Halaster Blackcloak

Halaster Blackcloak (formerly Hilather Blackcloak ) was a notorious, ancient, and utterly insane wizard who resided within his lair, the infamous Undermountain.

Personality
Halaster seemed, in a word, insane. He muttered and chuckled to himself ceaselessly and had difficulty holding the thread of any conversation or debate for very long. Nevertheless, he remained fully aware of threats and hazards, and reacted and defended himself with great speed and efficiency. While in Undermountain, he had only rare moments of lucidity, but if he was ever outside the dungeon, he became lucid for much of the time.

At these times, Halaster was cold, well-mannered, and dignified and fastidious and meticulous in his habits, though still thoroughly evil. He did not tolerate any insult or insolence in any case and remembered any offense or help given his way. He pushed to have his own way in all things, heedless of the havoc or harm done to others in the way.

His main hobbies were collecting new monsters and kinds of magic. However, having lived for millennia, he finds very little that he hasn't seen before. Thus, until such things came along, Halaster meddled in politics and goings-on in the world according to his whims for his own entertainment.

He was more gregarious as a young man, 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.

Abilities
As a mighty archmage, Halaster Blackcloak had a vast array of spells and magical powers at his command. Among them, he could make use of contingency spells and clones of himself to ensure his survival in any spell-battle.

Inside Undermountain, he could command all kinds of constructs, including crawling claws, helmed horrors, and various golems. He also made use of its countless traps and and surprises, such as a "moving portal" that could pick up either himself or his victims and deposit them somewhere else.

In addition to his great magical prowess, Halaster was well-versed in many areas, from gem-cutting to engineering to the breeding, care, and containment of monsters, both alive and undead, particularly from those hailing from other planes.

Possessions
As well as Undermountain itself, Halaster owns hundreds of magic items, some quite powerful, which were hidden in caches throughout Undermountain. However, he was known to always wear a ring of protection +5, a ring of regeneration, and/or a horned ring; a robe of eyes; and up to twenty flying +1 daggers.

Activities
He was said to be often "hidden in the walls" of Undermountains, namely his own private network of secret passages there.

Hilather of Imaskar
History does not record where and when Halaster hailed from, and it was only suspected that he was older than Elminster.

In fact, he was named Hilather and came from the Raurin in the Imaskari Empire during its Late period (from ). A young prodigy, Hilather rose to become one of the foremost archwizards of the empire. When the fellow Imaskari mage Madryoch the Ebon Flame created the Shadow Stone and plotted to take over the empire, the heroic young Hilather went to the fortress of Metos, challenged Madryoch, and finally bound him within the Demiplane of Imprisonment, thus saving Imaskar. He became Lord Hilather, and an Imaskari artificer.

However, during the ultimate fall of Imaskar in, Hilather escaped to a secret Imaskari stronghold concealed deep under Imaskar's western mountains and entered a temporal stasis. He was trapped there for thousands of years.

Eventually, Hilather emerged from the temporal stasis and began to explore Faerûn. In the, after arriving in the Shoon Imperium, Hilather was hired by the Imperial Court to research a more secure means of binding fiends to obey their summoners. Hilathar based himself in the remote emirate of Torsil, which lay on the Sword Coast north of the Cloud Peaks, where he worked from an abandoned tower. Four years later, Hilather delivered the thirteen Demonshields to Qysar Amahl Shoon IV, then disappeared. (His old tower was plundered by Iryklathagra, then a blue dragon wyrmling, in 150 DR before becoming the site of the Ulcaster School of Wizardry in 1026 DR. )

It's thought Hilather changed his name to Halaster in the belief it would sound grander and more appropriate for a great mage.

