Planet Glabra is in a bad way. Its divine caretaker, originally given the task of shaping the world into a paradise, a true utopia, had been overtaken by a depraved and hedonistic sensibility shortly after his mission began. Instead of forging a paradise for others, the Archon Vozik devoted his immortal life to making Glabra a realm dedicated toward his own enjoyment. He indulged in such pleasures as great feasts, drunken excess (Difficult to achieve for a celestial entity), and coupling with the life forms he summoned to populate the planet. In time, the corruption the Archon had metaphorically become steeped in took a physical toll on the world, rendering verdant field and peaceful forest into fetid swamps and poisoned jungles. Planet Glabra teemed with life, but it was...twisted, warped, grown to reflect the darkness which stewed in the Archon’s heart.
Not that that it was all bad.
The Archon Vozik has been swept up in debauchery, this is true, but before his fall he had given Glabra the old college try. He attempted to create life on his own, using the divine powers granted to him by his superiors. The very first attempt at creating life resulted in the monstrous reptilian beast, Kebos. Though the creature was strong and brimming with vitality, Vozik was unhappy with the results. Kebos simply didn’t meet the Archon’s high standard for beauty. What good was the strength to survive if one didn’t possess the right aesthetic? Vozik immediately moved on to other projects, purposefully neglecting to provide Kebos with any sort of companionship, so that his “ugliness” could not spread.
After a century of unsatisfactory attempts at creating a sentient race that was up to par, the Archon gave up. He took the simpler route and populated his prospective utopia with humanoids “borrowed” from other worlds. Some of these were given places to live in Vozik’s palace, the final spark needed to initiate the Archon’s fall into decadence. Others settled in the wilds near Kebos. In order to interact with them, the gargantuan adopted a human form of his own. Kebos integrated into the burgeoning society and became something of a legend among the villages. The beast-become-man helped to defend the people from attacks by some of Vozik’s other creations, and with his heroism came acceptance, adoration, and...a few wives to lay with. Kebos sired a race of hybrid alligator-folk, who in turn integrated with the people of Glabra’s wilderness. Over time, the offspring of Kebos became indistinguishable from the wilderness settlers. Kebos shed his humanoid disguise and was able to relax happily, surrounded by a community and family that he could call his own.
That said, it still wasn’t all good, either.
Far off in the Archon’s palace, Vozik’s forays into sinful living were reaching new heights of corruption. His neglect of the world took its toll in the worst ways, transforming the landscape and causing it to produce a tangible manifestation of the depravity which he was partaking in. It was almost as though there was too much wickedness to be held in a confined space, and all of the Archon’s sin was overflowing into the land. Glabra was wild before, but this infusion of corruption made it all the wilder, the effects extending to the inhabitants as well as the environment. The great beasts which Vozik had originally created grew restless, roaming further from their usual territories. The creatures came to clash with the scattered humanoid tribes, who had themselves grown far more uncivilized, violent, and concerned with baser pleasures to reflect the darkness born of the world’s overseer.
The exception was Kebos and his brood. They had always had about them characteristics of swamp-dwellers, so when the fields turned soggy, it was a simple matter of raising their shacks up on stilts. The old beast himself was more than happy to have some muck to lounge in. In that respect, the transformation of their world was more than fortuitous, really. As well, the depraved energy produced by the land didn’t really change the reptilians’ nature. They remained peaceful and easygoing, protected through the blood they shared with the behemoth. Something about Kebos prevented him and his family from being affected by Vozik’s shadow on the land. Maybe it was Kebos’s status as the Archon’s first creation, or maybe the beast was as spiritually hardy as he was physically, but whatever the reason, Kebos and kin did not become any more wild or debauched.
One opportunistic descendant of the beast Kebos discovered that the corrupted forces permeating Glabra’s bogs and marshes could be harvested and processed into a usable energy source. The man turned away from the rustic society which had formed up around the ancient Kebos to begin his own legacy. Unnatural Resources, Incorporated was founded to see to it that this new source of fuel was distributed to buyers located throughout the galaxy. A specialized engine was created to allow the immoral energies to power vehicles, and plants were constructed which would allow the energy to be converted to electricity, to provide power to entire cities. Even Vozik, for so long showing indifference toward anything to do with Kebos or his family, took notice. Unnatural Resources is now the sole provider of power to the Archon’s palace. The offshoot of the beast Kebos’s family grew rich off of this highly lucrative aspect of the forces which have caused so much harm to Glabra.
