The Red Flux: The Scarlet Revenant
Once known as Marisse van Kroos, a devout cleric of Asura from the illustrious van Kroos family of Seregon, she was a beacon of light and a protector of the weak. But fate—or something far darker—led her astray. Long ago, Marisse ventured deep into the forbidden jungles on a desperate quest to redeem her failing faith, but she found herself ensnared by powers far beyond her control. Now, the woman she was is lost, and in her place lingers the Red Flux—a nightmare cloaked in crimson mist, twisted and enslaved to a more powerful overlord whose designs stretch beyond the mortal world.
The Bloodmist Wraith
The Red Flux is no mere vampire. She is a being of corrupted essence, an entity capable of shifting between a red, vaporous mist and a terrifying physical form. She flows like smoke through the jungles of Seregon, appearing in ghostly bursts from shadows, from pools of blood, or seeping like a poisonous fog from the undergrowth. Her mist-form is ever-shifting, a sanguine vapor that clings to her prey like an unshakeable curse. When she chooses to coalesce, she takes the shape of Marisse as she was centuries ago—a striking, ethereal figure in tattered clerical robes that shimmer like dried blood. Her eyes burn with a relentless crimson glow, and her lips carry the faintest echo of a once-gentle smile twisted by pain and malice.
An elf of the Ithosian Talons, one of the few to survive an encounter with her, claimed that her appearance is painfully beautiful, like a haunting memory from a past life. There is a sadness about her, a wretchedness born from knowing what she has become and what she has lost. Yet this sorrow only fuels her cruelty, as if to share her own torment with all who cross her path.
The Blood Hunt and the Nosgar
For sport and sustenance, the Red Flux hunts the Nosgar Tribe, a resilient people who once dared to fight back against her dark presence. Her hunts are nothing short of sadistic, and she delights in dragging her prey back to hidden lairs for prolonged torture. These aren’t mere feasts; they are offerings to her overlord, symbols of her loyalty and her depravity. The Nosgar, though brave, are dwindling, and their legends now speak of the “Scarlet Revenant” who stalks them from shadows, a deathless spirit whose thirst for blood is matched only by her cruelty.
The Rivalries of Darkness
Though she serves her master faithfully, the Red Flux operates with a ruthless independence, despising the other villains and dark forces that haunt Seregon’s lands. Notably, she bears a seething hatred for Ras Nsi, Ras Ssathasaa, Ravana, and other notorious entities, dismissing them as petty or misguided in their ambitions. She views their pursuits as distractions from the true purpose: the recovery of the Hand of Krang and the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of devastation. The Red Flux takes great pleasure in sabotaging their schemes, stealing their resources, or corrupting their minions to add to her own dark forces.
The Hand and Teeth of Krang
The Red Flux’s ultimate goal is the recovery of the Hand of Krang and its fabled counterpart, the The Teeth of Krang. These artifacts are believed to hold the power to resurrect a being known only as “the Dead One,” a slumbering Old God with an insatiable hunger for life. The Red Flux’s obsession with these relics is deeply personal, driven by her corrupted soul and her subjugation to her dark master, who whispers commands into her mind like the faint rustling of dead leaves.
Legends say that the Hand and Teeth of Krang, when reunited, will unlock a pathway between worlds, allowing the Dead One to step through and feast upon all life. The Red Flux believes this apocalyptic prophecy to be her ultimate purpose, a fate she was reborn to fulfill. The few survivors of her encounters speak of her unnatural fixation on these artifacts, muttering fragments of dark promises and blood-oaths she swears to herself while she tears through her enemies.
A Fractured Memory
Despite the overwhelming darkness within her, fragments of Marisse van Kroos remain. Moments of doubt flicker when she encounters something familiar, a sacred symbol of Asura, a van Kroos family crest, or the prayers of a cleric calling upon a god of light. These brief flashes cause her to hesitate, and sometimes even spare a victim. But they pass as quickly as they come, and the rage and malice return, stronger than before. To her master, this is merely a relic of her former self—a broken reminder that serves to deepen her anguish and drive her further into darkness.
Her Lair and Legacy
Wherever she rests, the Red Flux transforms the land around her. Dense mists, tinged with a faint red hue, seep from the ground, and an oppressive silence hangs heavy in the air. Ancient ruins become her temporary lairs, and she leaves these places saturated with dread and lingering whispers of agony. Her undead minions patrol these sites—zombies, vampires, and twisted creatures animated by her cursed blood—forever loyal to her dark will.
In the aftermath of her depredations, local legends grow, and her name spreads as a thing of terror, a ghost story parents tell their children to keep them from wandering too far into the jungles. The Red Flux has become more than a figure of horror; she is the embodiment of lost faith, corrupted power, and a reminder that the sins of the past are never truly buried.