Dar'lon Ma

Dar'lon Ma was an influential member of the Red Wizards and the zulkir of enchantment in Thay as of the late 15 century DR.

Description
He had a broad build and an especially charming smile.

Personality
Dar'lon Ma was a politically-minded man that wielded charisma and intimidation in equal measure in his dealings. His natural allure was only enhanced by his command over magic from the school of enchantment.

Like other ambitious Red Wizards, Dar'lon Ma sought the accumulation of power with the ultimate aim of ruling all of Thay. He did not believe other nations should be considered "allies" of Thay, but merely other lands to be conquered.

He commanded complete and utter loyalty from his followers but was not a proponent of slavery, bucking long-standing Thayan tradition.

Relationships
For years, Dar'lon Ma opposed the rule of Thay's regent Szass Tam, a powerful lich and the centuries-old Zulkir of necromancy. His main driving goal in life was to put an end to the necromancer's reign and destroy Tam by any means necessary.

Dar'lon often arranged for others to become indebted to him, in order to call upon their services at a later time. The wizard Khynree from Turmish, and Master Reader Alsbith of Candlekeep both found themselves obliged to him in this manner.

He had a strong ally in the mummy lord Elchorius, a former noble from Mulhorand and priest of Sebek, and a loyal agent in Damita Uthos, a Mulan half-sun elf who hailed from Thay.

Plotting Against Szass Tam
Some time circa the late 1480s DR, Dar'lon met with a group of adventurers in Waterdeep and offered them information about the whereabouts of Hekaton, the missing Storm King of Maelstrom. He later made arrangements to help transport those adventurers into the city of Eltabbar to work against Szass Tam's interests. Shortly thereafter, Dar'lon manipulated those adventurers and his asset Master Reader Alsbith to retrieve for him the tome The Death of the Mind from within the Tomb of the Nine Gods in far off Chult.

Later on, Dar'lon tasked his servant Damita to commit to a raid against a cache of Szass Tam's arcane holdings in Mulmaster. Unfortunately the group accompanying Damita was infiltrated by loyalists of Szass Tam and ambushed Damita and her adventurer companions. Afterwards, Dar'lon Ma was declared to be traitors, and forced to act in open defiance of Thay's regent. Dar'lon became the target of Szass Tam's assassins and was forced into hiding.

Conflict at Xorvintroth
Dar'lon Ma meanwhile set up an ambush for Szass Tam in the recently-excavated Abeiran ruin of Xorvintroth. He developed a ritual using The Death of the Mind that could destroy the connection that the undead Tam held with his phylactery. Dar'lon took over Szass Tams undead body, and two zulkir's each fought the other throughout the city, until the battled neared closer to a portal to the Far Realm—a place where the rules of arcana regarding liches and their phylacteries did not exist.

Masquerading as Dar'lon Ma himself, Szass Tam drew the enchanter's adventurer allies into the Far Ream in order to stop the real Dar'lon Ma from completing the ritual to disenchant Tam's phylactery. In their final showdown, the two zulkir's fought a terrible battle in the otherworldly space, as the Brood of an ancient elder evil descended upon interlopers from the Prime. In the end Szass Tam was defeated, though it was unknown if he was destroyed outright, or otherwise cast off or bound to the Far Realm. While Dar'lon Ma's fate was equally unclear, his goal of bringing down the rule Szass Tam was finally achieved.

Appearances

 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * Dreams of Red Wizards (Foreign Affairs • The Death of Szass Tam)
 * Uncertain Scrutiny • Thimblerigging • The Harrowing of Hell • Unsafe Harborage • Shadows in the Stacks • To Walk the Cold Dark • Night Thieves
 * Uncertain Scrutiny • Thimblerigging • The Harrowing of Hell • Unsafe Harborage • Shadows in the Stacks • To Walk the Cold Dark • Night Thieves