Asherons Call: Jacinth’s Journal: Lord Rytheran

Much of human society is build around loyalty. Aluvian knights take great pride in the many years they have spent in service to their lords. Sho warriors are said to take their own lives rather than bring dishonor upon their daimio. Even Viamontians spend much of their time speaking of their devotion to king and kin (and usually as much time betraying both). But here on this world with few true deaths are those who put our paltry displays of fealty to shame. Here on Dereth we may find individuals whose loyalty to their masters endures long after their last breath. One such individual is Lord Rytheran of Dericost.

Rytheran was one of the elite citizens of Dericost, a noble who ruled from atop the frigid plateau of Gelid. As a member of a party led by his love, Lady Aerfalle, and their prince, Geraine, Rytheran made the dangerous voyage to the remote island of Killiakta (what we now call Dereth), and it was there that those select few learned the ancient Falatacot rites of necromancy, becoming the Firstborn of the Dericost Undead. In time, other members of Dericost nobility joined them in unlife, and while many, like the Firstborn, wished to remain hidden from the watchful gaze of the common folk, others decided to rule the “lesser” peoples openly. This brought about the Millennium War between Dericost and its neighbors, the Haebrous and Yalain. Dericost was defeated in that war, and most of the undead nobility met their end upon Yalaini pyres, but Rytheran and his group were able to make their escape unnoticed.

Rytheran eventually came to once again settle upon Dereth, where he put his formidable skills as an Archmage to use and established a school of magic in a secluded mountain range. There he remained in disguise for centuries, amusing himself by training the children of Yalaini wealth and nobility sent to study under his guidance. Over the many years he maintained this charade, he tempted many Yalain and Haebrous, convincing several to join the ranks of the undead and achieve a measure of immortality; once such convert was Garaena of Atemore. So did the ages come to pass for Rytheran, with little more than the coming of the Olthoi and then we Isparians to mark the passage of time.

Lord Rytheran remains present on Dereth to this day, ever devoted to the love of his life (and death) Aerfalle and loyal to his king Geraine. While he has, in instances such as the second Olthoi invasion, occasionally intervened in matters of the living, he has for the most part held true to his belief in biding his time and acting only from the confines of the shadows. In recent months, rumors have begun to spread that Rytheran has abandoned the Mage Academy he has maintained since the heyday of the Yalain, leaving it in the care of a subordinate. If this is the case, one must begin to wonder what the ancient Archmage is planning, for these days there are far too many dark shadows from which he may strike.