PCs:Damar Ogdem

An elderly sage garbed in dull brown robes, a holy symbol of Vorin hanging from his neck, sits at his desk and begins to write…

The Beginning

Portrait of Damar Ogdem by Ayren Tochi'larian

Damar was born during the fall of 2044, the second child of the M'chekian Daram Ogdem and his wife Cynia, the first being his older brother Baran five years Damar's senior. For the first years of his life, Damar lived on his Father's farm, not far from the city of Mikona. In his small communal school, Damar proved to be a precocious student, showing a quick wit and a keen intellect, but above all a thirst for knowledge. Unfortunetly for him, there was only so much to be learned in a small farm community.

The highlight of his childhood were the trips taken with his brother, and sometimes father, to sell goods in Mikona. The Rush of activity, the new sights and smells, so much different than his home gave him a glimpse of a larger world, a world with countless secrets to discover.

On one such trip during the summer of Damar's 10th year he and his brother came across a group of other children crowded around an ancient man robed in grey. As Damar approached, the man shot his arms up, a multicolored light bursting into the sky. Damar leapt back in fright, only to soon notice the other children had not done the same, but were hopping up and down, cheering the man. Damar slipped in closer to the group, the childrens' ease granting him courage. The robed man, whose name was said to be Lydon, continued with his illusions. As the other children looked on in amusement, Damar looked at what would become his future, magic. For the remainder of that summer any time he visited Mikona, Damar would break off from his father or brother to look for Lydon's show, which more often than not was in progress. The answer "magic" was a satisfying enough answer to most of the children's questions, but not for Damar. He insisted on knowing how and why. He spent hours watching Lydon, at home it was all he spoke of. Some days he was even able to convince his brother Baran to take him to Mikona at the break of dawn, returning at nightfall to a furious father. The first week of fall, Damar was in Mikona with his brother, but found no Lydon. For the next eight months trip after trip, he was not to be found. Damar even prefered now to stay at home rather than venture south. It was not until the next summer that he once again found Lydon, with another group of children. Lydon explained that for most of the year, he was in Andarr of the seven cities. This summer the young boy even took it upon himself to invite Lydon to his home.

The same cycle would continue, until Damar was 14. It was then matters took a turn for the worse. Overnight almost, it seemed as though the Ogdem farm began suffering from the withering of crops and dryland sickness that most of the nation was now subject to. There was hope, at first, that perhaps it was a temporary affliction. But as days became months, that hope was lost. As the crops died, so did Daram's coffers dry up. He had to figure out how best to save his family. When the suggestion was made, Baram willingly decided to join the M'chek army in their fight against the elves of T'Nanshi. Young Damar however had no interest in war.

As matters became worse, it was clear Daram could not support both his wife and son. Damar knew this, and as summer neared it's end, he came up with his solution. After a trip to Mikona, he returned home and told his parents that he would be leaving M'chek. Leaving M'chek for Andarr, where he would be Lydon's apprentice. What Damar felt when first arriving in Mikona was multiplied tenfold when first entering the city of Andarr. This time however, he had a focus, his apprenticeship to Lydon. Immediately Lydon brought his apprentice to his humble home. Books covered much of the floor, covered with the thickest layers of dust. A pet raven caughed from the corner at their arrival.

Damar's first task was to clean up his new home. Lydon would only permit Damar to leave on errands for him. The transformation from jovial magician in Mikona to strict old wizard in Andarr was jarring, and Damar could not be sure which was the true Lydon. Damar however took everything in stride, now so close to learning the secrets behind Lydon's magic.

During the first months of tedious chores, he often thought of his home, his parents. It was only in the last month before summer that Damar was given his first elementary lesson in true magic. In the summer, Lydon and Damar returned to M'chek. Lydon never answered Damar's question as to what Lydon's business was in Mikona every year. Damar returned to his family and to his amazement saw the farm was more productive than it had ever been.

Damar's father could not explain how their luck had changed. The question Damar dreaded was asked, his father wanted to know if he would come back to them. Damar refused, and giving his family what gold Lydon had paid him, he left. Damar returned to Lydon, requesting they return to Andarr so that he could continue his studies. To Damar's suprise, Lydon accepted.

