Former adventurer in this campaign, the lure of evil has corrupted the heart of this once appreciative elf. His turn to evil began with the fascination with Necromancy despised by his elven brethren.
Originally a fighter/bard from the elven lands in the Duchy of Ulek, Nymthalas Kaiyne was one of the few adventurers to be appraised of the dark plot hatched by the Shadow Circle and their drow allies early enough to do something about it. After several conflicts with Shadow Circle agents, Nymthalas and his brother, the bladesinger Tinthalas, and their allies Legolaas and Elric Sith, discovered a mining operation run by humanoid minions of the Circle. Venturing within, they systematically routed the evil creatures, but disaster struck when they uncovered the secret treasure cache of the hobgoblin-shaman of the mine. Within was a mask made of bone, shaped like a jackal’s skull. Foolishly putting it on, Nymthalas found himself tortured with horrible visions of death and creatures of unlife. While Legolaas successfully cast Remove Curse, Nymthalas could not banish those dark images… or his obsession with them.
Researching the item, he found it was a unique device crafted by Dranalis, an elven mage who had been a member of the elven guild of Undead Slayers. Upon further research, he discovered that Dranalis was not dead but kept prisoner under the temple of Corellon Larethian that served as the headquarters for the Undead Slayers. Nymthalas asked to speak with the guardians of the elven mage who informed him that Dranalis, in his zest to destroy the undead, had taken to studying necromancy…which was heresy to all the elves held dear. Driven insane by his immersion in the black arts, Dranalis had to be apprehended by members of the very guild he belonged to. However, they feared killing him, not knowing if he might rise as some horrible undead creature, so unique were his ties to the Negative Energy Plane. Tempted by Dranilis’ story and power that he had achieved, Nymthalas forged a bond with him, learning his secrets and discovering his powers.
Soon, Tinthalas confronted his brother about his disturbing behavior along with Legolaas, priest of Solonor Thelandira, to cure Nymthalas of his “madness”. Drunk on the power he had achieved, Nymthalas flatly refused. When his two friends tried to capture him, they fought a running battle through the streets, until the two elves finally overcame the renegade. Unbeknownst to them, the Undead Slayers had discovered that Dranalis had been manipulating events and so finally risked executing him. While Nymthalas was shackled and awaiting Legolaas‘ administrations, Dranalis‘ spirit contacted Nymthalas and offered him a deal of which the details can only be guessed at. Nymthalas accepted and easily broke free from his restraints, looking to escape. Again, Tinthalas and Legolaas tracked him down and confronted him. However, as they were about to engage the now much more powerful Nymthalas, the humanoid army gathered by House Norquar of the Vault of the drow and the Shadow Circle began its attack. Forced between defending their homes and apprehending their former friend, the two elves chose the latter, allowing Nymthalas to make good his escape.
Nymthalas spent a great deal of time in hiding, perfecting his mastery over the dark arts and learning as much from the spirit of Dranalis as possible. It did not take long for the Underking, Baalshezidek of the Necromancers of Skahlehn, to detect the necromantic anomaly that was Nymthalas, and so the lich sent his minions Mistress Pantryche and Greyanna the witch to investigate. The two necromancers surprised Nymthalas and quickly subdued him. After several divinations and hours of interrogation, they discovered that Dranalis had gotten a hold of a copy of Acererak‘s Libram, which caused his descent into madness, for the works written therein were never meant for a race such as elves. Wishing to know more of where his powers came from, Nymthalas saw joining the Necromancers of Skahlehn as the ideal chance to do so. Mistresses Greyanna and Pantryche brought him to meet the rest of their cabal.
Nymthalas was soon accepted into their ranks, and found himself ordered to join a splinter group known as “The Lords of Doom” which already contained Mistress Pantryche and another member, Nyeru Darkspring. These two had contacted other individuals to join them as the Lords of Doom, ostensibly to use humanoid armies to take over the Duchy of Geoff. In reality, Baalshezidek knew that his former artifact, the Trumpet of Doom, was still within the duchy, though the spell that had bound him for so long had taken the memory from him. He used the humanoid takeover to distract the forces of good from his agents searching for that artifact. While Nymthalas and his necromancer cohorts did indeed discover the location of the artifact, the heroes Tempus and Tanamier destroyed the elf during the retrieval.
