Dharus was born on the Siren's Isles, the scion of a notorious but wealthy family that had built its fortune on piracy, smuggling, and trade. So named due to their possession of the legendary Soulflare Sword, the family ruled their coastal ring with force, raiding and bargaining in equal measure. Some legends spoke it was their misuse of the sword that carved up the Isles in the first place, and they would take the name Sunreaver in honor of the sword, once proven capable of wielding it.
Dharus rose quickly within the family, favored for his ambition and charisma, and when he took command of the pirate ring, he swore to restore them to a glory that would eclipse even their fabled past. Rather than rely on the unstable profits of piracy, Dharus struck deeper bargains, weaving his family’s fleet into a vast web of illicit trade routes and black market contacts. Yet Dharus was restless, not sated by the comfortability he had created; knowing that the use of the Sunreaver directly cost the wielder their life force, he wanted to find the secret of endless life.
His hunger drew him to darker whispers, and in secret he entered into a pact with an Archdevil, wagering his soul and his family’s fate in exchange for strength beyond mortal measure. Once made, Dharus wielded Fiendish might, his ships cutting down rivals without needing to employ the Sword; but his pact had a cost. When the archdevil called in his due, Dharus was seized in the midst of battle and dragged into the Lower Realms, his screams echoing across the waves as the Sunreaver was torn from mortal reach and lost.
Dharus' former fleet faltered, their crews scattered, and for a time it seemed the family would be destroyed outright. Yet in the shadows of this collapse, a branch of the survivors took the name Fayan, discarding the disgraced Sunreaver legacy to rebuild their fortunes under a new banner. From that rebirth came the Fayan Trading Company. What had once been a pirate network became a legitimate enterprise, strengthened by the same smuggling channels and underworld contacts that had kept the Sunreavers alive for generations.
However, the Curse os his Infernal deal lingered lingered. Every child born to the Fayan bloodline bore horns and a tail, branded by Dharus’ bargain as Devilborn heirs of his sin. The family learned to mask the truth of their ancestry, burying the Sunreaver name while building an empire atop its ashes. They grew rapidly, filling the void Dharus’ disappearance had left in the coastal markets, and rose in time to become one of the greatest powers of the Common League.
Dharus, meanwhile, did not perish in the Lower Planes. He clawed his way through its endless horrors, driven mad by torment and rage, yet too consumed by ambition to surrender. Through centuries of brutality, betrayal, and infernal struggle, he carved a place for himself among the devils, rising at last as an archdevil in his own right. Stripped of humanity and reason, he now sought to turn his curse into dominion, weaving his influence back toward the Prime Material.
The new archdevil had many plots to regain his legacy, one of which he had planted in Mormeros the Aspirational. The man was a dullard who unknowingly embroiled himself in a cult worshipping his far-flung grandfather, but with the promise of Spellcraft, Dharus convinced Mormeros to enter a Warlock pact, granting him a magma-like Spellcasting Focus of fiendish power.