His second thought was to become Nysalor/Gbaji and in a HeroQuest not curse the trolls, or to find a way around the curse from the other side. He is thus trying to become the most illuminated person in Glorantha and wishes to incarnate both Arkat and Nysalor.
Derak was born a Dark Troll, became a Death Lord, then a Living Lead Skeleton, then a Dark Troll again,. then a Mistress Race Troll, then Not a Troll, although nobody knows that he is Not a Troll at the moment.
Amongst his exploits are deafening Xiola Umbar and all her Mistress Race Troll Priests on a HeroQuest, then curing them at a later date, fathering children on Cragspider, Subere and Jar Eel, killing a Chaotic True Dragon, leading a Chaos Army from Festering Island as Gbaji and later defeating it as Arkat, being made King of Dagori Inkarth (king of a matriarchy - great) and Lunar Count of Alda Chur, The Hollow and Dagori Inkarth. He is an Elf Friend, having cured a Great Tree of Chaos in Dorastor, a Dragon Friend, having done service to Dragon-newts in the past, and a Dwarf Friend for helping the dwarves of Pavis. His best friend is Solarus Skywatch and he has become fairly good at chess, having to play a game at every meeting.
Derak set up the Council of the Elder Wilds for Solarus, and he gave him the Crown of Balazar. He has also helped Brankist become King of Bilini and wants him to become King of Sartar. Derak is an arch meddler who does things because he can.
DDT Enterprises is a trading company with spies throughout the Dragon Pass area, with arms stretching to Prax and the Empire and Derak is not slow to exploit this to the hilt. He believes that everyone is a potential ally, even those of Chaos - for even they can be cured.
Enemies he makes are quickly destroyed or turned into friends and allies - he is, after all, very flexible.
Of all the NPCs in the campaign, Derak is perhaps the most dangerous, because he believes that he will succeed and will stop at nothing to win. One of his sayings is "any tool in the fight against chaos" and he means it - if he has to become the most feared and despised Krajlki in order to incarnate Gbaji and save the troll race, he is quite prepared to do it.
Uzarl
A Mistress Race Troll, Uzarl's name is not known, she is merely known by this title which translates as "Terrible Uz", or "Fearsome Uz". Born several centuries ago, Uzarl became a mighty HeroQuestor of Zorak Zoran and Kyger Litor. However, on an unsuccessful HeroQuest, Uzarl became tainted with Chaos and gained a Chaos Feature. For some reason, neither Zorak Zoran nor Kyger Litor answered her pleas to remove the taint, and she was attacked by her fellow cultists. Abandoned by her friends, she fled to the Wilds and was excommunicated from both cults.
After many years of wandering, Uzarl joined the cult of Vivamort and was made a Vampire immediately. She retained the magic of various Chaos Spirits whom she had contacted as a shaman and embraced the sorcery taught by Vivamort's cult. She soon became terrible again, and began to HeroQuest, performing many of Vivamort's feats, and even visiting the Plateau of Terror itself.
Uzarl returned to Dragon Pass, settling in Snakepipe Hollow, and began to carve out a small empire in the region. She made contact with all the important Vampires across Dragon Pass and into Peloria and set up a Council. The Council decided to create an Undead army to boil out of the Hollow and the Upland Marsh at an opportune time. However, the PCs managed to intervene and to defeat Uzarl in combat, clearing out her temple with a Legion of Humakti.
Uzarl fled to Dorastor where she met up with the Giant King of Neverdead and joined his forces. When the PCs went to Dorastor, she fought them several times, only to be killed and captured in Slave Bracelets. Derak began a ritual to have her reborn as a Mistress Race Troll once more, and succeeded in breaking her Vampire nature and restoring her soul to the natural cycles, recreating her.
Uzarl is once again a Mistress Race Troll, HeroQuesting for Zorak Zoran and Kyger Litor. She is a wife of the Lord General of Death and a prominent troll personality.
The Giant King Of Neverdead
Soon after Ralzakark had awakened Dorastor, a great Giant arrived, for what reason, nobody knows. He entered Dorastor and fought many creatures of chaos, trusting in his strength and size in combat. Eventually, he was attacked by a Demon who ripped his soul open. With his soul bleeding Power, the giant knew he was not only doomed, but would be annihilated very soon. In sorrow, he called out and was answered by a Vivamorti Mage who offered to preserve him and to negate the wound. Thus, this giant became a Vampire and remained in Dorastor.
