Renthar [Atlantic Shard]

[Renthar]

Given Name: Renthar
Family Name: Unknown
Other Names: None
Current Titles: Master of the Everywhere Ruby
Past Titles: Lieutenant in Mondain’s Army; Advisor to Ashencrosse; Foul Sorcerer
Place of Birth: The Deep Forest, Kingdom of Akalabeth
Current Whereabouts: Unknown
Known Relatives: None
Other Affiliations: Mondains Army; the Renthars Room; Ashencrosse; Dominic Wolfwood; Jolicia; The Emerald Empress, Emerald Fist, and Emerald Town
Race: Human
Age: Centuries old; during his last known sighting, he looked to be in his mid-to-late 30s
Hair: Black
Eyes: Reddish Brown
Skin Tone: Pale
Height: Six Feet, Ten Inches
Build: Medium frame reflecting moderate physical activity

Demeanor: With his wild and frenetic gaze, as well as his habit of expressing amusement by way of an eerily wide smile, Renthar’s appearance is unconventional, though not entirely unpleasant. He wields his significant height like a weapon, more to belittle than intimidate, and he is prone to exaggerated sighing to express condescension or impatience.

Equipment: He displays no attachment to any particular piece of equipment, but Renthar usually dresses in dark-colored robes and carries a long staff and spellbooks.

For a time, after suffering mutilations at the hands of the Technocrats, both his left eye and ear were missing, the top left quarter of his face covered by a shiny metal mask fused to his face, and black stubble was all that remained of his hair. However, during his last known sighting, he was somehow restored to his normal appearance, likely through the use of powerful magic.

Known History: Few details are known about Renthar’s early years. He was born centuries ago, in ancient Yew of the Kingdom of Akalabeth. As a grown man, he joined a local ranger order, one that had forged a unique covenant with the land. When the dark wizard Mondain waged war upon the world, Renthar betrayed his order and his oath to join his army. The ex-ranger became infamous for his lack of mercy and brutality. Some of his associates included Serak and Ashley Belmont, and he possessed a certain affinity for his protégé, Jon Abbot.

Near the end of the war, Renthar and his closest comrades realized that Lord British’s Stranger might actually defeat Mondain, so they stole some of their master’s secrets, using them to extend their lifespans unnaturally. Because he existed prior to the Shattering of the Gem of Immortality, a version of Renthar exists in every shard-world created in the wake of this cataclysmic event.

Post-Shattering: After the Shattering and Mondain’s death, Renthar sought to amass power and influence for himself, including the study of magic. These explorations, utilizing the knowledge appropriated from his master, resulted in the creation of a particularly potent Restoration Ritual. But unlike the dark wizard he once served, the former lieutenant lacked the support of an army, and his ambitions yielded more obstacles than opportunities. His closest ally, Jon Abbot, became consumed with guilt over his role in the war, and the two soldiers, once as close as brothers, experienced a contentious parting of ways. Within a few decades, Renthar was captured by the forces of Lord British, and sentenced to a life of imprisonment for his many transgressions.

More than a century passed before he next saw freedom’s light. It was not so much that Renthar was granted a reprieve, as much as he was forgotten; his unnaturally long lifespan allowed him to outlive anyone who remembered the direct circumstances of his imprisonment. Upon release, Renthar fled the newly formed Kingdom of Britannia for the island of Ocllo. There, living primarily in isolation, the former soldier put aside his blade to fully embrace the path of sorcery which would eventually come to define him.

[Renthar]

Ashencrosse: Decades later, Renthar’s solitude in Ocllo was disrupted by the arrival of a band of loosely affiliated individuals seeking refuge as they quested to destroy House Draven, an elusive vampire FangGang. Their numbers included his old associate, Ashley Belmont, now calling himself Paine Drakul; the bard Judas; and Alisiea, a dancing vagabond. Then there was Jolicia, a mage afflicted with Draven’s curse. In time, she would come to mean everything to the sorcerer, although this was far from apparent during their first meeting. The brutal murder of a local, Isileena Thorne, led to Renthar’s sudden flight from the island. Initially, he was fingered for the crime, but a would-be suitor was eventually revealed to be the true culprit.

