Hazlik

Hazlik was a Red Wizard who formerly lived in Thay and later became the Lord of Hazlan in the Demiplane of Dread.

Description
Hazlik had bald head, covered with ornate tattoos, and a brown goatee. His left eye was brown, while his right eye was blue. He tended to wear long red robes that exposed his hairless, tattooed chest. His voice was noted as being phlegmy and like a hiss.

Personality
Hazlik despised both undead and necromancy due to his past history with Thantosya.

Hazlik was known to be often frustrated over being trapped within the Demiplane of Dread and was obsessed with having as much control over his surroundings as possible.

Abilities
Hazlik was capable of willing the borders of Hazlan to be closed off from all neighboring domains in the Demiplane of Dread by performing an arcane ritual that required concentration to maintain. This ritual entailed him meditating over a brazier that was burning incense. The ritual would cause immense walls of flame to flare up along the edges of his domain, that could harm even creatures that normally possessed a resistance or immunity to fire, for as long as he remained concentrated.

Hazlik was also capable of automatically sensing whenever an arcane spell was cast within his domain, with the exception of those cast by undead. He would instantly know which school of magic it came from, where it was cast, and could identify what it was as though he had been present to witness the somatic or verbal components that were used.

He permanently had the spells comprehend languages, darkvision, detect magic, protection from arrows, read magic, see invisibility, and tongues cast on his body.

Combat
Hazlik typically preferred to attack his foes from afar with spells, leaving his minions to protect him and engage in close-quarters combat. He often sought to end fights as quickly as possible.

Possessions
Hazlik was known to possess a headband of intellect, masterwork daggers, gloves of dexterity, a ring of protection, a robe of resistance in the form of a cloak, a wand of fireballs, a wand of magic missiles, and a spellbook. He also owned a yellow gemstone, adorned in a heavy round silver pendant he wore around his neck on a silver chain. Some believed that if Hazlik were to die his life force would retreat into it. Others believed it served as the control amulet for a shield guardian, who he created himself and resembled a wingless fiend.

If anyone were to wear the gemstone following the death of Hazlik they would feel the need to defend it to the death. They would then go on to have dreams each night of them battling Hazlik. If killed within one of those dreams the pendant wearer's body would die with them, become possessed by Hazlik's life force, and then over the course of a month transform into an exact likeness of his original body.

His familiar was a toad named Lurzed, who was imbued with spells that allowed it to transform into a human and bullywug. He also owned a homunculus that he named Incubolos.

History
Hazlik was a rising Red Wizard of Thay of the Evocation school. Over time he created a wide array of unique spells, unusual magical items, and magical beasts that delighted the rulers of Thay.

In his rise to power, he became an enemy of the necromancer Thantosya. Hazlik coveted her lover, Orliab, but this was the start of his downfall. Orliab, under orders from Thantosya, suggested to Hazlik that they go off somewhere secluded and have a tryst. Having succumbed to his passion for her, Thantosya and his other enemies accused him of having assaulted her. For his crimes the court ordered his head and chest be marked with tattoos with designs considered feminine, the latter making him a pariah among his fellow Red Wizards. From then on he swore vengeance and devoted himself entirely to his craft. One night while searching the woods for an ingredient vital to an experiment, he stumbled upon the couple that had tricked him. Ambushing the pair, he cut out Orliab's heart with a silver knife and then forced Thantosya to drink her blood before proceeding to slice her throat.

As he gloated over the brutal demise of his foes, the mists of the Dark Powers arose and claimed him, bringing him into the Nightmare Lands of the Demiplane of Dread. The first tangible thing he could make out in the mist was a looming white tower, which conjured feelings of dread inside him. Approaching the tower, he saw what looked like the wizards who had tattooed him long ago. Frightened by their presence, he quickly ran away. He went on to dwell in the Nightmare Lands for months, nursing his hatred and plotting out his revenge. Eventually, the fog lifted and he came to find himself in Hazlan, a domain that the Dark Powers had created for him to rule over.

For the first twenty five years of his reign Hazlik viciously suppressed the practice of any and all forms of magic within his domain. Transgressing this law typically resulted in being executed.

At some point a catastrophic event affected many domains within the Demiplane of Dread and temporarily transported Hazlik back to the Prime Material, wherein he saw his enemies prospering and their children rising to power. He got to work plotting against them, but before he could make his plots reality he was transported back to the Domains of Dread.

Upon being returned to his domain Hazlik had a renewed sense of vengeance, but grew to accept that he would never escape. Deciding that sorcery was the only way he could achieve his desired revenge, he decided to overturn the rules prohibiting magic in his domain and founded his own school of wizardry in hopes of finding a worthy successor to his legacy - a successor that could one day return to Thay and exact the revenge he craved.

Hazlik had many apprentices, but came to entrust a Rashemi named Eleni above all others. He planned to one day transfer his spirit into the body of his worthy successor, following the completion of a complex ritual that he spent much of his time researching. The ritual he sought to execute would theoretically kill every member of the Mulan ethnic group across every plane of existence.

Domain
In the domain of Hazlan he resided within a sprawling estate known as Veneficus, just north of the town of Toyalis. In the center of this estate was an immense tower, known to locals as the Red Tower, where Hazlik conducted a variety of experiments and research. Those who lived in his domain saw it as an ongoing symbol of the oppression and fear he impressed upon them. On the southern end of the estate was a cluster of huts where Rashemi laborers lived, who tended to its fields and animals.

Surrounding the estate was a garden, tended by expert gardeners, where Hazlik grew a variety of plant creatures. It had fountains, ponds full of carp, as well as specialized gardens such as one devoted to poisonous herbs and another to funguses. Some of the monstrous plants that inhabited it included shambling mounds and tendriculos.

This estate and other strongholds throughout Hazlan were often guarded by bullywugs, chosen ones, crawling claws, and darkenbeasts.

Appearances

 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards