Gedunthos Veldrin'Ultrin the Ruthless Agent of the Underdark, Bandit King of Hamsah Mu'tazz, Emperor of Thera

Role

Chapter 12

The artwork before you is difficult at first to even comprehend, and your
mind follows it as if it walked along the path of a mobius strip. The main
feature is a brick-made tower, though it appears in a tenebrous form,
although it is still three dimensional. The shadow it casts is of a gleaming
replica of the Palace, though with it's surface a seemingly more polished
stone than the original. This image is strangely enough two dimensional,
behaving as light is cast over it as a shadow would. In the shadow, at the
base, is a two dimensional golden circle of some sort which is shaded in such
a way it is perceived to be spherical, and this appears as the only object
not made of shadow at the very apex of the standing palace as. Also slightly
differing from the original, the top of the tower itself, which is roughly
square in shape, is shaved to form a pyramid with four sides. Each side bears
in the faintly glimmering color of etched bloodstone the sigils of the four
sects of the Empire, with the shadow sect taking the prominent position at
the front, in the shadow of the glowing sphere. As you gaze upon the art in
it's entirety, you recall the significance of the golden orb, an homage to
the first Emperor under Destuvius' appearance in the modern age, the
ever-piercing left eye of the Legendary Gedunthos Veldrin'Ultrin. As you
smile at the subtle significances of this strange statue, you sense that the
image and shadow of the palace seem to grow almost imperceptibly at all
times, though it is still scarcely larger than a few feet in height.

The base of this sculpture is a slab of sandstone, somehow polished to a
shine, and etched with an inscription in the duergar tongue:
"Designed to honor the Grand Design."

PK Gank-O-Meter

Immortal Comments

Immortal Comments

Role

Chapter 1

The tale from the beginning would have less relevance. That is, to start from
Gedunthos' birth and upbringing. Even from the beginning of his formal
training in the thieves guild would be a poor gauge of what the man is. It is
the sum of all of these things, sure, but current events hold more sway than
his distant and sordid past. Take your pick, really...piracy, murder, whores,
torture, it's all on his list. Most recently, though, he decided to take his
willful greed to new heights. He joined the Imperial Army at a fairly young
age, with the intent on nothing less than taking over the Shadow Sect.
Through the trials that a thief faces, he has come to realize what he is with
really no pretensions. An entity of greed, keenly aware of the power that it
can hold over others. Anyone has a price, though it may not be simple as gold
and jewels for all men, but there is always a price. This is not something he
points out to those around him, of course. Yet another of the things that a
good thief must have in order for everyone to properly hate him, and to be
successful, is the cards close to his chest as well as up his sleeve. No need
to show the hand before the bets are all in, as it were. As he has risen
through the imperial ranks, with rather tremendous alacrity it should be
noted, he has also taken it as a charge to buy out the guilds of the land
with the shadow sect. He of course took the easiest path, the un-filled seat
of the former Shadow Lord as the Bandit King of Hamsah. He intends to
influence the other thieves in the sect to do the same across the land,
especially where the scourge against darkness an order makes its nest in
Voralian. The game of the gold coin can be played outside of the Empire, but
as it's creator, it will be shown that it is won by the masters of it. Dark
tendrils spread out over the land in a network of spies, assassins, bandits
and others of ill name, and if he has his way, all under his greasy black
thumb. Only time will tell if he can be successful, but the only thing that
holds a candle to his greed is his affinity for conquest by the most direct
paths, and those of least resistance. Such is the way of any shadow who plans
to survive to an old age, and so it shall be for Gedunthos.

Role

Chapter 2

The rise to power has been quick with Gedunthos, which is clearly not lost on
his less than humbly sized ego. As the Bandit King, he rose then through the
shadowy ranks, and even managed to convince the former emperor of his
worthiness of Shadow Lord, the reticent absentee ruler he was. And now, with
Kraldinor in power, he has a strong ally at the top, who in his mind he will
surely usurp in time, or undoubtedly outlive. A number of plans have come to
be, beginning and ending with the shadow sect: The new law of the shadow
thieves is that they will hold a controlling interest in the thieves guilds
of Thera. This was a plan he had from the moment he took the easy pickings of
the Hamsah guild. Already, one guild has been wrested from it's former
master, and others are lined up to fall. Drond will remain in Blackclaw,
Wyglacio to Galadon where a vote takes place as of this writing and where
Drog, a former Hamsah thief blackballed for this purpose will head to even
the votes an ensure his victory. After that, Voralian will fall from the
light and into Darkness, and the reign will be crushing for the shadows. He
also wishes, with the earning power of so many competant thieves, to raise
the sect above its disgraceful place as third in donations. These are the
current events and plans as of this writing, but surely, one with such a
limitless hunger for power will have much more in the works that he'd not
have even his allies be conscious of...