When the city of Neverdead was created, the Giant Vampire joined its Council and was instrumental in establishing its strength - after all, a 15m giant is a formidable opponent, but when he has the strength of two and must be decapitated, impaled through the chest or burned to death, he becomes effectively unbeatable.
Over time, the Giant Vampire made himself King of Neverdead and ruled with an iron fist. He created the Undead Army to defend the city and established trading links with the rest of Dorastor. He made an alliance with Ralzakark, but wished to rule Dorastor himself. He made enemies of most of the Vampires in Dorastor by ordering that they should bow down to him and, when they refused, appearing in the midst of their conflicts, destroying their allies and friends.
The Giant had an especial hatred of the forces of light, for the Sunbright Spell caused him to experience a fear - unheard of amongst giants. He had a great dome built in the centre of Neverdead and lined the surface with gold. Now, light causing spells reflect off the dome, illuminating the city, whilst the giant sleeps beneath the dome. This desecration attracts many Yelmalions and other Dara Happans on a trail of vengeance, but all have succumbed to the Giant and his Mages.
The Giant King has a number of Swords of Humakt in slave collars who serve him. They have been gelded, blinded, made mute and must crawl over the giant, keeping him clean with pads attached to the stumps at their wrists. When they go mad, the Giant has their spirits bound as ghosts and their bodies raised as Zombie guardians - so much for Humakt's promise that his worshippers would not become undead.
When the PCs came to Dorastor, Uzarl ensured that the Giant King became their enemy. He often attacked them when they were travelling, sometimes boiling out of the mist, taking form behind them and smashing them with iron tree trunks, other times teleporting in their midst. He always attacked irrationally, without a plan. Finally, the PCs quested to the River Styx and gained drops of Styx water which they used in a devastating raid on Neverdead and destroyed the Giant King.
The Mistress of Light, Guardian of the Fires of Heaven
When Nysalor was created, several creatures of light descended from the halls of Heaven to serve him. One of these was a high-ranking Angel who bore the title of Mistress of Light, Guardian of the Fires of Heaven. During the GodTime, she was one of those charged with keeping the Fires of Heaven safe - the same fires which were used as part of the Skyburn. Over a period of time, the Mistress of Light became one of Nysalor's wives and bathed in his light.
As Arkat made his presence felt more strongly, many of Nysalor's people strengthened themselves by taking powers from Chaos. When the Mistress of Light saw that some had become Vampires, she was horrified and decided to ask her husband why they did this. He told her that if their natures were dark, they would become Evil Vampires, desecrators of Life, copies of Vivamort, but if their natures were of Light, they would become noble warriors to defend the Empire from Arkat and his army.
The Mistress of Light joined the cult of Vivamort to become a Warrior of Light and to prove that her Light Nature would triumph over the Darkness of Vivamort. She was wrong.
When Arkat invaded Dorastor, Nysalor bid several key followers to flee and to hide,. so they could return later and keep the Empire's Light safe for the future. One of these was the Mistress of Light. She fled to the remote land of Votankiland and slept in a crypt hidden in the hills.
When Balazar came to Votankiland, he began several rituals to cleanse the damage that Arkat had caused that place, on of these managed to awaken the Mistress of Light. She created a few followers and left for Dorastor.
In Dorasator, she met up with Ralzakark, another of those whom Nysalor had commanded to hide, who had returned many years before. Having renewed their acquaintances, the Mistress of Light took control of the Tower of Lead and turned it into a great fortress where she lives with a great following of Vampires, Mages and Adepts.
Recently, the Mistress of Light has been plotting with the Council of Neverdead to overthrow the Giant King because of his irrational outbursts and wild behaviour.
When the Pcs attacked the Tower of Lead, the Mistress of Light appeared to Solarus and spoke to him. She said that she knew what had happened to Uzarl and asked if it would be possible that she could be freed from the curse of Vivamort. Solarus agreed and the Mistress of Light appeared to be defeated in combat by Solarus, allowing the Tower to be taken.
Several weeks later, the Mistress of Light went to Dykene, accompnaied by a retinue of minor angels, and asked Solarus to complete his end of the bargain.