Damar studied under Lydon for the next few years: languages, geography, and finally the art. Damar's mind became soley focused on the magic. He no longer thought about his past or his family this time, he had but one goal, comprehension of the arcane.

Finally the day came when Damar cast his first cantrip, a simple spell of light, cast on Lydon's raven who did not appreciate it. It was no grand magic, but for that moment Damar felt like a grand wizard. That same night as Damar was reading about ganooms by the fire, a loud knock sounded from the door. Lydon answered the door himself. A hooded man in dark robes entered the house. Lydon and his guest moved upstairs. What was strange was that in all his time in Andarr, Lydon never had any type of guest. Damar attempted to eavesdrop on the conversation to no avail. Damar returned to his reading spot. A few minutes later, he heard their voices rise, shouting at eachother. The ceiling began to shake, as Damar ran to the stairs he identified the chants of spellcasting. Lydon's body tumbled down the stairs rolling into his apprentice. Recovering from the fall, Damar looked down at a broken body, smokes rising from it's chest. Damar looked up the stairs frozen, and the hooded man came down, offering him a slight nod as he walked out the door.

While Lydon had meant much to Damar, investigations by the law would only hinder Damar's quest for knowledge and so the body was disposed of. With what gold Lydon kept in the house, Damar was able to live on his own for a time. Now there were no limits to what he could and could not read, what knowledge could be absorbed. For one brief moment it occured to Damar that it may be proper for him to return to his parents. This notion was dismissed as Damar found Lydon's private collection.

Even with such knowledge at his fingertips, no matter the dedication, there is only so much time a young man can endure cooped up in a house reading. Damar returned to M'chek, now in his early twenties. In the end, he had decided to visit his family. Arriving at the farm late in the evening, he entered his former home to find his father impaled on some crude spear. In another room was the corpse of his mother, and under her the bodies of two young girls no older than three. It was then Damar realized how long he had been gone, he had two more siblings without even knowing it. In his search for answers, neighbours revealed that recently there was much more bandit activity, the raiders behaving more bravely than usual. He also learned that his brother was missing in action, his body not found after a skirmish with elven soldiers.

The evident question, at least regarding his parents and sisters, was had he been there could he have stopped it? Most likely not he concluded. Settling affairs on the farm, Damar traveled south back to Mikona, a familiar raven flying over him.