...
For lack of a better word, let’s just say things are okay, hm?
A millennia or two after the beast Kebos’s creation, Daniel Kebrove is the current owner of Unnatural Resources. Sitting on the growing fortune inherited from his forebears, the businessman lives comfortably within his ancestral home in the heart of planet Glabra’s bayou. Though Daniel benefits greatly from his fortunes, he isn’t on Glabra solely to seek idle pleasure like many of the world’s inhabitants.
Unnatural Resources was started on Glabra, and the unique energy source derived from Vozik’s pleasure-seeking isn’t found anywhere else in such large quantities. The planet remains a linchpin in the gathering and production of the company’s primary commodity. When control of the company was passed down to him, Daniel personally saw to it that the harvesting nodes on Glabra received increased security. Using his skills in conjuration, he has placed a summoned guardian at each site important to the company. He is able to call up and control hundreds of summoned entities at any given time. By his own power, mighty archfiends and clever djinn were bound near each immorality harvester, to make sure no one interfered with company operations.
The binding spells are strong, but they hold best when their caster is present. Because of this, a large part of the reason Daniel Kebrove remains on Glabra is to maintain the spells around his company’s assets, and to step in when they aren’t enough. Beasts and wild folk can be held at bay by Daniel’s summoned entities, but in Daniel’s lifetime more potent threats have come to wander the swamps. The sons of Vozik, spawned through the Archon’s coupling with his humanoid concubines, sometimes sneak out of the palace and cause trouble for the common people of Glabra. Their divine blood and formidable stature allow them to withstand the attacks of many of Daniel’s summons. They defeat Daniel’s guardians and proceed to smash up the harvesting nodes, or more insidiously, to alter their function with arcane graffiti. Active engagement of these celestial-born hooligans is often Daniel’s only recourse in protecting his company’s key assets. Daniel’s deep connection with the mire he considers home grants him access to vast stores of power, allowing his general spellcasting to be just as powerful as his summoning magic. Glabra’s princes are kept at bay with clutching shadows and entangling vines, each encounter a lesson in not trespassing on the mogul’s property. A lesson that, time and time again, is forgotten.
Something has to change on Glabra if Unnatural Resources is to continue to thrive. Daniel can handle beasts and barbarians, but the growing frequency of the Nephilim’s raids on his territory is becoming more than he can handle. Daniel could increase security further, but that would more than likely only be a temporary solution. Eventually, Glabra’s fallen caretaker will outbreed any effort Daniel Kebrove makes to combat his sons’ shenanigans. At this point it seems clear to Daniel that the only way to deal with the problem is to cull it at the source. He’s sure that the Archon doesn’t mean him any intentional harm. After all, it’s Daniel’s company that’s providing the palace its energy. Vozik is merely so lost to his own hedonism that he won’t hear any requests to rein the princes in.
With all of that in mind, the best course of action for the continued survival of Unnatural Resources is to destroy the Archon Vozik, or at least to subdue and overthrow him. Daniel Kebrove has three tasks to accomplish before meeting this end. First, he must determine if destroying Vozik will do more harm than good, to see if he is the only source of the debauched energies the company deals in, or if by now the corruption is so ingrained in the planet itself that it produces the shadowy energy all on its own. Second, he has to determine if the Archon even can be beaten. And third, Daniel Kebrove is going to have to unite the people of Glabra under his cause, because even if the Archon can be bested, he’s going to need as much help as he can get. Daniel can’t rely on his company’s resources because Vozik’s estate is a chief buyer. Even though the Archon’s existence is a detriment to the company, the board of directors would never agree to let Daniel harm such an important customer. The heir to the empire is forced to wage this war himself, and seek unlikely alliances with Vozik’s bestial first creations, the wild humanoid vestiges, and...old Kebos himself. Time would tell if Daniel Kebrove’s lofty ambitions will bear fruit, but whatever the outcome, the failed paradise of Planet Glabra will never be the same.
