Nalzaxx Nerenghast
From Illapedia
| Nalzaxx Nerenghast | |
 | |
| "The Lord of Pestilence and Plague" | |
| About: | |
|---|---|
| Race: | Lich/Diety |
| Guild: | The Temple |
| Position: | Overlord |
| Dress: | Long Green Robe Icebird Amulet Mage's Staff |
| Age: | 34 |
| Played by: | Sam (Nalzy) |
Contents |
[edit] 1 Character
[edit] 1.1 Prayed to For
Inflicting Disease, Pestilence or Illness on others.
Immunity from and curing of the above.
Also sometimes magical guidance.
[edit] 1.2 Personality
Nalzaxx is a bitter and power hungry character who has little qualms about harming or abusing others in his quest for even greater power. However he is marked with a streak of kindness which manifests itself when it is able. He is a strict but flexible mentor who is incredibly proud. He refuses to bow to anyone, especially Gods and takes a liking to those who also do so. While prone to being occasionally arrogant he has a great understanding of all things mystical and a special affinity to poison, disease and plague.
[edit] 1.3 Figure
Nalzaxx appears as an averagely tall skeleton made from blackstone with eyes which glow in a sickly green taint. He wears long black robes of silk with green edges and wears a number of powerful magical items including an icebird and two archmage rings. He carries a specially enchanted wind wand which has been elongated and the diamond tainted an eerie green colouration.
[edit] 1.4 Likes/Dislikes
Nalzaxx is very fond of all things occult, mystical and magical and spents much of his time learning or improving his abilities in these area's. He is also very fond of poison, disease and others forms of pestilence. Nalzaxx dislikes unjustified arrogance and do gooders as they inevitably come to blows with him. He holds a particular hatred of the other Gods apart from Moshran due to the curse they placed on him during his mortal life.
[edit] 1.5 Followers
Nalzaxx's followers are mostly evil clerics or warriors who use his powers with disease to inflict death and suffering on their enemies. However a few healers also pray to Nalzaxx to cure and heal those that are suffering from the disease.
[edit] 1.6 History
Early Days
In his youth Nalzaxx lived under a different name in a small albarian village raised by his father, the village herbalist. While still young Nalzaxx was spotted by a passing Mage from Lor-Angur who recognised Nalzaxx's potential with magic. While his father was reluctant he eventually agreed to allow Nalzaxx to accompany the mage back to the City of Magi to begin his magical learning.
During his teens and early twenties Nalzaxx was subjected to the usual scholarly pursuits and magical training progressing successfully throughout the years. While never the most naturally talented nor practiced mage in the class he was none the less a powerful magic user by his mid twenties. It was around this time that he began delving deeper into the darker side of magic. While not malevolent in nature he was attracted by its power and lack of restraints which, he felt held followers of the light path back somewhat. Through earnest hardwork coupled with a clever manipulation of his teachers he managed to gain access to the forbidden libraries of Lor-Angur where texts detailing much blacker magic were kept. Under the premise of researching for effective protection spells against demonic forces Nalzaxx began to practice dark magic in the shadows of Lor-Angur, and from this point his descent rapidly began.
Wishing to further his powers and influence Nalzaxx began communicating with dark entities, demons and strange beings from the darkest depths of Illarion. It was from his discourses with one particular entity, some claim to be Yog'sothoththul, that he discovered knowledge and practices forbidden by even the gods. It is believed that he began to consort with dark gods at this point, kin to the elder gods and Madrook Na'han. It was not long after he began these practices that the prescence of these dark forces was noticed and Nalzaxx was struck down by divine powers. Rumour has it Zhambra was the agent of this.
However Nalzaxx's body survived this onslaught, possibly with the help of the dark powers he had allied himself with, while his soul was flung to the deepest parts of Moshran's realm. During this time his elders at Lor-Angur discovered his body unconscious amidst the dark texts he had been reading. Falsely believing his condition to be caused by the work of the unholy beings he had summoned they continued to care for his body, sustaining it and ensuring its survival. After five years of torture in Moshrans realm Nalzaxx managed to escape, again with the help of dark gods and revive his body. Enraged at his ability to do so but aware they could not destroy him the younger Gods stripped Nalzaxx of his magical ability and cursed his body with frailty and disease. Shocked by Nalzaxx's transformation and his inability to perform even the simplest of spells Nalzaxx was banished from Lor-Angur and made his way to the outcast island of Gobiath.
