The Theosis of Malazzarr

When the time came to start gathering characters for my Play-by-Post Campaign, I started reaching out to my players, explained what I had in mind and asked them to pick the characters that they wanted to use.

One of the guys choose his 1st edition Magic-User Malazzarr.  Malazzarr's character sheet had long been lost to the passage of time and we had only the vaguest recollection of the adventures he had been on and what he was capable of doing.

So, we remade the character and I started filling in what history I could remember, added some details, and cleaned up the backstory as best I could.  I used a combination of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia and 3.5e's Deities and Demigods to generate his abilities and we went from there.

This then, is the story of Malazzarr's Rise to Power, His Fall, and His Second Rise. 
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-3552 DR: Malazzarr is born in the recently founded village of Runlatha, a port on the Narrow Sea.

-3540 DR: Malazzarr enters his magical apprenticeship under Neymar the Mysterious, an enchanter of modest reputation and success.

-3528 DR: Malazzarr completes his apprenticeship and takes a job at a Mageware Shop where he sells material components and laboratory equipment.  The store’s owner, Raavi Cathalegaunt (called Raavi the Covetous or Raavi the Gluttonous behind his back) owns several gnome slaves.  Malazzarr bristles under the cruel treatment the gnomes receive at the hands of their master. 

Late -3528 DR: Malazzarr leaves to find other employment opportunities and becomes a ship’s mage on the Narrow Sea.  He serves aboard the Platinum Sigil under the command of Captain Barnabus Sinclair.

-3528 thru -3526 DR: Malazzarr makes several trips across the Narrow Sea, shuttling goods from Gustaf to Ascore to Moran and soldiers from Gilan to all of the other ports along the coast.  In Ascore, he makes the acquaintance of Aaurilisthan Norenthian, an elven priest.  The two begin speaking about how the Netherese treat their slaves.  Aauri introduces Mal to the dwarven smith Dwingin of Ascore.

Mid -3525 DR: The Platinum Sigil is attacked by a band of winged lizardmen.  The crew, with the aid of Malazzarr’s magic, fights off the attack and Mal proves himself to be a capable battle mage.

One Month Later: More ships report encounters with the flying lizardfolk.  The smooth-talking Barnabus convinces Mal, Aauri and Dwingin to help him find out where the creatures are coming from.  Tavern talk and interviews with survivors from the attacks convince Barnabus to sail for an island in the northern waters of the Narrow Sea.

Two Weeks Later: Barnabus and his companions reach the island.  It is small, being only slightly larger than one-half mile across at its widest point but it is heavily wooded.  Before the adventurers even go ashore, the Platinum Sigil is attacked by the flying lizardfolk again.

After defeating the latest threat, the group makes their way to the beach.  They search the island and soon find a gnomish alchemist who survived being shipwrecked on the island.  His name is Fizzlebang Astrollacyll.  Fizz explains that he found a tower at the north end of the island but it was overrun with the reptilian people.  With some coaxing, Fizz leads the adventurers to the tower.

Despite precautions, the party is discovered soon after infiltrating the tower and a running battle begins.  The fight leads the group to a large communal egg chamber in the deepest level of the tower.  Hundreds, if not thousands, of eggs are being kept warm by geothermal vents in the main chamber alone.  Malazzarr uses his magic to destroy the majority of the eggs while the rest of the group holds off the lizardfolk.  As fireballs and lightning bolts erupt within the chamber, Mal spots a dark-robed figure with an ornate staff at the far end of the cavern.  The figure flees into the darkness and Malazzarr starts to give chase but the arrival of the island’s remaining lizardfolk turns his attention toward helping his companions and the figure escapes.

- Mid 3525 DR: Malazzarr investigates a haunted house in the village of Gustaf.  The manor house was once home to a master alchemist but now serves as the headquarters for a band of smugglers.  The smugglers led by the illusionist Sanablef, use mundane tricks and minor magical spells to scare away anyone who tries to investigate their lair.  Mal and his companions easily defeat the smugglers but learn that they are only part of a far deeper organization that extends both above and below the waters of the Narrow Sea.

Fizz takes possession of the house with the permission of the City Elders.  The elders ask that Mal, Barnabus and the others investigate the smuggling ring further.