And so go the devious deeds of the Shadow King!

Role

Chapter 3

Though there are, as previously mentioned, too many tales of criminal
enterprise, subterfuge, and other such cloak and dagger affairs to list even
before the thief Gedunthos sought out his current adventuring path, this one
bears some merit as it is a name he keeps to this day, in many ways.

As has often been the case, he got himself into an unusual position of
influence for one of his admittedly handsome lineage, this time in a Drow
house. Initially, it was as a liaison for the Duergar of Aaran'Gird for the
purposes of easy exchange of the rare metals of the Underdark for their
respective war-making endeavors. After a time, for reasons unknown to the
thief, the Matron of the house took an interest in him as a spy on other
houses of the underdark, something indeed to be handled with kid gloves so as
not to create war openly.

The task given was vague to the point of frustration for most, but during his
meeting with the Matron herself, a strange but necessary precaution of the
eyes-only nature of the mission, he seemed to draw knowledge from what was
not spoken as much as what was. Reconnaissance of both the grounds of the
house with the intent of finding secret entrances and escapes, as well as to
discover if in fact the final place of one of the Matron's high priestesses
was indeed another house, or a sudden mysterious death in the nearby area as
the evidence had seemed to suggest.

During the course of his investigation, he actually infiltrated the house in
question in the same respect as he had the first house. To only a nigh
omniscient observer would it be clear that he was not playing both sides
against the other during this entire endeavor. Not only did he facilitate
further trade between Duergar and Drow houses with the intent of lining his
own pockets and bolstering his reputation, but he was drawn into some of the
circles within the house which were largely of an 'inner' nature. Volumes
could be written on the sorcery alone drawn from their most secret libraries,
though the intelligence sought after relating to the priestess was sort of a
mix of a wash and success. She had died mysteriously, but it was because
after having faked her death to the first house, she was discovered in
torture to be playing both sides. In truth, the torturer noted, the admission
seemed to come only as a means to alleviate the torture, and as is often the
case the intel gained from said torment was, upon the reaping of her soul,
found to be inaccurate. Being Drow, they of course had no problem with her
being dead despite this fact. One less priestess on the other side, merely at
the cost of not having one added to their ranks.

(The story is continued in the next chapter)

Role

Chapter 4

role +
Upon his return to the Drow house, when he was to give his report to the
Matron, he was greeted at the door by the soldiers of the house as if they
knew the success of his mission. When he was escorted and inquired as to why
this would possibly be, given all their efforts for secrecy, she explained
that the very reason she took to him in the capacity of her spy was
attributed to a certain piece of ancient rune magic that allowed her to
follow his movements and in fact often see things that he could not, giving
the wielder of the sorcery the hinted at omniscience of a 'birds eye view'.

With a chuckle, and his usual nonchalant levity, Gedunthos proceeded to
unnecessarily defend himself regarding a few of the things he said. He was
interrupted by a wave of the Matron's hand, as she approached him with silent
steps, placing her hands on either side of his face. "You will bear a house
name from now, which you may announce to the world or not. You will be 'The
Supreme Play and Predator on Light, Shadow which is The Highest of the
Lowest'." His reply, with a lopsided grin, "I'll use it well." And to that,
"As you use everything else well."

And thus, the last name the Shadow Lord, and Bandit King...Shadow King,
currently bears to this day with pride and amusement.

Role

Chapter 5

Nowadays, as the Shadow Lord, Gedunthos has been able to put some of his
personal rules of conduct in to a sort of law or code by which the shadows
under him should operate. Though he's had them all along in his life as an
adventurer, there were days when things like that weren't rote as they are
now. The most common one of what he calls the 'Word of mouth laws' is the one
that noone is to profit from the Shadow Sect, save for of course, the Shadow
Sect. As a thief, it's something that has perhaps donned on others, but he
takes it to heart. And until only recently, he made good on it... but then,
those who have profited yet live to suffer. He has passed it down to the
shadows, and such ideals have even managed to become a recruit retention
technique, something to keep the shadows confident of their choice to take
the oath in the most powerful sect.

