Corvus, King of the Unreal
As of yet, nobody is entirely sure what this actually is. Various words and phrases have flown around in a seemingly futile effort to describe what the "Unreal" might be. To date, the Unreal has been described as the "Void" which exists between parallel worlds, and as a "Forest of the Dead", one of the various "Hell" dimensions which a human soul may end up in after departing its physical body.
The presence of the Unreal so close to the phsyical world has a number of disconcerting effects; mainly it causes the corruption of existing physical structures by transforming them into a purplish crystalline mineral through which the creatures which inhabit the Unreal can move without difficulty (the mineral might be described in this manner as a psychopomp, or "soul conductor"). Of the creatures which do inhabit the Unreal, two have made themselves known to certain Kindred in Newcastle. The scythe-armed "Reapers" appear to be semi-ethereal warriors who manifest in order to attack beings which are not of the Unreal. These creatures are difficult to hit with physical weapons, but tend to dissipate after a single blow if an attacker can make his strike connect. More disturbing are the large and dangerous "Maggot of Death" entities which have only been spotted in the tunnels surrounding Newcastle's underground "Throne Room". These appear to be partly ethereal in a manner similar to the Reapers, and have been reported to sport all manner of fangs, spines, and in one instance, wings.
Whether these unnatural creatures are part of some kind of Hellish hierarchy or simply exist as independant beings has not yet been verified. It has recently become apparent that the Unreal have a definite "leader" figure in the form of a being named Corvus, which was recently cast out from the Throne Room beneath Newcastle. Corvus is known to be both fully sentient and capable of commanding lesser Unreal with absolute authority. He has also demonstrated the ability to possess the minds of other entities by sending out mysterious "black feathers" which burrow into the bodies of others and exert some form of parasitic control. One of these feathers recently managed to infect Prince Wodenson, burrowing so deep into his heart that removal became impossible. This resulted in Wodenson being staked by his own court and left on the Throne in order to seal the rift in reality which allowed the Unreal through.
Corvus himself was slain (though it is believed he will almost certainly return) by the actions of Colonel John Killian, with help from various other Kindred. It is not known how long it will be before these creatures of the Void make another attempt to invade the material realm. Suffice to say they are dead and buried, for now…