Adventurer Arriving in Mikona, Damar made his way to the City Gate Inn. Here as fortune would have it, he encountered a group of three older men. Joining the conversation, Damar learned all three were wizards. Peregryne Twostep who for the next few years Damar would look to as omnipotent, Melonius Mennallin, and Talman Grumb. Watching and listening to these three men only confirmed to Damar that his quest for arcane knowledge was a valid one. Damar began his career of adventure, first exploring the Mikona crypts alongside Talman and Talman's bear Octavius. He met many others who would move on to accomplish great deeds, and was dragged off to many dangerous places where it was a miracle he survived. Throughout these days he had three close companions, each very different from the other. One was the monk Tren Ster, it was with him Damar shared the most of his early adventures. The Second was the cleric of Gorethar Jorio Alerian, who would one day become a High Priest. Third was the elven sorceress PCs:Elrandra Glyndorr. Facing all of these trials, Damar found many opportunities to apply his studies. His skill with the art began to grow as the difficulty of his challenges became greater. One afternoon Damar stood by the entrance to one such challenge. The Hills of Tumult. Here he awaited the arrival of Tren, and together they had planned to pick a fight with some giants. Waiting there alone he heard the sounds of battle and rushed into the hills for a closer look. It was there he heard the crackle of evoked lightning and then he experienced the smell of sizzling flesh as he came to a lone man surrounded by a pile of burnt giant corpses. The sorceror, who would reveal his name as Fenius, told Damar he had destroyed the giants out of revenge for having previously been embarrased by them. This show of arcane power was the most impressive Damar had seen up to this point in his life. The two spoke for a time, finally Fenius left as Tren arrived. Not long after that meeting, Damar was shopping for supplies in the Marketplace of Mikona when an excited Tren came to him, going on about an expedition to defeat a "witch". Soon many were gathered in the Rompin Romini Inn as a dwarf told them of the bandit queen Hugar and her approximate location. Of most interest to Damar, the dwarf mentioned Fenius as a companion to this Hugar. Narin Grans, a kindly priest, was on a quest to cure lycanthropy, and was in need of a tome in Hugar's posession. Against the protests of some of the gathered adventurers, Narin wished to meet with Hugar and bargain for the tome peacefully. Nonetheless many joined Narin on his trip, including Damar who wanted to learn if there was truth behind the talk of Fenius. Traveling north at great speed, the large group was nearly in sight of Hugar. Narin wished to meet Hugar alone, but most objected, and so Narin was to take a few bodyguards. Among them were Tren and Talman. As many suspected, Hugar had no desire for negotiating for the tome, and attacked Narin and his guards. Soon the battle was joined, the party of adventurers in it's entirety, fighting Hugar, Fenius, and a coal dragon. During the fight Damar did his best not to target Fenius, and in the end Hugar and the dragon lie slain. Fenius had managed to escape, and later Damar joined a smaller force who wished to hunt him down. Fenius was able to dispatch most of the group, but left Damar unharmed. Try as he could, Damar could not find any moral compulsion to force him into a fight with the sorceror. Some months later, word spread of powerful mages momentarily losing their power. Melonius was one example, while another was a great dragon lairing in the Lost River Cavern. This marked the beginning of what would lead into the Vortex of Chaos Saga. It was one day, not long after these oddities began to occur, that Damar was once again near the Hills of Tumult when a magical gate opened and a dark robed mage appeared. The mage, Cyprian, spoke of events to come, and of an order which was being founded, an Ebony Order. As the man spoke of his Order Damar became intrigued. Perhaps he would find others to work with, those who valued knowledge as much as he. Damar left the outskirts of the Hills thoughtful. Taking the path from the east to Mikona, Damar was almost at the city gates when before him in the middle of the road another magical gate manifested. Before him stood a dark skinned man in simple black clothes, with horns protruding from his head. A fiendish trait. Damar asked the stranger who he was, the stranger responding that he knew exactly who he was. It was Andrinor, the God of Mortal Magic, Damar simply knew. Andrinor told him that he wanted Damar to become the leader of this new Ebony Order and should he, that he would gain Andrinor's favor. However, should he reveal this conversation to anyone...and as the God trailed off he summoned flaming debris, a meteor storm which left the surrounding area aflame. Andrinor's avatar dissapeared as quickly as it had appeared (Author's note: it is only with this writing that the mention of this meeting has now been permitted). Not long after this, the first meeting of the Ebony Order occured. Here Damar and Fenius were two of the founding members and were joined by three other younger mages along with older mages who had been accompanying Cyprian for years. Aside from Cyprian, Damar was the only one who wore his robes in public, allowing others to know of his allegiance to the Ebony Order, he was also the Order's only mouthpiece. In time he was joined by Vanyankaya Del'Trion, his first recruit for the Order and the first after it's founding. Damar continued to work for the Order, staying active in developments regarding the Vortex of Chaos, and also recruitment. For his dedication, Cyprian made him the Order's first Great Mage of Internal Affairs. Not long after that, he switched positions with the first Great Mage of Relations who prefered not to speak in public, nor reveal her identity as an Ebony mage. Not all of Damar's dealings during this period revolved around the Vortex. He defended Equaloria keep and other locations from sereg'wethrin attacks alongside others. It was during one such attack that Damar first met one he would come to butt heads with in the closing weeks of the Vortex hunt. Standing high on the ledge surrounding Equaloria, Damar was firing off his magic into groups of sereg'wethrin, while the warriors below engaged the dark elves in melee. Upon