Allie's vision
You are slowly, quietly sneaking through an enemy encampment. Behind you, your men follow your lead as best they can – and you know that this mission may be the end of them and you. But the alternative is worse. The orcs have already burned your own village – and so may others. There truly is no other option!
Now you are outside the leader's tent. Though he is part human, his heart beats pure orc – full of jealousy and hatred. If you can defeat him (“Kroack”, they call him), his cowardly minions may scramble for the safety of Den'dray and away from our lands.
It was a foolish plan – if “plan” it can be called! But the gods' must have approved, for you to have made it this far.
You gesture silently to your team. But before you can move, a howl goes up from a nearby tent. A dozen orcs appear from a dozen tents to see what the commotion is. You know that in a few seconds, two dozen more will follow – then a hundred beyond that.
You rush into the leader's tent as your battle plan melts around you. Orc guards, stronger and better armed than your men, move to defend Kroack. Your team begins to go down – one by one. The fight wears you down, but you slowly maneuver yourself closer to the half-orc. A sigil on a chain around his neck glares at you as you get nearer. A sharp pain erupts in your shoulder. Pinpricks flare across your chest. Shooting pain runs the length of one arm. The grip on your sword loosens and you hear it clatter to the ground. “How is this possible?” you think to yourself.
As blackness creeps in from the sides of your vision, you stumble. A strong hand grabs you by your throat and arrests your fall. His fingers squeeze the air from your throat as he lifts you up – your feet hovering inches off the ground.
“The King of Pain demands your sacrifice, human!” His voice is deeper, more sinister than you expected. Some kind of magic is behind it. You realize that you have failed.
But then a glint of white light at the half-orc's belt catches your eye. It is the pearl-tipped pommel of a sword – but was the light a reflection or something more?
With both his hands around your throat, and his sword within reach, the invitation cannot be ignored. You reach down and draw his own weapon. A subdued white glow emerges as the sword leaves its sheath – which immediately shifts to a deep red. Kroack's surprise is short-lived – as is his life.
You stare down at the blade – jet black and unadorned. A sense of destiny fills you as the world around you shifts and melts. The half-orc's tent, the torches, and even the orcs around it fade – their colors swirling together into a gray that engulfs the world.
Soon, there is nothing but you and the sword and a sea of nothing. But you are no longer you. Or rather, you are now back to you. Before, you were a man - now long dead – whose name was Theron. Now, you are Allie once more. The only constant is Merthúvial – its glow now subdued back to white.
“In the language of your mother, it means 'Kingmaker',” a man's voice emerges from the nothingness. “A title which became true for me, at least.”
Theron, the forgotten king stands beside you, his face older and wiser than the brash young man who killed Kroack and claimed his sword. But his eyes seem familiar. His face, his nose, his blond hair, and even his golden crown, evoke a childhood memory of someone else – someone you can't quite place.
“In order for Merthúvial to accept you, you must 'Know the Pain'. Kroack's master, the King of Pain gains his power from people resisting pain. If you accept the pain, even once, then Merthúvial will shield you in the future – when you need it the most.”
Before you can speak, the colors that make up Theron fade to gray and he disappears against the backdrop of “nothing”. Then, the gray itself begins to separate and shift – as it turns from nothing into a fog. And then the fog begins to clear, leaving you back in the cavern where you started.
Game mechanics
Merthúvial's “Know The Pain” ritual requires that you deliberately drop your defenses in melee combat with a creature of at least challenge rating of 8. That foe will score an automatic critical hit, but you will gain the “Lesser Legacy” feat – which opens up the higher level powers and allows you to use the sword as a +2 keen adamantine longsword.