The beast Kebos is, quite clearly, based off of the alligator. He’s much, much larger and possessed of a couple haphazardly placed eyes and extra rows of teeth that by all rights shouldn’t be there, but by and large the general template which Vozik based his creation on is still apparent. Therefore, many of Kebos’s reptillian traits were passed down to the family he forged with the daughters of the human settlers. Sometimes Kebos’s blood is expressed dramatically, with certain members of the brood looking much like their progenitor, as alligators with upright bipedal stances, or as human beings with distinctly reptilian heads. Other times, the beast’s relationship with a member of the family is more subdued. A person appears mostly “normal” sans the serrated teeth, or as they grow up they develop a few patches of scales on their bodies. It is a testament to Kebos’s cooperation skills that he has been able to keep a community of such varied hybridization together without any prejudices developing. For all their differences, the family is very close.
Daniel Kebrove is a mixed bag as far as inherited reptilian traits go. He falls into the latter group of people; his alligator aspects are downplayed and he is more human than anything. Still, there’s more animal to him than might be expected, especially on the lower half of his body. Daniel was born with an alligator’s heavy tail and thickly-scaled, clawed feet. The scales run a ways up his shins before fading and giving way to smoother skin. Daniel is thankful for his feet, since they allow him to forgo boots when traveling into the marsh to conduct business; he is always barefoot. Across Daniel’s body are sporadic patches of dark green scales, though nowhere else is his skin as rough as on his feet and tail. His teeth are razor sharp and his amber eyes possess distinctly vertical slitted pupils. Daniel’s hair is brown and healthy and he is grateful that he shows no signs of going bald yet.
Daniel Kebrove is a poor swimmer, even though the traits gained from his ancestor suggest the contrary. He prefers to wade in the swamps, rather than submerge himself in them.
The members of Kebos’s brood are extraordinarily long-lived. Daniel Kebrove’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather are still living, but retired to homes on other worlds. Daniel is nearing 250 years old with no signs of slowing down, though he appears to be a man in his thirties. There is still a chance that he could go bald before he dies.
Daniel Kebrove possesses a large appetite and will often direct his waiting staff to prepare grand feasts for him to consume all by himself. Because of this, he is a little heavy-set, sporting a large round belly straining against his suspenders. Not sure if that really matters, but details, details, huh?
Daniel Kebrove usually wears specially tailored black trousers, hemmed to accommodate his large feet. They are held up by a pair of purple suspenders, as mentioned above. He wears a pressed dress shirt enchanted to resist ant marsh filth that might wash up on it, and a purple bow tie.
Daniel Kebrove’s relationship with Kebos and his family is...strained. He is the latest chief patriarchal figure in the only line to break away from the old beast’s tight-knit community. Daniel’s estate is tolerated, but more than anything Kebos wants him to return home and to the old way of life. Daniel, however, cannot imagine leaving all his luxuries and property behind, to abandon the legacy built for him.
Daniel Kebrove is an incredibly talented sorcerer thanks to his years training in magic abroad. Summoning magic is a key specialty of his. Infernal servitors are a particular favorite of Daniel's, though he is also known to call entities from other, less diabolic worlds, such as the enigmatic djinn. His proficiency in summoning magic is without question, but he can also tap into an array of many other magical arts. The manipulation of his native landscape and the shadows that pervade it are a common fall-back for him when dealing with miscreants. Bogs and mires are often considered places of dark power, but the infusion of sin makes Glabra an especially fertile ground for Daniel’s brand of magic.
Daniel Kebrove is skilled at playing the banjo. He has tried to use his music to magically lull the great beasts of his world, but so far his songs only enchant the weakest wills. He will not be becoming a bard any time soon.
Life on Glabra’s not all work and no play for Daniel Kebrove. He has made a habit of using his conjuration magic to summon and bind female companions and having them work as members of his manor’s serving staff. By now, most of the household employ comprises Daniel’s summoned maids! He also tends to call up curiosities and oddities to store in the manor’s vast menagerie. The exhibits are also...usually female. As distant as he is in his relation to lusty old Kebos, himself born through the power of the ravenous Archon Vozik, Daniel Kebrove still suffers from some vices of his own.
The entrepreneur Daniel Kebrove is the alternate universe analogue of the prophecy-spinning seer, Danielle Obrove. He is not her former life, her blood relative, or a close acquaintance. He's the Obrove if Obrove were a sorcerous energy mogul, while the soothsayer is Obrove in the form of a fortune teller whose predictions are always accurate, guaranteed!
More of the Obrove “family” can be found on their alt list, here.
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