Rythmano the rat. That is what he affectionately called the transmutation
mage and adventurer who thought he was getting one over on Gedunthos on one
of his much earlier adventures to the surface world. Every day for a month,
the man would report on some of his ventures in to swampy places like
Blackwater, or Whistlewood. Gedunthos wanted to hire experts from many
regions, to get used to the idea of something without six walls and
stalactites. Rythmano was one of them, but he became aware of the thief's
activities and began to brag in the late evenings over glasses of wine that
the source of his new drinking and aventuring funding was clearly a man of
criminal enterprises. When the word got back to Gedunthos, it was in the form
of harassment by a small group of magistrates who tended to shift together,
as well as drink together. It took Gedunthos weeks to figure out the source
of their perceptions of him, which happened to be at least partially
accurate, but in his mind unfounded, as he had only recently arrived and was
more notorious than famous. He learned that you often have to hire two people
for every one person you turn into an asset in your spycraft. For those in
the tribunal, it may be akin to hiring a lawyer to watch over a lawyer.

But, that is a diverting to litigation. This story is more about
ligature-ation. As the time passed for Gedunthos to investigate himself, he
plotted and plotted on this poor soul, whoever it was, who made his name
public to the alcoholic civil servants. Nowadays, the punishment is given
more thought and is longer lasting. For Rythmano, however, it was merely
permanent. The last thing he would remember is going through his files on
Whistlewood, and finding the head of a Swamp Rat in the box that should have
contained his 'thinking bottle' of whiskey and some assorted journals from
the region of Whistlewood. Confusion then horror marked his consciousness as
he gazed at the head, and moreso as the wire wrapped around his neck and began
to saw, making the world spin as his head rolled off and in with his rat friend.

Role

Chapter 6

With the fall of the Emperor, Gedunthos sprung in to political action before
even the Prelate announced the vote. The long time beggar, always turned down
in his requests save for easy gifts, and the current Dread Lord Merf, was
called in on Gedunthos' long time chip of general aid without enough in
return for his services. Long has it been the trend for him to ask and be
denied, "Can you help me make coin for my coffers?" and the reply of "Show me
yer worth the effort, gimme something I want. Think of something you can give
me dat I want, cause I can't think of a one!" ...and so it goes. Intel from
the last Emperor told that Etion, the current High Priest, wishes to be
relieved of his post without being anathema. "My heart, my soul, my life for
the Empire." Not the first time Gedunthos has gained something significant,
in this case the claim of a vote for Emperor, for nothing more than a very
convincing lie. Not to say that he would never make good on his word to
Etion, but the chances are greater once he has the power he wants that he
will deny the request. And then, to Jebaral... our current Warmaster. At the
visiting of the Emperor's spirit, he joked that the two likeliest candidates,
The Shadow Lord and War Master, would lie to one another and Merf would end
up being Emperor... And so, Gedunthos played upon this. Though a blade seeks
blades to be emperor, it would be moral suicide to vote for any but the
'second best' in his mind. Though none of this is sure, Gedunthos has been
greeted more times than can be counted by those in the realm, those with no
real say of course, "When will you be Emperor?" or "Greetings, future
Emperor." and without fail. The final play remaining is to speak with the
dark lords, and to see the affects of abstaining from the vote. A landslide
is favorable, and that is likely the case, but a unanimous decision would be
more so. And so, the agnostic unless it suits him Shadow Lord will make
inquiries as to the affects of this, and if the vote will be left to the
Lords themselves, he will decide whether a bribe can gain him what he usually
desires: intelligence on the motives of his challengers. With the contract of
Miklahn secure in his mind, having spread the proper opinion and having
risked the target's life many times without risking himself...that opinion of
course being that Miklahns main trait is hubris, he hopes to call in the chip
to discern where the votes of others head... Nothing is sure, and only time
will tell, but this is clearly a man with nothing less than victory and power
in mind!

Role

Chapter 7

The Macabre Mediator Merf's Masquerade.

Minutes:
Gotta start off wit welcome speech, credits for da empire, and mebbe somethin
fun an quick an celebratory.

Herald and Hosts Toast: Short toast to involve heralds, to erode their
suspicions.

Macabre Mediator's Meditations: Get some of your words out there. Dis ye'll
want to plan out ahead, so more work required on dis minute.


Oathed of the Masquerade: Voluntary oaths who wanted to gain some additional
title or lend support to tha emperor's event.

Limericks for Leaders: Poetry contest wit kingly flair, small prizes for a
top few participants. (Top 3? Top 5)
Issue wit prizes: Want to keep good spread. Look at item keepers, rsvp for
contest entries to encourage better prizes and participation, mandatory
imperial attendance (or excusing missive)

Pre-event suggested order: Gain rank of next imperial power or promotion (one
ahead), encourage the doom of non-oathed leaders present.

