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Daelkoran The Damned,
by ujchoi@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jason Choi)

This albino dark elf is a renegade and the first prince of house
Sholobhar in the drow city of Web-Ulariz, which is consequently the
most powerful house in that ancient, evil, and decadent subterreanean
city.

Traditionally any dark elf bearing such an obvious deformity is to be
immediatley sacrificed, but Daelkoran was spared such a fate by the
intervention of a long forgotten demigod, Wrath, a divine entity with
an unrivaled power to wreak havoc and destruction.  His matron mother
despised this unwarented intrusion but consented to it once Guenadhar,
the elder elemental God of the drow, admonished her for her defiant
attitude.

Daelkoran grew up weak of health and always required special herbs &
drugs to maintain his endurance and strength.  Since that fateful day
when Wrath made his earthly appearance few of Daelkoran's fellow
brethren dared to plot or scheme against one protected by such a
destructive deity.  In fact many dark elves looked upon him with awe
and fear and some even followed him, thinking him the 'chosen' one, a
being who would come to save all male drow from the tyrany of Lolth
and her followers.  However, Daelkoran, allowed all the benefits of a
prince, was fervently studying under the cities most powerful magi, A
1,000 year old Drow Lich nicknamed 'Darkbones'.  While absorbing all
the arcane lore of magick, he took up other pursuits as well,
Swordsmanship and the skills of the artisan, a highly respected area
of expertise in the dark elven world.  Daelkoran learned from the
master artisans of the city, architechure, the manufacture of drow
poisons and secret weapons, and other vices as well.

When he came of age, and had well grasped all of his teachings, he
rallied a great rebellion, an army compsed of oppressed male dark
elves, and disgruntled, oft totured slaves, and the uprising itself
nearly leveled the entire city.  During the course of the confusion
and chaos Daelkoran, under the preternatural guidance of Wrath,
slipped unseen into the councilroom of the drow lords, and uttering a
ancient spell of great power, summoned Wrath's fury which destroyed
every lord fast in their tracks, all that remained were ashes in each
Lord's seat at the council table.

Satisfied, he fled, taking with him a great wealth of ancient text
which contained many forbidden secrets.  Rallying the remenants of his
rag tag army, he gave the order of withdraw, and all of his forces
indeed followed him into the endless maze of the underdark, their
hands full of hoarded treasures, and captured females they would use
as their own slaves and mates.  Daelkoran, being lead by the divine
intrusions of his mentor, Wrath, lead his army to a faraway cavern,
where lied a ruined, underground castle long abandonded by any
sentient beings.  It was here that he and his forces took up
residence.


Daelkoran had, over the course of the year, ordered his minions into
restoring the ancient castle to its former glory, and, conducting
trade with greedy human merchants of the surface kingdom above, had
begun to purchase goods not obtainable anywhere else in the
underworld.  Soon after, this secret cavern had become a marketplace
for the various races of the underdark, a nuetral haven where
differences were put asside and valued goods were sought after, exotic
slaves, mind inducing drugs, rare foods, ensorcelled weapons,
information, books, maps, and other things as well...

The albino's fate was not to sit back and live off the labours of
others, and he knew it, so in his stead he beqeathed his throne to the
care of Narcosse, a half-drow bandit who was also a good friend of
Daelkoran's.  Daelkoran journeyed to the surface, and is the first of
his race to have done so willingly in all the history of his people
(though he suspected Darkbones and others like him must've seen the
sun more than once).

He found himself in a dense and haunted forest, where a bitter chill
bit his skin and the glaring moon stung his eyes.  Daelkoran had
learned, through scrying, that the land was in control by a powerful
master, one named Lord Scorch, lord of the dark elf lands (the
guardian assigned to protect the entrace to the drow world for 10,000
years).  Little was known about this guardian, he had no love for the
drow, in fact he despised them and would rather they stay put in their
own underground kingdom.  Daelkoran surmised this Lord Scorch to be
some sort of cambion, a half demon, while others gossiped the moody
ruler to be a falled God cursed by his brethren to live life as a
mortal.

After a quest to find the cave of the ancients in the Grey mountains
just north of the Dark Elf lands, Daelkoran found himself a worthy
blade, known as Doombringer, a enscorcelled sword of rare and potent
enchantment, to be wielded.

 Now the albino travels the world, in search of his destiny.

Stats:
STR 9 or 16 INT 18 WIS 15 DEX 19 CON 6 or 14 CHR 16
AL: TN

Fighter 10/Cleric 9/Mage 10

Doombringer:  This is a +6 Two handed sword, and requires a STR of 15
to wield properlly.  It is a sword of vampiric regeneration, and on a
17 or higher roll will drain the life force of any victims it's point
embeds itself in:

DIE ROLL D20    EFFECT
----------------------
17              Energy Drain:1 Level
18              Energy Drain:2 levels
19              Energy Drain:1d4 Levels
20              Victim must save versus spell or lose his soul.

