arguskos
2009-02-12, 03:29 AM
So, imagine there is a lich. His name is Maradarsda the Wise, and he's neither one of the oldest lich's, nor the most powerful lich's, and in fact really isn't known for much of anything. Really, history would have glossed him over... if not for his one notable skill: binding outsiders.
See, Maradarsda was an amazingly skilled binder of demons, devils, angels, slaadi, modrons, whatever. If it wasn't from the Prime Material, he could bind it. Now, here's the wild thing: he never asked for a task, just a conversation. He wanted to learn about their lives, who they were, what they did, how they lived. Maradarsda was a collector of information for it's own sake. His library on the lives, ecology, and physiology of outsiders was among the most extensive known. And then, he simply vanished. For decades, people searched for him, but it was as if he simply disappeared, and so the search fell off. It was assumed Maradarsda ran afoul of someone who didn't appreciate his intrusion into their day, and his searchers left it at that.
However, nearly 600 years after Maradarsda's disapperance, a powerful vampire lord discovered the ruins of his tower, and found what had happened to the ancient lich. Apparently, he had discovered a cache of magical metal that served as a drain for other magic, preventing all spellcasting or spell-like abilities nearby it, and figured he'd try and recover some for protection, in case a planar binding spell went badly. However, much to the old lich's horror, a cave-in occured, and trapped him in the anti-magic metal of the dungeon (which had turned out to be made from lots of this material). To make matters worse, he hadn't brought his phylactery with him, so it was still in the safe chamber in his tower. However, he wasn't sure if he could destroy himself, and be assured of reforming there. Perhaps... the metal blocked that too. Maradarsda couldn't risk it. He'd just wait until he either dug himself out, or someone else did that he could bargain with.
The days stretched into weeks, the months blurred into years, and eventually Maradarsda lost track of himself in the endless decades. Eventually, he began his slip into madness, but like he himself, it was a harmless sort of madness. To drive it back, Maradarsda began doing anything and everything to sharpen his mental and physical agility: training with weapons he found in the dungeon; creating traps and statues and anything and everything to keep himself sane. He even went so far as to carve statues of friends and allies from days past to talk to, just for discussion and sanity.
Eventually, the vampire lord discovered the location of this cave, and more importantly, Maradarsda's phylactery. With this knowledge, and desiring the aid of the lich, the vampire lord traveled to the cave, and using his gaseous form, which was strangely unaffected by the metal's magic-draining powers, traveled through the cave-in and visited the lich. He proposed that he would free Maradarsda, and in return, the lich would bind several outsiders to his cause. Even in his addled state, Maradarsda was clever enough to think that perhaps there were other motives at work here, and declined. At this, the vampire became enraged, and produced Maradarsda's phylactery, threatening to destroy it. Even then, the lich still refused flatly, saying he wanted time to think things over. The lord fumed and swore, and then promptly left, vowing revenge on the lich.
Since then, Maradarsda has been busy, preparing for the vampire's return, laying traps and using his enhanced knowledge of the dungeon and his mastery of the blade to defeat and destroy the vampire on his return.
So, with the story over, I wanted to get some feedback on Maradarsda. Is this idea cool? Is he a neat NPC that players might like, esp. since the vampire lord in question is their enemy too, and he might be persuaded to ally with them. Mostly, I just wanted to share, since it was really awesome, and I thought ya'll might enjoy.
See, Maradarsda was an amazingly skilled binder of demons, devils, angels, slaadi, modrons, whatever. If it wasn't from the Prime Material, he could bind it. Now, here's the wild thing: he never asked for a task, just a conversation. He wanted to learn about their lives, who they were, what they did, how they lived. Maradarsda was a collector of information for it's own sake. His library on the lives, ecology, and physiology of outsiders was among the most extensive known. And then, he simply vanished. For decades, people searched for him, but it was as if he simply disappeared, and so the search fell off. It was assumed Maradarsda ran afoul of someone who didn't appreciate his intrusion into their day, and his searchers left it at that.
However, nearly 600 years after Maradarsda's disapperance, a powerful vampire lord discovered the ruins of his tower, and found what had happened to the ancient lich. Apparently, he had discovered a cache of magical metal that served as a drain for other magic, preventing all spellcasting or spell-like abilities nearby it, and figured he'd try and recover some for protection, in case a planar binding spell went badly. However, much to the old lich's horror, a cave-in occured, and trapped him in the anti-magic metal of the dungeon (which had turned out to be made from lots of this material). To make matters worse, he hadn't brought his phylactery with him, so it was still in the safe chamber in his tower. However, he wasn't sure if he could destroy himself, and be assured of reforming there. Perhaps... the metal blocked that too. Maradarsda couldn't risk it. He'd just wait until he either dug himself out, or someone else did that he could bargain with.
The days stretched into weeks, the months blurred into years, and eventually Maradarsda lost track of himself in the endless decades. Eventually, he began his slip into madness, but like he himself, it was a harmless sort of madness. To drive it back, Maradarsda began doing anything and everything to sharpen his mental and physical agility: training with weapons he found in the dungeon; creating traps and statues and anything and everything to keep himself sane. He even went so far as to carve statues of friends and allies from days past to talk to, just for discussion and sanity.
Eventually, the vampire lord discovered the location of this cave, and more importantly, Maradarsda's phylactery. With this knowledge, and desiring the aid of the lich, the vampire lord traveled to the cave, and using his gaseous form, which was strangely unaffected by the metal's magic-draining powers, traveled through the cave-in and visited the lich. He proposed that he would free Maradarsda, and in return, the lich would bind several outsiders to his cause. Even in his addled state, Maradarsda was clever enough to think that perhaps there were other motives at work here, and declined. At this, the vampire became enraged, and produced Maradarsda's phylactery, threatening to destroy it. Even then, the lich still refused flatly, saying he wanted time to think things over. The lord fumed and swore, and then promptly left, vowing revenge on the lich.
Since then, Maradarsda has been busy, preparing for the vampire's return, laying traps and using his enhanced knowledge of the dungeon and his mastery of the blade to defeat and destroy the vampire on his return.
So, with the story over, I wanted to get some feedback on Maradarsda. Is this idea cool? Is he a neat NPC that players might like, esp. since the vampire lord in question is their enemy too, and he might be persuaded to ally with them. Mostly, I just wanted to share, since it was really awesome, and I thought ya'll might enjoy.