One thing I never really went into much detail on the last time I made this thread was the reasoning why Alabaster decided to come out of his thousand year hibernation in the first place. The IH Bestiary gives a small two paragraph description on Alabaster's history, a history which I have decided to expand upon a little.
Alabaster began his life as a human warrior. He was exceptional in every way and none could surpass his skill with a sword. He rose to power quickly and it wasn't long before he caught the attention of a Primal Vampiress. Her name has been lost to the ages, but legends say that she was an extremely powerful psionicist who hated all gods, and had already slain a few. She seduced Alabaster and he quickly ascended to great heights of power at her sight, as both her champion and lover.
The two of them eventually lead a bloody and unholy crusade that laid low several ancient deities. Alabaster event went so far as to dominate one of the immortals and Imprison him inside an Orichalcum Blade and the legendary
Godsend was born. From there the godslaughter ran rampant and enitire Pantheons fell before Alabaster. The gods began searching for a weakness to the Paragon Vampire, so finally, they summoned an ancient abomination, the Amidah at the time, and sent it against Alabaster. Though Alabaster and his Lover were victorious over this mighty foe, his love was slain during the battle. Alabaster became the new Amidah and sought revenge on the gods who released this foul creature and saw his lover slain. This only cemented Alabaster's hatred of gods even further and he alone went on a campaign to slaughter the rest of the ancient pantheon. No matter how many gods fell before him Alabaster began to realize, nothing he could do would bring back his lover. Despair took him then, and he created his own demi-plane. He now dwells in the citadel of steel in the Graveyard of Swords. Many champions,even gods of war, have journeyed there to test themselves against Alabasters' prowess, and just as many now lie buried here, for he has never known defeat....until recently.
The following piece of fluff was written by my friend and fellow DM in this endeavor, Kapi.
Challnge of the Godslayer
A cold wind blew through the plane of swords, howling through the many hilts and blades that protrude from the ground. Long forgotten heroes, and long dead gods made their final stand in this place, and were forever put to rest. In an instant, a lone figure appeared among the ruins and rubble. A child, with shock-white hair blowing in the breeze. His muscled form covered in a grey and black garb, which made not a sound as he gazed around. He crouched low to the ground as he scanned the nearby area, and was pleasantly surprised that he had already been spotted. A great gust blew, trailing the fifteen foot glowing red scarf behind him as he stood defiantly. He felt the gaze upon him, he knew he was now a moment from death itself made manifest.
"Why have you come here, godling?" The voice echoed out from seemingly nowhere. "Come to die like the rest?" it added in with a chuckle.
A smirk creased the cherubic face of Genji. "Kakate Koi-o!" He yelled out to the plane itself, his feet shifting into proper stance, muscles cording like twisted steel.
The lone figure stepped out from behind a small mound of remains, longswords spinning about his form delicately, glinting from what little light permeated this dark realm. "You seek death." Alabaster said, smiling. "Then you have come to the right place!" He shouted, shifting forward through the air at a breakneck pace with fangs beared, his face twisted into a snarl. Godsend came down at the childlike form, sure to shear him cleanly in two. It passed cleanly through the after-image left behind by the God of Speed. He whirled immediately, expecting the attack from behind.. but none came. He gazed around, his acute vision picking up on the smallest of movements up to a mile away, and yet he could still not see where this godling had moved to. Had he become ethereal?
