Iriolarthas

Iriolarthas was the ruler of Ythryn, a flying city of Netheril. A powerful arcanist, he had transformed himself into a lich and still haunted the city's ruins as of the.

Description
In his demilich form, all that remained of Iriolarthas was a floating human skull surrounded by wispy, magical symbols representing the eight schools of magic.

His personal sigil was that of an eye with its pupil in the shape of a candle flame.

Personality
As of the 15 century DR, Iriolarthas had well and truly lost his mind. He had lost the ability to communicate, even telepathically, and had no sense of how much time had passed since Ythryn's fall. He still awaited rescuers from Netheril, having no idea the empire had fallen thousands of years previously. Although Iriolarthas had only a dim recollection of events that had transpired, he still jealously guarded Ythryn's secret from would-be looters.

Abilities
Iriolarthas was once an exceptionally powerful archmage, but as his body deteriorated he eventually lost the ability to cast spells.

Possessions
Iriolarthas's spellbook, The Incantations of Iriolarthas, contained a number of incredibly potent spells such as create magen, demiplane, dominate monster, mind blank, power word, stun, blade of disaster, and power word, kill. He also owned a scroll of tarrasque summoning.

He owned a staff of power which he, among other things, used to power the Black Obelisk within Ythryn.

Relationships
Eight apprentices followed Iriolarthas on his expedition into the frozen north: High Abjurer Taruth, High Conjurer Damorith, High Diviner Apius, High Enchanter Ivira, High Evoker Zadulus, High Illusionist Ajamar, High Necromancer Cadavix, and High Transmuter Metaltra.

Activities
He spent much of his time in the Spire of Iriolarthas, the central building of Ythryn.

History
Iriolarthas was once a regular human arcanist of Netheril, albeit one powerful enough to construct his own mythallar that powered his very own flying city. Even before Ythryn's eventual fall, Iriolarthas had transformed himself into a lich.

When a group of Ythryn arcanists known as the Telepathic Pentacle attempted to fuse their minds together, they accidentally melded their bodies and minds into a single horrifying monster. Ever pragmatic, Iriolarthas imprisoned the thing in a well so that his citizens could commune with it telepathically to gain insight into events past and future.

Iriolarthas sought relics of Ostoria, a giant empire from distant antiquity known for its war against dragons and for its command of powerful magic. By his command, the enclave of Ythryn flew to the frozen north of Faerûn to undertake a series of excavations for such relics. Iriolarthas's expedition found nothing of value for quite some time, until finally, in the, they did. A mysterious stone spindle was recovered from the bottom of the Sea of Moving Ice and brought back to Ythryn for study and experimentation. Unfortunately, during a routine examination the spindle was somehow activated, causing it to release a sudden burst of power that immediately dispelled all magical effects throughout the city, including the mythallar keeping Ythryn afloat.

The lich avoided the immediately ensuing calamity by escaping into a demiplane moments before Ythryn crashed into the Reghed Glacier, entombing the entire city beneath the ice. However, the residual effects of the spindle's energy burst expelled him back into Ythryn only moments later. Iriolarthas immediately sought to recover his spellbook and phylactery from the now-ruined city, but could only find the former. He also found several of his apprentices and other citizens of Ythryn still alive. The spindle kept pulsing out spell-disrupting bursts of energy for the next fifty years, completely negating any use of magic to escape or restore the buried city.

Yet Iriolarthas did not give up. He and his apprentices kept trying to find a way to restore the ruined city. He knew that Ythryn's Black Obelisk could be used to turn back time and undo the city's destruction, but it had been damaged in the crash. He spent some time attempting to repair the obelisk, but ultimately failed to do so. Iriolarthas also created Everlast, an artifical magical sentience, to help aid his efforts.

Inevitably, Iriolarthas's mind grew feeble over time and since he could not find his phylactery, he could not feed it the souls needed to sustain his undead form. Eventually, his lich body disintegrated and he became a demilich. He spent the next eighteen centuries waiting for a rescue that never came.