Rivalen Tanthul

Nightseer Rivalen Tanthul was the second-eldest of the twelve Princes of Shade as well as the High Priest, personal champion, and eventual chosen of Shar, the Goddess of Loss and Night. In his service to his goddess, Rivalen gained divine power that eventually dwarfed that of his father, the Most High Telamont Tanthul, and nearly destroyed an entire realm in Faerûn in her name.

"I'll be the last living thing on this planet, Brennus, screaming into the void as everything dies."

- Rivalen Tanthul, 1484 DR.

Description
Rivalen's was an imposing figure, with broad shoulders that narrowed to a slender waist. He protected himself in armor and a distinct helmet adorned with curved horns like those of a ram. He had a rather square head, with striking, golden eyes.

This appearance was not Rivalen's true form however. Like the other Princes of Shade, the body of the shade merely obscured what little remained of his once-human form: a beating black heart set within a ribcage of black bone, attached to whatever was left of his blackened spine.

Personality
"If it helps, I believe Rivalen is being punished, Brennus. He's gone mad. He thinks he's going to end the world...he stares at a hole in reality for days on end. His thoughts bounce around in the cage prepared for him by his goddess. He only dreams of darkness and endings and suffers for it."

- Telamont Tanthul, to his son Brennus.

Rivalen nearly always remained composed and in control of his actions, despite holding much conflict in his heart. His loyalties to his family and his faith remained diametrically opposed to the other, and Rivalen did what he could to reconcile the two.

While Rivalen believed that non-existence was an inevitability of life—and was in fact part of Shar's will—he did all in his power for a time to delay that fate. He hoped to help achieve his people's dream of a restored empire of Netheril in Faerûn for at least some time, before Shar's Cycle of Night claimed Toril and its people. It was only when Rivalen finally seized the divine power he needed to carry out fulfill Shar's vision for the Realms that he realized his service to her cost him his family, the trust of his people and what remained of his soul. He succumbed to despair and regret over all he had sacrificed.

Over time Rivalen continuously became more cynical, spiteful and eventually came to consider his god-like powers as insignificant. He fed off the suffering of others, and in the eyes of others, had fully descended into madness. Shar's former Nightseer became obsessed with the end of the world, and focused only on his remaining role to play in his goddess' final plot.

Abilities
Rivalen was unique among his fellow princes in that he was a theurge, a spellcaster that blended the magic of the Art and the Power. The elder prince became both an accomplished archwizard as well as Shar's Nightseer, an over priest within her church, and eventually the goddess' chosen. Rivalen even developed a ritual that allowed human servants to transform themself into shadar-kai, a transformation he declared was a miracle bestowed upon them by Shar.

In service to Shar, Rivalen took for himself one third the divinity of Mask, Shar's son and herald. He was forced to share this power with Drasek Riven and Erevis Cale, the latter of whom transferred it to the archdevil Mephistopheles. He became a godling, accumulated powers comparable to that of a deity's exarch, and eventually arose as Shar's own chosen.

Possessions
Prince Rivalen's personal sigil was the holy symbol of Shar, set above a pair of deep purple ram's horns, set on a field of dark grey.

For a time, Rivalen remained in possession of the holy Sharran relic The Leaves of One Night—the tome that spoke of Shar's greatest strength and weakness— but it was later stolen from him by a lesser priestess from a heretical sect of the church. Unfortunately for Rivalen, the Leaves of One Night remained unreadable to him, even when he reacquired the book years later.

He was an avid collector of historical coins, believing each one served as a reminder of the momentous occasions he had witnessed in his centuries-long life. His collection spanned eras across Faerûn's history and beyond, and included one coin from a planet alien to Toril itself.

Rivalen was also an appreciator of fine art. For a time he owned the sculpture titled The Descent of the Shadow Army, carved by the famous stone giant artist Aris, before offering it as a gift to Myrmeen Lhal of Arabel.

Activities
While Rivalen's father Telamont was the secular ruler of the Shadovar people, Prince Rivalen served as their leader in faith. As the chosen of Shar, Rivalen led the clergy from the magnificent Hall of Shadow, located near the Palace Most High, and oversaw the city's Sharran temple, the Fane of Shar. His efforts in spreading the Sharran faith among his people helped the Shadovar endure the centuries their city remained within the Shadowfell.

Family
For much of his life, Rivalen was truly afraid of his father Telamont, more so than any terrible beast or foe he faced in battle. Rivalen dedicated himself to help carry out his father's vision for the renewed empire of Netheril for centuries, until he acquired the divine power that irrevocably altered his perspective. After coming to see Shar's annihilation of Toril as inevitable, Rivalen believed himself superior to his father in every way. Telamont believed his son was truly lost and mourned the memory of who he once was.