Two Weeks Later: Barnabus and Malazzarr are standing watch in a hidden grotto the smugglers used when they are signaled by a ship just off-shore.  They take the smugglers’ jolly boat that was hidden in the grotto to approach the larger vessel with Fizz, Aauri and Dwingin aboard and row out to meet it.  When they draw close, they can see that the name Sea Ghost is painted on the hull of the ship.  A confrontation with the sailors and the subsequent exploration of the ship allows the adventurers to determine that these rogues have been supplying arms to a band of lizardfolk further up the coast for the last several months.

- 12 May 3525 DR: Village of Bandor and the Naga

- 03 Jul 3525 DR: The Platinum Sigil encounters pirates on the Narrow Sea.  Malazzarr and Barnabus make short work of the raiders.

-3520 DR: After establishing a number of contacts around the Narrow Sea, Malazzarr begins helping the elves of the North assist gnomish slaves in escaping from their Netherese captors.

-3518 DR: In recognition for his service and dedication to freedom, the elves and gnomes begin teaching Malazzarr the secrets of their types of magic.

-3517 DR: Mystryl takes notice of Malazzarr’s growing mastery of spellcraft.  She approves of his responsible use of magic and his fair treatment of other people.  She dispatches several celestial servants to watch him and report back to Her.

-3510 DR: The gnomes, with approval from the dwarves, bring Malazzarr to Delzoun.  The archmage is the first Netherese wizard to make contact with the Stout Folk.

Logan Trueshield, the King under the Mountain, remains skeptical of Malazzarr until the wizard almost single-handedly turns aside an attack by a horde of orcs with his magic.  Malazzarr creates a scepter for the king and magically links it with certain rune-inscribed stones in each of the tunnels leading to the dwarven stronghold.  Corresponding gems on the scepter will glow if any member of the dwarves’ racial enemies pass the corresponding rune-stone.  In recognition for his accomplishment, King Logan names Malazzarr a dwarf-friend.

-3505 DR: Mystryl’s agents nudge Malazzarr onto a course of action that will lead him to one of the Nether Scrolls.  The goddess wishes to see how the archmage will handle the secrets of magic the scroll will reveal to him.  The archmage finds the scroll of Magicus Creare and uses the knowledge he gains to create a portal that will allow escaping slaves to journey from the Netherese Empire to Delzoun.  The portal is enchanted to only work for gnomes and dwarves and is eventually incorporated into the Trail of Mists (magical route established in -3150 DR to speed the escape of gnome slaves).

-3504 DR: As a reward for his efforts, Mystryl allows Malazzarr access to a second Nether Scroll – the Arcanus Fundare.  The scroll grants him a deeper understanding of how each spell affects the Weave and the world at large.

Malazzarr’s fame as a masterful crafter of magical items continues to spread.  Arcanists from all over the Empire travel to Runlatha to seek him out.  In exchange for his teachings, Malazzarr requests that the would-be student frees all the slaves he owns.  Slowly Malazzarr begins to win converts to his cause of racial equality.

Nearly every wizard in the empire, either directly or indirectly, benefit from Malazzarr’s magical teachings.  Before the turn of the century, wizards with aspiring apprentices use the phrase “What would Malazzarr do” when instructing the students in the creation of magical items.

-3497 DR: Mystryl takes on a human form to finally meet with the wizard She has had Her servants watching for the last three decades.  She does not reveal Her identify to Malazzarr, saying that She must keep Her name secret for a reason.

The goddess presents Malazzarr with the Mask of Euryale, an evil artifact of great power and bids him to find a way to destroy it.  Malazzarr balks at first, informing her that his entire adult life has been spent learning how to create magical items.  Still, he accepts the quest and begins researching the Mask.  As he travels east and south, he enters the burgeoning realm of Cormanthyr.  The southern elves are hesitant to allow a Netherese wizard enter their lands and watch him closely as he travels through their forest.

-3496 DR: Despite his precautions, Malazzarr runs afoul of a pair of Shadow Dragons.  The wyrms take the archmage by surprise and try to take the Mask from him.  Malazzarr is forced to put the Mask on and it bonds to his flesh.  He unleashes the Mask’s power against the dragons and turns both to stone.

