Halaster Blackcloak

Halastar Blackcloak (formerly Hilather) is a very old and insane wizard who resides within his lair: Undermountain.

History
In his youth more than a thousand years ago, Halaster Blackcloack was known as Hilather, though where he spent his youth is the source of great speculation. He was more gregarious then, creating and hosting magefairs and spellmoots, and taking many apprentices. However, as his power grew, he became more interested in aberrations and the Outer Planes, which led to growing paranoia and viciousness.

In 168 DR Hilather, now calling himself Halaster Blackcloak, arrived at the foot of Mount Waterdeep with his apprentices, called "The Seven". Halaster summoned demons and other outsiders to construct Halaster's Hold and claimed the nearby lands as his own. Most likely he chose the location because of Sargauth Enclave, an abandoned Netherese outpost buried deep beneath the surface.

Halaster refused to release the monsters and demons after they constructed his Hold, instead sending them into the caverns to explore. This began Halaster's Hunts, a long series of journeys into the area now called the Underhalls, driving out the drow, duergar, and various monsters that lived there. By 309 DR Halaster had complete control over the near endless tunnels and caverns and began constructing the largest and most deadly dungeon imaginable, Undermountain.

By now, Halaster had become completely mad and wanted nothing to do with the outside world. He left his hold to live in Undermountain itself, allowing the keep to fall into ruin. Several of his apprentices came looking for him; he slew two before demanding the rest help him fortify his dungeon even more. One refused and managed to escape. Jhesiyra Kestellharp would later become Magister and would provide what little history there is about Halaster, the Mad Mage.

Halaster's Apprentices
Several of Halaster's apprentices would become extremely powerful in the own right, though all would become infected with his madness.


 * Shradin Mulophor : Shradin was a powerful Netherese necromancer who had survived the collapse of his civilization. In 1148 DR he learned of Sargauth Enclave and petitioned to become an apprentice to the Mad Mage. For reasons perhaps unknown even to him, Halaster agreed and also allowed him to take the Enclave as his own. Shradin, calling himself the "Lord of Bones", turned the Enclave into Skullport, a neutral way-station in the Underdark, permanently linking Undermountain to the Lands Below.


 * Trobriand : Called "the Metal Mage", Trobriand has a gift for building metal constructs and monstrosities. Perhaps the most lucid and focused of Halaster apprentices, he nonetheless has moments were sanity fails him.


 * Murial : Called "the Misshapen", Murial was originally a great warrior who served as Halaster's bodyguard. He later became an apprentice to the Mad Mage and used his growing power to augment his considerable strength and fighting prowess. Finally, as the madness of Undermountain overcame him, he changed himself into a centaur-like creature, but with a scorpion for a body. Though he is now a monstrosity, Murial remains Halaster's most enthusiastic apprentice.


 * Arcturia : Much like Murial, Arcturia's madness leads her to experiment with bodies, both hers and others. Perhaps Halaster's most ambitious apprentice, she is known for her cruel experiments with polymorphing others to suit her whims.

Halaster's Higharvestide

 * Main article: Halaster's Higharvestide

On Higharvestide of the Year of the Gauntlet, 1369 DR, two members of the Twisted Rune managed to kidnap Halaster Blackcloak from inside Undermountain. The lich Priamon "Frostrune" Rakesk and the alhoon Ralayan the Ocultacle used a ring of multiple wishes to summon the Mad Mage to Stardock where they could scrape the secrets of Undermountain from his mind. Halaster's kidnapping allowed the madness of the dungeon to escape. Gates began randomly transporting creatures from Undermountain to places throughout the Realms, causing havoc and destruction everywhere. A group of adventurers hired by the Lords of Waterdeep managed to reach Stardock and free Halaster. The Mad Mage immediately returned to Undermountain, which quelled the chaos of the dungeon and ended the terror of Higharvestide.

Personality
While in Undermountain, Halaster seems constantly distracted, always chuckling and muttering to himself over people and happenings only he can discern. He also has difficulty holding the thread of any conversation.

If he is ever removed from Undermountain, he regains his lucidity. At these times, Halaster is fastidious, meticulous, and quite proper, though still thoroughly evil. Halaster can be honorable, and even noble in a way. He brooks no insolence in any case, and remembers any slight or aid given him. He also tries to get his own way in everything, caring not for the harm he does to others in the process. Blackcloak's interests include collecting new monsters and magic, but after thousands of years, nothing is really new to him. Whilst waiting for such delights, he amuses himself by manipulating events and politics to his every whim.

Magic Items and Spells
Over many centuries, numerous magic items and spells have been created by or attributed to Halaster Blackcloak.


 * Magic Items :
 * Halaster's Drifting Portals
 * Halaster's Quaff
 * Halaster's Teleport Ring
 * Horned Ring


 * Spells :
 * Halaster's Blacksphere
 * Halaster's Fetch
 * Halaster's Grappling Hand
 * Halaster's Image Swap
 * Halaster's Light Step
 * Halaster's Shaking Hand
 * Halaster's Teleport Cage

Timeline

 * -2488 DR - Lord Hilather one of approximatly 3 surviving Imaskari artificer lords escapes the fall of Imaskar by entering a temporal statis vault in a secret military stronghold beneath the present Giant's Belt Mountains.
 * 128 DR - Hilather (Halaster's real name) awakens from Temporal Stasis after 2620 years. Inhabits abandoned tower in Emirate of Torsil between Cloud Peaks and Candlekeep along the Sword Coast.
 * 168 DR - Halaster and the Seven construct Halaster's Hold
 * 171 DR - The beginning of Halaster's Hunts. They last until 308 DR
 * 275 DR - Halaster discovers the Lost Level of Undermountain
 * 307 DR - The Seven abandon Halaster's Hold for the Underhalls, leaving it to fall to ruin
 * 309 DR - Halaster establishes complete control over Undermountain
 * 326 DR - The Mad Mage finds the Crystal Labyrinth and begins reshaping it to his own ends
 * 1150 DR - Halaster grants Sargauth Enclave to Shradin Mulophor
 * 1325 DR - Events of Escape from Undermountain
 * 1369 DR - Members of the Twisted Rune kidnap Halaster, causing Halaster's Higharvestide
 * 1372 DR - Events of Elminster in Hell
 * 1375 DR - Events of Expedition to Undermountain

Video Games

 * Majority of the first chapter of Hordes of the Underdark, the second expansion pack to the PC game Neverwinter Nights, takes place in a condensed version of Undermountain. Halaster makes an appearance at the very end of the chapter, and rhymes in all his lines, much to the annoyance of the drow passing through his lair (and perhaps the player).