Those encounters in Ocllo led the sorcerer to settle in Ashencrosse, a small village located in the facet of Malas. Its countess, Aurelia Bretane, was an acquaintance of Paine and the others, and she also suffered from Draven’s vampirism. In exchange for this new home, Renthar offered her a cure, and she readily agreed, appointing him as her unofficial advisor, much to the disdain of some of Ashencrosse’s other residents, including those who were unaware that she was undead. The Countess even arranged the occasional prostitute for him, and Renthar openly bragged about his influence over her. But he was motivated by more than greed or lust. In recent years, he had discovered that his own magical longevity was starting to fade, and with it, his power.

Ritual the sorcerer had authored centuries before, a spell that could restore the Countess, Jolicia, the necromancer Dominic Wolfwood and John Reid, to their natural, non-vampiric states. While their quest slowly progressed, Renthar randomly saved Mariko, a wandering Tokunese Geisha, from bandits, and in return, she agreed to be his concubine. While they never engaged in sexual relations, the sorcerer took great pleasure in abusing and humiliating her. And when it was cast, the Restoration Ritual proved successful for all parties; the humanity of the four vampires was returned, and the sorcerer was able to leech enough of its power to regain his youth and power. However, the undead energies that infested Aurelia and the others could not be destroyed, only transferred, and its eventual receptacle would lead to dire consequences.

Shadows of Change: Renthar soon departed Ashencrosse to investigate the effects of his casting. While doing so, he heard rumors that Exodus, the machine-abomination offspring of his former master Mondain and the enchantress Minax, had resurfaced. His investigation into this led him to Ilshenar, where the sorcerer encountered Paine, who was similarly interested in the news. But the latter was badly injured during their Exodus Dungeon excursion, and his condition was later compounded by a mysterious illness that was slowly killing him. The Restoration Ritual proved to be the only potential cure, but when Renthar cast the spell, it drained Paine of the remnants of the magics that extended lifespan, killing him. The sorcerer also discovered that while he was away from Ashencrosse, the Countess gave his cottage away without warning, and his concubine had abandoned him and returned to Tokuno.

Paine was survived by his pregnant young lover, Alisiea. Months later, Renthar and his new ally Dominic Wolfwood would deliver their daughter, Celestia. But she was no ordinary child, as she lay at the heart of an ancient prophecy involving the dreaded Demon Prince. Additionally, this evil’s return was caused by the curing of Ashencrosse’s vampires, the undead energies that were ripped from them renewed the connection between the demon’s realm and Britannia. Both the mother, and later her child, were relentlessly pursued by the servants of the Demon Prince’s servants, as it was foretold that Celestia would either destroy the creature or become its bride.

His interest in this prophecy led the sorcerer to further interactions with Jolicia, Judas, and their associates in the newly established Emerald Trading Company, the collective of adventurers and merchants they formed after parting ways with the Countess of Ashencrosse. Renthar shared all of the information he had gathered about the Demon Prince and the destiny of Alisiea’s unborn child with them, and he aided the group when Judas was magically transformed into a woman. His long-standing antagonism with their elven friend, Faeryl Tyra’them, also began around this time, as did his acquaintance with the red mage, Minalan Zhalfast.

Together, the sorcerer and Wolfood revived Dezera Blackwell, a slain vampire of Draven whose spirit was enslaved by the Demon Prince. Mortal and human once again, they mystically bonded her to Chanticleer Reich, an ex-knight of Ashencrosse that despised them both. For months, this unlikely pair, these two of unkind, were forced to do the bidding of Renthar and Wolfwood, until Chanticleer’s uncle, the nobleman Julian Randall, bargained for his nephew’s release. At first, the ex-knight did not want to abandon Dezera, but she convinced him to take this opportunity for freedom. She, however, was not so fortunate, and would remain trapped in the sorcerer’s service for the rest of her days.

