Its A Mad World Epic4E:Dr Shivareth
Dr. Shivareth, a character played by OldKentuckyShark in the "Its a Mad Word" campaign by Tedster
Dr. Shivareth, The Clockwork Lich[edit]
Shivareth@iPLAY4e
"That's 'Doctor' Shivareth. I didn't spend five cumulative decades at medical school to get called 'Mister'."
Curriculum vitae:
- Doctor of Thaumaturgy
- Doctor of Arcanic Theory
- Master of Engineering, Arcanum
- Speaker Emeritus of the Arcane Congress of Arkhosia (defunct)
- Fellow of the Royal Arcane Society of Nerath (defunct)
- Ordo Clericorum Regularium Erathis (Mendicant Brother of Erathis, excommunicated)
- Visiting Instructor-at-Arms of the White Lotus Academy (current)
- Mage of the Seventh Circle
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 175
Age: Old. Very, very old.
Alignment: Unaligned
Deity: Erathis
History[edit]
- Shivareth was an impatient youth. Born in Astrazalian, the City of Starlight, to minor summer nobles, he attended and graduated from one of the foremost magical academies in the Feywild; growing bored, he waited until the shining city was coterminous with the mortal realm and departed for other lands. His ship made port in Arkhosia, during the early years of the Arkhosia/Bael Turath war. There he set up shop as a magical smith, selling strange and potent fey-crafted weapons to the Dragonborn soldiers of the Empire.
- And then he fell in love. Her name was Sivastrix, and she had scales of shining quicksilver. Even in those decadent days, as an empire was ending, it was unusual for a dragon to fall in love with a lesser creature, but they were both young -- less than a hundred -- and cared not for the opinions of their peers. Sivastrix was a wyrm-knight; an officer in the Imperial army, whose job it was to lead a cohort of dragonborn aerial cavalry, and it was Shivareth who designed and crafted the draconic barding she would wear into battle.
- And then she died. Sivastrix fell at the Seige of Razrotear, in what was to be one of the final battles of the war. Worse, she was slain with a Soulcatch Dagger, one of a handful of powerful profane artifacts wielded by the Hell-Lords of Bael-Turath. Her soul became imprisoned in the ruby hilt of the obsidian dagger. But before the ruby could be used as a component in a blasphemous rite, the Turathan army fell to infighting, and the jewel was lost.
- Shivareth spent centuries hunting down the soul of his beloved. He crossed the world twice, even as empires were collapsing around him. In the chaos, it became impossible to locate anything. As age began to creep up on him, he discarded his mortality like an old cloak, becoming something less than alive but more than a undead. He passed through places where time moves differently; even he is no longer certain how long he searched. He spent fifty years as part of a mendicant order of Erathis, disguising his lich nature, merely to gain access to the great Library of Ages: he was defrocked and excommunicated when the deception was discovered. He served, for a time, as an advisor to Emperor Killain in Nerath, and devised many amusing clockwork automatons to please the court. He worked, and studied, and raided fell temples and dark ruins, but all for naught. And so he bided his time.
- Barely a century ago, Shivareth discovered the location of his wife's soul. All the while he had searched the far and mortal realms, it had been migrating back towards the Feywild. Through a series of arcane dealings it came into the hands of The Queen of Winter, in the Vale of Long Night. She made it the centerpiece of a great fountain, in the Fortress of Frozen tears: a column of liquid quicksilver, pouring forever down a mountain of frozen flame. The raw harmonics of powerful draconic Spite makeit an item of great power in the Queen's domain.
- For the last century, Shivareth has sought weapons, and allies. He seeks to mount a personal suicide rush into winter's heart, and he knows that he cannot liberate his wife's soul alone.
- Relatively recently, the Doctor convinced Inwyt Son of Shadow, a thief of some small renown, to aid him in an attempt to acquire a tome called The Gate of Steel and Bone. The effort was a noble failure, but the thief clearly found Shivareth to be somewhat…disturbing. Even so, later events in Inwyt’s life would make him far more sympathetic to the Doctor’s quest.
- Dr Shivareth was present for when Pardallion, the Greatest Swordswoman Alive, had presented the head of an elder White Dragon to the faculty of the University of Uln. Of course, the woman didn't call herself that, and in the course of her presentation blew away about 500 years worth of theory that had declared swordmagery a practice of lesser magic, and not directly related to conventional wizardry. Her theorems and experimental evidence were impeccable. She closed her address with, 'anything that you do for love is worth doing - love of your art, your nation, your families, the best in yourself. Love is worth breaching the gates of hell.'
- Dr. Shivareth has an old acquaintance with the pixie Lilybloom, the result of many meetings and common associations over the centuries. The archmage Tirisana, who the pixie once served as a familiar, was one his teachers in Astrazalian, and the two became acquainted through the mutual connection. Although they lost contact during his time in the mortal world, it was a chance meeting between the two that led to the confirmation of the location of the ruby containing Sivastrix's soul: Lilybloom had observed the object and heard its story while on a diplomatic mission for the Court of the Stars in the Vale of Long Night, but did not know of its significance until she happened upon Shivareth as he was following his own leads back into the Feywild. Since then, the two have coordinated some of their efforts to weaken the Winter Court enough to recover it, as the pixie is no friend of the Winter Fey either; although she is much more constrained by her political position in terms of direct action, she can still funnel information to the Doctor that is helpful to him, and can use her influence to divert their attention from his quest.
- Autumn Iceclaw became aware of Dr. Shivareth's recruitment about the same time she discovered his archlich status. She intended to join up with his quest in order to get close enough to kill him, but now she's not so sure. Yes, he'd escaped the normal cycle of life and death, but it was for an altruistic purpose rather than a selfish one like typical undead. Confused, and intrigued, Autumn's stayed her hand, and will admit she's come to enjoy debating the metaphysics of life and death with the doctor.
Physical[edit]
Shivareth is tall and slender. He clothes himself entirely in black leathers, from the tips of his fingers to his steel-toed black boots. A great, multipocketed cloak covers his leather armor, cotaining all manner of devices. He hides his face behind variety of metallic masks; some shaped like a beautiful but stern elven face, others like the beak of a crow, others are simple, smooth metal with black lenses for eyes. His voice is clear and crisp, with a trace of Fey accent even after all these centuries.
Panoply[edit]
In battle Shivareth wields a variety of tools, all of his own devising. His main weapon is a triple-bladed telescoping wingspear, which can be wielded in either hand or thrown with great force. Blow-dart launchers at his wrists contain a variety of powerful and deadly alchemical substances. Clockwork spools at his back allow him to sling electrified copper wires to bind and hinder his enemies. A great black bore-pistol at his side fires shaped kinetic force-cartridges, which he recharges from simple pumps in the soles of his boots.
Greatest of all his creations, however, is Imri, his familiar. This tiny clockwork fairy is bigger on the inside than the outside, being made mostly of extra-dimensional phase space, allowing the fairy to transform into several different clockwork mounts or instruments at Shivareth's command.
Combat Block[edit]
Shivareth, level 21
STR 13, CON 22, DEX 15, INT 26, WIS 14, CHA 10
AC: 36 Fort: 34 Ref: 36 Will: 31
HP: 134 Surges: 12 Surge Value: 33
TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +36, Dungeoneering +17, History +29, Insight +27, Perception +17, Religion +27, Stealth +17, Thievery +20
UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +12, Athletics +11, Bluff +10, Diplomacy +10, Endurance +16, Heal +12, Intimidate +10, Nature +12, Streetwise +10
