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| Gabin Kûn |
The story of Orcus got really good in 3rd Edition. Not gonna go into that, since it has already been told. What I'm gonna tell you here is how Orcus came about. In the Dawn Era, one of the top dogs of the primordials was one named Piranoth. He created planes and worlds, and the giants, and created a progeny of children. These were not created in the normal ways that we think of, because he created things out of the elemental energies of the Elemental Chaos. He made sure that those that he created, did not have the same power of creation, so his progeny, in most cases, went about the same ways of bearing children as others. One of those that came about from his creative endeavors was a giant abomination named Gabin Kûn. This son was hideous to behold, ill-tempered, spiteful, vindictive, and all-around bad to be around.
Another of Piranoth's gifts was his future sense. He saw a future with Gabin Kûn as one bearing seeds of a great uprising. Piranoth was against infanticide, not on moral grounds, but on the possible outcomes of changing the future based on what he foresees, so he instead sent Gabin Kûn to Thantaos where all the other psychopaths were being herded. On Thantaos, Gabin Kûn was tasked with building a great forge to fabricate armaments for what his father said was a great conflict to come. The forge area that Gabin Kûn and his crazed minions built came to be called Naratyr.
Gabin Kûn was like his father in two ways. He fathered many progeny from a harem said to number in the thousands. He guise is often depicted as unwholesome, though it was only one that he could take, to court, seduce, or charm others, he could be as comely as the most beautiful half-elf. Many of those born of Gabin Kûn's seed were abominations. These things beat with life, yet were devoid of emotion, were unmoving, and seemingly in a catatonic state. Like his father Piranoth, Gabin Kûn could not dispatch of his progeny, so he sent them off to be hidden about the many layers of Piranoth's Steps.
When the Dawn War ended, the primordials were defeated, driven from the Prime Material Plane and back into the bowels of the Elemental Chaos. In a fit of spite, and to make matters worse for the angels and gods, Piranoth abandoned his 666 layers of Piranoth's Steps. Late in the Dawn War, Piranoth's Steps was an area no longer under control by the primordials. It had been overrun by chaotic and evil beasts called demons. The demons were contained by the primordials during the latter years of the Dawn War. When that war ended, the primordials left the demons unguarded. For Gabin Kûn and his people, they were mostly wiped out for not even the primordials could muster the forces required to enter a plane besieged by hordes of demons.
A legendary battle was fought between father and son for rule of Naratyr. In this epic fight, Gabin Kûn battled his son Orcus. The son nearly perished, surviving only because of his father's mercy. Orcus took quick advantage of this and immediately struck down his father, quipping:
I'll record this as zero for infanticide, and one for regicide.
- Orcus, on the death of his father, "Gloating over Gabin Kûn"
With the death of Gabin Kûn, Orcus became master of Naratyr and the plane Thanatos. The only thing left of Gabin Kûn is part of his spine, which serves as the handle of the Wand of Orcus. After the demons took layer after layer of Piranoth's Steps, the realm came to be called the Abyss.