While Rivalen's favorite of his siblings was his elder brother Escanor, Rivalen was perhaps closest with his younger brother Brennus, despite their distinct differences in personality. They embarked on ventures across the Realms, working together to raise the lost enclave of Sakkors, and fighting alongside one another in grand battles. The brothers had a tumultuous falling out however, when Brennus learned of Rivalen's part in their mother's death. Near the end of their lives, each brother wanted the other dead, but Rivalen spared his brother's life as he was needed to fulfill Shar's will.

Rivalen was well-served by his brother Yder, who acted as his right hand within the church of Shar in Thultanthar. As one of the Lady's divine champions, Yder shared Rivalen's zealous drive to spread her faith across all of Faerûn.

Rivals
In Thultanthar, Rivalen found a competitor for his father's approval in Hadrhune, the Most High's chief advisor. Rivalen resented the shade and worked to secretly undermine his efforts in Thultanthar. After Hadrhune's apparent death, Rivalen was in the perfect position to become his father's favored advisor and best aid him in the reconstruction of the second Netherese empire. Over time, Rivalen attained enough power to kill Hadrhune on a whim, but by that time had shed his trivial rivalry with the inferior being.

Rivalen's most fierce rivalry was that formed with Kesson Rel, a former devotee of Mask that led a disparate sect of the Sharran church. The Lady of Night originally chose Kesson over Rivalen to assume Mask's divinity as herald of Toril's destruction, and chose instead Kesson's protégé Elyril Hraven to carry out the Cycle of Night. Shar's capricious repudiation of Rivalen left him embittered—one of the Lady's favored means to control her followers— and caused him to resent Kesson Rel to the point of viewing him as a heretic of the faith. In the end Rivalen stole the rival priest's power (at least in part), and took on the mantle of Shar's herald, finally fulfilling the role for Shar he so deeply desired.

Allies
As the head of the Sharran church in Thultanthar, Rivalen was aided by numerous priests and priestesses of Shar. One of his closest allies was Variance Amatick.

Rivalen had a brief, but tenuous alliance with Erevis Cale the chosen of Mask. They worked and fought alongside one another for some time, traveling to distant locales to defeat a common foe in Kesson Rel.

History
In the, when he was still a mortal man and not yet a shade, Rivalen slew his mother Alashar by command of Shar. In doing so he fulfilled his "Own Secret" that he shared with Shar, the single most important requirement to supplicants of her clergy. Just before her death, Alushar used her final moments to declare she would become the implement of his demise.

The Return
Sometime during their time in the Shadowfell, Prince Rivalen's powers of divination aided his father in his quest to return Thultanthar to Faerûn. His powers guided them until his younger brother Melegaunt and his pupil Galaeron opened the way for Thultanthar in the. Rivalen and Escanor were the first two of the Shadovar princes to step foot on Faerûn. They immediately set to work against Mystra's chosen Elminster, unsure just how much a threat he would pose to their plans. Ultimately their use of shadow magic trapped the old sage in the Nine Hells, a "tragedy" that they maintained was entirely accidental.

After Melegaunt's pupil Galaeron—who held secrets secrets vital to the Shadovar people—had a falling out with the Most High Telamont Tanthul, the young elf stole a number of valuable items from Thultanthar and fled the flying city to Cormyr. In Mirtul of 1372 DR, Rivalen appeared before Cormyr's regent Alusair Obarskyr to negotiate the release of Galaeron and the return of the Shadovar's goods. In the end, Galaeron was held overnight within the Citadel of Arabel. Rivalen and his Shadovar attempted to "free" Galaeron and return him to the Most High in Thultanthar in the middle of the night, but were outmaneuvered by Alusair Obarskyr and several of his men were executed.

Following Rivalen's failure, the Most High offered him a chance at redemption by leading the Shadovar forces at the invasion of Tilverton. After his shade soldiers stormed city, Rivalen opened a rift to the Shadowfell that let loose a growing vortex of shadowstuff that destroyed any matter it touched. The was soon confronted by Galaeron and the Cormyrean Court Mage Vangerdahast and the three fought in a short battle. While Galaeron distracted Rivalen, Vangerdahast struck him with an arcane blast, temporarily destroying much of his shadowy form. What remained of the prince's corporeal body—his black heart still beating within a ribcage and spine—lashed out at Vangerdahast for a moment, before being filled with golden fire and cast into the vortex bound to the Shadowfell.

By Kythorn of the, Rivalen had recovered from his ordeal in Cormyr and had returned to Thultanthar to preside over Shar's temple. That month he granted permission to Variance Amatick to undertake her search for the Leaves of One Night. While the Sharran priestess was successful, the tome was yet incomprehensible to the Nightseer.