Event should wind down 'ere. Public announcement shows Imperial Closing
Speech.

Consists of announcement of winners, offering of oath to all present speech
by Merf, wit a preemptive announcement to empire only of tha ending
fireworks.
Winners given prizes, (poisoned) all given special drinks (Everyone but
imperials poisoned) after all final oaths spoken.

Kill everyone. Crown Gedunthos Shadow Lord, an most importantly...

Mark date on tombstones. Event held next year. Hopefully, folk have heard
about it. Imperials only show up, means we won at dis event and gotta come up
wit a new one.

Or they forgot, and we get to remind em of Merf's Macabre Mediation skills
eh? Har Har Har!


The missive is addressed to the Emperor, but was composed in Geduntos' own
hand within the Sect during their last meeting. Most everything here seems to
have been checked off without ink as Gedunthos noted what was explicitly
agreed upon.

No nick was visible by his promotion. So begins Gedunthos' inquiry into the
worthiness of the current Emperor's worth to the sect. He assumes now that he
can convince the Emperor of it having been a good plan to demote him, so long
as it was a test and smoke and mirrors for the declaration of war, and not
some heavy petting for the thieves he called to war before his demotion.

Role

Chapter 8

As is often the case with Gedunthos, when the witnesses to his adventures are
extremely few, he will tend to leap before looking in the name of whatever
greed consumes him. He recently took a trip and very likely gained less than
favorable notice, though at first only by a happy but terrifying
circumstance. First, let us go back...

A battle raged within the Palace, with the warrior Trenloch, and healers
Belitharius and Amatrysti. Called from a very intense gambling session where
his usual prize, no money left and a chest of inebriation, to fight them
alongside a willing party, in this case, the Dread Lord Finley. Yet another
story for another day in that, ye dearly concerned parties.

At what would later be known as 'The middle of the fight', Finley left in
haste after little affect on the outcome beside distraction, and informed the
ruthless one to get out, also in haste. Ignoring this, the fight raged
on...as the Prelate hit the ground, Trenloch would be later quoted as
squealing with delight as he wrested the Codex from the Throne.

This was the thief's time to run, and with zeal and blind bravery because of
his numbers, the lone warrior charged in with his harem of two elven healers.
His blade lunged past Gedunthos as the duergar's swift hands darted into the
pack on the former's equipment, similarly wresting the codex. The duergar
again knew, it was time to flee. The moment he was out of combat, it was not
a squeal at all, but a simple utterance.

"Shadow Sword of Scanlon, I call upon your power!"

Like the lascivious kiss of a forbidden lover in his ear, the sword cooed
"Then, let us fade into the twilight."

Glowing, and badly beaten, he recovered his strength to survive at the very
least, and took in his surroundings with adrenaline still shaking his form. A
desk of wood carved with serpents, crested with a bold, wide-winged scarab
and strange shadows from the seemingly living flame emanating from a hearth
across the visages of dark, unholy icons bearing the mark of the Father of
Devils. Many scrolls lined the desk, but after a cursory glance and still in
a daze, he passed over even the simple prayer beads leaned over a gilded
lamp, surely a reasonable prize were he not just so recently in the midst of
a melee. As he stepped from this chamber, he thought again and headed back
and a force stopped him, seeming to speak directly into and in fact for his
mind. Glancing up, he saw the sigil for the Voice of the Father, a horn.

The Chamber of Elders made his skin grow only slightly more ashen and sweaty
than it was, and only at first. The north end bore a mosaic of some unholy
Beast, which he near inaudibly intoned, "CI BRAKUMI LA MALUMA". The dull
whisper echoed through the corridor and was answered by a chittering,
gutteral sound from the southern end of the chambers.

Role

Chapter 9

.........................A dim awareness of some
impending doom began to creep into the corners of his normally
adamantite-girded consciousness as he moved past the sigil at the door near
the mosaic, an eye, and past the horn and then the flame, and came upon an
unholy font between countless lacquered urns, all containing ashes of various
ages and contents.

A dabbler in magical devices of great power and having witnessed some of the
rites of the Black Sect, he considered the possibility of the use of cremains
in dark magics in dark magics he himself could undertake in secret, or of the
value to others who already are initiated to such. Into the vial-belt he used
collecting poison specimens for the Sect, he placed a bit from each vial and
placed them in order from left to right, top to bottom, until he could take
no more. Just a pinch from each.

Suddenly, horror dawned upon the duergar like one who awakens in a steel cage
after having remembered with some certainty they were dead. The chattering he
heard earlier went silent the moment he turned around from the Mosaic.