All the stolen life stuff is conferred to Daelkoran for 10 melee
rounds, this takes the form of HP & STR, to a maximum of 200 HP and a
20 STR.  The sword can steal up to 80 Energy levels before being
satiated.  Those under 5 HD facing Daelkoran with the drawn blade
automatically flee in terror and fear.

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Jespias Silverblade,
by ujchoi@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jason Choi)
7th Level Male Human Fighter,NG

This warrior is ordained the captain of the guards for the city of
Gaulkont, though he oft leaves his position in the care of his younger
brother Shaff to go off wandering the land in search of whatever
adventures come across his path.

He associates himself with a few other like minded individuals, though
he doesnt always agree with their methods,their aims seem to coincide.
Lance, a black robed sorceror with a undying thirst for power, Change,
Lance's mentor, Randal & Striden, father and son and elves by
birthright.

Jespias loyalty is to his queen Frey, leader of the warrior maidens,
whom he is in love with.  He also harbors a deep passion and respect
for nature and pays homage and reverence to the lady of the forest,
Mielikki.

Jespias feels he can use the special abilities of his unsavory friends
to further his own means and to serve his queen better.  Sorcery is
foreign to him but he has gained quite a few trinkets bearing potent
dweomers by consenting to using his influence to make things easier
for the sneaky Lance and his smelly teacher Change, a warlock obsessed
with mastering chess and building a immunity to alchol.

This warrior wears silver elven chainmail +1, and commonly fights with
his Longsword named 'Longthorn' in his lead hand, a +4 Defender, and
Smallthorn in his left, a main gauche capable of breaking weapons on a
natural unmodified 20 roll.

In appearance, Jespias is 6'4" tall and has a mane of long almond
brown hair and light brown eyes.  Traces of stubble line his face, and
he is ruggedly handsome, and fairly strong (16 STR) & agile (17 DEX).
Other stats:  CHR 15 WIS 12 CON 18 INT 11

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Skyler,
by reaux@csgrad.cs.vt.edu (Ray A. Reaux)

"Please don't beg.  I hate it when you beg."  Skyler swung his other
leg onto the bed and crouched at its foot, staring at the man who
strained against the entangling rope which bound him from head to
feet.  "No, don't look at me that way.  Don't you realize that I am
giving you a gift.  You should be thanking me, like you thanked my
mother.  Don't you remember."

"I've been busy Father," Skyler said as he drew his thin stiletto from
its sheathe.  The blade's dark steel drank the candle light.  The
man's eyes bulged wide, and he began to whimper.  The rope's end, as
if it too did not want to hear him beg, crawled up his neck and then,
swaying like an aroused snake, struck.  The end jammed itself into the
man's mouth, choking off his plea, and his scream.  "I've been
learning your secret, and I know you are right, Father, death is the
finest gift of all."

Someone rapped against the door.  The bound man, his eyes wide with
hope strained against the rope to look at the door, but Skyler ignored
the knocking.  Instead, he gestured with his hands, and the entangling
rope snapped taunt, yanking the man's face back towards Skyler.  The
knocking grew louder and became a hammering on the oak door.  "Master
Lum, are you all right?"  someone cried through the door.  Not
receiving an answer, the voice commanded another.  "Hurry, get an axe,
and we'll beat it down."

"I am not angry at you, Father.  Not any more."  Skyler slid his knife
across the man's throat, drawing a pencil-thin line of red.  "I love
you Father.  That's why I want to give you the same gift you gave
mother, and I will always find you, no matter how many other men's
faces you wear."

Skyler carressed the quivering cheeks of the man.  He brought his
fingers, bathed with the man's tears to his lips and sucked, and the
finger was wet with salt.  "Don't cry Father, it's better this way.
You won't feel no more pain, and neither will I."  He bent over the
struggling man, and kissed.  The man convulsed as Skyler's teeth bit
into his lips, and blood flowed.  Skyler slid the knife between the
rope twines and the man's ribs.  "Goodnight Father."  Skyler whispered
as he pinned the convulsing man until life fled, and the body released
bowel and its soul.  The man moved no more.

"Father, your friends are coming."  Skyler kissed the still lips of
the corpse.  Then, drawing his sword, he walked to answer the pounding
door, and more men died.

