Lord Vlaew is the main antagonist of the Exmortis trilogy. He is mentioned in Exmortis and is seen in Exmortis II and Exmortis III. Vlaew is a sadistic Ancient Greater Fiend who wants to become a god. His brothers are Kfafta and Azrael. He manipulates Joshua Hannay in Exmortis II, then supposedly kills him. Hannay returns to the earth and eventually kills Vlaew in Exmortis III.
History[]
Vlaew, Kfafta, and Azrael's births are unknown. They supposedly came from nowhere while the Earth was in its primitive state.
The Ancient Dominion War[]
In a time before life and light, corporeal beings did roam our lands ruling over those smaller and less powerful sentients.
These fiends of great power and might were many in numbers but their greed to exert their dominion over other saw these lands bathed in the permanent blood stained hue of war. Many Ancients and lesser sentients were slaughtered in the resulting conflicts - eventually only three ruling Ancients remained.
The Merciless Kfafta[]
Lord Kfafta held rule over a vast army of sentients, having single-handedly delivered the deathblow to the majority of the opposing Ancients. His power was only exceeded by his hunger for total control and the effective purging of his enemies.
An illustration of Vlaew in the Book of Exmortis.
The Manipulator Vlaew[]
While Lord Vlaew's armies were by no means comparable in size to his opponents', they fought with a great ferocity and unwavering loyalty to his rule. It was the belief that he had a gift of influence over other that made it almost impossible to remove oneself from his service. He was considered the general's general.
The Tactician Azrael[]
Lord Azrael's armies were slightly smaller than those of Kfafta and he was in no manner as influential as his brother Vlaew; however he was created as a ruler and a master tactician. If there was a way of turning the tide of victory against an aggressor, Azrael would carry it out effectively.
The age old war continued to rage on between the three remaining Ancients, but the tide had turned in a final assault on Vlaew's royal armies. Azrael, the master tactician, had realized that the inevitable victory here leading to the eventual confrontation with Kfafta's forces would result in defeat. Kfafta's armies were numerous and the only way for him to be defeated would be to work with Vlaew against the greater enemy.
In the wake of the destruction of Vlaew's last bastion, Azrael had his brother captured. But instead of disposing him, he asked of him to lead their consolidated armies against the mighty forces of Kfafta. Vlaew had no choice but to agree, and lead Azrael's armies he did.
It was the bloodiest battle to have ever been fought and eventually Lord Vlaew plunged his sword deep into the heart of Kfafta. His life force stolen from him, Kfafta crumbled and perished. Vlaew had won complete control of the Earth realm for Azrael to rule over.
However, Lord Azrael had learned from the history of Ancients before him and had decided to have Vlaew destroyed before he could carry out the inevitable treacherous challenge to his rule. But what he did not count on was the extent of Vlaew's influence on his armies. Azrael was soon deposed from his throne and Vlaew destroyed his corporeal form to assume control of his new consolidated dominion.
Emergence of the Exmortis[]
Over many millennia, Lord Vlaew ruled with an iron fist over all sentients. None would dare oppose his word. But in time, his power on influence diminished and a faction of lesser beings had his corporeal form destroyed and his ethereal form banished to roam the lands forever as an earthbound entity.
Vlaew diminished greatly in power and was doomed to be unable to physically affect the world around him. However, he still had many followers to which he spiritually combined his life force when they too were stripped of their corporeal form. The legion of Exmortis was born and over the course of millions of years did it grow stronger and work towards regaining the power of influence and totalitarian control of the Earth realm.
The Soul Bearers[]
Over the millions of years following Vlaew's removal, Earth took on a different look. The grounds turned green and lush with vegetation, while the sky was no longer stained with the blood of the Ancient Dominion War. Strange beasts appeared on the lands and in the oceans, but the most significant of these creatures to emerge was man. For it seemed that these fragile beings possessed a gift. It was a gift that would grant them with great power over the roaming malevolent demons and spirits of the ancient world.