[Renthar]

Jolicia: A month before freeing Chanticleer, Renthar performed an Automatic Writing ritual. He ingested the eyeballs of gypsy seers and entered a deep trance, his unconscious mind divining a series of near-future events involving, among others, Celestia, Jolicia, Minalan, the Emerald Trading Company, and the Camorra, a hidden cabal of nobles whose membership included Julian Randall. One by one, most of these foretellings became relevant: Alisiea gave birth to Celestia; Chanticleer and Erollisi Razil killed Minalan in an unwanted battle; and the Emerald Trading Company suffered a devastating defeat at Randall’s hands.

Most importantly, Renthar experienced an epiphany; he realized he was in love with Jolicia. As part of Julian Randall’s revenge against the Emerald Trading Company, the nobleman framed her for the murder of a nobleman called Vincent, and she was later abused by the Camorra guards. In exchange for releasing Chanticleer from his servitude, the sorcerer demanded two things from the proud nobleman: first, an hour of access to the Camorra’s hidden library; and second, for custody of Jolicia and a promise she would not be killed. During their time together, Renthar helped heal the mage’s trauma, but he also subtly manipulated her to reciprocate his feelings. Once she had recovered, Jolicia returned to Judas and their friends.

In the months that followed, the ongoing conflict between Julian Randall, the Camorra, and the Emerald Trading Company approached its deadly conclusion, and the sorcerer took advantage at every opportunity to exacerbate hostilities. Eventually, the Emerald Trading Company thwarted the Camorra’s “Offering,” a once-a-decade ritual sacrifice that granted them good fortune for the next ten years. As a consequence, the inner circle of the Camorra blamed Julian Randall, who had organized the Offering, and they expelled him from their ranks. The nobleman struck back at the Emerald Trading Company, assaulting and slaying some of their number, until they killed him. As this occurred, Jolicia was caught between her feelings for Judas and those for Renthar, and the latter continually attempted to assert control over her, utilizing the magical link he had established after saving her from Randall. But Judas was willing to die for her freedom, so in the end, the sorcerer relented and severed their connection.

But Judas and Jolicia’s reunion did not last. When the Camorra learned that the Emerald Trading Company and Renthar sabotaged their Offering, they retaliated against both. Desperate to spare her friends from the cabal’s wrath, Jolicia agreed to a ritual that the sorcerer unearthed. The two of them magically birthed a foul abomination, and guided it to slaughter many of the Camorra’s higher ranks. But some of the creature’s victims were innocent, and Judas, who had opposed the spell but did not act to prevent it, was so disgusted by this outcome that he ended his relationship with Jolicia. This pushed her into Renthar’s arms, and this time, no trickery was involved.

A few months later, using the knowledge he gained from the Camorra’s library, Renthar finished constructing a magical portal that enabled him to travel across worlds. After Jolicia was fatally cursed by a mad gargoyle who despised the Emerald Trading Company, the sorcerer decided he would protect her by using this creation to find them a new home. Judas professed his love and nearly persuaded Jolicia to remain, but at the last moment, Renthar fooled her into believing that the bard was dead. Not wanting to leave any loose ends, he also manipulated her into murdering Dezera. And with that, they entered his portal and departed their native shard-world forever.

Everywhere: Renthar and Jolicia’s destination was not another shard-world, but Everywhere, a unique and chaotic version of Sosaria spawned by a dark conspiracy which irrevocably altered the true course of history. The original history of all the shard-worlds across the multiverse were intended to unfold like it had at the land hidden at the heart of Everywhere, but this was changed through the interference of an unknown Enemy Alliance. The sorcerer learned of Everywhere from the Camorra’s library, and he realized its secrets could further his long-term plans he was beginning to formulate. After their arrival, Renthar formed an alliance with the mysterious Emerald Empress, a masked figure with her own agenda, and she provided the couple with their new home, an abandoned fortress floating in the ethereal void.

