Tomularch

> "You may think to cheat death, but he shall still sit on your shoulder" - Old fishwife saying
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## Tomularch

### Occupation

Chief Necromancer, Headmaster of Oculus Mors

## Life

Tomularch is the Head Necromancer of Oculus Mors, the academy of Lorthol. He is a mysterious creature who wears a golden mask which emanates an aura of ghostly blue, a feature which all his rotting constructs share. He is a figure of fear and mystery known across Lorthok’s Realm. Known as the Corpse Collector, he walks with a pronounced limp which requires a cane. His moniker stems from an obsession with cadavers, paying high prices for all varieties of deceased magical creatures, men, magi, & mutant alike. Though an exceptional necromancer, he administers instruction at Oculus Mors to his students through experiential education, only providing them with a basic overview of the art before expecting them to perform resurrections and resuscitations under pressure in the Blink. This baptism by fire leads the majority to wash out, and even those that succeed are rarely kept around, instead dispatched by Tomularch to the far reaches of Karvhat for his mysterious and presumably nefarious ends. Tomularch has been present in Lorthol for at least the better part of a century, and though he is officially in the employ of Lorthok, his aims and motives are shrouded in mystery. It is whispered that even Lorthok fears Tomularch’s abilities, but keeps him close so that none of the other Eye Tyrants can snatch up the powerful necromancer to use for their own ends.

Tomularch is well known as a ressurector, able to resucitate the recently deceased with seeming ease, as well as providing herbal remedies, healings, and other magical services to those that seek him out. His price is always steep but clearly told; he requests the soul of his buyers, not at once but at some point in the future. If they accept, their names are added to the necromancer's ever growing list, written in violet ink in a large tome he carries with him.

### Evil Eye Arc

Tomularch was first encountered by the party indirectly, when they stumbled across a wound in the seaside cavern that appeared to be connected to him. After closing this wound they would all gain his distinctive mark, a five pronged rune which he has taken up as his symbol and fashioned into his trademark golden mask. After encountering one of his reanimates in the Grotto District, the Party learned this fact from Whisper. Horus Akentirh took a particular interest in the necromancer, sneaking into Oculus Mors in an attempt to learn more. It was here that he would briefly encounter Tomularch, who covertly gave him one of his works on necromancy titled 'A Soul's Full Measure'.

Sometime before the Greenhorn Games in the Blink, Tomularch would learn of Pirys the Red's plan to incite a civil war between Ogol and Annis Teague. He sought to further this plan even more so as to enflame tensions to a fever pitch, and had one of his minions steal Teague's signature dagger during the games, dropping it in the Rogue's Gallery using Pirys' style so that the party would notice it. His plan worked, and Horus would later use the dagger to execute Ogol's champion in a gory showing, embarassing the orc pirate lord and causing a gang war between the two most powerful pirates which would tear the city, and Lorthok's navy, in two. Following this, Tomularch would intercept the party on their way out of the Blink, spiriting them to his sanctum beneath Oculus Mors where he would finally reveal his deformed figure to them. Despite his frightening appearance, Tomularch sought to be their ally, gifting them enchanted cloaks to hide their wanted faces from the mean streets of Lorthol. He also revealed his knowledge of the dragon, offering to perform a soul swap to bring it out of its coma. His only requested concession was claim to the dragon's soul at a point in the future, giving the party full control of the beast until that time came. The party would eventually accept the deal after much debate, and Tomularch would carry out the soul swap, exchanging two dozen mortal souls for the rejuvenation of the dragon's being.

## Reputation

Tomularch fills a dual role in Lorthol's community, as he is both reviled and worshipped for his lifegiving abilities. Many of Lorthol's fishwives have added names to his list in exchange for his favor in resurrecting their drowned children and husbands, and though they exalt his name in the days to come, once he reaches their name on his list these praises are quick to become curses. Tomularch's reputation among the townsfolk is best summed up by this quote from Whisper:

“He is a mysterious and feared figure in Lorthol, a specter of bedtime tales told to children lest they stay on the streets past dark brought to life. His minions, cloaked creatures bearing only the faintest traces of humanity, roam the streets at night, fishing bloated bodies from the grottos and gutters of the city and dragging them back to the catacombs beneath Lorthok’s Tower, stealing babies from cribs and dragging drunks down alleys never to be seen again. Smallfolk say he can raise the dead, and indeed the necromancer has brought back breath to drowned boys and flux-stricken fathers, but always for a terrible price; a soul from the living. If the families of these prematurely deceased agree to this deal, they must add a name to his list. They will never pay immediately, no that would be far too kind. Instead they are allowed to leave with their returned dear one, to live on with this specter of death sitting on their shoulder, where Tomularch leaves his mark for them so they may never forget this dark bargain. And when the bell atop Lorthok’s tower strikes thrice on a moonless night and this mark burns, they know they must go, leave at once to repay their debt. Some flee, yes, others desperately try to amend the deal, but all end up at the gates of Oculus Mors, whether of their own will or dragged screaming by the Corpse Collectors hooded horrors.” - Whisper, on the Necromancer