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Iakhovas is an ancient creature who has been alive since the Shadow Epoch. He earned the love of a goddess but her attention and gifts only served to make him greedy for more.

Iakhovas swam in the seas of Abeir-Toril before recorded history began. When the first land masses arose from the sea, he ventured onto them searching for another like himself so that he would no longer be lonely. He was a unique creature though so his search was doomed to failure. The gods noticed him upon dry land however and deigned to answer his questions about their creations before he gave up his search and returned to the sea.

Iakhovas found some companionship in the form of Sekolah whom he traveled with until Sekolah shook the first sahuagin out of a giant clam shell. In lost sahuagin legend, he is thusly known as One Who Swims With Sekolah.

Eventually, Iakhovas drew the eye of Umberlee. She became fascinated by this creature who, although mortal, still took great risks searching the entire ocean for someone to be with. Umberlee wasn't yet one of the gods of fury, having a softer heart and her fascination grew into love. Iakhovas returned that love as best as he could and Umberlee showered him with gifts in the form of material possessions, magic and immortality but she could not remain on Toril all of the time so while Umberlee was away on other planes, Iakhovas travelled upon land once more.

He conquered the land that would become Chult with his new powers and built a gigantic palace from which he pitted his neighbors against each other so that he could then steal the magic items of their mages. This earned him the moniker of 'The Taker' as it seemed to everyone else that all he knew how to do was take what belonged to others. His greed only grew until he decided that he desired power over his deific lover. He had a large harem already but Umberlee didn't care about that as long as he loved only her. Iakhovas thusly pretended to fall in love with a harem girl and when Umberlee caught the two of them in the bed he shared only with Umberlee, she slew the girl in a fit of jealous rage. Iakhovas was overjoyed, believing that Umberlee's jealousy gave him power over her. He underestimated how hurt Umberlee was though and while he crowed smugly, Umberlee tore out one of his eyes and took away his immortality before leaving him.

Shocked at his loss, Iakhovas brooded for a long time, until eventually he decided on pursuing revenge. He resumed his greedy ways, collecting magical weapons from all over the world before confronting his former lover. Again he underestimated Umberlee who defeated him, took all of his weapons away and left him for dead.

Iakhovas, calling himself various incarnations of "Black Aric" over the centuries, organized pirates to help collect items.

He was discovered by Laqueel, a rare malenti priestess of Sekolah. He used her to become the leader of the sahuagin, expending their warriors in a war to collect items, even regaining his eye. However, he was killed at the hands of Jheryk, a young paladin of Lathander.

Notes

In the original source material, Iakhovas is a megalodon but subsequent sourcebooks identify him as a wereshark.

References

Appearances

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