At this point, having gained some of his strength back from the attack and
regaining more tangibly his sense of awareness, and now he was indeed a LOT
more sweaty and ashen than when he had arrived through the twilight vortex.
Clenching shaking hands, and sweat dripping from his down turned brow, he
lifted his gaze from the imperceptibly pilfered urns, and moving only his
beady eyes, gazed to the west. Memories of the Sacraa, read about during his
years of study in the libraries of Thera came to him as he strained not to
run in horror from the Lich Coprophagous, and Hyetian the great winged devil.


It was this moment, when he decided if he had been made and whether to run,
all while realizing he saw no exit from the chamber he was in on his way
through, that he lost consciousness. His last thought was of speaking the
words "Shadow Sword of Scanlon, I call upon your power!", and in response,
something intoned even more sweetly than before, "CI BRAKUMI LA MALUMA"

Awaking after the taxing ordeal of travel invoking the dead archmage
Scanlon's power, he imagined it all a dream as he gained his bearings in the
middle of a light-drenched field of growing grain. Hiding himself from view
by way of laying down to recover, he rested his hands on his belt without
thought, and fell asleep for a few moments, when his eyes shot open and his
pupils dilated even more than they should for a duergar looking directly into
the daytime sky. His hands rested on pouch and bandoleer after pouch and
bandoleer of ash the color of ground slate.

Too late to bring it back, hopefully this won't come back to bite him...
too hard.

Role

Chapter 10

A wiry, ebon skinned wretch with a well manicured thick beard of waxy black
hair. His mustache is waxed to a pointed curl, framing his plum colored lips
and lustery, yellow teeth. At a closer glance, it appears they are fitted
with a thin layer of gold, with gems where you would expect to find week old
bits of warg and rye. A few pock marks scar his left cheek, but other than
that his complexion is pretty even for a duergar. His nose is angular, and
looks to have been badly broken and never set some time in the distant past.
His garb is almost entirely leather and subdued and dark colored cloth, with
any buttons or trailing metal meticulously wrapped in cloth to keep them from
jingling when he moves. His left eye is a golden color, with no pupil at all.
The other is a beady, emotionless black, giving him the appearance of a
strangely scarred mole. It is unclear whether either eye is sighted. Looking
closer, you can clearly see that...

Role

Chapter 11

After extending his shadowy tendrils of information gathering for decade upon
decade, the Shadow Lord has finally heard and felt the presence of one of the
Immortal Lords of Empire. Things seem to be looking up, but because he knows
himself and therefore doesn't underestimate others, he addresses these
feelings with caution. After all, there is only something to be lost by
underestimating a foe or ally, save for the knowledge thay you were a fool to
do so. The High Priest, with his interpreting his dreams with a massive
inflated ego as prophecy, and the Dread Lord, with his new undead form, have
both begun a battle to display Hubris for our dear Shadow Lord. As the lord
put it, "They will soon lock horns". But the real devil remains in the
shadows, fueling the fire on both sides without getting burned.

Gedunthos of course swells with his usual pride, but it is nothing out of the
ordinary, and not so flamboyant as his supposed peers. The Lord Destuvius has
taken a keen interest, and even liking to him, but as previously mentioned,
he takes this with a grain of salt. It could suit the lord to inflate the
Shadow Lord's already healthy sized ego and cause the Shadow Lord to reveal
his favor by this lord, all to look like a fool in the end. Still, he used
the recent multi-million copper racketeering money from the heralds to boost
himself further in the sect, and to install better bathing facilities and
maidens and eunochs within his own sect at the request of the Lord he seeks
to remain in the good graces of .

The Emperor, ever convinced of the Shadow's intelligence gathering, takes the
advice of the Shadow Lord and hears him as if there is little more to hear
than what he says. Though he has proved to have learned some of the duergar's
cunning, he still frets over the High Priest's attempts to usurp him. With
the knowledge of a deadline approaching for our dear Emperor, and so much
infighting not targeting the Shadow himself, he anticipates at the very least
the usual: a road of comfort and ease, and at the best, the rise to the
throne wished for by so many in Thera and within the civilized world of the
Empire. In the affairs of mere mortals, though, only time can tell. Hopefully
Destuvius does not betray him on his having more of that ever precious
commodity, time.

Skill List

PK Statistics

PK Wins

Edges

Flaws

Racial Edges

Class Edges

Edges

Mob Deaths

Timeline

Leveling History

PK Deaths

PK Wins

PK Wins

PK Wins

PK Wins

Arena Statistics

Title History

Skill List