During their time spent in Everywhere, the sorcerer relentlessly pursued a trio of objectives, and all three were eventually achieved. First, he and the Empress arranged for the kidnapping of the Techno-Prophet, leader of the Technocrats, a hidden kingdom which valued order and possessed advanced technology. The Techno-Prophet was a twisted version of Lord Blackthorn, akin to the Exodus-created imposter that had betrayed and invaded Britannia. Through torture, Renthar was able to learn the Spell of Binding; in original-intended history of Sosaria, this powerful ritual was used in an attempt to recombine the various shard-worlds into one. Second, the sorcerer participated in an effort to overthrow Lady British, the queen of Everywhere’s Britannia and the world’s secret guardian. Third, he used the abandoned fortress’ scrying capability to contact his counterparts from the various shard-worlds. Those who agreed to his overtures joined him in an astral alliance called the Renthars Room, while those that resisted would face repercussions.

Following the end of the massive Everywhere War, which involved all four of its kingdoms, and the final defeat of Lady British, he absconded with the queen’s source of power, a powerful ruby necklace that enabled its user to manipulate space-related magics. By this time, all his different counterparts had acquiesced to his proposed alliance and long-term schemes, except for one. So the sorcerer soon turned his attention to that recalcitrant Renthar’s native shard-world.

[Renthar]

The Voice: This singular holdout among the multiverse’s Renthars called himself “Matthew,” and on his native shard-world, he was a member of the necromantic Order of Lithos. When the sorcerer Renthar tried to recruit “Matthew” to his cause, and threatened him after he refused, the necromancer requested protection from the infamous Stower family. But instead of helping him, the Stowers took “Matthew” prisoner and used him as a test subject for their “Hollowing,” a ritual designed to “hollow” a soul out of a body, enabling the spirit of a deceased individual to occupy it. Their experiment resulted in the soul of the dead ranger Mitre being placed inside the form of “Matthew,” the very man who killed him centuries before. The Hollowing was flawed, however, as the memories and knowledge of that world’s Renthar lingered, and his personality also influenced the composite being that emerged. He called himself Michael Mitre, and soon settled in Skara Brae, where he allied with its corrupt governor and led the Rangers Guild there, until his crimes led to his banishment from the city.

As long as the Renthar-turned-Mitre continued to resist him, the ranger’s shard-world remained inaccessible to the sorcerer Renthar, and he could not proceed with his plans. He decided to send two agents to that version of Britannia, one willing, and one not. The first was Jolicia, who acted as the sorcerer’s Emissary, manipulating events which led to Mitre’s death at the hands of Sergio Jarrett, brother of one of the ranger’s victims. The second was Faeryl, who had pursued Renthar to Everywhere in order to rescue Jolicia, but ended up their prisoner. She became the sorcerer’s unwitting method of entering that shard-world when certain obstructions arose. Additionally, he also contacted a few natives of that world to lay the foundation for his arrival, manifesting as a mysterious and otherworldly “Voice” that soon began to draw the attention of others.

Within months of Mitre’s death, Renthar finally arrived on that shard-world using the backdoor he had mystically implanted within Faeryl. The sorcerer found himself weakened, and he learned that many of the obstacles to his plans had been caused by the would-be Time Lord who wielded the Sextant of the Ancients, a powerful artifact that allowed him to control time-related magics. This man was secretly Haxley, formerly Lady British of Everywhere, and he desired revenge against the sorcerer and Jolicia for his defeat and humiliation there.

Initially, Renthar and Jolicia were aided by Faeryl and Aila, a seer who inexplicably shared the soul of Aingeal, another Emerald Trading Company member from their native land. He renewed his alliance with the Emerald Empress, whose secretive agenda brought her from Everywhere. One of their first joint acts was to rescue Knight Marshall Piper Swift of the Holy Fist, after she was accidentally trapped in time by the Sextant of the Ancients. Not so coincidentally, Piper was the paramour of this world’s counterpart of Chanticleer Reich, another survivor of Everywhere. By aiding Piper, Renthar was able to regain his strength by leeching the power of a ruby that was a lesser version of the one he stole from Lady British.