-3496 DR: When Malazzarr tries to remove the Mask, he discovers that it will not come off.  An otherworldly voice begins speaking to him through the Mask, explaining how the artifact’s powers work and how Malazzarr could use it to end slavery in the Netheril.  The voice belongs to the devil Bachraeus, the diabolical patron of medusa.

Bachraeus is subtle and persistent, speaking in half-truths and telling Malazzarr what he wants to hear.  The devil tries to entice Mal into committing evil acts for the greater good and turn him from his quest.

The archmage perseveres and makes his way to the city of Cormanthor and seeks out the Tower of Art.  The elves try to stop him from entering the tower, commanding that he reveal his identity.  Malazzarr refuses to speak to the elves or remove his hood, knowing that anyone who sees him and meets his gaze will be turned to stone.  Malazzarr is able to make it past the elves using nonlethal magic but is gravely wounded.  He finally penetrates to the heart of the Tower of Art and gazes into the Mirror of Catuptro.  The magical looking glass reflects the Mask’s powers back upon itself causing the Mask to turn to stone and shatter.

-3496 DR: Mystryl revisits Malazzarr.  The goddess reveals Her identity this time and asks if Malazzarr learned anything from his quest.  The archmage tells Her that he has come to realize that just because something Can be made, it doesn’t mean that it Should be made and that some magic is too dangerous to leave in the hands of men.

Mystryl nods.  “That is very true.  It is that wisdom I will expect you to rely on in your new role.  You will serve Me as the Lord of the Rod, Staff and Wand.  You will decide whether or not a new creation is too dangerous to be allowed into the world.  Rise Malazzarr and serve Me.”

Mystryl places Her hand on his forehead and Malazzarr feels a rush of power as His consciousness expands to undreamed of limits.  He hears His name being spoken in wizard enclaves all across the empire as masters use His name as an example of how to enchant items.

For the five millennia, Malazzarr serves as the divine patron of magical item creation.

-3490 DR: Malazzarr becomes the deity of choice for most artificers.  The lessons he taught about craftsmanship and magical theory are repeated across the width of the Netherese Empire and his power rises to the point where he is nearly a lesser power.

-3014 DR: Ioulaum creates the first Mythallar.  Powered by the Weave itself, a mythallar allowed a Netherese arcanist to create powerful magical items without expending personal energy.  As long as the items created with a mythallar’s power remained within a few miles of it, they were as permanent as any normal magic item.  When removed from the mythallar’s area, however, these quasi-magic items rapidly became inert.

This invention allows many Netherese wizards to circumvent Malazzarr’s strictures to an extent.

-339 DR: With many worshippers slain during Netheril’s fall, Malazzarr is reduced in strength to that of a Demipower.  As the Netherese survivors concentrate more on staying alive than the creation of new magical items, Malazzarr’s power wanes even further.

By the time the successor states of Halruua and, later Nimbral rise, Malazzarr has been nearly forgotten and those few who do remember him consider the god to be little more than a patron saint.

1369 DR: Malazzarr encounters the goddess Shar in the Easting Reach.  He had come to oversee the destruction of a temple of Talos that has been enchanted to channel lightning into a magic circle in the heart of its sanctuary, allowing the priests to call upon various types of metamagic.  Shar was present to watch the temple explode as well for the adventurers taking shelter within had killed one of her favored high priestesses.  Malazzarr noticed the Shadow Weave that Shar was drawing power from so she cast Karsus' Avatar, robbing him of his divinity and cast him down as a mortal wizard.

Malazzarr joins the adventurers and during the explosion, a rift is torn open, depositing everyone present in the world of Hyboria.

1369 - 1370 DR: 

Malazzarr, though mortal, remained a powerful magic-user and drew the attention of several local deities and came into conflict with the spider god Zath.  With assistance from the Court Wizard of Tarantia, the group learned of a sorcerer-priest in the city of Arenjun who had imprisoned a demon in his tower and went there to obtain information about how to return home.  The sorcerer-priest, a fell wizard known as Yara, attacked the party when they tried to enter his tower.   

During the battle, Zath, tired of Malazzarr’s antagonism, transferred a portion of his power to Malazzarr, re-elevating him to divinity with the intention of destroying him.  Zath, despite being more powerful was outmatched by Malazzarr’s mastery of magic and was defeated.