The world was ancient, scarred by eons of bloodshed, its skies bathed in the shifting hues of twilight. It was as though the heavens themselves were weary of the endless cycle of vengeance that ravaged the land below. The kingdoms of the devas stretched across the earth like gilded wounds, their golden spires piercing the clouds, a stark contrast to the shadowed, untamed realms of the asuras. In this world, power was both a birthright and a curse, woven into the blood of gods and their progeny. Here, the greatest conflicts were not fought by mortals alone, but by the very bloodlines of the divine.

In the celestial realm of Svarga, Indra, the king of the devas and god of storms, ruled with a fist of lightning. His reign was steeped in ceaseless war, for the devas and asuras had been locked in combat since the dawn of creation. Their battles raged across heaven and earth, reshaping the land with every clash. The gods of wind, water, fire, death, and sky—Vayu, Varuna, Agni, Yama, and Indra—each played their part in these eternal struggles, using their demigod offspring as pawns in their cosmic game.

Far beyond mortal reach, in the etheric heights of the heavens, floated the three cities of Tripura, the strongholds of the asuras. Suspended by ancient and powerful magic, these cities were ruled by the demonic titans of legend. Mahishasura, the Buffalo Demon; Hiranyakashipu, the Indestructible Tyrant; Bali, the Benevolent Monarch; Bhasmasura, the Ash Demon; Shumbha and Nishumbha, the Inseparable Duo; and Vritra, the Cosmic Serpent, king of the asuras and eternal nemesis of Indra. Their hatred for the devas was an inferno that had burned since time immemorial, and their lust for power was a void that could never be filled.

It was into this turbulent world that Rudra was born, a world where the weight of divine blood hung heavy. As the son of Ravan, the tyrant king of an asura kingdom, and the grandson of Vritra, Rudra’s lineage was grand, but his life was anything but. The halls of his father's palace were cold, filled with shadows where glory might have once dwelled, but where cruelty now reigned supreme.

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Ravan, a creature of immense power, wielded his might with the merciless fury of a storm. Half-asura and every bit as terrifying as his full-blooded kin, Ravan was relentless in his pursuit of dominance, using his strength to carve a path of destruction and instill fear in those around him. He ruled with an iron hand, his generals—half-brothers to Rudra, born of other great asuras—were legends in their own right, each capable of crushing armies beneath their feet. The land trembled beneath Ravan's reign, and so too did all who resided within his household.

But Rudra had learned early that bloodlines were often a curse more than a gift.

The kingdom ruled by Ravan was a place where fear had long taken root, and power was the only language spoken. Every corner of the vast realm whispered of tyranny, where the king's word was law, and those who opposed it were never seen again. Ravan's dominion stretched far across the lands, and his generals—each a demigod son of powerful asuras—enforced his will with an iron fist. They were brutal, feared throughout the kingdom as much as Ravan himself, and they acted with impunity, knowing their loyalty to the tyrant king granted them free rein to crush any dissent.

But within the dark stone walls of Ravan's palace, another kind of cruelty reigned. It was here that Rudra, at the tender age of eight, learned the harshest lessons of his life. His father, a demigod born of Vritra, the Cosmic Serpent, ruled his household with the same ruthless grip as he did his kingdom. Ravan’s other sons—full-blooded asura offspring of his favored wives—saw Rudra’s mother as nothing more than a lowborn woman, a mistake Ravan had tolerated for too long. They took their father’s disdain for Rudra and turned it into violence, making the boy’s life a daily nightmare.