the ledge also stood Melonius Mennallin, now Archmage of the Ivory Order, alongside Mari Briggs, and another member mage of the Ivory. This other mage, introducing himself as Aramil Fynn, joined Damar in his spell flinging. As the two rained death upon the small sereg'wethrin army, Melonius kept remarking with a sneer, as so many old men who know better do, about waiting for the right time and how they must conserve their magic. Aramil and Damar continued, in the end sharing a grin as both noticed Melonius had never flung a single spell. Eventually the campaign of the sereg'wethrin ended with a massive assault on Mikona. Damar was among those who defended the city, then moving north to aid another army of defenders fending of a secondary force. For their actions, Cyprian rewarded both Damar and Vanyankaya with amulets of Ebony Obedience. As an Ebony mage Damar also became involved with another group. One day while passing through the Mikona Crypt, he was assaulted by a powerful vampiric creature. Upon defeating it, a mysterious woman appeared, calling the fight a test to see if he was worthy. The woman told of a powerful organization being formed, to which Damar replied that he had enough masters already. Days later he encountered this Lanessa again, who announced that the leadership of this organization had accepted him as another co-leader. Damar found that two people he had fought beside on many occasions were this group's leadership, joined be Lanessa. As time passed Damar had to admit that their group was mighty, but it lacked a true focus, a goal. Power must be used for something. Lanessa created the goal which had been lacking. She spoke of an old relic, a tome containing great summoning magics. From that point on the Necronomicon was their focus. Lanessa, herself one of these so called "vampyres", (powerful vampires seemingly immune to daylight) revealed the one who held the tome, an enemy from her past known as Nastassiou, a supposedly hybrid Demon-Vampyre. In the end, many contributed to the demon's defeat. But it was this group Damar was part of which left with the tome. Or more specifically, Lanessa left with it. From Nastassiou's remains, Lanessa crafted several magical rings, known as Nastassiou's knuckles. Damar received one. Between all the business involved with his and his allies' "Legion", his Ebony duties, and tracking the Vortex, Damar had become an accomplished wizard. But as his power had grown, and more secrets were unravaled, Damar was confronted by the realization many magi eventually come to. He could not practice the art forever. Earlier in his career he had become interested in the concept of immortality, the opportunity to practice the art for eternity. His first knowledge of one possible method had come with the talk of the lich Sorvanok, residing deep below the city of Mikona. Damar had previously been involved on several small quests to learn of a method do defeat the lich, and so was aware of certain details, such as the exact location of its home. He entered the domain of the lich in hopes to learn more of lichdom. This was a mistake. Damar barely escaped the ill humoured Sorvanok with his life. Nevertheless, Damar continued focusing in the necromantic arts, to discover the secrets of lichdom on his own. While he would continue the study of necromancy for many years to come, his reasons would change as he learned of another method leading to immortality. One day while studying in the Great Library of Mikona, Damar met a fat old half-elf, whose eyes seemed to betray an age older than his face revealed. The two spoke of several things, and being suspicious of the half-elf, eventually the conversation came to extended life, immortality. He explained to Damar that there are those who serve their God so well that they are granted a true immortality, not the farce that is lichhood. He told Damar that he himself was one such immortal. This route interested Damar greatly. Of course such a feat was no simple undertaking, but in theory time spent serving a higher being would be acceptable, providing over an endless amount of years ample time to continue one's own personal studies. Two more events of importance involving the Immortal and Sorvanok would occur before the Saga of the Vortex came to its end. The first came when Damar was certain the Vortex would soon fall into his hands. Not wishing to take any chances however, he struck a deal with the Immortal's Deity. In exchange for the power of the Vortex of Chaos, Damar swore loyalty to this Deity. The second came when Damar was exploring the Mikonan Underdark for a rumoured second entrance. Sorvanok apparently was aware of the intrusion, which triggered one of many undead attacks on the city, headed by the lich's powerful balor. The balor announced Damar as the intruder, and shortly after Damar was banished from the city despite his many previous services to it. The next day Damar was found in the city by the great demon. They fought but the fiend seemed invulnerable. The pain inflicted on Damar that day was something he would never forget. Shortly after the experience, Damar again defended the city from another threat and was acquitted of the charges and welcomed back into the city. The Vortex did end up in Damar's hands for a time, before he was advised to pass it to Cyprian. As is recounted in the Academy of Mortal Magic's History of Mortal Magic volumes, that day Cyprian was killed and Andrinor appeared to make his announcement's regarding the future of the art and the three Orders of magic. With Cyprian dead and the Vortex of Chaos destroyed, Damar held his Order's support in becomming its second Archmage. Meeting with the Immortal, Damar was not pleased with the turn of events which had required Cyprian's death, and the fact that when the dust had settled, he did not have exactly what was promised, his deal having been very specific. The Immortal pointed out that he may not have received everything he wanted, but he was Archmage. Damar agreed on that point and continued to "serve" the Deity, prefering to deal with the Immortal rather than fellow followers. Damar knew however that the contract had not been lived up to, and he was not held to this union. In the meantime he figured there may be something to gain from it. In the aspects of religion afterall, Damar was most mercinary. He saw Deities as potenial employers, and this one seemed to have made the highest offer at the time.