Halaster of Waterdeep
In the, a mage calling himself Halaster Blackcloak and only later realized to be Hilather, arrived at the foot of Mount Waterdeep together with his apprentices, collectively called "The Seven". In the center of the Deepwater Plateau, northwest of the flourishing seaside farms, Halaster began construction of Halaster's Hold with a tower and fortified ramparts, with smaller towers for his apprentices. He summoned fell beings from other planes to do the work. But Halaster refused to release the creatures after they constructed his Hold, instead sending them into the caverns to build more and more subterranean chambers. Later sages believed his association with such creatures had corrupted him, causing him to grow in power but also in madness.

Soon, he claimed the Underhalls of the Clan Melairkyn and started to explore. This began Halaster's Hunts, a long series of journeys into the Underhalls, driving out the drow, duergar, and various monsters that lived there. Meanwhile, the Seven desired to establish their own subterranean holdings and departed Halaster's Hold in the. They left it abandoned and the people of the surface settlement, then known as Blackcloak Hold, shunned it in a belief it was cursed.

By 309 DR, Halaster had complete control over the near-endless tunnels and caverns, having extermined their denizens, and began constructing the largest and most deadly dungeon imaginable, Undermountain. By that time, 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, who would later become Magister and would provide what little was known about Halaster, the Mad Mage.

Centuries later, in the, a number of mages from across Cormanthyr and especially in Myth Drannor started to vanish, the cause unknown. The only sign was visible portals in Myth Drannor crackling and flashing blue lightning. This was the work of Halaster, now kidnapping mages at random and banished them into the Underhalls. After ten years of this, the Guild of Naturalists realized Halaster was behind it and it was payback for their collection of monsters from Undermountain. Their rescue mission does not come back. They give up their expeditions, but fail to destroy the portal linking their guildhall and Undermountain.

By the early 11 century DR, the now city of Waterdeep had expanded to encompass the ruins of Halaster's Hold. In the, Ahghairon cast magical wards on the ruins to stop its hazards getting out into the city.

Modern History
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 in a chaotic event known as Halaster's Higharvestide. 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.

While tainted by the goddess Shar in 1369 DR, Halaster plotted to steal the secret of silver fire from the goddess Mystra and her Chosen, using drow and the Red Wizards of Thay. This was foiled by the Seven Sisters.

In the, Elminster was inadvertently sent to the Nine Hells while defending the Dalelands from the Shadovar. Mystra made a bargain with Halaster that she would try to cure his insanity if he rescued Elminster from Hell. Halaster agreed, and entered Avernus. Though he was unsuccessful, and had to be rescued in turn by Alassra Silverhand, Mystra kept her word, and managed to partially cure him. She then proceeded to blast Asmodeus with Halaster's insanity.

Death
Shortly after dawn on Eleint 30, the, an earthquake struck Waterdeep. Though the city suffered little damage, many people there saw visions of Halaster screaming, his eyes ablaze with rage, sorrow, and swimming stars. Arcane magic users who saw the visions also reported scenes of destruction in the vast maze of Undermountain: pillars cracking and crumbling, chasms and rifts opening, and explosions of sparks. Those brave enough to investigate quickly discovered that Halaster had inadvertently killed himself while attempting a powerful ritual; as he died, he hurled desperate visions and compulsions to people all across the continent.

Return
After the Second Sundering in the 1480s DR, it appeared that Halaster's ritual had not slain the Mad Mage, but instead scattered his essence across the planes, with the warping influence of the Spellplague preventing it from being reformed within Undermountain. With the Spellplague finally ended and magic restored to its former stability, Halaster was able to recorporate himself and returned to Undermountain, resuming his normal activities as if he had never been gone.

Halaster's Apprentices
Several of Halaster's apprentices became extremely powerful in their 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" (not to be confused with the god of the dead who also used that title), 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's apprentices, he nonetheless has moments where sanity fails him.


 * Muiral : Called "the Misshapen", Muiral 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, Muiral remains Halaster's most enthusiastic apprentice.


 * Arcturia : Much like Muiral, 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.


