Dark Saint
Whoever met young Aegaion would never have believed what he was to become. Born a peasant in the remote town of Kornepia, he was known for his liveliness and kindness, always protecting small wild animals from being hunted by other children. He was also known for his friendship with a young girl of his age called Perseias; the two of them were inseparable, and they continued to be so when they grew up. Together they walked around, together they made plans for the future, and together they protested against the tyrannical Emperor Amphyon. For those protests they were forced to flee their village, persecuted by Imperial soldiers, and so they wandered throughout wild Argea. It was in such wanderings that they came upon the remains of an ancient dragon, amidst which they found a ruby whose power even they could feel. Perseias also felt its malicious energy, but Aegaion convinced her that they should keep it, planning on unleashing its powers against Amphyon.
This desire to topple his country's corrupt government and improve his people's lives proved to be his downfall. The spirits locked within the ruby - which Perseias had dubbed 'Ruby of Fire' - accessed Aegaion's soul through his hatred for the Empire, fostering it. From certain point on, he didn't let the Ruby far from his clutches for a single second, and even grew aloof towards his best friend. Perseias, increasingly worried about him, tried to get rid of the Ruby, but this was a mistake: corrupted by the Ruby's malice, thinking that she only wanted the jewel for herself, Aegaion killed her in a fit of rage. When he got back to his senses, he was shocked to find out that he'd killed his childhood friend, but he convinced himself that her death had actually been Amphyon's fault, for he was the one who forced them into self-exile.
In the following years, Aegaion mastered the secrets and the powers of the Ruby, to the point that he managed to win an immortal body: thus he became a Lich. He also gathered a number of followers who felt attracted to his charisma, ideals of justice and, especially, to his power, which could even bring the dead back to life. His appearance often frightened people, but even that became part of his mystique: convinced themselves that his undeath was actually another proof of his holiness, the people dubbed him 'the Dark Saint'. When his influence was too strong to go unopposed, he and his followers were attacked by the Imperial forces; however, Amphyon was too hated by his subjects, and Aegaion was too popular and had too many supporters. At the end of the short-lived, but bloody Skironian Civil War, Aegaion personally killed Amphyon, turned him into an undead monster, and crowned himself the Eternal Emperor of Skiron.
As the new ruler, he did fulfil his promise of improving people's lives, also turning Skiron into a strong and rich nation once again. However, his intolerance of oppositionists was even greater than Amphyon's, as was his violence when dealing with enemies. However, nobody was brave enough to tell Aegaion that he had become a monster far worse than that which now drags his personal chariot.