Ihl, corrupted lizardman knight Introduction: "Please have a seat. Would you like some tea?" The elder sage greeted me in a friendly and polite way, yet I felt quite uneasy due to the nature of my visit. "So, you want to learn something about our history and the hero Ihl in particular?" The lizardman looked me straight in the eyes and I was too intimidated to speak, so I just nodded. "Oh well, it is a tragic chapter of our history and not one which is often discussed, especially not in the presence of outsiders. But since you have got the express permission of our leader, I am at your service. As you may know, Ihl was the embodiment of all that is good and pure in his days. Most of the old records state that he simply retired at the relatively young age of 43 years. However, this is not what really happened three hundred years ago, when he suddenly vanished. At that time he was staying at a small town, when it was raided by Trandal and his desertriders. Trandal called in an old favor and forced Ihl to back off. When the bandits ran down a helpless old man though, he could no longer sit by idle and so he challenged Trandal and his men. He singlehandedly defeated all of them: According to witnesses it were more than twenty well trained soldiers. That night the villagers celebrated his heroic deeds, but Ihl knew that he had broken his word and that he could never return to his fellow knights. Of course he would have never forgiven himself, if he had not defended these people, but the knights believed that the ends do not justify the means and therefore a knight, who does not honor his word simply could not be tolerated. The damage was done and Ihl set off into the night, determined to do good on his own, without the support or the bulky rules of the knighthood. Over the years, he made more and more concessions and compromises further deteriorating his principles. His whole being was corrupted, despite his good intentions and so more often than not, his desire to help people and to eradicate all evil was twisted by his methods and yielded the exact opposite results. Twenty years after the incident with Trandal's raiders, he was finally located and brought to justice by his former friends, the lizardmen knights. But that is not the end of the story... I see you are finished with your tea, here let me refill your cup. So, where was I? Oh yes, after his demise, Ihl refused to let go of his life and his strong spirit transformed him into an undead creature of pure energy. Finally he was caught again and imprisoned using strong magical wards, but it was not possible to destroy him and so he remains trapped to this very day. Perhaps you can tell me why it is so important for your people to know that particular sory?" All of a sudden I had a very bad feeling in my stomach: Could those foolish archaeologists have accidently freed Ihl? Gamestats and special rules: Ihl's current undead form is a fist sized red glowing ball of energy, which can fly at a movement rate of 18 or SR 1 in space. In this state, Ihl can only be wounded by magical weapons of +3 or better, furthermore he is only affected by spells of level 4 or higher. When he is reduced to 0 hitpoints or less, he is not destroyed, but merely banished for a year and a day. Ihl has two ways of interacting with the physical world in this form. He can try to possess a person for a short period of time. He cannot possess a living being long enough to adept to his body and actually move around, but he can very well read the victims thoughts and align himself to his liveforce, allowing him to locate the person within the crystalsphere. In order to prevent Ihl from reading one's thoughts, the victim needs to pass a saving throw vs spells with a modifier of -4 (making the roll more difficult). Ihl's other option is to animate empty pieces of armor in order to move around and be able to manipulate his surroundings. His favorite armor is a full plate mail because it allows him to appear almost human (or lizardman like), but even if he choses a different type of armor, which lacks armored arms and legs, he can still float around with the armor and levitate objects as if he had invisible arms. Furthermore he is able to talk when he is inside an armor, as opposed to his mute energy form. When Ihl merges with the armor, his ballshaped existence is changed to two small red glowing eyes, which float above the armor at the exact height, where a real person's eyes would be. When the armor is destroyed, Ihl reverts to his old undead energy form. Naturally Ihl can voluntarily leave a possessed piece of armor at will. Ihl's stats in his energy form: Hitpoints: 100 AC: 0 AL: Lawful Evil SA: possession, see above. SD: Regeneration, 1 hp per round, can only be wounded by +3 weapons Ihl's stats in armor form: Hitpoints: Equals weight of the armor in lbs +10 for each magical bonus of the armor. AC: Determined by the armor AL: Lawful Evil Strength: 17 Dexterity: 14 Constitution: 18 Intelligence: 17 Wisdom: 15 Charisma: 16 Thac0: 14 SD: Regeneration, 1 hp per round, can be wounded by any weapon. Weapon proficiencies: 2 * longsword, lance, crossbow, shortsword, mace Nonweapon proficiencies: Ride horse (18), Etiquette (16), Navigation (15), Cooking (17), Heraldry (17) Ihl's motivation: Ihl has not entirely forgotten his training as an elite knight of the lizardman and still thrives to bring down and fight evil. Unfortunately his good intentions are undone by his ruthless way of achieving his goals. He might for instance poison a city's water supply to kill a criminal, which he deems has deserved death and who is hiding somewhere inside that city. Odds are that this action will cause the death of many innocent people, while his target might even slip away. On the other hand, he would never strike down an unarmed opponent or someone who has surrendered. Furthermore he usually sticks to his word of honor, albeit he is known to break it, should it be more convenient for him than to stick to it (see the introduction). Ihl's sole purpose for "living" is to bring down everything, which he regards as evil - wealth and power do not concern him and accordingly he cannot be bribed or bought. Adventure Hook: The PCs might encounter an old abandoned temple of the lizardman. While exploring the temple (and probably looting it), they stumble across a sealed entrance, which is secured with several warding runes. It should be hinted, that this might be another treausry and once the PCs break the seal, Ihl is set free. He will try to possess the PCs and if he succeeds, he will learn that they are adventurers. Using his second power he will merge with an old suit of full plate armor and will pursue the PCs, since they are the type of people, who will lead him to the roots of evil, which he can iradicate (probably causing more harm by accident again). Besides, the PCs might come by a magical artifact or at least a powerful magical item and while Ihl does not covet material gain, he will conclude that powerful items can be put to better use in his custody, so that he is better prepared to rid the world of all evil. Defeating Ihl: It is not possible to destroy Ihl using brute force alone. The best way to finish him might be the "Captain Kirk" approach to reason him into nonexistance. In order to do this, the PCs must challenge him to a proper duel and destroy his armor form. He is then willing to listen to them and regards them as worthy adversaries. Once they have won his trust, they will be able to show him what his actions are causing. After a phase of denial, Ihl will eventually admit his errors and leave the mortal world once and for all. Until that time though, he is sure to give them a hard time, interfering with their plans and wreaking havoc.
