Atlantic:Rune Artisem
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| Rune Artisem | |
| Player: Rune Artisem | |
| Place of Birth: | Vesper |
|---|---|
| Class: | Necromancer, Lich |
| Guild: | The Society of Arcane Shadows |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Rune Artisem |
| Aliases: | None |
| Race: | Human |
| Age: | 46 at the time of his phylactery's destruction |
| Height: | 5'11 |
| Weight: | 175lbs |
| Eye Color: | Not Specified |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Residence: | Artisem's spirit is said to be confined to a remote cemetery in Malas. |
| Former Guilds: | The Order of the Ebon Skull |
| Marital Status: | Not Specified |
| Relatives: | Sethos Artisem (a self-proclaimed son of Rune Artisem - his claim is questionable and his whereabouts have been unknown for some time). |
| Accolades | |
| The Magus of the Arcane, The Rune Keeper of Caina, The Lord of the Society, The Overlord of Skara Brae | |
| Abilities | |
| Powerful necromancer (and later lich) with the tactical mind of a military general. | |
| Unique Equipment | |
| Formerly "The Ring of the Arcane" and "The Soul Stone of Vi'lkeni" | |
| No additional information available. | |
Contents
Early Life
Little is known about the early history of the being that called himself Rune Artisem. According to his own reports (which should not be taken as absolute truth, given Artisem's documented history of deceit and misinformation), he was a bastard child born in Vesper to a woman of loose morals and an aristocrat of Lord British's court. A powerful wizard named Monric took the young street urchin in to serve as the concluding part of a magical experiment. Somehow, according to Artisem, Monric was able to transfer his knowledge and power of necromancy into the young boy and instructed him to seek out the Order of the Ebon Skull.
Serving the Ebon Skull
Artisem traveled to the wasteland of Caina to find the Ebon Skull as Monric had instructed him to do so. Assisting the Order during its dealings with Aderick Volten, Artisem proved himself to be worthy of entering its necromancer sect and was placed under the tutelage of Pandora the Fallen. Artisem quickly rose in the ranks of the Order, acquiring the rank of 'Magus of the Arcane,' a seat on the Ebon Council, and became second-in-command of the necromancer sect, supreme only to Dealthagar and the Lich Lord in his mastery of the dark arts of undeath. He became friends with Treadeau Du'rome and Alucard de'Lenfent during this time and was complicit in several of their political plots in Caina. Artisem also played an important role in the trapping of Aleph Aeirs's soul and was known for his devoted management of the Morn Cirith rune library (indeed, Artisem was well-known for his love of rune libraries and had maintained several at one point). Around this time, Artisem also published a controversial work entitled "Elves, Orcs, and Other Nonsense" which caused a great deal of friction between the Order and their allies, the Stormreaver Orc Clan. The Stormreaver's chief, Grishnak, angrily placed a bounty on Artisem's head for this undignified text before being pacified through several diplomatic meetings with representatives of the Ebon Skull. Yet Artisem later, at the urging of Du’rome, wrote a set of inflammatory laws, known as “The Artisem Laws”, which targeted demi-humans in the city of Caina. “The Artisem Laws” were approved by Mayor de’Lenfent and brutally enforced for a time before silently being overturned by a later administration.
During his time with the Order, Artisem made the fateful decision to become a lich, gaining tremendous powers at the cost of his own humanity. Many remember the Artisem of this time being more and more focused on increasing his own power. It is said he increasingly became paranoid about attempts on his life and was rarely seen without his demon servant Verimos at his side. Becoming a lich was likely a method in elating his own fears about a premature death. Yet a most unexplainable event soon occurred in his history at this point. For reasons unknown, Artisem left the Order of the Ebon Skull to create a new guild, the Society of Arcane Shadows. There have been several theories as to why this devoted zealot of Oblivion would take such a course. Some believe it was at the wishes of the Order's top leadership, who were planning to saturate the Shadow Conclave with several puppet guilds friendly to the plans of the Ebon Skull (although this has never been proven, Artisem's devotion to the Lich Lord during his time as Lord of the Society is well-documented). Others cite increasing friction between Artisem and certain members of the Ebon Council as the main reason. It also cannot be forgotten that Artisem became increasingly focused on gathering more power for himself and that by creating his own guild would thus free him from the Order's hierarchical structure. Whatever the reason, he created the Society of Arcane Shadows with a fellow Ebon Skull necromancer, Lynne Darkthorne, several years after serving as one of the Order's most terrifying figures.
The Society of Arcane Shadows
Artisem founded the Society of Arcane Shadows with the stated purpose of gathering rare magical objects and relics for his own personal use. The Society's first act was an attack on Moonglow's Lycaeum where they pilfered numerous arcane tomes and slaughtered many bystanders and guards in the process. The Society was quickly admitted into the Shadow Conclave and it was not uncommon to find its members assisting the Ebon Skull on joint operations. One such incident involving the Order and the Society was the corruption of the Sage of Spirituality, Umbra Moonstone, into the Sage of Hythloth by means of a powerful ritual conducted by Artisem and the High Priest of Oblivion, Bal-Anon Dak.
The Society would go on to serve Artisem and Darkthorne loyally and effectively. A notable use of the Society by Artisem came when Monric, long since murdered by the agents of Lord British, returned from the dead. Monric's return was a direct threat to Artisem and even saw the powerful lich temporarily immobilized until Monric's second death at the hands of the Society.
