Varri'mathes

**Varri'mathes** was a Void Lord from the Age of the Gods. An enemy of the Wise One Ghaspar, Varri'mathes sought to prevent him from his objective of summoning a Voidstar. However, the machinations of Ghaspar and his associate Gail caused him to come into conflict with a group of adventurers that would one day be among the ranks of the Fallen Heroes of Io.

## Description

### Appearance

Varri'mathes had a monstrous appearance, being more Void than man. He was described as having blueish-purple skin.

### Personality

Varri'mathes was not the villan that he was made out to be. He wanted to protect Void-touched people, setting up a community for them at Hallowed Tower and spending much of his power to keep the Void at bay. He also desired peace in Qethos, trying to thwart Ghaspar's attmept to resurrect the Voidstar.

However, Varri'mathes was also very secretive in nature, hiding his form for fear of persecution. In addition, his hatred of his creator made him turn to less savoury means to aquire power in order to exact his vengance upon the Wise One.

## History

### Background

Varri'mathes was created by Ghaspar as part of an experiment. The Wise One wished to see how far an individual could be pushed towards Void without their being unravelling. Ghaspar's experimentation deeply scarred Varri'mathes. When the Void Golem got free of his creator, he swore venegance against him. Varri'mathes eventually took residence in the Hallowed Tower in the northern region of Qethos. He gathered Void-touched people to his side as a means of protecting them from the discrimnation they recieved at the hands of the Light worshipping Kingdom of Llwendolyn. He also began focusing his power to keep the accumulating Void in the area at bay, while plotting to put an end to Ghaspar by whatever means he could.

### Hiring Adventurers

Varri'mathes learned that Ghaspar was making moves to summon a Voidstar and started to interfere in his plans. He also became aware of a group of bandits had stolen a series of artifacts from the Holy City of Atlas, including a statue bearing a special stone. Varri'mathes knew the stone to be a boon of power and set about getting his hands on it. Hiding his appearance and name, he met a group of newly acquainted adventurers looking for employment. He requested they inflitrate the camp of the bandits and grab whatever treasures they could find. He asked to met him at Gullwater and he would take whatever interested him. They would be allowed to take the rest. The adventurers agreed and set about completing his request.

Varri'mathes travelled to Gullwater, finding it in ruins and teeming with Void energies. His hirelings arrived with their haul and he began looking through the wares until he found the statue he was looking for. However, the people he had hired became suspicious of his intentions, and wanted to try get a better read on their employer. Eventually, they managed to reveal Varri'mathes' face, learning he was a Void-aligned monster unlike anything they'd ever seen. Varri'mathes distracted them by summoning a Void creature to attack them, and managed to teleport away.

### The Ritual Interrupted

With the stone in hand, Varri'mathes set about syphoning its power and stabilizing his own volatile form. From the top of the Hallowed Tower, he began the ritual. However, he was interrupted by a group of uninvited adventurers. The one leading them, a man named Gail, ordered them to stop Varri'mathes and take the stone. The group tried to restrain Varri'mathes, but he defended himself and the scene quickly descended into violence. Varri'mathes was eventually put on the backfoot and forced to erect an orb of invulnerability to protect himself. During this defensive measure, the man named Gail snatched the stone. He taunted Varri'mathes and his mercenaries, proclaiming himself an agent of Ghaspar, and escaped to the Ruins of Alabaster via teleportation.

With the stone gone, Varri'mathes' body began to deteriorate. He informed the mercenaries that Ghaspar was planning to ressurect a Voidstar, and he needed to be stopped. In addition to telling them everything he could, he offered them each a piece of his power before he expired. He imbued his power into the battleaxe of Weyzi Uk'tah and the rapier of Sterling Smiles among other things. Varri'mathes then died and as he did, the Void he was holding back surged and overtook the town below. The Void-touched people living there were consumed by the Void and everything Varri'mathes sought to protect was lost as the final Void site came into being.

### Legacy

While Varri'mathes' death meant Ghaspar could conduct his ritual, the revealations he gave the warriors along with the boons of power meant they were able to stand against the Voidstar and slay it before it could rampage across Qethos. Weyzi and Sterling continued to use the equipment Varri'mathes had given them up until the fight against Div and Void, where they managed to fell the gods with those weapons in hand. The Rapier of Varri'mathes was stored in Gubwater Keep after Sterling Smiles petrified himself. Nearly 500 years later, it passed into the hands of Captain Cornelius Armstrong, pirate captain of the Miss Demeanor, who made it his primary weapon with the blessing of the reawakened Sterling Smiles. The Axe of Varri'mathes was used by the corrupted Weyzi Uk'tah upon her return to Io, where she attempted to kill the heroes trying to save her. Eventually, halfway through the fight, the Axe was shattered, leaving Weyzi bereft of the weapon that had carried her so far.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Teleportation**: Varri'mathes could freely teleport.
* **Summon Void Creatures**: Varri'mathes could summon Void creatures to aid him, as seen when he escaped the adventurers he'd hired.
* **Void Magic**: As a Void Lord, Varri'mathes had immense power stemming from the Void. He used his power primarly to restrain the Void in his home and to defend himself in battle. However, his make-up was volatile and the Void raging within him eventually won out, causing him to die.
* **Power Transferance**: Varri'mathes could impart his own power into items, instantly turning them into magical items. He did this before his death to create the Rapier of Varri'mathes and the Axe of Varri'mathes.