The thought barely had time to register before a sonic boom blasted through the skies. Alabaster had enough time to see just the briefest of images of a new challenger, covered head to toe in a black gi, this one older than the last. Just the briefest second to recognize the opponent, before a fist smashed into his jaw, sending the ancient vampire sprawling hundreds of feet away. One of the dancing swords, named Steel Hydra, swept into a series of cutting swaths, focused upon the cocky opponent, each strike being redirected or all-together avoided by Genji. He burst into motion, a speeding blur that only the most exceptional of gods could even hope to see, moving over a mile's distance in the span of the blink of an eye. His momentum stopped as quickly as it began, but Steel Hydra remained. It matched his speed move for move, turn for turn. He countered, pushing the blade in other directions, parried with every maneuver he could utilize, and even used a technique he hadn't had the time to perfect. It came in again, slicing deeply into the god, fresh blood spraying out in all directions as it sheared him from stem to stern. Then the illusion faded, a sliced piece of paper wafting within the cool breeze. It cut in at unbelieveable speed, and scored a small nick on the side of his cheek. Blood didn't have time to begin flowing from the wound before a loud "KIAI!" was shouted, the open palm smashing into the blade and scattering it into hundreds of pieces.
Alabaster rose from his impromptu seat, and willed his sword to reform next to him. He could smell the blood in the air, and how long it had been! His eyes narrowed, he called out into the dark "Come then, Godling! Come face your demise, and we shall see who is the fastest!"
The last syllable proved the end of this fight. Genji was there in less than the blink of an eye. His fists lashed out in an undecipherable blur, his speed unmatched by any who had come before him. Each blow landed solidly, crashing into the vampire's thick skull. Genji swayed and weaved, each strike pushing Alabaster further one way, just to be knocked back into another waiting punch from the other side. From an onlooker's perspective, the vampire was surrounded by a grey, black, and glowing red whirlwind of fury, kicking up dust and sending everything nearby far away with a single burst of it's raw power. Only the god of speed remained, surrounded by a green mist that he knew to be Alabaster, defeated and broken. Another burst of speed brought him to the black coffin, to which the fog would return and reform the mighty vampire. Genji laughed, childish and innocent into the unhallowed plane. He used a single finger, and punched a small dent into the coffin, Pressure stapling a note written on Rokugani reed-paper onto the coffin. He glanced to the new sword in his other hand, Steel Hydra by name. His smile never left his face as he slid it into one of the many pocket-dimensions he kept on his person.
"See you again soon, great Godslayer." He whispered into the air around him, and then was gone just as quickly as he arrived.
Also here is a link for a picture of Genji if anyone wants to know what he looks lie.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v60/Corpathium/?action=view¤t=ninja_san_by_jezzbieAFTER.jpg
At the time of Alabaster's defeat Genji was only a 130th level Intermediate Deity. That's the entire reason why I decided to redesign Alabaster using the Dicefreaks Vampire template and make him even tougher. Also the reason why I decided to redesign Belzamus' Godslayer PRC because him being a 117th level fighter just seemed a little to vanilla-flavored.
In fact, if Genji had never defeated Alabaster more than likely he would still be moping around the Citadel of Steel, wallowing in sorrow and despair. So in a way this is all Genji's fault. Ironically after the fight Genji ends up returning to the Graveyard of Swords to return Steel Hydra to Alabaster personally. The two actually end up becoming friends and that's when Alabaster & Genji proposed the Idea of the tournament to the Mercane in Union. The Mercane agree to provide safe seating and magical scrying screens for the audience, but the actual tournament itself it to take place on the Graveyard of Swords.
So far the gods who have signed up for the tournament include:
1. Tempus Foehammer (he was the first one in line lol)
2. Corellon Larethian
3. Gruumsh
4. Andrew Sendant, Homebrewed god of Peace and Good (Technically he was signed up against his will, a small trick played by Genji)
5. The Spider Queen (Avatar of Lolth)
6. The Red Knight of Tempus
7. Perfection, a Paragon Awakened Orichalcum Golem
8. Xor'Chylic, an Ulatharid Soulknife champion of Ilsensine
9. Boccob
10. Ryuushin Genji Ryo, homebrewed God of skill and time
11. Belzamus' Giant Battle Ascendant (his name and stat-block are unavailable to me at the moment)
So yeah as you can see we still have 21 spots open so if anyone has any suggestions for additional combatants please let me know.