Travis Mayes @TLMayesing @TheEdVerse
On a related note can you tell us a little about Ebondeath and Strongor Bonebag?— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 5, 2020
1)
Chardansearavitriol or “Ebondeath” was a male black dragon who ruled a demesne from his lair in Uthtower. He became a dracolich in 922 DR under the urging of, and with the magical assistance of, Cult of the Dragon member, and2)
…priest of Myrkul, Strongor Bonebag. Ebondeath agreed to seek lichdom because he was elderly and keenly felt the aches and lessened strength of his aging.
The Cult built the Mausoleum of Ebondeath at Uthtower, and came there to…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 5, 2020
3)
…worship him (becoming known as “the Ebondeath Sect”). It was led by Strongor until he was murdered in 969 DR by a younger, ambitious rival Cult member, who hoped not just to eliminate him, but capture his soul and sentience 4)
…in the weapon that slew him, a specially-enchanted obsidian-bladed dagger. It’s not known if the ritual succeeded in doing so; Strongor’s murderer (whose name Elminster knows not) disappeared—and may himself have perished…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 5, 2020
5)
…thanks to magical traps prepared by Strongor.
Ebondeath’s dracolich form disintegrated into dust in 1202 DR, when caught in the gaze of the Eye of Myrkul, but his spirit still clung to this dust, and the Cult continued to 6)
…worship him, in increasing numbers (inspired by the persistence of the spectral Ebondeath beyond the destruction of his dracolich skeleton).
When Myrkul was destroyed in 1358 DR, a “great howling wind of darkness” swept into…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 5, 2020
7)
…the Mausoleum, and scoured it bare—and the ghostly Ebondeath was seen no more. The Ebondeath Sect faded away, though Harper spies have heard Cultists fearfully telling each other that they’ve “heard the rage-filled whispers 8)
…of Ebondeath in the night,” hissing into their ears that “they betrayed and abandoned” Chardansearavitriol. So something of the bodiless dracolich survives yet.
Elminster, Azuth, and certain senior Cult of the Dragon…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 5, 2020
9)
…members all deem a handful of such dracoliches, whose bodies have decayed, “demidracoliches.” The Cult reveres them, the Wearers of Purple inner circle hunt them in hopes of gaining some hold over them and making use of 10)
…their powers, and Elminster wants to study them.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 5, 2020