In a town called Shimatama, twenty years or so prior to the Second Demonic Incursion, two boys grew up as neighbors. Howard, a bright lad, was a bookworm and rather nerdy, while Dave, his best friend, was a bit slower and tended the horses. Many a long day was spent with Dave grooming while Howard lounged on a hay bale in the heat of the stables.
Shimatama, one of the world's most open-minded cities, had possession of an orb that made everyone glow the color of their alignment. As a rite of passage, the youth would try to sneak into the chamber where it was held and see what color they glowed. Howard and Dave, inseparable, snuck in together. At just fourteen years old, they didn't know what the colors meant; they just knew that they both glowed pink and, when they touched hands, they glowed brighter.
Their romance was one to be remembered for all of history. It started out with a friendship that turned into blushing and coyness that turned into a heavenly night spent in the barn during a thunderstorm. By the time Howard and Dave were adults, everyone knew them as lovers.
Howard's family demanded he go off to study to be a scholar; Dave's insisted he stay and keep the family stable functioning. At eighteen years old, they were split apart. Howard, inconsolable without his lover, failed out of school and was told to no longer return by his tutor. In the three years he had been gone, however, Dave had met a woman, Daisy, and had a daughter, Brigitta. Daisy, unfortunately, died in childbirth, so Dave had been raising Brigitta on his own.
Howard's return to Shimatama was all Dave needed to get his love for life back. He began courting Howard once more and, despite Howard's reluctance because of Brigitta, they became lovers once more. The town rejoiced and the two began to run the stables together. Everything seemed to be going well for them, until a group of travelers came to town.
The adventurers, including the elf woman Ssaprina, were the heralds for an upcoming storm: the Second Demonic Incursion. The orb that had predicted the two would be lovers became a protective barrier around the town, trapping them in as the earth opened and lava poured out. Trying to flee from the city, Dave, Howard, and Brigitta were nearly out when the ground cracked. Brigitta, on one side of it, watched as the distance between her fathers and her opened. She tried to go around, but a second crack caused the ground underneath her to be consumed in flames. Dave and Howard had to watch as Brigitta, their beloved daughter, screamed for them to help. They watched as her dress, which Howard had made her, caught fire and burned her alive. They smelled her burning flesh and heard the sound of her blood boiling as she died.
Ssaprina was fleeing as well and Howard decided to follow her, determining it was their best chance for survival. After being joined by a crew of adventurers, he thought they had a chance to defeat the demons, but they kept coming. He and Dave clung to each other, praying for some salvation. And it came, in the form of flying aarakocras who opened a portal.
The lovers, abandoned by Ssaprina, ran for the portal. A devil rose in front of them and nearly struck down Howard; Dave leaped in front of him and took the devil's claws. Howard made it through the portal and turned back, assuming Dave was right behind him. The portal closing, Howard made eye contact with the love of his life for one brief moment. As it closed, Howard heard the crunch of claws crushing Dave's bones.
Howard, inconsolable, knew he wouldn't live long without his best friend. He had lost everything. He was gone. But the adventurers talked of a wish, one that could make someone a god, one that could maybe bring someone back from the dead. He was determined to get that wish. He went along with them when their flying eagles and aarakocra were ambushed by devils. The bird he rode atop, who was in fact a dhampir named Rose, tried to avoid them by spreading her wings; the force of the stop snapped his neck. As he died, he could have sworn he heard Dave's voice calling to him from the afterlife.
After the Second Demonic Incursion ends, no one will notice the two new stars twinkling in the heavens, too close to be discernable. No one will notice that, if you look at them through a telescope, the light radiating off the two of them almost looks like a heart.
