Kartak Spellseer was a lich and necromancer, a member of the Twisted Rune, and the bane of his mortal family.[1]
Description[]
Kartak looked as if he was still alive, as well as young for the age he died at (54 years old). He carried an air of dignity and was mistaken for royalty in the past.[1]
Personality[]
Kartak was proud and desired to be recognized for his noble bearing and self-imposed importance. He refused to associate himself with other undead unless it was necessary to, such as in his dealings with his fellow Twisted Rune members. He was also an unashamed psychopath.[1]
History[]
A distant cousin of the main branch of the family known as Spellseer, he still carried the family name and lived in the family castle. He became involved in Spellseer business when, amidst false accusations from rival Amnian traders, he was accused of gruesomely murdering and experimenting on fourteen young local men and women in order to perform a foul necromantic rite. The evidence was completely fabricated, but ironically the charges were all totally true. He was arrested at the castle in the Year of the Ambitious Proposal, 830 DR, tried and sentenced to hang.[1]
However, Kartak managed to escape his fate when a wizard named Rysellan the Dark and several associates broke Kartak (and fifteen other convicts) out of jail with a ring of the ram. Kartak then escaped on horseback to the Kuldin Peaks.[1]
It isn't known exactly when Rysellan took Kartak as one of his apprentices, but it is known that Kartak brewed and imbibed a potion that killed him and turned him into a lich in the Year of Thorns, 856 DR, hiding his phylactery in his former home, later known as Castle Spulzeer. He went on to be instrumental in helping to found the Twisted Rune eight years later. They became one of the most powerful groups active in southwestern Faerûn. Of course, almost all large, evil organizations eventually fall to infighting and rather than expanding their power base further, the Rune turned on itself, splitting into warring factions. Kartak remained loyal to Rysellan and battled the other factions at his side for 170 years until Rysellan's faction came into a direct spell-battle with another one. They were outmatched and Rysellan, Kartak, and another of Rysellan's apprentices were destroyed in the Year of the Soft Fogs, 1188 DR.[1]
Unlike the others who fell, the Rune didn't know where Kartak's phylactery was. Kartak also had the foresight to place a geas on his mortal servants that, in the event of his destruction, they would seek out his remains and place them in a specially prepared sarcophagus that would allow him to exert some limited mind control over someone in the castle. It would take about 150 years before Kartak's mind could find someone who was both weak-willed and unfocused enough for him to dominate. This person took the form of Chardath Spulzeer who, in the Year of the Spur, 1348 DR, succumbed to Kartak's influence and murdered his sister, Marble Spulzeer, in an arcane rite to reanimate the lich's corpse.[1]
Kartak returned to the Kuldin Peaks and wreaked revenge on the remaining rebels in the Twisted Rune while increasing his magical powers and wallowing in the growing hatred he had started to feel towards his family. However, every year on the anniversary of Marble's death, Kartak found himself summoned to the site of the murder, unable to leave for 24 hours.[1]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Doug Stewart (November 1997). Castle Spulzeer. (TSR, Inc), p. ?. ISBN 978-0786906697.
- ↑ Doug Stewart (November 1997). Castle Spulzeer. (TSR, Inc), p. 62. ISBN 978-0786906697.
- ↑ Steven E. Schend (August 1997). “Book Three: Erlkazar & Folk of Intrigue”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Lands of Intrigue (TSR, Inc.), pp. 21, 23. ISBN 0-7869-0697-9.
- ↑ Jason Carl, Sean K. Reynolds (October 2001). Lords of Darkness. Edited by Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 178. ISBN 07-8691-989-2.