Ilhenir the Stained

Ilhenir the Stained is the champion boss of the Pestilence Spawn in Bedlam. The background and history you see below is provided by Lady Pandora of the Catskills shard and is free to use in any role playing theme or plotline.

Ilhenir the Great Knight

Ilhenir was once a great knight, served under Lord British himself. In the battle against Lord Blackthrone, valiantly he lost his life alongside his beloved horse, Red. In a battle against 7, he took 4 of them with him to the grave. Highly decorated, admired, and revered by his fellow citizens of Britain, his death was grieved by the entire land. But Britannians had taken solace in knowing that he had died a glorious death, one that every knight hopes for, serving his countrymen. Given the traditional knight's burial, his family was presented with his sword and shield by Lord British as the streets of Britain were lined with delicate flowers and all the flags in the kingdom were lowered.

But for Ilhenir's family, the loss of their only son was too much to bare. Nothing could quench their mourning. Having much wealth, they sought to have Ilhenir returned to them in any way possible. There had been rumors that the city of Umbra had knowledgeable persons that may be able to help them in their quest. The pain felt by Ilhenir's mother only served to fuel his father's decision to seek the assistance of studied necromancers in a secret scholastic institution named Bedlam, which resided hidden somewhere in Umbra.

Bedlam in Umbra

Necromancy was wicked and very powerful. Those that had wielded its dark magic had used it to further the evils of the world; it was not a good art to practice. But now, it had been lost and gone unused for many moons. The citizens of Umbra had stumbled upon it and the mages and theurgists of Umbra decided to try to study and learn its dark ways. Thus they established Bedlam, underground. Hidden away from the sight of common folk, they were able to summon undead, raise the dead, and shape shift without much notice. A portal was built in the Bloodletter's Guild that would allow admission to Bedlam, with of course the proper papers. Soon those that learned whatever old, dusty books would teach them eventually became professors in Bedlam, teaching others. They practiced on small animals; goats and hinds and sheep, but never on humans. They sought to bring necromancy back as a practiced art, but had no intentions of using it for evil doings.

Resurrection Gone Bad

Ilhenir's family sought entrance into the hidden underground bowels of Umbra and in their quest they met an interesting young lady named Aernya the Mistress of Admissions. She allowed their entrance and introduced them to Master Gnosos the Necromancer, who heads the program. When they explained their grief and how terrible life had been for them after Ilhenir's death, Gnosos went back to the other masters (Master Jonath, Master Theophilus, Master Mikael) to tell them of the struggles of this family. Gnosos was torn between wanting to test the craft he had practiced all his life and knowing all that could go wrong. Gnosos decided to decline the family's request.

However, the other masters were simply too eager to see just how far their teachings had come. They approached the family and collectively agreed to try to cast the "Raise Dead" spell on Ilhenir's now decaying body. Gnosos was none too happy to hear of his colleagues agreement to such a spell. Sure, they had cast that very spell on many of the dead animals and it had gone fairly well, but to do this on a human could turn out much differently. Master Theophilus told the family the ingredients they would have to get, which seemed pretty rare to attain, and that they would need a few items that were personal to Ilhenir himself. The family returned to Britain. There they had Ilhenir's body exhumed, what was left of it. Ilhenir's mother was shocked right back into her deep grief at the site of her son's adorned Royal Guard coffin. Tortured by the sounds of her wailing cries, his father packed it up and had it sent to Umbra via carriage. Ilhenir's parents accompanied the cargo wagon carrying with them the ingredients required as well as their son's shield and sword; the trip too many moons.

Exhausted yet eager, the couple re-entered Bedlam, again with the assistance of Aernya. Gnosos warned them of all the possibilities that could happen and that they couldn't guarantee that their son would come back to them whole, as they had remembered him. Arguing ensued between Gnosos and the other masters, but in the end, out of sheer curiosity if nothing more Gnosos agreed to help his comrades. The four set out to do what had not been done in the field of Necromancy for what seemed like an eternity.

Unfortunately, Gnosos predictions proved right. After several weeks of unsuccessful attempts, they were able to resurrect Ilhenir. But the result was certainly not at all what had been expected. Ilhenir rose, mind intact, but disfigured and maimed. He was now unrecognizeable --- part human, part beast, part monster.

Rage and Wrath

(To be continued...)