Lord of Shadows
and Secret Puppetmaster of the Knights of the West
Solomoriah Loremaster, materializing from the Shadows
~Background~
~Background~
Once a Loremaster Bard from the Elven province of Baye, Solomoriah is now a chilling undead creature, a shadow of great power and influence. He is the hidden hand behind the uprisings in the Western Fiefdoms of Doria.
He was not always so wicked a creature. Not so long ago, he was a common adventurer, and had been chosen by the Light God Raven herself to be one of the Champions of the Talisman. His presence among the original Champions was an abbrassive one; in particular he found the usual Elven arrogances ran against the grain with the dwarf called Durzar, the half-orc Orlec, and the half-elf Nethilian (whose mixed parentage did not sit well with the traditionalist Solomoriah). Despite these petty conflicts, the group operated well together, until they fell into an ambush of shadows and shadow fiends.
The shadow fiends chanced to use their magic jar ability on Solomoriah, capturing his spiritual essence, while the lesser shadows dragged off his body into the forest. It was only after the confusion of battle that the Champions realized one of their own was missing.
Solomoriah was brought before the wicked necromancer who had commanded the shadows, who had intended to possess the body and learn the secrets of the Champions. But something went wrong. Some part of Solomoriah's will was resisting the process, and somewhere in the ether between the Necromancer and the Loremaster, a battle was fought whose result would have repurcussions in Doria for years to come.
The arcane feedback that resulted from this battle turned the Necromancer to stone, and shattered the magic jar that contained Solomoriah's soul. The Loremaster regained his essence then, but not without cost: he had been fundamentally changed, first by his spirit-battle with the Necromancer, and then by the premature release of his spirit from the clutches of the shadow fiends. Solomoriah was now a shadow himself, an undead echo of his former being. And yet, he was more than a mere shadow; he knew this from the respect he was accorded by the shadow fiends who surrounded him when he awoke.
As the Lord of Shadows, Solomoriah assumed the place left vacant by the necromancer. He now found himself an opponent of the Champions to which he once belonged, and his newfound undead state twisted and reinforced the negative sentiments he felt toward his former companions. He also found himself the inheritor of the Necromancer's plans: for the Necromancer, it turned out, was attempting to engineer a rebellion in Doria's Western provinces, and had already placed several minions in key positions to make sure this happened. The rebellion was a smokescreen, however, to mask the Necromancer's true objective: he was a servant of some ancient, unspoken Dark God, whose aim was to gather the pieces of the Talisman and assemble them -- presumably before Raven's Champions could do the same.
As he is now a servant of the Dark Gods, his affiliation with the Dark Wrath was only natural.
Most of Solomoriah's lieutenants and officers are undead beings themselves.
Sira- One of the highest-ranking lieutenants in Solomoriah's organization, and also a respected figure in Dorian society, Lady Sira poses as a woman of nobility by day, and by night reveals her true nature as a Penangallan Vampire. She is also a powerful spellcaster, which only increases her value to Solomoriah as an agent and advisor.
Jacob- A charming vampire of considerable power and influence, he is nevertheless Sira's immediate subordinate. Jacob is one of the only agents currently known to the Champions of the Talisman, as the vampire once encountered the Champions, and even slew one of their number.
Kuromeshar- A powerful Wraithlord, who once attempted something similar to this "Dark Wrath" stuff ages ago. Now he's just along for the ride, content to let a young one like Solomoriah have his turn at the reins.
Anthrax- A former Knight of the Kingdom, turned undead by a Specter a generation ago. His ethereal sword, Etherscratch, lets him fight enemies both physical and non-physical.
Sir Magnus- A skeletal warrior, whose golden circlet is held by Solomoriah. He is an unwilling lieutenant of the Shadow Lord, as he passed into undeath retaining his sense of knightly virtue and honor. Still, Solomoriah's possession of the circlet ensures his loyalty, and so he is a useful tool.
Tybolt- A summoned Nightmare, used by Magnus as a mount. Surprisingly, the pair have become loyal friends during their time of forced cooperation.
Most of Solomoriah's followers are Dorians who have somehow become undead creatures. Players who are keen on this option must select one of the Dorian player character races, and then select one of the following undead classes:
Skeleton (become Skeleton Warriors at higher levels)
Zombie (become Zombie Lords at higher levels)
Shadow (become Shadow Fiends at higher levels)
Ghoul (become Ghoul Lords at higher levels)
Ghast
Wight
Wraith
Specter
Vampire
Ghost
Lich
Death Knight (cursed warrior)
Death Stalker (cursed rogue)
Death Adept (cursed priest)
Death Warlock (cursed wizard)
There are also a not-insignificant number of Solomoriah's followers who are summoned fiends or extra-planar beings. Players who wish to take on the role of fiendish characters must contact the DM for special adjudication of advancement and class abilities. Alternately, the player might take up the role of a plane-touched being: a tiefling, a devilkin, a cambion or an alu-fiend.
Players may also belong to the Council of Knights, the rebel
movement of the Western Fiefs. Most members of the Council are human,
and are members of either the Fighter class or one of several
variants of the Paladin class, suited to alignments which are not
expressly Lawful Good. Since the Council represents the larger
nobility and not just "knights," any character class is possible.
Players who select this option should probably be non-good in
alignment, and are likely in-the-know about the deeper conspiracy
behind the rebellion; that is, they are fully aware that their agenda
is backed by a Dark God, and that their leader on Kulm is a powerful
undead shadow.
Paladin Variants
Paladin - Lawful Good
Myrikhan - Neutral Good
Garath - Chaotic Good
Lyan - Lawful Neutral
Paramander - Neutral
Fantra - Chaotic Neutral
Illrigger - Lawful Evil
Arrikhan - Neutral Evil
Anti-Paladin - Chaotic Evil