| “ | In my heart you're all that's true and I know I won't give up on you! Loving you, oh it's all that I can do and I know you're what I'm living for! | „ |
| ~ Sendor's pledge to his dead son at the end of "All That Is True" |
Sendor is the main antagonist of part 1 of the Black Crystal Sword Saga, the story told by Italian power metal band Ancient Bards.
History[]
The Alliance of the Kings[]
Before Sendor, Lastworld was a place which knew only peace and prosperity. However, there was a dark secret lurking behind this peace. The Black Crystal Sword, an omnipotent weapon said to give its wielder absolute power, eternal life, matchless strength, and knowledge of all magic. To protect the peace of Lastworld, this sword was sealed away in a cave, guarded by twin white and black dragons. Its existence was known only to the four great royal families who ruled the world, and only by the presence of the four monarchs and their own holy weapons could the sword be released from its seal.
One day, a mysterious young man named Dorus appeared to Daltor the Dragonhunter, King of Westland. Dorus bore troubling news: a wizard named Sendor had somehow learned about the existence of the Black Crystal Sword. Sendor had obtained the sword and planned to use it to start a world war and decimate all of Lastworld.
Though Daltor questioned how anyone could have learned of the sword, he had no choice but to unite the rulers of Lastworld and find out the truth for himself. He traveled first to find Alrond, Prince of the North, who was master of all black magic. Next, they traveled to the Blind Mountain to find Rahed, the oldest of the elves. Last, to find Shena, the Queen of the Icy Forest. Strangely, Shena felt something familiar about Dorus, which she couldn't quite place.
Together, the four monarchs and Dorus went to the cave where the Black Crystal Sword had been sealed away. Along the way, they were attacked by the black dragon which had been one of the guardians of the cave, its mind being controlled by Sendor's magic. Daltor the Dragonhunter easily defeated the dragon, but as it lay dying Sendor saw and put an enchantment on it. The dragon rose up, its strength increased immensely. It snatched King Daltor up in its claws and flew away with him.
Though saddened by the loss of their comrade, the heroes traveled on, Dorus taking up Daltor's fallen sword as they renewed their determination.
Soulless Child[]
The heroes finally arrived at the cave in the untamed country of Noland. They found the white guardian dragon had also deserted its post. Worse still, Dorus' words were proved true as the enchanted chest that held the Black Crystal Sword was gone. The heroes traveled to the Dead Sea, where Sendor made his home in a castle on a solitary island.
Meanwhile, Daltor still lived, locked in a desperate struggle against the black guardian dragon with nothing more than a dagger hidden in his boot to protect himself. He wounded the dragon, and as it reeled in pain he saw a glimmer of sanity return to it. He implored it to remember who it was and resist Sendor.
As the heroes confronted Sendor, Dorus stepped away and went to stand at Sendor' side. Sendor revealed to them all the truth. In the past, he had been in love with Queen Shena, however their love was against the law as Sendor was from a distant kingdom and not of the Icy Forest. Still, they persisted. They had a child together, and they planned one day to reveal their child and show the world how their love had conquered the foolish old laws.
However, Dorus had grown sick and died. Sendor begged Shena to use her magic to resurrect their son, but she refused saying that once a soul has departed it can never be brought back by any magic. Sendor refused to believe that his son was truly gone. He ran away from Shena. Studying the secrets of magic, he learned how to revive the dead. He brought Dorus back to life, but the boy's soul wouldn't return. Dorus was like a puppet with no free will or personality, only able to do what he was told.
With the presence of the four monarchs' magical weapons - Daltor's silver sword now held by Dorus, Shena's ring, Alrond's rod, and Rahed's bow - the enchanted chest was unsealed, allowing Sendor to obtain the Black Crystal Sword. The heroes did battle against Sendor, but it was for naught. The Black Crystal Sword gave Sendor immeasurable strength, allowing him to defeat all of them.
Then, Sendor stopped. He had no intention of taking the monarchs' lives, nor of starting any war. The only thing he had ever wanted was the knowledge of all magic, which he believed would allow him to return Dorus' soul to the land of the living.
