Race: Human
Class: Wizard (Necromancer)
Valik grew up in an upper middle class family. He lived a fairly good life, attending a good school and learning whatever was taught to him. He was something of a delinquent at heart and studied necromancy, not for any serious reasons other than the fact that he thought it was cool.
He was kept from straying too far from the straight and narrow by a fellow student, a beautiful young lady who Valik was deeply devoted to. They toyed with the idea of marrying once their schooling was complete, but never made any serious plans.
Things all changed one day when she suddenly developed a mysterious sickness. She wasted away day by day as a frantic Valik tried everything he knew to save her. None of the clerics he brought her to could cure her, but some hinted darkly that a terrible curse had been laid upon her. Valik was heartbroken, for he knew what this meant. His entire family had been cursed for the deeds of a long-forgotten ancestor. He blamed himself for her sickness?, and lamented that it should have been him that was dying. ?However, he knew that the curse that hung over his family was a mighty one that knew exactly how to hurt him.
For the first time he threw himself into his dark magic, trying to find some way to bring his love back to life. All of his efforts were in vain, however. As his efforts grew more and more frantic, he was forced to steal her body and run away to keep her family from trying to claim her for the ground.
As he feverishly studied and learned, the two of them slowly began to dissolve. Her body, despite his efforts, was beginning to lose its battle against the world that would claim it back, and his was becoming increasingly sickly and weak.
He joined an adventuring party blearily, trying vainly to find some lost tomb that might help him on his quest. All of his efforts were in vain, however, and adventuring never held his attention long. Slowly however, as his hope fled, his mind became more and more consumed by his dark task and he began to show signs of coldness and cruelty that told of dark hours spent with forbidden works. When he ventured out his companions began to notice the change, and they were deeply frightened. Even his affection for his lost love seemed to be fading. Soon he became just another necromancer seeking only power.
As time went on his mind fixed on a goal: to attain unlife for himself. He studied the darkest secrets of his art, trying to discover some way to beat back the specter of death. His obsession grew out of control and dominated his life. Lich-hood was to be his, and he would sacrifice anything to get it. It was during this time that he destroyed the rotten corpse that he had kept locked away all this time, forgetting forever his dream of restoring her to the world.
Finally he had his phylactery ready and performed the dark ritual. As his body died, however, a change grew over him. His unliving soul was struck by a terrible grief at what he had done, and what he had tried to do but failed. From his new clarity he realized what he had become and mourned it greatly. As his life ended the curse of his family fell away, and he realized that he could now redeem himself by saving others from the loss he had suffered.
Origins: The story's beginning is almost exactly that of my first NWN character. The name "Valik" came from the random name generator, but "Emerich" is older. I made that up myself for a story I meant to write a while back. It was supposed to be for a vampire, which I suppose could be one of Valik's ancestors. The idea for his coming from a cursed family came from around there. In the original bio Valik lost his sister, not a lover, but I thought this way was more romantic. Plus, it kind of fits the curse better. His becoming evil and later becoming a lich came from one day when I tried to decide what my characters would be like at high levels.