The Mad Mage
For century's the Mad Mage, Keraptis terrorized the southern coast of Thule, until the Atlanteans arrived.
It is unknown when the Wizard Keraptis rose to power on the Isle of Bones. Some say he was serpent folk fleeing the war with the elves, and others claim he was a renegade Atlantean. Whatever his origins, he brought the tribes of the Isle of Bones under his thumb with gruesome threats. Under Keraptis's overlordship, raids of the rapacious monsters from the wild mountains decreased markedly, dwindled, and then almost stopped. Seeing this, the Islanders did not put up much resistance to paying the Wizard's heavy taxes and tithes, especially when stories circulated of what happened to those who balked. Any tribes who protested disappeared in the night. Using the Isle of Bones as a power base, Keraptis set about expanding his dominion to include the southeastern coast of Thule.
But this drew Keraptis into direct conflict with Atlantis colonial designs. The Atlantean's took over the tributes and taxes Keraptis had previously demanded from settlements along the Ryliri Coast. No longer did the Wizard take a great piece of everything grown, made, or sold along the coast. So he sent his minions on bloody raids up and down the coast. Initially, the larger Atlantean galleys were no match for the Wizard's small fleet of strange iron ships until the Atlantean Warlord Caiburnus invaded the Isle of Bones and destroyed Keraptis's power base.
But Keraptis escaped, with his bodyguard of deranged gnomes. He fled to the mountains, but wherever he went, he could not find respite from the rapacious mountain monsters he had dominated for so long. It was not until he came to the shore of the endless ocean at the edge of the world, where he finally found refuge. An island taboo to the monsters of the mountains. Honeycombed with a tangled maze of volcanic tunnels the island was a perfect lair for the Wizard. Keraptis and his gnomes had vanished, presumed eaten by those monsters mentioned earlier.
Years later, Kerpatis took his terrible revenge on Caliburnus, now Overlord of Quodeth —afflicting the Warlord with a deadly contagion that polluted his body and soul with vile necromancy. Caliburnus died in agony. Worse still, Keraptis made off with the Warlord's most valued treasure, the symbols of power Caliburnus used to dominate Thule. Rewards were posted, servants hanged, even the Sevens Knives sanctuary was violated in the frantic search for the Keraptis, but not one clue of his whereabouts turned up until Caliburnus heir received a letter.
The taunting letter reportedly contained several clues to Keraptis whereabouts and defences. So the heir set sail from Quodeth on a quest for revenge and to see the family heirlooms restored. She was never to be seen again.
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