In this way, the Mistress of Light, Guardian of the Fires of Heaven was remade into an Angel, married Solarus and eventually became a Hero of the cults of Firshala and Yelorna, aftyer bearing Solarus a magically powerful heir.
To this day, no Vampires have come to gain revenge for her betrayal, and Solarus has been able to hire the Vampire Legion whenever he needs their assistance.
Vanch
Known as the "Sultan of Vanch", this self-styled Sultan was a nobleman who encountered the PCs when they foiled his attempts to infiltrate the cult of Lhankor Mhy in Bilini with the servants of Thanatar. For this, he swore revenge on the Party.
Born during the Second Age, this person was a Lhankor Mhy cultist of great skill and power. However, he became entranced by the powers opened up by the God Learners and embraced the cult of Than, the Headhunter. He then discovered the cult of Atyar spreading from its Kralori Heartland and saw that the two cults were merely manifestations of the old god Tien. He used the powers of the GodLearners to recreate the cult and underwent many dangerous HeroQuests to do so.
Just as the project neared completion, he decided not to take the final steps, and left behind two distinct cults, joined in a partial fashion. Had he remained, he would have become the Neck of Thanatar and recreated the cult of Tien.
Instead, the Thanatari took an innocent outsider and made him act as the Neck, enabling the cults to act as a single, albeit loose, entity. This person was known as the Doomed Man. As he was Doomed, he could not die unless he was killed, but when dead, he would go to Ikadz Halls for eternal torture for helping a Chaotic Cult. The status of the Doomed Man could be passed on to another innocent man, as long as he did not belong to the cult of Thanatar and accepted voluntarily. Needless to say, the Doomed Man and Vanch were the fiercest of enemies.
Brankist Farlow took on the mantle of the Doomed Man whilst in Dorastor. As a Hero of Thanatar, he fought Vanch, sending Krarsht assassins against him, and breaking his power within the Empire. Finally, he passed on the Mantle to a Krarsht cultist, freeing himself of the curse - until he is taken to Ikadz Halls, that is.
At the moment, Vanch hides away somewhere outside the Lunar Empire, biding his time and planning revenge.
Jar-An
A Lunar HeroQuestor and Jar-Eel's latest Eunuch Lover, Jar-An typifies what is good and noble about the Empire. He is honourable, true, strong, brave and noble. He serves Jar-Eel and the Emperor without question, but does not comprimise his vows or honour.
He was rescued by Derak from one of Vanch's prisons and has been a friend ever since.
If the PCs need a Lunar advisor, they turn to Jar-An.
The Shadowmages
Remnants of Arkat's Dark Empire. these Sorcerers of Darkness lived in Dorastor, in Arkat's Last Tower and held the last secrets of Arkat. They were foes of Ralzakark and were only defeated when the party persuaded them to help on a HeroQuest, leaving the Last Tower weakened.
After the Tower was destroyed, the Shadowmages moved to Balazar where they lived with Dennis, who had joined their ranks. Now they have recovered and are returning to Dorastor to help destroy Ralzakark once and for all.
The Golden Eagle
A Demigod of Light, grandson of Vrimak and of Yelm, he was born during the First Age, when Nysalor was Emperor. He was brought up in the Bright Empire, but was horrified by some of the actions carried out by his friends. When Arkat came to fight, he refused to take sides, not wishing to fight alongside Nysalor or Arkat, both of whom seemed to be as bad as each other.
For this, he was cursed by both parties, and was forced to remain imprisoned beneath Dorastor. A small cult of mercenaries sprang up who worshipped him in the Second Age, dedicated to freeing him. Rilldick Fairplain became their head, due to an extraordinary quirk of Fate, and managed to lead an expedition to free him from his prison.
Since then, he has built up his forces and is now ready to side with Brankist Farlow and defeat Ralzakark. He will accept Brankist as King of Dorastor as long as Chaos is driven out.
Botlar YellowCloak
One of Solarus' servants, Botlar came when Solarus took control of Dykene. He has then become his advisor, Prime Minister and whipping boy.
As with all such. servants, he has managed to feather his nest, by creaming off surplus funds. However, he magaged to keep enough dirt on Solarus to ensure his safety.
Recently, Botlar has retired to a retirement tower in Sun County, having had an altercation with his master. From there, he continues to be a thorn in the side of Solarus who now wants him dead.