The Technocrats Cometh: A rogue faction of Technocrats soon traveled from Everywhere to this Britannia, seeking revenge against the sorcerer and the Emerald Empress for their prior capture and torture of the Techno-Prophet. Because of their mutual foe, Renthar and Jolicia allied with the Empress and her newest iteration of the Emerald Fist, a group of adventurers whose ranks included Chanticleer, Faeryl, Piper, and Sergio, as well as others that would eventually play an important role in the sorcerer’s plans, such as Adegas, Bacchus, Ezekial, and Kalanna.

Renthar met privately with the Fist to request the blood of Bacchus. Because he was kin to the sorcerer’s counterpart from this shard-world, the man who became Mitre, his blood would enable communicate with this other Renthar’s spirit. However, Bacchus refused to help him. When the sorcerer suggested magically monitoring the Technocrats by using the imprisoned soul of one of Faeryl’s former Emerald Trading Company comrades, he was similarly rebuffed by the elf. This left him completely unprepared when the Technocrats finally attacked him.

For more than two months, the Technocrats held Renthar deep within a dungeon in Ilshenar, and he suffered much abuse at their hands. After unraveling a decades old mystery that connected a mercenary, a procurer of illicit services, and a thief, the Fist was able to successfully rescue him. Though unguarded, Renthar had been rendered comatose, his left eye and ear missing, a piece of metal fused to his face, and a powerless communication crystal attached to his gorget. With Jolicia’s consent, they brought him back to Emerald Town and disposed of the crystal.

Guided by the still-comatose sorcerer’s astral projection, Jolicia and the Fist were sent to steal an automaton part from the corpse of Exodus’ Blackthorn imposter. This technology was repaired by Takako, and the druid Aeyia used it to replace the piece of metal the Technocrats had fused to Renthar’s face. The sorcerer began to heal, though he now physically resembled the very same Techno-Prophet he once kidnapped and tormented. Once awakened, he informed his allies about what he had learned of the Technocrats’ plans while their prisoner. Their leader, Lector Stavros, intended to fulfill the Techno-Prophecy, revising the history of every shard-world to match the originally-intended history of Sosaria, so that the Technocrats dominated them all. This could be
accomplished by corrupting each world’s “Pathways,” mythical currents that defined and shaped its entire nature. Stavros now searched for one of this world’s “Pathways,” and Renthar departed to learn more about their mutual foes’ progress.

A few weeks later, the sorcerer returned to Emerald Town, having failed to find the Technocrats or one of the “Pathways.” With time growing short, he proposed a ritual that would locate their foes. By magically attuning an individual to the world’s subconscious, this person would detect any attempts to alter it, such as the Techno-Prophecy. The candidate had to be a native of this particular shard-world, and untainted by any shard or time travel. Among the Emerald Fist, only Kalanna was suitable, and she volunteered for the difficult task. After being prepared and then buried alive for days, she was successfully attuned to that Sosaria.

Soon, Kalanna received a vision that allowed Renthar to track the Technocrats to Malas, and the Fist and a group of allies successfully defeated their forces, thwarted the Techno-Prophecy, and even captured Lector Stavros. Heeding the sorcerer’s advice, the Fist chose to execute Stavros rather than release him for the Technocrats’ promise to withdraw permanently from their world. But their choice also ensured that their enemies would eventually return and destroy them.

[Renthar]

Time Versus Space: Following the Technocrats’ defeat, Renthar and Jolicia’s attentions turned to finding another uncorrupted “Pathway.” During the so-called “Time Shade Crisis,” the sorcerer summoned the time shade of Sarain of Everthorne and sent her to assassinate Governor Haxley of Trinsic, due to his connection (as a temporal divergent) of the Haxley that wielded the Sextant of the Ancients. He also offered Sergio a way to sacrifice himself and restore his late brother Rhys to life during the ritual that banished the time shades, but Sergio ultimately refused.

