PDA

View Full Version : DM Help Help me figure out some D&D lore (specific person)



Maelynn
2019-09-26, 08:49 AM
I'm trying to find information regarding a character in the Forgotten Realms, but I have trouble piecing together what I found. Please help me out here.

What I need is as much information as possible regarding Blackwill Haarken Akhmelere. Especially his exact name, because from what I found so far it's very unclear whether some part is a title or a first name or a middle name or just some other determiner.

Reason is that one of my players had mentioned the name 'Akhmelere' in his character background as a possible nemesis and I want to use it in my plot - maybe the 'son of' to make sure they're not pitted against too powerful a BBEG. And since this particular player is very into D&D lore, I want to do solid research so as not to butcher anything.

Here's what I found so far:

- Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Twin_Towers_of_the_Eternal_Eclipse), a page on the FR fandom site (referenced as Blackwill Haarken Akhmelere - the fact that only 'haarken akhmelere' is a (non-existing) link and 'blackwill' is not included implies that these are his first and last name... so what is 'blackwill' then?)

- Bineera Ethar (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Bineera_Ethar), a page on the FR fandom site (same reference as above, but with the addition that he was a 'Watchful Skull' of the Twin Towers)

- Tearing of the Weave (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Cormyr:_The_Tearing_of_the_Weave), a 3.5 adventure module (referenced on p158, in a letter that addresses him as 'Most honored Watchful Skull, Blackwill Akhmelere - no 'haarken', which would make sense if that's indeed his first name)

- Lord of Darkness (https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lords_of_Darkness), a 3.5 sourcebook (referenced on p12 and onward as Blackwill Akhmelere, a Human lvl 13 Cleric - so what happened to 'haarken'?)

Especially that last pdf was quite interesting and even had some of his background info. So anyway, this is what I've pieced together:

- he is a leader within the church of Cyric, holding the title Watchful Skull
- he is a lvl 13 Human Cleric, first of Bane but after his deity died he turned to Cyric (alignment unclear, in LoD he's NE on p12 but CE on p17)
- he lives in the Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse, a former temple of Bane that has been seized by Cyricists

What confuses me the most is Haarken. The fandom pages imply it's his first name, but the pdf files don't mention it. So if Blackwill is indeed his first name, does that make 'Haarken' an obscure middle name? How come I can't find it anywhere else? I mean, whoever wrote those two pages on the fandom wiki must've got it from somewhere...

Imbalance
2019-09-26, 12:49 PM
Is it possible that your player and the editor of that page on FR Fandom are one in the same and planted that info as a test to see how far you'd go to accommodate their character?

Telonius
2019-09-26, 12:58 PM
The first link has some citations to "Lands of Intrigue: Book Two: Amn" pages 23 and 59. That was an AD&D book, published in 1997, so it's pretty far back in the lore; but you'd probably find what you're looking for in there.

Maelynn
2019-09-27, 05:16 AM
Is it possible that your player and the editor of that page on FR Fandom are one in the same and planted that info as a test to see how far you'd go to accommodate their character?

Haha, I'm quite sure he isn't. He does like to sprinkle some obscure tidbits of lore into his own campaigns, just because he can. This is why I think he picked the name, to have a deep but subtle reference - and, as such, not expecting me to recognise it or dig deep enough to find it. Which is why I thought it'd be nice to do my homework and acknowledge the reference he made, both as a nod to him and as a nice dip into the lore. I think he'll appreciate it, but then I do need to get it right.


The first link has some citations to "Lands of Intrigue: Book Two: Amn" pages 23 and 59. That was an AD&D book, published in 1997, so it's pretty far back in the lore; but you'd probably find what you're looking for in there.

I couldn't find a (legal) free download of it, only copies that are sold on websites I can't buy anything from. Do you happen to have access to this book, or at least the referenced pages?

Telonius
2019-09-27, 09:04 AM
Haha, I'm quite sure he isn't. He does like to sprinkle some obscure tidbits of lore into his own campaigns, just because he can. This is why I think he picked the name, to have a deep but subtle reference - and, as such, not expecting me to recognise it or dig deep enough to find it. Which is why I thought it'd be nice to do my homework and acknowledge the reference he made, both as a nod to him and as a nice dip into the lore. I think he'll appreciate it, but then I do need to get it right.



I couldn't find a (legal) free download of it, only copies that are sold on websites I can't buy anything from. Do you happen to have access to this book, or at least the referenced pages?

Unfortunately not. I have most of the 3.X books, but AD&D was before my time. Maybe ask in the "older editions" forum?

Kyrell1978
2019-09-27, 09:16 AM
"The Cyricists of the Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse secretly meet with the ogre mages Sythillis and Cyrvisnea. In exchange for aid later against the Moun-tain of Skullsí ìhereticalî Cyricists, Blackwill Akhmelere places a large contingent of his faithful priests and warriors at the disposal of the ìSythillisian Empireî for the attack on Murann. The Blackwill be-lieves he can easily wrest the reins of power away from Sythillis, should this gambit prove successful; he can otherwise abandon his ogre magi allies to their fates." Pg. 23 in a timeline entry.