Skyler is an assassin.  What sets him apart from other people who ply
this trade is that Skyler kills because he need to kill, and the need
is a psychosis.  Skyler grew up in the Black Maze, the son of a
prostitute and a uninspired guild thief.  As a child, he was abused,
physically and sexually by his alcoholic father.  When Skyler was 10,
his father murdered Skyler's mother while in a drunken and jealous
rage.  Although Skyler saw the murder, his father never knew he had
witnesses.  When he was 12, he slit his father's throat while his
father was passed out in a drunken stupor.  But as is often the case
with abusive families, love and hate cannot be separated.  Thus
Skyler, who loved his father as much as he hated him, carries the
guilt of his patricide, and the guilt has driven him mad.

To cope with his guilt, Skyler has a dual personality.  Most times,
his dominant cheerful personality rules, and he can be found joking
and laughing in some late night tavern.  However, when the need comes
over him, as it does more frequently with the advancing years (he is
28 now, only 2 years from his father's age at the time of his murder),
he becomes a brooding psychopathic killer.  This is when he takes on a
job, more so because of his need to kill a man, and thus reenact the
murder of his father, then because he needs or even wants money.
Although Skyler has killed women in the past, he does not target them
and only contracts out to kill men.

Although Skyler is mad, he is not stupid.  In fact, he has the cold
cunning often found in many serial killers.  He has a keen intellect
which he utilizes to plan and carry out his assassinations.  However,
his intellect often comes across as arrogance.  And like most serial
killers, he challenges the authorities to stop him, but he is not
suicidally stupid.

There are three people in the world whom Skyler trusts.  The first is
Tyrel his younger brother, and the only living person Skyler can love.
The second is Angelina who runs the Storm Haven Home for Destitute
Children.  Angelina helped Skyler and his brother Tyrel survive the
mean streets when their alcoholic father and mother could or would
not.  The third person is Axe, the Clean Cutter, his mentor and
sometimes partner.

Skyler has amazing dexterity and grace, and he is the master of the
silent kill.  He is highly proficient in the use of a sword and
dagger, and he is a whirlwind in a fight.  In fact, he has twice in
three years finished second in the Thurdis sword competition, although
in both cases, he competed wearing a disguise.  His slight 140 pounds,
five feet seven inch frame is deceptive, something that many larger
drunks have discovered to their discomfort.  Most of his mass is the
muscle mass of a trained gymnast.

Skyler has crow-wing black hair and sharp blue eyes, with the high
cheek-bones of a southern Steepe rider, an inheritance from his
barbarian grandmother.  His clothes is dapper, and always neat and in
fashion.  He is handsome and arrogant, although his arrogance hides
deep insecurities and fears.  In fact, he cannot deal with anyone on a
personal level except Angelina and his brother.  All women, other than
Angelina whom he treats as a model for what his mother "should have
been" (with an Oedipus complex to boot) are to him nothing more than a
commodity to be purchased and consumed.  All men are potential Fathers
to him, and as such candidates for his "gift".

Skyler has two things of note that serves him well.  One is a
longsword, another is a rope of entaglement.  The longsword is a +2
weapon he picked up after executing a half-elven steel merchant.  The
entangling rope is not really enchanted, but a manifestation of his
latent psionic powers.  He has limited telekinetic power which
manifests itself in his ability to control the rope, as if it was a
rope of climbing or entanglement.  Skyler assumes that the rope, which
he picked up from an assassinated dwarven warrior, is magical.
However, it is nothing more than a 30 feet long finely crafted rieta
rope.  If that rope is destroyed, there is nothing to keep Skyler from
making another rope act like a magical rope other than his ignornace
of his capabilities.

[I have used Skyler as a foil and as an NPC who helps the PC
adventurers.  He was for the longest time a villain, but then in one
epic scenario, I had Axe, his mentor and probably the deadliest
assassin in my world betray Skyler and the country of Thurdis, in the
process killing Skyler's brother.  Skyler and the PCs called a truce
to track down Axe.  Axe was contracting out to none other than Vecna,
the supreme lich, to recover an artifact which would guarantee Vecna's
conquest of the continent.  The PCs and Skyler chased Axe and his
squad of bad guys across the continent as they followed clues and
searched for the artifact.  But that is another story.]

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Aranis Tenspells,
by ujchoi@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jason Choi)
16th Level Male Human Magicuser, CG

Aranis is a adventurer always seeking to travel to new and exotic
lands where he can garner knowledge of the many cultures of his world.
He is a master of sorcery but keeps his powers concealed, not wishing
to reveal his secret.  His mind is so sharp and trained that he need
not use his spellweaving abilities to get him out of situations or to
remove an obstacle in his path, because of his mental prowess he can
*think* up clever ways to get him through difficult trials.