War in Sembia
"I will capture Tilverton and destroy the Alliance army or I will die trying.

Die if you must, but death does not excuse failure."

- Rivalen Tanthul and his father Telamont's response.

In Uktar of the, Rivalen and Brennus undertook two quests to help bring back to Faerûn a new empire of Netheril: the raising of the crashed enclave of Sakkors, and the conquest of Sembia as a vassal state of Thultanthar.

To fulfill the latter task, the brothers manipulated the erratic Sharran priestess Elyril Hraven and her power-hungry aunt Mirabeta Selkirk, to spark the Sembian Civil War, which led to the eventual subjugation of Sembia as a vassal state to Thultanthar and the restored Empire of Netheril. Rivalen and Brennus assassinated the merchant nation's Overmaster, installed Mirabeta as an interim ruler whom they could control, and forced a conflict of arms between cities of Ordulin and Saerb.

Rivalen then ingratiated himself to the Hulorn of Selgaunt Thamalon Uskevren II, offered him power and authority that eclipsed those of his father, and set the already-divided realm against itself at the decisive Battle of Selgaunt. The city of Sakkors arrived at the battle just in time to save the Selgauntan people, and the Shadovar emerged as the saviors of Sembia. Thamalon II would later be installed as the new Overmaster of Sembia and transformed into a shade, ensuring Netheril's control over the nation for the following century.

Stealing Godhood
To secure the success of returning Sakkors as part of a new Netherese empire—and granting it some longevity before Shar consumed the world— Rivalen dedicated himself to stopping Kesson Rel and the Shadowstorm he had created in Sembia. He joined two chosen of Mask, Erevis Cale and Drasek Riven, on their quest defeat the heretical Sharran, and transported them to the dead planet of Ephyras. They discovered a mysterious temple of Shar that safeguarded the Black Chalice, the vessel that granted Erevis Cale the ability to later claim the lost divinity of his patron god Mask. Rivalen sought to claim the divinity for himself, but begrudgingly allowed Drasek Riven to draw from the chalice's power next.

Rivalen, Cale, and Riven confronted Kesson Rel at the edge of Ordulin's Shadowstorm. They four combatants fought a long, drawn out battle, but in the end Rivalen was unable to destroy Kesson and was nearly killed for his efforts. Aided by their allies—the Lathanderian Sembian warriors and the psionicist Magadon Kest—Cale and Riven were able to finally slay Kesson Rel. As Mask's divinity was released, Rivalen too drank from Black Chalice, and the three chosen each claimed a portion of godhood.

The Cycle of Night
"Rivalen wants to die, Hadrhune, but he wants to kill the world first."

- Telamont Tanthul, 1484 DR.

In the late 15 century DR, Rivalen sought to finally complete the Cycle of Night on Toril, a century after it was initiated by his former rival Kesson Rel. Shar's disturbed and fanatical chosen spent much of his time in contemplation at the Ordulin Maelstrom, searching for insight as to how to accomplish this feat.

After Brennus Tanthul uncovered the whereabouts of Vasen Cale, the long-lost son of Erevis Cale, Rivalen struck out at his former favored brother and his new companion. Rivalen used the memory of their mother's death to drive the troubled Brennus utter despair, just as he had done with Thamalon II many years before. Shar's despondent chosen then forced the spellscarred veteran of the Battle of Selgaunt Sayeed to reveal the invisible words of The Leaves of One Night at the Ordulin Maelstrom, so that he could finally receive Shar's hidden truth after being denied it a century earlier. Using his divine power, Rivalen took control of the flying city of Sakkors and drew it towards him at the dormant Shadowstorm. He would kill his remaining enemies and force Vasen Cale to read the script of The Leaves of One Night to bring Shar to Toril and watch her consume the world.

The returned Erevis Cale and his son Vasen confronted Rivalen, but were no match for his power. Rivalen swiftly forced Vasen to read aloud from Shar's holy tome, immediately causing the restored Shadowstorm to grow in size. At the same time, Drasek Riven teleported himself and Mephistopheles from Cania to the Ordulin Maelstrom, reuniting the power of Mask's divinity. Strengthened by his father and his friends, Vasen resisted Shar's influence and erased the words from The Leaves of One Night, destroying the artifact and end Shar's Cycle of Night. Left as a mere mortal again, Rivalen remained trapped under Brennus' grip as Sakkors. The two brothers died together and Alashar's death was finally answered.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Return of the Archwizards (The Summoning, The Siege) • Mistress of the Night • The Twilight War (Shadowbred, Shadowstorm, Shadowrealm) • The Godborn
 * Fiction
 * Realms of War: "Continuum"