Ktish'znaxj

> *"Kings alter the laws of man as they see fit. What makes you think that laws of reality are any different?"* - Ktish'znaxj
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Ktish'znaxj is a K'thir Mindflayer spawned by N'zoth with sole duty to serve him for all eternity. For aeons, he stood as one of the augurs of Black Scripture and still remains loyal to its duty. Even after his recent defeat by the forces of Azeroth, his will refused to die. Now he lingers as a mere shadow, seeking to restore all that was lost.

## Biography

### Spawning

Unlike many of his brethren, Ktish'znaxj was brought to existence towards the tail end of the Black Empire. He only remembers these glorious days only in a faint memory. As just a little spawnling he was able to go unnoticed by the titan forces and thus was able to survive. Of course, he wasn't alone. Many others survived as well, driven by their master's will.

### Black Scripture

For countless aeons served as one of the three augurs of the Black Scripture, an order devoted to safeguarding the sacred tomes of the Balck empire, the very legacy of N'zoth. Even tho the contents of these books were known to the augurs, even they weren't allowed to read the text. Such was the will of N'zoth. The scripture had their seat in Voiceless tower, secluded deep away from the realm of squabbling mortal fleshlings. The Augurs led the other denizens of the tower by the will of N'zoth. They were gathering information about the mortal races and awaiting their masters awakening.

### Sundering

When the world split and trambled after the first failed invasion of the dark Titan, the shifts in earth lifted the Voiceless tower from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. Be it will of N'zoth or just unfortunate coincidence it didn't matter, the sacred duties of the order would remain unchanged. The Black books had to be protected until the time of the Black Empire comes again. Ktish'znaxj with the other augurs weaved protective barrier to hide the tower from senses of mortals.

### War with the Silent Moon

One day, a night elf has made his way inside of the tower. An unfortunate faith for him, but a first sign of what was to come. Thanks to the powers of the Moon spirit, some of the elves were able to see through the barriers put in place. That wasn't a problem at first. The few mortals that wondered close to the tower would serve as new vessels for the Scripture. However, soon more problematic forces took notice. In particular the Silent Moon, an organization of fanatics wanting to kill everyone who didn't serve the moon. They became enemy of the Scripture for years to come. The augurs were easily able to twist minds of mortals and lead their efforts elsewhere, however, that could only delay them for so long. There were too many of them and the moon spirit wasn't weak. Soon, direct confrontations started to occur. Dealing with a couple of dozen mortal wasn't an issue for the more powerful members, but the Scripture as a whole was not a military organization. Eventually, whole regiments began showing up near the tower, each next more powerful than the last, better prepared. One day, the Silent Moon mustered an entire army and led by high commander Narandiir they marched at the tower. Looking at their numbers, the augurs concluded that if they were to engage in battle, they would not be able to secure a sure victory. Instead, they decided on a drastic measure. They would set a trap for the mortals, erasing them from existence along with the tower. High ranking members of the Scripture were tasked with securing the most important artefacts stored within the tower, while the augurs prepared a mighty spell. After everything was set, each of the three augurs would take one of the sacred Black books and hide together with it until the time was right. When the elves stormed the tower, they found nothing but an empty place. Ktish'znaxj watched from afar as the once-proud tower together with the elven order collapsed into oblivion. A great sacrifice, but at least the elves won't be a problem in the future.

### Era of silence

For the following thousands of years, Ktish'znaxj remained in hiding. He founded his sanctum in an intricate cave system hidden deep below the ocean. He made minions of the creatures from surrounding depths, even if it was unlikely for any threat to come here, they would eliminate it or at least warn Ktish'znaxj. In these caverns, he laid dormant for years, but occasionally emerging to the surface. He was reading the stars and listening to lingering whispers, he was waiting for signs of the future. On the surface, he also noticed insignificant, yet crafty beings. They were different from the elves of old he knew. Observing and analysing doings of these mortal creatures became his pastime. They existed, after all, therefore even they must have been part of the master's design. As the fleshlings lived and developed their cultures, Ktish'znaxj became more interested in them. He decided to devote some time to experimentation. Minds of these mortals were fragile, they needed to be handled with care. They were primitive, yet they held potential. Over many years, Ktish'znaxj founded multiple small cults to see if the mortals were able to serve N'zoth and wield his blessings. Some were successful for a time, some less so.

### End of the beginning, beginning of the end

After aeons of silence, the whispers of his master bellowed through the depths reaching to Ktish'znaxj's sanctum. The stars aligned in twisted patterns. It was the time for the dream to become reality, the Black Empire was to rise again. However, with it, its enemies would also rise. Once more Ktish'znaxj rose from the depths with his most trusted minions. With his powers still half dormant, he established himself in a base in one of his more successful cults. He started preparations for N'zoth's coming. Things were moving along nicely, but soon various adventurers, soldiers and so-called heroes began assaulting following of N'zoth all around Azeroth. Not even Ktish'znaxj's little cult was spared. Normal mortals were no match for him, it was easy to rend their minds. Some of them, however, proved to be more challenging.  A slight miscalculation on his part. When a group of paladins and priest assaulted his cult, it was too much for him. He killed a good number of them and infected minds of the others, but they proved to be too much for him. His body was gravely injured and he found himself on the verge of death. Fortunately, the half-mad paladins were more interested in looting and arguing about the faith of captured cultists, so his minions were able to recover his body and carry it into his underwater sanctum. They were successful at preventing his body from completely dying, however, the injuries made it too weak to be of any use. Ktish'znaxj lifted his spirit and as a weakened shadow, he entered the Sleeping city. He knew he would found the one who heralds N'zoth coming there and that the coming of their master would be ensured. After all, it was foretold.

### The cycle nears completion

After N'zoth's chains were broken and Ny'alotha rose, heroes of Azeorothunited against it. Guided by the King of Diamonds and the Black Prince, they launched a desperate attack into the very heart of the Sleeping City. After long fighting N'ztoh decided to lay his final trap. Ktish'znaxj and other loyal servants were tasked with securing the horrific visions from falling into enemy hands. A task in which they easily succeded.

### Fall of Ny'alotha

The heroes of Azeroth succeeded in the impossible. They managed to defeat N'zoth and break the vision of Ny'alotha. Such destruction sent ripples through the very void. Everyone could feel it. Being still held in his shadow state, Ktish'znaxj clearly felt his power wane at that moment. After all this time, all masters schemes failed. No, that could not be. The time has come to act. Ktish'znaxj started making preparations, it was time to reach for the most ancient of prophecies and scrolls.

## Notes and trivia

* Ktish'znaxj is currently the only augur of the Black Scripture present in Ny'alotha
* Ktish'znaxj was at one point very interested in the rural culture of humans. Particularly he considered Harvest witches to have a servant potential. However, he was never able to figure out the reason behind their pointy hats.
* Despite the popular mortal joke, K'thir can't actually spit ink. However, some of them, like Ktish'znaxj can use their tentacles to conjure void, making it look like they are spitting it.
* Ktish'znaxj authored the book *Father of Dreams* which became quite popular before it was banned as heretical by the Church of Light

## Speculations

Due to his confirmed involvement with early humans, it is possible that Ktish'znaxj has a connection to famous sailor Samuel Squidheart, who became mad after getting lost at sea for multiple months and after his return couldn't stop babbling about squidmen and sentient sea pickles. After he turned pirate he fashioned himself a mask resembling the face of K'thir.