Conquest of Skara Brae and Cove
His near destruction from Monric's return pushed Artisem into madness. He became obsessed with power and his own preservation. He sought out the fabled Soul Stone of Vi'lkeni, a small jaded stone that was said to amplify one's own power based on the number of souls it stored. With this, the Society launched a successful invasion of Skara Brae, sealing the island-city off with a large naval blockade. Realizing that the Regency and its allies would easily be able to retake Skara Brae, Artisem performed a powerful ritual, that culminated with the sacrifice of a young child, Angelica Di'Fona, daughter of Prince Malacite of Nujel'm and Crystal Ice, one of Artisem's minions, that bound the minds and souls of Skara Brae's citizens to his own phylactery. Any invasion of Skara Brae would now become a bloodbath of innocents as its people would now willingly give their lives to repeal any army that would attempt its liberation.
Artisem, now calling himself "The Overlord of Skara Brae", demanded that the Regency, led by Aleph Aeirs, who still harbored a personal grudge against Artisem, sign a treaty that would have legalized his occupation of Skara Brae. The Regency, however, became fully committed to freeing Skara Brae as quickly as possible. Learning the secrets behind Artisem's ritual, and the need to locate and destroy his phylactery, the Regency began an all-out offensive to rid Sosaria of Artisem and his Society. Yet Artisem knew where the Regency would look and was not at all worried. Before the invasion, Artisem had amassed a large tract of secluded land, consisting of several buildings, that he called Shadowspire. At the center of Shadowspire was the Tower of Anganmandi, the citadel of the Society. He proudly left his phylactery in a hidden, secured room there, thinking that it was absolutely unassailable. Meanwhile, he turned his attention to other cities that he thought ripe for the taking. The necromancer Dryzzid, who had been trained by Artisem in the Order and who had also defected with him to the Society, launched a brilliant invasion on Cove, taking the city in the name of the Society. Citizens of Cove still cringe when they recollect the day that Artisem, Darkthorne, and other leaders of the Shadow Conclave, including the Lich Lord of the Ebon Skull, marched into the city for their dark victory celebration. Dryzzid was made the Society's governor of Cove and Artisem turned his attention to yet a third city, the peaceful town of Wilmeth. Fortunately, Wilmeth was able to resist Artisem's efforts to claim it, which never amounted to anything more than political intrigue.
End of a Villain
At a loss with what to do with Skara Brae and its Overlord, the Regency and its allies grimly prepared for the much dreaded invasion. Artisem was becoming more and more unstable and unpredictable. Random acts of terror were committed in his name to frighten his enemies and he issued a series of arrest warrants for high level members of the Regency. Throughout all of this, the number of souls he gathered in the Soul Stone of Vi'lkeni increased tenfold, and with that his own personal power. Absolute victory was surely his, but this ultimately did not come to be. Though the details are unclear, it is said that an unknown band of adventurers located the Tower of Anganmandi and, more importantly, the phylactery of Rune Artisem. We know that the phylactery was destroyed - the freedom of the people of Skara Brae proved this beyond a doubt. We are much less certain what exactly happened to the body of Rune Artisem (both the phylactery and body of a lich must be destroyed to completely obliterate this type of undead abomination), but it remains a fact that this prolific and very public creature suddenly vanished. Numerous claims soon surfaced that he had been slain in battle by agents of the Regency, yet no proof has ever been able to surface and no member of the Regency has ever publicly commented on this. The most substantial piece of evidence pointing towards Artisem's demise was a confirmed sighting of the Soul Stone of Vi'lkeni in the possession of an unidentified figure (the stone has since seemingly vanished completely, hopefully for good). Regardless of what exactly occurred to his body, Sosaria has ultimately, and thankfully, been spared any additional atrocities of Rune Artisem.
With his body and phylactery destroyed, Artisem's vile cruelty quickly disappeared from Sosaria. The Society of Arcane Shadows was decimated and both Skara Brae and Cove were liberated by the forces of the Regency. Yet the memory of Artisem still lingers to this day. Unexplainable, there have been several reports that his spirit has somehow been able to manifest itself following his destruction. Many early reports have claimed to have seen it at the Tower of Anganmandi, the citadel of the Society. However, following the destruction of Anganmandi, numerous travelers have reported encountering his spirit near a graveyard somewhere in Malas. This is puzzling given Artisem's limited involvement in Malas. Whatever the case may be, the majority of these reports note that the Artisem they have seen is a broken shadow of his former self.
Relationships
During his existence, Artisem was well-known for fostering many relationships with those that walked the path of darkness. He oversaw the training of numerous necromancers for the Order, such as Dryzzid, Darlantan, Nas'Rath, Drake, Faerl D'vlos, Sal Veya, and Sepulchrave. He likewise was known to be incredibly charismatic and quickly created a following of those devoted to his cause (the Society) - among the most notable of these were Elrand Silverose and Vailanna (a young female warrior who some believed to have been mentally controlled by Artisem). Likewise, Artisem was seen many times with Verimos, a demon he retained control of (Verimos is said to have been slain some years after the liberation of Skara Brae, which points towards the belief that Artisem still lingers in Sosaria in some shape or form). He developed close friendships with Dryzzid, Treadeau Du'rome and Alucard de'Lenfent, and was known for his deep devotion to the Lich Lord. The relationship between Artisem and Darkthorne was one of speculation and gossip, without much being truly known as to the root of their partnership.