Damariath, the Mad Mage

### Usage Permissions

You may use the mad mage's legend in your campaigns. He is dead, but his legacy and name may be referenced. His tower was at the heart of what is now the Spellscarred Lands, and many of his secrets and wondrous items may still be lost within.

Born late in the 4th era, a son was born to a moderately wealthy human family in the (now lost) kingdom of Terallia. He was given the name Damariath, and although he could not have known it early on, the magical prowess that dwelt in him would eventually drastically change the world.

## Early Life

Damariath had a semi-normal childhood, at least for a young lord. He was not yet a man when his magical ability was discovered. It began simply enough: extinguishing candles without meaning to, causing small gusts of wind to dishevel his sister's hair, and other minor, harmless effects. Once he began inadvertently levitating the family pets in his sleep, however, it was decided that Damariath would study under the tutelage of an archmage at the Collegium Arcanum in Revalan, the capital city of Terallia. During his years of study, he learned to control his powers, and he developed a particular interest in the planes of existence and interplanar travel.

Shortly after becoming recognized as a fully-fledged mage, Damariath struck out on his own, searching out any source of knowledge connected to the otherworldly. He visited shrines to the Graces in Tareth, studying legends of the elves' exodus to the material plane from the Feywild. He learned of the Shadowfell from old sages in Rovania, sought out ancient tomes in great libraries around the world, and briefly considered making a pact with a demon to learn about the Abyss, although his better judgment led him to reconsider. As he traveled, he would earn his keep in inns, taverns, and even common homes by performing magic either as a service or entertainment. This quickly gained him great notoriety, and Damariath was eventually being summoned by lords and ladies to perform tasks that required a particular magical touch. He was happy to perform these, but his research always took first priority. As his influence and fame grew, however, it seemed that some forces outside the realms of existence began to take notice.

## The Descent

Nobody is absolutely certain when it began or what caused it, but some innkeeps and lords of high houses noticed that eventually, Damariath began to act... strange. Nothing obviously out-of-character, but he seemed increasingly distracted, not able to focus on his immediate surroundings for long. Some of his surviving elven traveling companions give reports of him whispering in his sleep, and waking still tired from the day before. When he wasn't out doing field research, Damariath became more and more reclusive, keeping to his great tower in the capital city of Revalan. His correspondence with his former colleagues at the Collegium Arcanum became less coherent and more deranged. His research assistants reported that he was acting strangely as well; his usually very organized tendencies replaced by scattered, more frantic behavior. Some believed that in his field research, he had stumbled upon some cursed relic, but knowing the care he took in his research, this seemed unlikely. After a couple of years, his correspondence stopped altogether, and he was seldom seen outside of his tower.

 The Great Spellblast

In **1246e4** a great blast sparked across the day sky, a cracking thunder rolled across the heavens, and the earth shook as the world broke as it had never been broken before. All the peoples who witnessed that day, no matter how far, across the lands and sea remembered that day. Some believed the gods had grown wrathful, and their anger was turned toward all mortals. Others thought it was an omen of the apocalypse, that the end of the world had come. But deep in where the Spellscarred Lands now lie, the blast broke forth from the center of Revalan, the capital city of the kingdom of Terallia. The countless arcane-driven constructs and focusing cores that bolstered Terallia's infrastructure only served to intensify and accelerate the explosion, setting off a chain reaction of arcane cores catastrophically failing almost simultaneously. Expanding for miles upon miles, spreading raw arcane energy over a large area, from which came bright lights, stripping winds, and haunting wails and gibbering voices from beyond the veil of darkness.

The blast and the monstrosities it bore quickly slaughtered all that were within its grasp, and the kingdom of the Terallia was lost in a blast of arcane power. All who remained or returned were afflicted with the Blight's Touch, save for the elves, who seemed to have a strange immunity to the magical corruption.