When the resolution to the Time Shade crisis erased Chanticleer from the timeline, the Empress, who was secretly his mother Emma, sent the Fist to remind both the sorcerer and the would-be Time Lord Haxley of their respective promises to help restore her son’s existence. Due to their rivalry, neither Haxley nor Renthar had access to their full power, and each required a favor to render their aid. The former sought the removal of the mysterious abandoned abbey north of Vesper, which was linked to the sorcerer’s fortress in the ethereal void, while the latter desired the group’s aid in uncovering a functioning “Pathway.”

The Fist eventually completed these tasks. They obtained the blood of William, Mitre’s son with the ranger Mylar Tyrmitore, enabling Renthar to contact his dead counterpart’s spirit. From him, he learned the location of a “Pathway” in Eodon, which the group then helped him access. Soon, the abandoned abbey was successfully removed from this shard-world, though Bacchus, who had performed an ancient ritual to assert control over the structure, chose to send it to rejoin the rest of the fortress in the ethereal void, rather than destroy it like Haxley wanted. Honoring their agreement with the Empress, both the sorcerer and the would-be Time Lord temporarily agreed to a truce and used their artifacts to diverge the timeline, thus restoring Chanticleer to existence.

But with their paths to the Empress fulfilled, their conflict resumed, and this time, without any further distractions. Both Renthar and the would-be Time Lord tried to recruit sympathetic allies from among the Fist. The Governor Haxley placed a price on the sorcerer and Jolicia’s heads, and bounty hunters sought to collect it by capturing her. When the Governor later held a small ceremony to celebrate his family’s legacy, Renthar ruined it by summoning a Harbinger demon that attacked those present. The white-robed Haxley retaliated by kidnapping Jolicia and using the Sextant of the Ancients to warp her personal timeline, rapidly aging her until she perished from old age. In the end, the Fist realized they needed to pick a side or more people would be hurt or die, and after a close vote, they chose the sorcerer.

The only way to end the stalemate between these wielders of time and space magics was an item of equal power. Another Lesser Sun Ruby, akin to the artifact Renthar stole from Lady British in Everywhere, was held by the Stower family within a remote vault in Malas. But it was actually a trap laid by the elusive Stower Twins, and once the sorcerer and the would-be Time Lord entered this vault, they became trapped inside, their respective artifacts negated. When the Twins sent a large army to kill them, the Fist and their allies rushed to the rescue. Upon opening the vault, the group discovered that Renthar had slain the white-robed Haxley and absconded with his ruby, the Stowers’ ruby, and the Sextant of the Ancients. Before vanishing, he used the last of these to resurrect Jolicia and return her to her natural age. He left her with a message for the Fist, he would soon return to settle any outstanding business with the group.

The Spell of Binding: With the defeat of the white-robed Haxley, the sorcerer was finally able to achieve his objective and perform the Spell of Binding, joining together every Renthar of every single shard-world, living and dead, into a composite being. This act physically altered him, removing the Technocrats' mutilations and the automaton technology used to heal them.

The sorcerer then returned to Emerald Town to collect Jolicia, bid farewell, and reward some of the Fist who supported him against the would-be Time Lord: Adegas was given magical tomes containing knowledge of portal magics, and an elixir to extend her natural lifespan. Chanticleer was offered the opportunity to return the Empress, whose memories had been shattered since his restoration, to Everywhere for care, and he accepted. The druid Haldir was granted a gem filled with space magic from his ruby. Before turning custody of the Sextant of the Ancients over to the group, Renthar used it to reward Ezekial by temporarily transporting him forward in time. In the future, he intervened when the Technocrats returned seeking revenge, preventing them from killing any other members of the Fist. However, he was also mortally injured, and once he was summoned back to the present, Ezekial soon perished.

Accompanied by Jolicia, the sorcerer departed Emerald Town for good. The couple traveled to the hidden City of Wind, where he used his magic to summon a red moongate to an unknown destination. And then they entered it, and were never seen again, presumably to a land capable of providing the happy ending they both craved, whether or not it was justly deserved.