"The Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse: Situated deepwithin the highest peaks of the Small Teeth and flanking theTrade Way, the twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse cannot beseen from the road. In fact, not even the sun touches theseslim edifices, as they are built so that dense trees, mountains,and the like block sunlight from them. All that is revealed tothe sky (and careful scouts within a 1-mile radius of eithertower) is a bronze disc the size of a shield with Cyricís markon it, the darker areas in tarnished silver; one of these is atopeach five-story tower. The towers, though separated by 5miles, are connected underground by a twisting tunnel.One high priest rules both towers as one temple. He is theBlackwill Haarken Akhmelere (CE hm P11óCyric), a for-mer Banite of Ithmong who later embraced Cyric upon hisascension. A traveling zealot with Tellvon Bloodshoulder,the companions found this temple, newly built in honor ofBane, with Baneís Black Hands mounted atop the towers.The Cyricists attacked and conquered the eastern clergytower in the Year of the Helm (1362 DR), though it cost thelife of Tellvon Bloodshoulder, the zealot who started thisBanedeath march. The Blackwill took command and killedor converted the troops of the western tower as they at-tacked. Now, the towers are restored and stand as a powerfulpresence, one which the Watchful Skull Tynnos Argrim (CEhm P12óCyric), Blackwillís counterpart at the Mountain ofSkulls, would be glad to conquer or destroy." Pg 59 in the Twin Towers entry.

Telonius
2019-09-27, 11:44 AM
Thanks Kyrell! So from that, it sounds like Blackwill is either a title or some sort of an honorific nickname. (You wouldn't usually put "the" in front of a name otherwise).

Maelynn
2019-09-27, 04:59 PM
"The Cyricists of the Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse secretly meet with the ogre mages Sythillis and Cyrvisnea. In exchange for aid later against the Moun-tain of Skullsí ìhereticalî Cyricists, Blackwill Akhmelere places a large contingent of his faithful priests and warriors at the disposal of the ìSythillisian Empireî for the attack on Murann. The Blackwill be-lieves he can easily wrest the reins of power away from Sythillis, should this gambit prove successful; he can otherwise abandon his ogre magi allies to their fates." Pg. 23 in a timeline entry.

"The Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse: Situated deepwithin the highest peaks of the Small Teeth and flanking theTrade Way, the twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse cannot beseen from the road. In fact, not even the sun touches theseslim edifices, as they are built so that dense trees, mountains,and the like block sunlight from them. All that is revealed tothe sky (and careful scouts within a 1-mile radius of eithertower) is a bronze disc the size of a shield with Cyricís markon it, the darker areas in tarnished silver; one of these is atopeach five-story tower. The towers, though separated by 5miles, are connected underground by a twisting tunnel.One high priest rules both towers as one temple. He is theBlackwill Haarken Akhmelere (CE hm P11óCyric), a for-mer Banite of Ithmong who later embraced Cyric upon hisascension. A traveling zealot with Tellvon Bloodshoulder,the companions found this temple, newly built in honor ofBane, with Baneís Black Hands mounted atop the towers.The Cyricists attacked and conquered the eastern clergytower in the Year of the Helm (1362 DR), though it cost thelife of Tellvon Bloodshoulder, the zealot who started thisBanedeath march. The Blackwill took command and killedor converted the troops of the western tower as they at-tacked. Now, the towers are restored and stand as a powerfulpresence, one which the Watchful Skull Tynnos Argrim (CEhm P12óCyric), Blackwillís counterpart at the Mountain ofSkulls, would be glad to conquer or destroy." Pg 59 in the Twin Towers entry.

Thanks for that excerpt! Though it does make things even more confusing now, because in Lord of Darkness Blackwill is never used in conjunction with a determiner:


"Blackwill Akhmelere was born of a merchant family in the Tethyrian capital of Darromar. He joined the church of Bane when travelling with a caravan to Amn, where he was an unexceptional cleric. When Bane died during the Time of Troubles, Blackwill converted early to the worship of Cyric, a move that allowed him to rocket to a station unavailable to him under the old church. He was one of the leaders of the army that sacked the Twin Towers, and he later claimed it for his own when all the other leaders died or left under mysterious circumstances.
Blackwill has gathered a large number of loyal Cyricists under his command and feels confident in his ability to detect or defeat those who would try to remove him from his position. His years in the service of Bane taught him the need for discipline, information, and preparation, which helps him maintain control of his temple."

This piece makes it seem as though Blackwill is his first name. Not just lacking a determiner, but also because it's used to describe him from birth. You'd think that a story telling of his early life would use his regular first+last name combination, no titles.

There's also an illustration (not sure if I'm allowed to post a screenshot of the pdf here) captioned 'Blackwill and guards', showing 3 figures - one of them appearing to have a skull for a face, which is probable Akhmelere. The caption doesn't have 'the' either.

Is D&D lore known for being inconsistent between editions? That someone at WotC decided that it would be odd to have both Watchful Skull and the Blackwill as titles and in 3.5 turned it into his first name? That would explain the differences.