Zarihell

There are those within the mists whose origin is unknown, dispelled from mortal memory by time or dark decree. Some are servants of Waiqar the Betrayer, while a privileged few are left to simply exist within his borders, neither associated nor independent, like a sparrow allowed to roost within a tower.

Zarihell the cursed elf is one such creature. It is said that she appeared in the wake of the First Darkness, freed from the Ynfernael dungeons of the Black Citadel by Timmorran Lokander, who had come to save his friend Waiqar. Even when freed from the bonds of Llovar, there was another set of shackles that could not be broken, ancient chains cast upon her by the Daewyl elves.

## The Death Cults

Zarihell joined with Waiqar's legion for a time and soon became part of the general's inner circle, perhaps even furthering the poisoning of his mind by whispering dark words in the dark. Some even go so far as to blame the cursed elf for Waiqar's eventual betrayal of Timmorran.

After the Night of Betrayal, Waiqar sent Zarihell as his dark agent to the Free City of Tamalir where she would cause untold mischief. She went in hood and cloak, hiding her foul face which decayed with the curse of undeath that had been cast upon her by Waiqar. In Tamalir, she established the first of the Death Cults of Waiqar, which promised liberation both from corrupt baronial rule and, ultimately, from mortality itself. As the armies of Terrinoth closed in on Waiqar, the cult in Tamalir instigated a destructive riot in the city.

Day after day, the Barons and their armies watched the borders of Waiqar’s land for signs of activity. And day after day, they received only new reports of chaos and murder in the Free City. In the early days of autumn, the Barons tired of watching nothing more than shifting banks of fog drifting from the sullen moors of Waiqar’s realm. They turned their armies around and marched toward Tamalir. Waiqar seized the opportunity and his armies marched forth and laid waste to the surrounding regions

By the time the Barons arrived at Tamalir, the death cult there had vanished. Waiqar’s agents had abandoned the city. They had begun to travel throughout Terrinoth, establishing new cells of the death cult wherever they came to rest. Now that Waiqar and his armies were on the move, the leaders of the cults kept in communication with the captains of the Deathborn Legion. In particular, Waiqar’s two chief lieutenants—Zarihell, who organized cult activity (though rumors have this as something she perhaps deigned to do more for her own benefit or amusement), and Ardus Ix’Erebus, who directed the movement of troops on the field—coordinated their efforts expertly. Between them, they ensured that every major action taken by the Deathborn Legion occurred in concert with riots in one or more of Terrinoth’s cities.

Zarihell retreated to the Cursed Barony with most of the death cults and the Deathborn Legion when Waiqar was defeated in 521.

## The Cursed Elf Lingers

At some point between then and now, Zarihell broke her bonds. Now unfettered, she wields a power previously forgotten and forbidden. Had those who found her within the Black Citadel but known her potential, they would not have freed her, but further imprisoned her behind every ward and brick they could find. She commands the spirits of the living and dead like a mother directs an obedient child, and her greatest weakness is her apathetic approach to a world far beneath her.

## References

1. Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition): Mists of Bilehall
2. Realms of Terrinoth