Malign Ashmeddai
Image by Magdalena Pagowska
First Name: Malign (born as "Barzal")Last Name: Ashmeddai
Appearance
Malign Ashmeddai is a handsome, wiry tiefling with light brown skin, blonde-red hair, and sharply pointed ears. He converses in a Thayan accent, cultured and educated. The noticeable horns above his ears, keen fangs, and non-prehensile tail give away his heritage. With a seductive, otherworldly grace, Malign can be charming...
Edit (03/28/2018) : Malign's left eye is covered by a fancy, red leather eyepatch.
Edit (07/31/2018) : Malign has shaven his beard.
Race: Tiefling (Cambion heritage)*
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Height 5'7"
Weight: 185lb/84kg
Eyes: Yellow
Hair: Blonde-red, medium length
Facial Hair: Shaven Personality Profile
Malign is a born gambler. The chances for increased wealth, influence, or greater magical secrets, is a lure that he finds hard to resist. That said, the tiefling has learned that not all bets are worth taking, which he has to sporadically remind himself. He has learned to have confidence in rational decisions. This surety in himself and his decisions is what led the Thayan tiefling to become a warlock.
Normally, Malign is a courteous and charming fellow, if recalcitrant. Unfortunately, his confidence can also be perceived as arrogance. Most will find Malign to have a sort of grudging acceptance of their morals and beliefs, but he rarely accepts members of clergy.
General Health: Fair health, occasionally exhausted from rituals
Deity: None
Initial Alignment: Neutral Evil
Profession: Battle Sorcerer, Arcane Inventor
Base Class & Proposed Development: Warlock, Warrior of Darkness, and Dragonslayer; plan to take Craft Wondrous Items feat
Habits/Hobbies: Smokes pipe tobacco, drinks firewine (when he can)
Languages: Common, Abyssal, Thayan, Elven, & Netherese
Weapon of Choice: Scimitar, shield; Falchion
Background
Malign Ashmeddai was born in Thay, a bastard of the ancient noble house of Ashmeddai, as "Barzal". During his boyhood, he was treated only slightly better than a slave by most of the house nobles. His mother, however, doted on Barzal and protected him. She even used her own funds to see to his education. Barzal's mother was his only comfort for many years. When the pure Mulani children beat him, she soothed his bruises. When one of his tutors broke his hand with a rod for incorrectly answering a question, she raised hell until the man apologized - to her, not to the young tiefling, of course!
[/th][/table]Most of the other house members tolerated her motherly devotion, except the House lord. The House lord, an elderly Red Wizard, loathed Barzal and constantly showed him off as a trophy. The man did this to demean the tiefling and his mother. Shortly before the lad came of age, his mother died under mysterious circumstances.
That same day, one of the junior Mulani scribes mocked him, "Tainted linage, scum! Surely the house lord will sacrifice you soon!"
Afraid, the lad hid in his mother's bedroom and soon overheard that the House lord indeed intended to sacrifice him - to a marilith - in several weeks. The tiefling lad snapped and decided to foster dissent among the slaves, slowly, using the several weeks' time to turn them against the overseers. The day before he was to be sacrificed, the slaves rose up, and the tiefling fled towards the border of Rashemen.
By Lake Mulsantir, the tiefling hid in a ruin. After acquiring food (some fish, which took him hours to catch) and starting a fire, Barzal decided he would take a new name: Malign. "For I will turn the curses back on those who scorn me," Malign said to himself. Exploring the depths of the cave over several days, Malign eventually stumbled upon a heretical text. This text detailed how to summon a demons. One passage specifically mentioned Alu-Fiends, describing how this fiend might grant a pact on behalf of a demon lord. The tiefling also read of the Demon lord Graz'zt and his Abyssal realm of Azzagrat (and a few other Abyssal realms). After weeks of study, Malign began the ritual to summon the Alu-Fiend.[/i]
[/th][/table]"I summon ye, Alu-Fiend!", Malign cried defiantly, and the comely fiend entered the summoning circle in a flash of magic.
"What do you seek of me, mortal?", the Alu-Fiend taunted in a sultry tone, her wings flexing as her hands carressed her breasts, and leered at him.
"I seek power, power to reform this world for the better," the tiefling warlock-prospect answered.
The Alu-Fiend reached out, running one hand along his jawline teasingly. "I might be able to arrange that... with my master, the Demon lord Graz'zt."
"I agree... I have read of thy master and his realm. Mayhap, one day, I will even visit? But, for now, the Pact!"
With his agreement, the Alu-Fiend clutched the side of Malign's face. The tiefling's eyes widened as he momentarily felt weaker. Then, the Alu-Fiend vanished. Feeling drained, Malign flexed his hands. That night, the tiefling dreamed of a city of demons, spanning three full layers of the Abyss; and the seductive lord of the Argent Palace, Graz'zt, the Dark Prince, patron of tyrants, despots, and all those who would rule by force. He gained knowledge of the legendary war between Graz'zt and the other demon lords of the Abyss. When Malign awoke, he could conjure a ray of eldritch power...
"It worked," he crowed!
[/th][/table]For the next several years, Malign traveled, always avoiding "the hated" Red Wizards in particular and Thayans in general. He studied the arcane and nature of warlock pacts further, learned Netherese (a painstaking process), and practiced with maces and blades. Over time, the tiefling discovered the clergy were mostly hostile towards his arts. As a rule, Malign hid the nature of his magic. Arriving in Baldur's Gate, the young warlock decided to build something here.[/i]
"I will gain power here, so I shall ne'er again be powerless!"
Goals
- Acquisition of arcane secrets & power.
- Gaining influence in the region.
- Reduce influence of the Red Wizards and of the clergy in the region.
- Creation of eldritch artifacts.
Malign...
- hates Thayans and Red Wizards;
- is always willing to gamble on power;
- is not fond of deities or priests, so he is willing to stymie efforts of clergy;
- is interested in study of arcane knowledge and Planar studies;
- and is interested in study of magical artifacts, especially those of eldritch nature, and their creation.
Thanks for all the help.))