Sendor cast all of the greatest resurrection spells that existed, but none of them could return the boy's soul to him. Enraged at still being denied his only desire and slowly losing his mind to the Crystal Sword's power, Sendor struck down Dorus and then turned on the monarchs. Taking back his promise to spare them, he now intended to kill them all purely out of spite. Just then, the windows shattered and Daltor flew in on the back of the guardian dragon. Seeing the other monarchs on death's door, he took back his magic sword from Dorus' body and prepared to face Sendor in battle.
A New Dawn Ending[]
Sendor and Daltor made battle against one another, while at the same time Daltor made war within his own heart. All his life he had hunted dragons for sport, but now he owed his life and the lives of his friends to a dragon. He remembered hunting bears with his father as a child. His father had tried to impress on him the need to remain calm, but Daltor had failed to understand and had scared away his quarry and been injured in the process. When Daltor's father had chastised the boy, Daltor had gotten angry and run away. When Daltor went back to reconcile with his father he instead found the man dead by his own hand, having hanged himself in grief.
Sendor revealed that Daltor was actually wrong. His father hadn't committed suicide. Sendor had heard Daltor crying in the wilderness after the argument. Sendor had murdered Daltor's father and staged the suicide, in order to motivate Daltor to become a hero. Daltor fought to avenge his father, but Sendor's strength was too much.
Just then, a miracle occurred. The magic weapons wielded by the three other monarchs glowed and sent their power to Daltor's sword. With this almighty power, Daltor shattered the Black Crystal Sword and then plunged his sword through Sendor's heart, avenging his father.
With his last moments, Sendor smiled, knowing his soul had been purified of darkness and soon he would see his son Dorus again, and they would play together in the fields.
With Sendor's death, his castle began to collapse. The heroes gathered the bodies of Sendor and Dorus and fled. Prince Alrond also gathered up the pieces of the Crystal Sword, intending to seal them away again, though stangely he noticed the fragments had changed from black to white.
Later, Daltor received a vision. His father came to him in a dream and told him the reason the sword's fragments had turned white was because the evil power imprisoned within the blade had been set free by the sword's destruction. Sendor didn't know it, but he had only been a vessel of destiny, to help Daltor on his path to becoming a true hero who could defeat the ultimate evil.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Black Magic: Sendor studied magic in the hopes of bringing Dorus back to life and in the process became the most powerful of all wizards, perhaps second only to Prince Alrond. Even before claiming the Black Crystal Sword his magic was powerful enough to defeat two guardian dragons. After obtaining the Black Crystal Sword he has knowledge of all magic, indisputably putting him above Alrond whose rod only gave him knowledge of all elemental spells.
- Mind Control: Sendor was able to corrupt the black guardian dragon's mind and turn it into his puppet. It is unknown if he can use this power on humans.
- Physical Empowerment: Sendor's enchantment was able to empower the black guardian dragon enough to overpower the five heroes when previously only one of them by himself had been able to defeat it.
- Necromancy: The power Sendor gained to try and bring Dorus back to life. This spell can animate a human body, however it can not bring back the soul. The reanimated body becomes a puppet, which will do anything Sendor says without question.
- Illusion: Sendor was able to disguise the dark cave of the Black Crystal Sword with an illusion. It is also suggested that his castle was an illusion, which transformed back into dead stone after his passing.
- Swordsmanship: Sendor is a master swordsman, especially when equipped with the Black Crystal Sword.
- Black Crystal Sword: An ancient artifact from the time of the Aeons, before Lastworld was known as Lastworld.
- Superhuman Strength: The Black Crystal Sword gives its wielder incredible strength that grows the longer they hold the sword.
- Arcane Knowledge: The Black Crystal Sword gives its wielder knowledge of all magic, even magic which is unknown to the rest of the world. However, it still can not allow its wielder to do impossible things, like bringing back a soul which has passed on.
- Immortality: According to legend, the sword's wielder stops aging and will remain young for as long as they carry the sword, though this is not shown explicitly.
- Corruption: For all of its powers, the Black Crystal Sword has a single great drawback: it corrupts the mind of its wielder, driving them to insanity and murder.