The black ship known as the Grogan drifted through space. The voyage had been long but with little interruptions. The Grogan was one of the fastest ships the Dagmar ever built and housed weapons yet to be tested. In the vast command chamber, on a throne of shrouded metal, sat a slumped form. The Shadow Lord Vraylin thumped his fist in time to the plasma drives pushing the cursed vessel forward. Smoke tendrils coiled off of his thin shoulders. Banished from his kind, he plowed the depths of space for new prey. The far fringes of space held planets that were yet to be explored by any of the Rovers. He would make sure they did not find him this time.

Years ago he commanded a fleet of Dagmar warships. As a High Lord, he was tasked with protecting the trading lanes between two empires. Many cultures traded in this region but the Yasra wished to reign over all trade. Disputes went between the Dagmar and the Yasra that threatened the multiple cultural alliances of the Rovers. A young Vraylin was sent with a fleet to protect Dagmar ships. A new vessel had been built with no need for a crew, only a commander. It was to be the pinnacle of firepower and diversity. The ship was named the Grogan and Vraylin was to be the first to use it.

The Dagmar are a race subject to emotion. If they experience an emotion for too long, it will consume them. For many emotions, this is not a problem but they do not wish for war due to the threat of losing one of their own to dark feelings. Once a Dagmar has gone too far down a path, there is no coming back.

It began with rage. The Yasra attacked the Dagmar fleet and withdrew. The Dagmar pursued them and found that a colony of Gert had been destroyed by the Yasra. The Gert had no weapons and were peaceful beings. The Dagrmar were enraged by the devastation they had seen. They hunted the Yasra fleet and over many months they destroyed them. The vast crews of the ships were able to assist each other in returning their emotions to normal. Vraylin had no one else on his ship to see his state. The rage never left him. Once the rage was spent on the fleet and the hunt was over, he did not return with his fleet to the Dagmar. He drifted in search of enemies but found none.

His rage subsided and his body altered. He lost all emotions of good and corruption took his heart. He became pure evil. His body changed from the light shade of grey, to the darkness that surrounded him in space. Malice began to bleed off of him in smoke. Hate radiated from his core. His eyes turned to burning coals of cruelty. His mind only wished to bring suffering. He turned Grogan on anyone that came within his reach. Fire rained in his wake.

The Dagmar heard of his fall. They could not let his destruction continue but he was too powerful. They petitioned the Rovers to join and destroy him. A fleet was sent and many died. He was chased from their region of space but he was not defeated. The Dagmar built a new taskforce to hunt him down with new ships and new firepower. They felt responsible for his fall and would see the cause through to the end to rid space of such a terrible menace.

Once a High Lord but now called the Shadow Lord, Vraylin searched space for a new region to devour. He would raise a new fleet of the damned and purge the stars of all who opposed him. The Rovers had chased him far away from their region to an area he was not familiar with. A single planet with viable life stood before him. Through his ships communications relays he learned that the locals called it “Earth.”