V: Notable Personages

 THE MAIMED PROPHET


Vog son of Mellifast was once an ordinary man, a captain in the armies of Urd Thlol. Then, one night, he heard a calling in his heart: the call of the One Above the Gods. He became the first great evangelist, resigning his military commission in the year 272 to begin his holy peregrinations across the continent. Countless temples and monastic orders blossomed in his wake, including the High Chapel of Avalorium, constructed in 284.

During the Fell Winter of 279, Vog was assailed by the Wind-Wolf of Varodrim. It is unclear how he escaped with his life, but many accounts credit his survival to miraculous intervention. He did not, however, escape in a single piece: his right hand was bitten off, all the way up to the elbow.

Undeterred, Vog Mellifast-son continued his work for many more years, earning the title of the Maimed Prophet and leaving behind him a legacy of hope and faith. Vog passed away in the year 300 of the New Empire. Later apocryphal writings have conflated him with Cundar of Raelor, but this is erroneous.


THE NUMIVORE


The Numivore, the Numivore,

The human whom the Gods abhor.

The Numivore, the Numivore,

The tomb of whom's an open door.

- Nursery rhyme, anon., c. Year 220 of the New Empire


A powerful lich of the ancient world. Unlike the standard undead sorcerer, the Numivore has "survived" by consuming the numinous energies of supernatural creatures, thereby continuously expanding its repertoire of abilities. Nothing is known of the origins or identity of this creature, but it is known to have haunted the Mesonorth for at least three centuries prior to the founding of Urd Thlol. The Numivore was destroyed by the sorceress Gloam and the dragoness Wu-Gar-Mei in the very year that the city's unbreakable walls were erected, long before the Cairn Time, but the lore of the ages insists that it still endures in some yet more degraded and terrible form than even the most corrupt manifestation of lichdom. If these stories are true, then this monstrosity is to be greatly hated—and greatly feared.


DAGG ROTH


Once a respected Thlolian Spirit-Mage, Dagg Roth became enamored of secret knowledge and eventually turned to the mysteries of the One Below. Banished from the Tower of Vissarion, he embarked on a ruinous expedition into the Endless Pit beneath the city's foundations, where he found many strange and horrible things. Each time he emerged from his spelunkings, he walked the streets disseminating shameful philosophies, only to descend again in search of yet stranger lore. The Council of Archmages finally convinced the Governor to exile him from the city altogether—but by that time, Dagg Roth had vanished forever into the depths of the Pit. Could he have been somehow connected to the nightmarish curse of the Numivore?

Perhaps the dark sorcerer's most notable "achievement," before his disappearance, was bringing the Volume of Despair up to the surface world. This tome of innominate provenance, said to drive the reader mad, is now lost to history; its only trace can be found in the ravings of those who once foolishly read from its pages. No one is grateful to Dagg Roth for bringing the Volume to light.


DRELG OF SORROWFEN


The indefatigable half-ogre proprietor of the Wharf-Rat Tavern (see Section II) has tended bar in the Inner City for a great many years. If a rumor, hint, or whisper passes through the city of Urd Thlol, one may be sure that this paragon of barkeeps will hear and remember it. His discretion is mythic—he will never betray a confidence—but so is his insight. It is folly to undertake any quest in Urd Thlol without first seeking out the good counsel of Drelg of Sorrowfen.


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