Man was born with a soul.
Over many thousands of years, man destroyed the remaining evil Earth realm sentients and entities. The scores of entities that had survived the earth's metamorphosis had been destroyed forever.
But unbeknownst to man, the powerful Exmortis laid dormant, surviving through their strength in numbers and reveling in the wisdom of their Ancient leader, Lord Vlaew.
The Hand of Death[]
The blood of five innocent soul bearers marked with the symbols of the Ancient Vlaew has the power to bridge the gap between the ethereal plain of existence and the Earth as dominated by man and beast today.
The Influenced man shall become the hand; his soul the pathway and the source of strength for the demonic horde.
Plans put to Action[]
The world turns blood red and death comes on swift wings. After the Exmortis reemerge to the world and bring death, plague, and ruin, Vlaew is also released. However, with the Exmortis no longer under his control, he sets out to find a way to destroy the Hand and claim the world. He finds his pawn in the form of Joshua Hannay, a man who saw his wife and child ripped to shreds by the Exmortis on his own front lawn. Now, Joshua is in a church where he thinks he would meet the rebels, but finds that he is the only one to survive. Vlaew, disguised as a man in a black trench coat and fedora, walks into a confessional and tells Mr. Hannay that the Exmortis know were he is, and he hands him only a parchment that would "shed light upon this scourge and allow mortal man to begin rebuilding". After he vanishes, he meets Mr. Hannay after he destroys the Hand and compliments on his success. "Which reminds me, I must also remember to thank Xavier in his role in this," he says. "How is he any way? Still moaning about losing his little whore of a daughter?" He reveals himself as Vlaew and he explains that he only needed Mr. Hannay to destroy his enemies and make it easier for Vlaew to take the world. And as a reward, Vlaew quickly and painlessly kills Mr. Hannay.
Ruling with an Iron Fist[]
After taking earth, Vlaew builds his palace and uses surviving humans as his foot soldiers, mutating them into Shadow Guards and turning others into Readers, demons that use memories to break minds. A number of the surviving humans go insane, some turning to cannibalism to survive, others committing suicide. The humans that are still sane do what they can to survive, some even forming a rebellion army to combat the Shadow Guards, though it seems that chances of victory are minimal.
Final Battle[]
Vlaew gets a surprise that comes in the form of Joshua Hannay, now powered with the powers of the Ancients Vlaew's brother Azrael gives him. He muses on how Mr. Hannay is now a different man now; no longer a hesitant hero, nor a manipulated pawn. However, upon hearing Mr. Hannay's words of revenge, he dismisses them, saying that Vlaew cannot be harmed. But when Vlaew is tossed out the window of his throne room by Mr. Hannay's new powers, he is surprised once more. However, he regains his composure, saying that he used his powers more than Mr. Hannay. After Mr. Hannay crashes Vlaew through a wall, Vlaew begs for mercy, saying that should he die along with Azrael (whom Mr. Hannay sacrifices in a mercy killing after the Ancient gives him his powers), so would Mr. Hannay's power. Mr. Hannay decides that he would accept that fate. Angry, Vlaew calls him a foolish child unable to see the bigger picture.
Should Mr. Hannay go down a dark path, such as not killing Azrael, he will reveal that with Azrael still alive he will not need Vlaew. Vlaew calls himself a fool upon realizing this and says he did not expect his enemy to want his throne nor had he pictured Mr. Hannay as the type who had the aspirations of being a tyrant, to which Mr. Hannay says, "I did say I was full of surprises." In response, Vlaew snarls, claiming he will never beg or plead for mercy like his wife and daughter did when the Exmortis killed them.
Either way, after crashing through another wall, Vlaew attempts to crawl away and use a portal to get away. However, Mr. Hannay catches him in a telekinetic grip. "Do what you came to do, human. Release me from this world forever more." Those are Vlaew's last words before Mr. Hannay uses his power to destroy him. However, upon entering the portal, Mr. Hannay finds himself eons into the past before humanity was even born.