- Aug 30, 2004
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Race: Male human Lich
Appearance: Completely skeletal frame, with elegant robes and ornate, terrible armor. His robes are the color of dried blood, though whether they are that way from stains or faded dye is unknown. His armor is black, and consists of a breastplate, bladed shoulder pauldrons, spiked greaves and vambraces, and a custom-made, sleek, barbutta helmet with metallic batwings on the sides. Cornelius' staff is composed of Deathwood, or, wood taken from a tree in a haunted forest. It is believed by Necromancers to make their staves more suitable for use of Necromantic magicks. An onyx dragon scultpure with ruby eyes serves as the head of the staff, and Cornelius wears his family's longsword on his left hip, with a rapier hanging just below it.
History: Cornelius was born into the illustrious Pellinore family in the Empire of Peria. He was found to be gifted in use of Mana, and was trained to become a mage after being knighted. His great capacity for magic and desire for power and prestige propelled him to the higher ranking positions in the mana-wielders of the Empire, and his ambitions were further satisfied when he recieved a letter of invitation from a small handful of his fellow Archmagi.
Cornelius was one of the first Archmagi welcomed into the newly established Brotherhood of the Golden Oak. He felt at home amongst such powerful men, and enjoyed having peers who could finally put his power to use, as well as to the test. However, as he grew older, and his growth in mana-wielding began to slow, he quickly started searching for new forms of magic to master. It was one day when he and a brother Archmage had defended a small village from a raging Demoniac, who had used heretical magicks to make himself a very dangerous enemy, that Cornelius found what he was looking for.
While Cornelius did not mean to sell his soul for anything, he realized that there was a whole world of magic that his brethren shunned: that of Dark Magic. He was starting to wonder why they hated it so much. Yes, it seemed only to be used by the evil, but the men of the Golden Oak's normal and destructive spells were used by evil men as well, right? He could only reason that his brethren feared Dark Magic, and that they had underestimated their own resolves. Cornelius thought it foolish to let more people die and suffer because they of the Golden Oak refused to expand their vast arsenals any further, and so he took it upon himself to secretly learn of Dark Magic.
While his brethren crafted golems or other magical beings to serve as guardians and warriors for the forces of good, Cornelius was most intrigued by a different path: Necromancy. The Cursing spells that Dark Magic had to offer were nice, yes, but Necromancy opened doors that were locked even in Cornelius' most wild dreams. Through Necromancy, the dead could be risen and returned to service of their families, friends, and king! Fallen peasants could be used for skeletons and zombies and sent into battle in place of living soldiers! They were tireless, and could work, march, fight, watch, and any other task that required little intelligence, and they would do it unquestioningly, unrelentingly, and untiringly! Knights and magi such as himself could be given eternal life on earth, defying death in order to continue serving at full capacity, if not greater than before!
Quite simply, Cornelius had fallen in love with Necromancy.
When his peers in the Brotherhood discovered this, though, they were shocked and horrified. When Cornelius refused to abandon his newfound favorite form of magic, the pious Brotherhood of the Golden Oak had no choice but to remove him, less the corruption he had embraced and refused to repent from spread to the others.
Cornelius grew bitter against his former friends and brothers as he was cast from the brotherhood, and he went from bitter to hateful when the Church excommunicated him. They would have tried to force a repentance from him, but Cornelius used his powerful magical abilities to fight his way out and flee the country.
For many decades, Cornelius lived in secret, making his refuge in forests, old crypts, ruins, and of course, in the dark lands of Anserak. When death was near him, Cornelius turned himself into a Lich, since he had become powerful enough, and found that undeath was not quite so wonderful as he had thought. But his lack of comfort was outweighed by his love of undead efficiency, and his studies in Necromancy went even further.
In the present day, Sir Cornelius is thought to be dead by those few who are old enough to remember him. His name was used by the Golden Oak as a warning to all their students and peers to avoid the lure of Dark Magic, and is virtually nothing more than a bogey man to the lofty magi.
But in the circles of Necromancers, Cornelius is a hero. He is very possibly the oldest Lich that still remains active in Christia, while any older are probably hiding away and entertaining themselves with their studies, waiting for the world to pass them by or simply end. Cornelius has connections all over Christia, and he owns his own stronghold in Anserak's borders, hidden away from orcs and men alike. He has mass graves in various hot spots across the map, where he keeps stashes of bodies pilfered from graveyards, in case a need for a small army should arise. He has unleashed thousands of undead upon the world in his time, and many a Necromancer was mentored by him. He has virtually forgotten most of the magic he wielded in life, and Dark Magic makes up the better part of his arsenal, but he still knows how to use a few good destructive and defensive spells. He likes to lie low, though, and let others get themselves killed for him. It is because of his wise humility that he has remained relatively undiscovered and unthreatened by Christia. He is sparing in his use of magic, and finds that his cunning mind is just as deadly without magic as it is with it. For this reason, he was the prime candidate for a second in command when the fierce Death Knight, Lord Kiva, made his great escape and began gathering willing undead and other scum of the earth into his company. Not even Lord Kiva truly knows how powerful Cornelius is, simply because he does not use his powers that often.
On his own, Cornelius is still quite a threat. He is succeptable to holy energy, like all undead, but his curses and powerful Dark Spells make it difficult for any holy warrior to effectively use their abilities against him. He is more likely to cast a Mortal Terror spell on you and watch you run than he is to incinerate you in a gout of flame, like an Archmage would, and he is more likely still to simply send a horde of his undead minions after you, rather than fight on his own. While not well practiced as he once was, Sir Cornelius has had over a century of undeath to perfect his melee fighting style, and is an accomplished duelist. When facing a lone, non-magical or holy foe, he may just decide to try his hand at single combat. That is, so long as his new employer is not hogging that glorious privelige.
