Karad Blackheart

"Yes, he was a hero and his destiny was his own. Still, I sometimes wonder if we, the people of Covenant created him."
-Vidar Elf-Child

In the world of Covenant, just because someone is a hero, it does not mean that they are not the most vile of villains. Certainly, Karad Blackheart is among the most terrible of villains the world had ever seen-- a scourge upon the people of Acitern until he was slain by his fellow hero Vidar Elf-Child.

Physical Description

Body Features

In life, Karad was a handsome man, with pale skin, a short beard, and an athletic build. When he became a lich, he slowly wasted away until he was nothing more than a bare skeleton with a grinning skull. A baleful red glow shined in the empty sockets where his eyes once were.

Apparel & Accessories

Karad had been cast in the role of a villain for as long as he lived. Eventually, he fully embraced the role, and very much dressed to fill the part. His signature look was sinister black robes decorated with bones and skulls even before Karad had embraced lichdom.
He also wore a dark crown of iron blades, with a sinister enchantment. He carried a staff that resembled a skull gripped in a skeletal hand. His spellbook was black leather and iron with a massive metal skull on the cover. The spells therein were written in the blood of humanoids.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Karad Blackheart was once a simple young man named Kelden Silversmith, from a tiny hamlet in Aurand. Unfortunately for him, Kelden was born as the Wild Hunt rode through the sky and ravaged the village as the townspeople fled to Tarke. Even as an infant, he was blamed for the coming of the Wild Hunt.
Soon all of Tarke knew who he was. He was the devil child who had destroyed his town and slew his family. He spent much of his time abandoned on the streets of Tarke. Among many of the things he stole from passersby to survive was a satchel that contained a simple spellbook.
He proved a prodigy of spellcraft, eventually working out the secrets of wizardry on his own. As soon as he cast his first spell, the world fell away, leaving only the Weird Sisters. They told him he had a great destiny before him, and that all the world would know his name. For the first time in his life, the young Kelden felt validation.
Now a mage, he attempted to throw himself into the life of an adventurer. Still, he couldn't shake his sinister reputation. He did find a band of companions who found his magic useful. They traveled together for years, but eventually one of their jobs went bad, and they left him to die.
On that day, Kelden was reborn. He knew he was left because of the omens of his birth. He resolved to be all that the people of the world saw in him. Kelden Silversmith was dead, and he returned to the people of Covenant as the necromancer Karad Blackheart.
He took the opportunity to hunt his traitorous comrades one by one and torturously slay them. In the end, he got his vengeance on them and his vengeance was so terrible that he became feared across Acitern. He became known as a dark wizard of tremendous power and unparalleled wickedness.
With his abandonment avenged, he pursued the terrible undead state of lichdom. He succeeded, gaining a foul mockery of immortality. He then had all eternity to plot, but no purpose to fill it with. Up until that moment, the only purpose that had given him meaning had been vengeance, and so he dedicated his unlife to vengeance.
His life had been miserable from the very beginning, for no other reason than a simple omen. He blamed the entire world for this, and the gods created the world of Covenant. He swore vengeance on the gods, themselves for their creation. He couldn't attack them, but he could attack their people.
To do this, he needed endless legions, and as a necromancer, the dead would do just fine. For this he chose to begin in Acitern. He unleashed a plague on Tarke and raised the dead of one graveyard after another, eventually ending up with a very respectable army.
These actions attracted the attention of adventurers across the continent. For the most part, these only added to his army, but there were three he never could have predicted. These were the Aciterni swordsman Pieter Ammoran, the Reynardian archer Simone Arquiox, and most importantly the Bjornlander wizard Vidar Elf-Child.
Unfortunately for him, Vidar was a hero just like him. He managed to stop him over and over again. In response to these setbacks, he decided to raise the dead of Tarke and sent his legions against the city, believing mere adventurers couldn't stop plan so grandiose or magic so powerful.
The companions managed to unite the people of the continent to lift the siege of Tarke. They, themselves tracked Karad down to fight him directly. They managed to destroy him on combat, but knew that was only a half measure. They managed to find his phylactery in a dungeon in Pranish. Pieter was killed, but they destroyed Karad once and for all.

Legends

Naturally, the stories told of Karad Blackheart are of the darkest sort. As not many survived encounters with him, the fates that befell his victims are mostly uncertain. There is a certain macabre curiosity regarding the matter, but few know what truly happened to them.
Even after his final death, many in Acitern speak of him as if he still walked the earth. This is the source of many cautionary tales. Parents still threaten disobedient children by saying that if they're bad Karad will crawl from his forsaken grave and steal them away.

Alignment

Neutral Evil

Species

Lich

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Archmage, Dread Lich, Scourge of Acitern

Circumstances of Death

Ritual (first), Killed in battle (second)

Sex

Male

Eyes

Red

Hair

None

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

None

Height

5 ft. 11 in.

Weight

50 lbs.