The Home of Outcasts
Arriving in the midst of the war against Drakhen and Dravish he kept a low profile while he became adjusted to his new surroundings. Terribly crippled and covered in boils and disease Nalzaxx began to dress in a thick green robe to hide his complexion. Although untrusted and sometimes feared for his appearance Nalzaxx became accepted into the community thanks to his extensive knowledge on magical matters and scholarly pursuits. It was not untill the founding of the Gobiath Magic Academy that he attempted to relearn magic once again.
During his period of learning at the Magic Academy Nalzaxx became fluent in Ancient and became one of the most promising students thanks to his extensive background. During this time he became aquaintances with other mages of the isle, notably Silas Farron and Samantha Meryadeles. He also became good friends with a fellow human named Orren Paddick and it has been suggested that even well into his reign in the Temple, Orren was the only person on the isle Nalzaxx spoke freely and honestly with. Nalzaxx quickly discovered however that he had not merely forgotted magic, but was completely unable to learn it again. Realising this he left the academy and began to seek ways of regaining his abilities.
Little was heard from Nalzaxx from this point and his activities were mostly kept to research and ritual. When a magical disease threatened the isle however Nalzaxx volunteered, due to his now innate affinity with disease and knowledge to help find the cure for the plague. Accompanying the now Archmage Samantha Meryadeles into the Northern Forests they quickly discovered the cause of the disease, but not before it had turned the pair into undead. A cure was found shortly therafter, holy water and while all inhabitants of the isle were cured Nalzaxx refused for threefold reasons. Firstly due to his curse from the gods he knew that the holy water would merely cause him pain and discomfort. Secondly he refused to accept any kind of assistance from the Gods and thirdly, his undead state allowed him freedom from the pain of his mortal existance. Fleeing into the darkness as the towns population tried to force the cure upon him Nalzaxx became outcast again and remained hidden.
Due to the magical nature of the undeath Nalzaxx was able to retain his soul and therefore also his free will. Aware that the undeath was only temporary he set out to find a way to make the state permanent. Again communicating with dark powers he devised a ritual to alter his state of undeath and permanently banish his physical weakness. It was at this point a rogue drow founded the Temple of Bjolmur on gobiath. Seizing the opportunity Nalzaxx was one of the first to join the organisation. A condition of joining was a blood pledge and oath to the demi-god Bjolmur. However now in undeath Nalzaxx had no blood to pledge and so unbeknownst to the drow he was able to join the order without giving loyalty to Bjolmur. Nalzaxx was quickly able to use his undead state to attain a higher ranking in the cult and subvert it to his own interests. It was during this time he devised and performed a ritual transforming him into the Obsidian Lich and permanently ensuring his undead state. Nalzaxx was also able to undermine the Drow's rule and by gathering the loyalty of the other members take leadership of the cult himself.
The Temple is Formed
Having no loyalty to Bjolmur and wishing to be free of the slavery of serving a higher power Nalzaxx reformed the cult and renamed it simply 'The Temple' although it was often incorrectly still referred to as the Temple of Bjolmur. The Temple quickly left its current base and began recruiting members, early members were Liles, Misjlah, Retlak and Dain. It was during this formative period he met Dusty Bottoms and formed an uneasy friendship with the halfling he would exploit in later times. These formative times were very turbulent and saw a large turnover of members for various reasons. Nalzaxx used this period to further his influence and decide the direction the Temple was to take. Fearing the back-stabbing that often occured in evil cults Nalzaxx devised a system of Blackstones to ensure the loyalty of his members. The blackstones were magically inserted into the chest of members and linked them with the collective power of the temple. This also allowed Nalzaxx control over them to a certain extent and he was able to cause pain through the stones. Furthermore the stones were linked with the member's life essence, meaning removal of the stone without magical means would cause instant death.
The first stronghold of the Temple was constructed shortly after this practice began and members used similar blackstones in order to teleport to their stronghold. This first stronghold was rather small consisting of a hidden prechamber, a training room, library and ritual area but served as a useful base for the members to gather. Again using his manipulative skills Nalzaxx was able to forge an alliance with the then Governor of the town, Stephen Rothman, which allowed him and his members access to town to further their own agenda's. The archmage Samantha Meryadeles, untrusting of Nalzaxx's intentions remained a hostile force. Nalzaxx's next step was to regain his ability to cast magic and so he summoned the help of a greater demon. The demon informed Nalzaxx that in order to regain his ability Nalzaxx was required to collect the power of a dozen souls both to appease the demon and fuel the changes that were neccessary. Fueled by his lust for power and revenge Nalzaxx mobilised the increasingly larger Temple into action and began harvesting the power of people in the quiet of night. This naturally brought them into conflict with Stephen and the town and so a more forceful approach was adopted. Relying on his own cunning, the magical powers of Misjlah and Dravian and the strong sword arms of Retlak and Galthran Nalzaxx was able to dominate the towns weak defences and collect the required power quickly. Nalzaxx was struck down once however, by the elven mage djironnyma forcing him to expend the already collected souls to fuel his reanimation. Adopting a more careful approach the souls were once more collected and Nalzaxx regained his abilities with magic at a level greater than ever before.
