence she needed to expose the Scorpion. Illeana wasted no time, and by sunrise the next morning that evidence was the front page cover story of the Sentinel. Dendilar knew that his plan was ruined, it had been founded on secrecy and lies, and now those had been destroyed by one reporter. Dendilar wanted revenge.
Dendilar took his stolen ore, installed it in the Memory Scrambler and went to Dr. Tanoki's home/laboratory to kill Illeana and her brother by scrambling their minds and then killing them. Dendilar was not aware, however, that Illeana had discovered the plans for the Memory Scrambler and had told her brother. Robert had developed a defense against the energy waves of the Scrambler, making the siblings immune to its' effects. Dendilar broke into Robert's home and confronted the siblings in Robert's laboratory. Dendilar tried to use the Memory Scrambler on them, but the energy waves washed over the siblings, interacting with the defenses that they had set up around themselves. This energy was deflected, bouncing all over the lab and finally interacting with the power core of the lab's master computer and setting up a chain reaction explosion that bathed all three of them in a oddly bluish-black light.
The three awoke in a strange gray void, devoid of all life and existence. Robert and Dendilar quickly realized what had happened, and Robert explained to Illeana. The energies of the Memory Scrambler, the defensive shields of the siblings, and the master computer's power core had combined with the latent energies of the ore in the blast, creating a tear in reality and blowing the three of them through it, then the tear had closed after them. The bodies of the three swelled with strange new powers. Robert and Illeana quickly realized that there were two of them and one of Dendilar. Dendilar realized that the odds were against him and created an infinity of space to hide in, fleeing from the siblings.
Robert and Illeana decided that it would be a waste of time to chase him down and instead began to think of what they would do next. Robert began to analyze their powers and realized that since Illeana had been standing right next to the raw genetic material in the lab when it exploded, she had absorbed the genetic material. Illeana discovered that she had a vast working knowledge of genetics and bioengineering. Robert discovered that he had an highly enhanced intellect, and a great understanding of energy and how it worked. Illeana chose a planet and began to use her knowledge of genetics and the powers she had developed in the area of life creation to create life of all sort on the planet that she named Serithor. She soon created sentient races and Robert created the physical enviroment for them to live in.
Millenia passed as the races of Serithor grew and developed. Robert and Illeana, now worshipped as a god and goddess, settled into a contented relaxation, almost entirely forgetting that Dendilar even existed. Dendilar had not forgotten them, however. He had been secretly spying on Serithor, watching the development of the sentient races and making his plans, developing his powers as he did. When the time was right, Dendilar selected a young man who was discontent with the rule of those rulers that had developed among the races of Serithor. This young man wanted power above all else, making him very suitable to Dendilar's purpose. Dendilar appeared to this young man and offered him great power and authority if the young man would serve him. The young man agreed. Dendilar granted to him the use of the warped, corrupting energies that Dendilar had mastered and renamed him Nethinicus, the Dark Knight. Dendilar ordered Nethinicus to gather followers to him and form an army. Nethinicus gathered six others and created a cult that was dedicated to the worship of Dendilar and soon this cult spread across Serithor, bringing confusion and chaos in its' wake as it incited riots. Soon more joined the cult and it swelled into several large armies. Dendilar chose those seven who had been the charter members of his cult and gave them command of his army as well as special powers. These seven and their armies are now determined to obey Dendilar's orders: to conquer Serithor for their master.
Robert and Illeana, roused to action by the pleas of the people of Serithor, granted to some people the knowledge of how to use the energy fields that most were now calling magic. Those blessed with this knowledge were called wizards, mages, or sorcerers. Robert and Illeana began to gather their forces to confront those of Dendilar and his armies. This is where our story begins.