Verraketh Talembar

Before the Shadowking became the Shadowking, he was a king named Verraketh, a ruler both feared and mighty of the talfir people ruling from the city of of Ebenfar. He was skilled in the art of sorcery, and he was slowly corrupted by his dark magic that this appearance changed, he appeared as a man no more. But rather a being most hideous, his maleficent heart filled only with darkness. Thus, Verraketh came to be called the Shadowking. For a long age did the Shadowking rule over his realm, many lands fell over during his reign. So began the forging of the Nightstone, a gem made of his own essence, it was dark and cold as death.

When he took up the Nightstone, he was tricked, for the Nightstone was made by the great bard named Talek Talembar. Talembar had hidden an enchantment on the gem, the gem refused to obey its creator, but rather heed only to the magical song Talembar played upon his pipes. The Shadowking fought with Talembar for seven days and seven night, but in the end Talembar had won. Talembar bound the Shadowking in a great crypt, and over the crypt he raised a cairn higher than a hill. He raised the cairn over what is now called the city of Iriaebor, the cairn being the Tor in which the city resides on.

Approximately, 1000 years later, due to an error in the structure of the crypt, the Shadowking managed to get hold of a thief named Snake. Snake did as his master told him, and tricked Ravendas, A Zhentarim lord, into being her steward, feigning loyalty towards her. Ravendas took hold of Iriaebor in 1361 DR and started digging into the Tor hoping to find the Nightstone, so that she could amass power.

A year later Caledan Caldorien returned to Iriaebor, he found out that Ravendas was the Lord of Iriaebor and he wanted to stop her. He managed to reform the Fellowship of the Dreaming Dragon. Unfortunately, when they were making their final plans, freeing some of the citizens of Iriaebor that were in the dungeons of the High Tower of Iriaebor, the mage Morhion “betrayed” them and ratted their plan out to Ravendas. Ravendas managed to capture some of the members of the Fellowship and took them to the crypt of the Shadowking, which she just discovered and where the Nightstone resided. When Ravendas took up the Nightstone, she was killed by its magic, as she did not possess the ability of the shadow magic. The Shadowking burst out from her corpse. Muscles and veins writhed like serpents beneath his skin as dark and smooth as night. Its legs were thick as columns, ending in cloven hooves. It flexed it powerful arms; long, dark, talons sprang from its fingertips, a tail lined with saw-toothed barbs cracked like a whip in the air. Two batlike wings unfurled from its back. The Nightstone pulsed vividly in the center of its chest as hot and red as blood. Its face was that of a beast, fangs like obsidian knives protruding from its maw, oozing dark ichor. Whilst the transformation was happening, Morhion cut loose the bonds of the Fellowship, as that was his plan all along. As Morhion did this, Mari Al’maren threw her pipes to Caledan Caldorien, but Snake shot a bolt of magical energy to her tossing her to unconsciousness. Kellen, Caledan’s son, managed to kill Snake with a poisoned needle. Caledan played the pipes and played the shadow song, the song was inscribed in Talfir on the columns of the crypt, doing so Caledan defeated the Shadowking, the song tore the Nightstone asunder. After Caledan defeated the Shadowking, the crypt collapsed, Ferret sacrificed himself so that the rest of the members of the Fellowship could escape.