He is never without his brother Kyntark, who's qualities lie in his
warrior instincts and his expert swordsmanship.  Kyntark acts on
Aranis' behalf many times, knowing Aronis to have many powerful
enemies, the crafty warrior is ever on his guard from suprise attacks
that can occur at the oddest of times.

Aronis is a fire elementalist, and has a unrivaled mentor in this
field of magick, Scorch, a demigod of the plane of elemental flame.
Scorch provides his mortal apprentice, Aronis, with access to the
flaming fortress, a tower equipped with a laboratory and an extensive
library.  The tower has a means of travelling through various planes
of existence.  In exchange for his teachings Aronis is required to
perform favours for the unpredictable Demigod every so often.

Aronis can read & detect magic at will, through the aid of a
permenancy spell.  He never physically ages because of a *wish*.

He always carries his black onyx staff with him wherever he may go, a
+3 staff of sharpness, the end of the staff, a carving of a grinning
gargoyle, its razor sharp wings will extend on a 17 or higher roll to
sever an extremity.  The staff can also cast the following spells once
per day:  Continual darkness, Sleep, and wall of fog.

In appearance, Aronis is 5'7 tall, and has long dark blonde hair, and
piercing gray eyes.  He is fairly handsome, but his face seems
slightly tired and worn due to strenuous study and time consuming
experiments.  Aronis rarley sleeps, rather he has learned a elven
meditation tecknique which allows him to gain the equivalant of 7
hours of sleep by 1 hour of meditition, this allows him to memmorize
spells at 1/2 the normal time necessary.

He customarily wears dark gray robes, a long crimson cloak, and a suit
of black leather made from the hide of a chimera (perserved in oil).
Silvery bracers of defence adorn his arms, which grant a AC of 2. He
also wears a ring of protection +6\+2 to all saving throws.

Aronis' pet is a Faerie Dragon known as Karma ...  It isn't a
familiar, simply Aronis' companion at times, the creature is oft
fickle and mischievious but can be convinced to act as a spy if
promised 'fun' from time to time.  The faerie beast enjoys playing
jokes on the mage, due to his seriousness.

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Lance,  by ujchoi@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jason Choi)
Male Human,  8th Level Magic-user,  CN
INT 18

Lance is quite the madman, prone to heavy drink, wenching, and other
forms of unruly behavior.  His obsession is with accumulating vast
amounts of power and he makes no secret of his ambitions.  In
appearance he wears dark velvet black robes, and a mask made of ivory
which resembles a human skull.  Beneath the skull his face appears as
melted wax, and is engraved with intricate scars which glow blue
whenever he casts a spell.  His hideous face is the result of a
magical experiment gone wrong.

His ambitions are to become a God, a goal he has set out for himself.
Currently he is in search of the seven rings of the elven kings.  So
far he has obtained the omnipotent 'ring of power', which allows him
to utter any power word spell once a day, the minotaur ring which
allows him to cast a maze spell x3 a day, and the ring of rapid
regeneration.  These rings are intertwined and when the wearer dies,
they are teleported to whoever else is in league with the wearer or
who owns one of the seven rings.

 Due to his arrogance and wanton misuse of magick he has gained a great
deal of enemies in the past which always have a strange way of showing
up at the worst of times.  As a escape plan Lance wears two earrings,
which happen to two polymorphed Giant scorpions, he will toss these at
a foe and cast dispel magic on them, biding his time to make a hasty
retreat.

Helga,
by ujchoi@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Jason Choi)
Female Half-elf, TN
15th Level Cleric/15th Level Thief
Hel

Helga is a follower of Hel, goddess of life & death, and she herself
hails from the northern realms dominated by the norse folk.  She is a
deadly assassin, and whenever the opportunity arrises she will deliver
the souls of her enemies into her Goddess' hungry maw.

Thin and lithe, standing 5'6 tall and having a long mane of reddish
brown hair, her ears are slightly pointed, and her moves are graceful
as a dancer.  She wears a suit of Black dragon hide, and her left
sleeve is black, while her right is pure white.  She wears a mask as
well, split down the middle, with the left side also being black, and
the right white.  The mask is so intricate it looks like makeup on her
face.

Many unseen weapons lie hidden on her person at all times.  Her
favorite being a blackned longsword, and a extremly sharp dirk of
exquisite craftsmanship, both she uses in combination in battle.  The
long blade is known as the 'sword of assassination', a Longsword, 9
lives stealer with the following abilities:  symbol of painx3 a day;
darkness 15' radius; animate deadx2 a day; and dispel magicx1 a day

Her dagger is a +1 weapon, +4 versus magic using beings.  She will
use this in couple with a mace of disruption she possesses to fight
off intelligent, magic using undead such as vampires or liches.

Helga is in love with a drow sorceror named Zar...