 * Jhesiyra Kestellharp : For reasons unknown, Jhesiyra transformed herself into a living wish spell to attempt escape from Halaster, but was brought back to Undermountain by Halaster. She currently rules over other living spells in Undermountain's Citadel of the Bloody Hand. Driven half mad by her transformation, she rules over the living spells the Mad Mage forced her to create, and it is uncertain whether she is truly aware of Halaster's demise.


 * Maerlyn : An apprentice who was lost to time and history, all that is known of Maeryln is that she was a human who specialized in absorption of arcane powers, memories, and souls. It is rumored that Halaster took her on due to her resistance to the Spellplague that he somehow knew was coming. She was consumed by her own experiments when she summoned a lifedrinker specter that slowly drained away her memories and life-force. She existed only as a ghost for a long period of time and was tortured by said specter until recently "freed" by adventurers.


 * Ibbalar Thrul : A willing apprentice to the Mad Mage after being disgruntled and becoming a pariah of Waterdeep. The merchant Red Wizard's lair was filled with rare magical items and he once plagued the City of Splendor with an army of spectators he tasked with "guarding" magical items of the influential citizens of the city, including Khelben Arunsun's Blackstaff.

Halaster's Heirs
While the term "Halaster's Heirs" formerly referred to the surviving apprentices of Halaster, it currently refers to an arcanist academy on the Dungeon Level of Undermountain formed by Trobriand and Muiral.

Halaster's Progeny
As part of his myriad preparations to ward against his death, Halaster created a number of clone-bodies to receive his consciousness, which he kept locked in protective stasis and located throughout Undermountain and the lower reaches of Waterdeep.

When Halaster was slain prior to the Spellplague, it is possible that one or more of these clones was activated and set free, although this was never confirmed. Adventurers claiming to be Halaster's clones appeared 100 years after the Mad Mage's death, but none achieved notoriety enough to be recorded elsewhere.

Supposedly, many of these self-proclaimed clones looked very different to Halaster, ranging from being the wrong age to the wrong gender to the wrong species to any combination thereof. It is unclear if these were the results of the touch of the Spellplague, which is believed to have forcibly prevented Halaster from claiming any one clone's body for himself, or if they were the result of Halaster tinkering with the clone-bodies for his own whimsical purposes, or due to other factors entirely.

What is confirmed is that each of these apparent clones had their own individual personality, to match their unique appearance, but each also reported the presence of Halaster's mind occupying their subconscious, occasionally fighting for dominance over their body. Many of these clones actually took to adventuring in hopes of finding some way to expel this shade of Halaster from their mind, striving to preserver their individual existence.

A universal trait of these "Plaguetouched" clones was that, due to the influence of the Spellplague upon the stasis magic that had preserved them, each had a unique relationship with time. The clones did not physically age, and were impressively resistant to diseases, growing more immune as they grew stronger. Those that sought to develop their powers eventually gained limited abilities to manipulate time, a trait that manifested in unnatural speed and reflexes. More unusual manipulations of time were seen in the hands of some clones, but were not a universal power. Likewise, some clones displayed more resistance to mental assaults than others, which they attributed to the need to frequently engage in mental struggle with Halaster's mind within their own.

The ultimate fate of these supposed clones upon Halaster's return is unknown.

Works
Over many centuries, numerous magic items and spells were created by or attributed to Halaster Blackcloak.
 * Magic Items :
 * Halaster's drifting portals
 * Halaster's quaff
 * Halaster's teleportation 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

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Ruins of Undermountain &bull; Undermountain: The Lost Level &bull; Undermountain: Stardock &bull; Expedition to Undermountain &bull; Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
 * Novels
 * Escape from Undermountain &bull; Once Around the Realms &bull; Realms of the Underdark: "A Slow Day in Skullport" &bull; Silverfall &bull; Elminster in Hell &bull; The Paladins
 * Video Games
 * Descent to Undermountain &bull; Neverwinter Nights series (Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark &bull; Neverwinter Nights: Infinite Dungeons) &bull; Neverwinter: Undermountain
 * Board Games
 * Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
 * Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins
 * Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins