So, here's part 1 of 3 a write-up for Oz and Salem's backstory I've been putting together to replace the backstory given in canon.
Please read this in the voice of Logan Cunningham as the Narrator/Homer from Hades.
The Lost Fable: Soulmates
Long ago, before this world was ever known as Remnant, there lived a boy who dreamed of being a hero. A cunning child with a gift for magic, he desired to be a Spellblade in the service of the God of Light, a wandering Paladin who protected the innocent and destroyed the guilty. He trained for years, passed the trials, and became the youngest to ever swear the Oaths. A boy no longer, the young man wandered the world, going wherever his heart pleases and righting wrongs as he went. He slew dragons, negotiated peace, broke curses and so much more. Years passed, his legend grew and soon taverns, mead halls, and tea houses all across the world rang with the tales of Ozma, the Great and Powerful.
Long ago, when magic still suffused this world, there lived a girl who dreamed of freedom. The only living child of a Mad King who had lost everything, she was kept under lock and key in tower for her own protection. All she had ever known were the walls of her home, but the stories in her books and the tales told to her by her caretakers ignited a longing in her heart, to see the fantastical world she had only ever heard of. So, she hatched a plan. Using her magic, she spread the tale of a princess imprisoned by an evil king, who awaited a hero to rescue her. Whichever kind soul succeeded would be worthy of the hand of Salem, the Girl in the Tower.
Many would-be heroes stormed the prison, but none succeeded in freeing the princess, struck down by her zealous father and his guards. Salem had all but given up hope when a hero, a true hero, appeared.
Ozma, the Great and Powerful, had come.
First, he tried to convince the Mad King to let his daughter go, but was rebuffed at every turn. He struck down the gates of the keep, and beseeched the Mad King once more. Instead, the monarch summoned his Royal Guards to kill the interloper. For hours, Ozma, armed with staff and blade, clashed with the King's elite and proved their better. The King, incensed beyond reason, engaged the hero in a duel of gramarye that could be seen and heard for leagues around. For three days and three nights, the Mad King and the Hero fought, until, on the dawn of the fourth day, Ozma cast the sovereign down from the skies and stood victorious. But Ozma was yet mortal and soon succumbed to exhaustion, falling into a deep slumber at the foot of Salem's Tower.
The princess had not been idle during the battle and as soon as the fighting subsided, had made to steal away from her prison. But, as she stepped foot outside of her tower, Salem's eyes fell upon the sleeping countenance of Ozma, and discovered that all her plans were for naught, for something happened that she could never have anticipated.
She fell in love.
When Ozma awoke, it was to the gently smiling face of the princess, who had spirited him away from the ruins of her erstwhile home. And Ozma, the Dragonslayer, the Peacebringer, the Cursebreaker, who had traveled the length and breadth of the world many times and experienced more in a single lifetime than most men experience in a dozen, found himself doing something he had never expected.
He fell in love.
The two clasped hands, staring deeply into each other's eyes.
"Why did you rescue me?" Salem asked. "Was it for the fame? The riches? My hand?"
"No," Ozma answered. "For none of that. I rescued you, because it was the right thing to do."
"Then... what do we do now?" Salem asked, fearfully.
Ozma smiled. "Whatever you wish."
With the defeat of the Mad King and the rescue of the Girl in the Tower, Ozma's legend grew to even greater heights. His deeds were sung in the haunts of the low and the palaces of the high alike but they were only the prelude to a greater story.
Free to explore the extent of her magic for the first time and with the tutelage of the greatest wizard of the age, the former Princess's powers grew tenfold and soon eclipsed those of her husband, just as her legend grew intertwined with his.
For the tales that followed spoke not only of the Wizard Ozma but also his fair companion and wife, the Good Witch. She who shattered a castle and built a city from the rubble. The queller of storms and the liberator of slaves. The one who fashioned an oasis as thanks for the assistance of the desert tribes and the one who eradicated a royal bloodline for crimes against humanity.
She was Salem, the Just and Kind.
For years, the Sorceress and her Wizard wandered the world, righting wrongs and taking solace in their love. Despite the strife inherent to their way of life, they were content and it seemed that they had found their happily ever after.
And yet, it was not to be, for the fate of all mortals came to pass.
Ozma, the Wizard, the Great and Powerful, the Bane of Evil, and the Champion of Good, sickened and died.
And Salem despaired.