Although strong when together the Temple's members were prone to being slain when alone and despite Nalzaxx's efforts the town guard was able to aquire a number of teleporting blackstones. Now unable to ensure the safety of his lair Nalzaxx began to seek a new location to build his haven.
Occulte Noctournalis
With the arrival of Negros, a dark human warlord, the southern tip of greenbriar became a boiling volcano of darkness. Recognising the power of such a location Nalzaxx quickly made alliances with Negros and began building his new lair beneath the Volcano of the now named 'Hellbriar'. The new lair was a huge design and was imbued with powerful dark magics. Once completed the old blackstones were destroyed and a new set, leading to this large dungeon was created. The Temple moved into the large structure and began developing the abilities of its forces. Nalzaxx began relearning his magical abilities at an incredible rate and soon became one of the most powerful mage's on the island. A group of bandits under Galthran and Tybalt's leadership also moved into the new headquarters and added numbers to the Temple's military.
The Temple continued to grow in riches, number and influence for a number of weeks, safe in the new haven. The place was renamed the 'Haven of Occulte Noctournalis' and became a refuge for all outcasts and the shadier members of society. While managing to placate the Halflings north of them the Temple continued to wage a ferocious war with Stephen Rothman and the town of Troll's Bane. It was after a particuarly brutal magical battle with two divine agents that Dravian and Misjlah were captured. While Misjlah was permanently destroyed following the encounter Dravian managed to escape and find his way back to the Temple. Dravian was granted the title of Master Mage and became third in command after the Warlord Retlak. New members such as Meriel, Richard Cypher and Avalyon joined the Temple during this particularly strong period.
However the Temple faced a crysis when the demon Aokan betrayed the Temple and converted to help Stephen Rothman. Nalzaxx quickly punished the demon taking his demonic power from him and returning him to his mortal form. Nalzaxx then used Aokan's power to break Dravish's Dark pillar and call forth a greater demon from Moshran's Realm. Using the large force of the Temple Nalzaxx and his minions battled the demon and his spawn and defeated the creature, taking its essence and growing yet again in power. From this point onwards the Temple continued warring with the town and its inhabitants and growing in power and material worth untill Nalzaxx suddenly left the Temple on Gobaith and handed power to his then apprentice Avalyon.
Gynk's New God
While the town rejoiced believing the Temple had finally been defeated Nalzaxx left for Gynk where he heard a strange new form of swamp plague was killing the population. Posing as a God Nalzaxx was able to influence the local population into worshiping him when he was able to cure their afflictions. Creating a strong following in the swamps of Gynk Nalzaxx returned to Gobiath to play out his masterpeice. Magically altering the disease he brought from Gynk Nalzaxx was able to unleash it on the unsuspecting inhabitants of Gobaith, who quickly succumbed to its powerful symptoms. Ignorant of Nalzaxx's prescence and believing he was dead the population assumed it was a naturally occuring disease. After their attempts at traditional healing and prayers had failed Nalzaxx instructed one of his priests, Livinius, to travel to Gobiath and begin healing people of the affliction. Amazed at Livinius' ability to cure the disease he was quickly able to spread the word of his god Ebraucus, a benevolent healing entity that wished to end human suffering. While many remained skeptical the violent nature of the disease led many to offer up prayers to Ebraucus in a large ceremony led by Livinius. As the ritual came to a climax Nalzaxx himself appeared to taunt the townspeople at their folley. He revealed that the 'god' they were praying to was infact himself and that through their prayers and suffering they had granted him the power he needed to become truly immortal. Abhorred by what they had just done the townspeople tried to destroy Nalzaxx, however to no avail. Having the power he required Nalzaxx banished the plague and with a few final words left the people to consider what had just happened.
Immediately following the ritual Nalzaxx returned to the Haven of Occulte Noctournalis where he held a final audience with the loyal members of the Temple and officially handed leadership to Avalyon. Being free and having acheived his aims Nalzaxx felt that those loyal to him too deserved to be free and so removed the Blackstones which had bound them for so long. Giving the members a final blessing Nalzaxx left Gobiath to continue to spread his cause as the God of Pestilence and Plague throughout Illarion.