Appearance: Completely skeletal frame, with elegant robes and ornate, terrible armor. His robes are the color of dried blood, though whether they are that way from stains or faded dye is unknown. His armor is black, and consists of a breastplate, bladed shoulder pauldrons, spiked greaves and vambraces, and a custom-made, sleek, barbutta helmet with metallic batwings on the sides. Cornelius' staff is composed of Deathwood, or, wood taken from a tree in a haunted forest. It is believed by Necromancers to make their staves more suitable for use of Necromantic magicks. An onyx dragon scultpure with ruby eyes serves as the head of the staff, and Cornelius wears his family's longsword on his left hip, with a rapier hanging just below it.
History: Cornelius was born into the illustrious Pellinore family in the Empire of Peria. He was found to be gifted in use of Mana, and was trained to become a mage after being knighted. His great capacity for magic and desire for power and prestige propelled him to the higher ranking positions in the mana-wielders of the Empire, and his ambitions were further satisfied when he recieved a letter of invitation from a small handful of his fellow Archmagi.
Cornelius was one of the first Archmagi welcomed into the newly established Brotherhood of the Golden Oak. He felt at home amongst such powerful men, and enjoyed having peers who could finally put his power to use, as well as to the test. However, as he grew older, and his growth in mana-wielding began to slow, he quickly started searching for new forms of magic to master. It was one day when he and a brother Archmage had defended a small village from a raging Demoniac, who had used heretical magicks to make himself a very dangerous enemy, that Cornelius found what he was looking for.
While Cornelius did not mean to sell his soul for anything, he realized that there was a whole world of magic that his brethren shunned: that of Dark Magic. He was starting to wonder why they hated it so much. Yes, it seemed only to be used by the evil, but the men of the Golden Oak's normal and destructive spells were used by evil men as well, right? He could only reason that his brethren feared Dark Magic, and that they had underestimated their own resolves. Cornelius thought it foolish to let more people die and suffer because they of the Golden Oak refused to expand their vast arsenals any further, and so he took it upon himself to secretly learn of Dark Magic.
While his brethren crafted golems or other magical beings to serve as guardians and warriors for the forces of good, Cornelius was most intrigued by a different path: Necromancy. The Cursing spells that Dark Magic had to offer were nice, yes, but Necromancy opened doors that were locked even in Cornelius' most wild dreams. Through Necromancy, the dead could be risen and returned to service of their families, friends, and king! Fallen peasants could be used for skeletons and zombies and sent into battle in place of living soldiers! They were tireless, and could work, march, fight, watch, and any other task that required little intelligence, and they would do it unquestioningly, unrelentingly, and untiringly! Knights and magi such as himself could be given eternal life on earth, defying death in order to continue serving at full capacity, if not greater than before!
Quite simply, Cornelius had fallen in love with Necromancy.
When his peers in the Brotherhood discovered this, though, they were shocked and horrified. When Cornelius refused to abandon his newfound favorite form of magic, the pious Brotherhood of the Golden Oak had no choice but to remove him, less the corruption he had embraced and refused to repent from spread to the others.
Cornelius grew bitter against his former friends and brothers as he was cast from the brotherhood, and he went from bitter to hateful when the Church excommunicated him. They would have tried to force a repentance from him, but Cornelius used his powerful magical abilities to fight his way out and flee the country.
For many decades, Cornelius lived in secret, making his refuge in forests, old crypts, ruins, and of course, in the dark lands of Anserak. When death was near him, Cornelius turned himself into a Lich, since he had become powerful enough, and found that undeath was not quite so wonderful as he had thought. But his lack of comfort was outweighed by his love of undead efficiency, and his studies in Necromancy went even further.
In the present day, Sir Cornelius is thought to be dead by those few who are old enough to remember him. His name was used by the Golden Oak as a warning to all their students and peers to avoid the lure of Dark Magic, and is virtually nothing more than a bogey man to the lofty magi.
But in the circles of Necromancers, Cornelius is a hero. He is very possibly the oldest Lich that still remains active in Christia, while any older are probably hiding away and entertaining themselves with their studies, waiting for the world to pass them by or simply end. Cornelius has connections all over Christia, and he owns his own stronghold in Anserak's borders, hidden away from orcs and men alike. He has mass graves in various hot spots across the map, where he keeps stashes of bodies pilfered from graveyards, in case a need for a small army should arise. He has unleashed thousands of undead upon the world in his time, and many a Necromancer was mentored by him. He has virtually forgotten most of the magic he wielded in life, and Dark Magic makes up the better part of his arsenal, but he still knows how to use a few good destructive and defensive spells. He likes to lie low, though, and let others get themselves killed for him. It is because of his wise humility that he has remained relatively undiscovered and unthreatened by Christia. He is sparing in his use of magic, and finds that his cunning mind is just as deadly without magic as it is with it. For this reason, he was the prime candidate for a second in command when the fierce Death Knight, Lord Kiva, made his great escape and began gathering willing undead and other scum of the earth into his company. Not even Lord Kiva truly knows how powerful Cornelius is, simply because he does not use his powers that often.
On his own, Cornelius is still quite a threat. He is succeptable to holy energy, like all undead, but his curses and powerful Dark Spells make it difficult for any holy warrior to effectively use their abilities against him. He is more likely to cast a Mortal Terror spell on you and watch you run than he is to incinerate you in a gout of flame, like an Archmage would, and he is more likely still to simply send a horde of his undead minions after you, rather than fight on his own. While not well practiced as he once was, Sir Cornelius has had over a century of undeath to perfect his melee fighting style, and is an accomplished duelist. When facing a lone, non-magical or holy foe, he may just decide to try his hand at single combat. That is, so long as his new employer is not hogging that glorious privelige.