Archmage The Ebony was not the only Order to have a change of leadership. In the weeks after Damar became the Archmage of the Ebony, Elrandra was named the second Archmage of the Ashen Order of the Stars, replacing the missing Belaluldor, and Talman became the second Archmage of the Ivory Order of the Sun, successor to Melonius who left the Order. During this time the High Mage Council of Avlis was created, with Damar among its founding members. As Damar adjusted to his new leadership role, the Legion he was a part of was not doing well. Again, with no goal all the strength in the world meant nothing. Lanessa shortly thereafter betrayed the Legion she had founded. She turned to a Deity from her own world with no power here, the one known as Vecna. Lanessa left Avlis, the necronomicon in her posession, leaving her associates without their prize. After this, a God expressed His will that those who worshipped Him were to leave this Legion. It is possible more than one Deity made this demand, but the one of importance here is the same God Damar at the time was serving. Damar, never seeing himself as a true "worshipper", and believing the Legion may still hold potential, for the first time in his life sought spiritual guidance. He prayed. Later that night he had a dream... He stood in a temple, surrounded by hundreds of people wearing the colors of his God. They danced around what he saw to be the body of Lanessa, impaled on a wooden pike, celebrating the death. Then the dream changed from a usual dream of images into a fast moving stream of consciousness and concept transfer. Damar realized this was how Gods communicated among themselves. He sensed an object of a certain shape and size, an object he knew represented the Legion. He then sensed another object, one he felt was fueled by the loyalists of his Deity. When comparing the two, it was clear the second was larger, continuing to grow. Meanwhile the first went on to exist, totally independent of the second, no connection between the two apparent. Damar left the Legion, as did others among its leadership. It lingered on for a short while after. At this time, the Ebony Order began to expand under Damar's command. It is also during this period when a great many of the rumours involving Damar Ogdem and various sinister dealings and deeds take place. While many still remain only known to him and others involved, one he has explained is a particular attack on Le'Or T'Nanshi. Several Ebony Order mages had recently been attacked without provocation by members of the T'Nanshi army. In response to this, Damar and two other powerful Ebony mages entered the garrison of Le'Or T'Nanshi slaying dozens of soldiers. As they made their escape some brave (or foolish) citizens attempted to strike back at the mages. They died. From this attack many rumours spread, ridiculous numbers were repeated. Some said thousands died, others that the city was under siege, districts destroyed. Pure fiction, but such events do have effect on one's reputation. Soon the Council of Nine declared that the entirety of the Ebony Order of the Moon was banished from T'Nanshi. Damar and other Ebony magi continued to enter T'Nanshi when business deemed it necessary. Damar went so far as to sometimes join M'chek soldiers in the borderlands, shifting loss to victory. While officially they were to treat such combatants as bandits, no soldier ever refused his aid. These stints in the warzone however did not come often, and Damar usually had his hands full in M'chek. With the appearance of the Ravager, also known as the "Gentleman", Damar first saw a possible opportunity. Their first meeting however did not go well, the tainted spirit assaulting him. There is little one can do with a powerful being bent on world destruction he reasoned. Damar in the end was among those who joined together to reseal the Ravager, Damar getting his revenge. He would soon have another more satisfying revenge. Revenge against two who had wronged him years ago. In Mikona, Sorvanok's growing cult began making attacks on the city. It was discovered Sorvanok had become a demilich, and was on the verge of Godhood. The night before his fall, he sent his minions up to assault the city. Damar alongside many adventurers moved through the city, dispatching the demilich's forces. Eventually they came to the North road and Sorvanok's mighty balor. The fight began, more than a dozen warriors and priests surrounding the demon. But as time passed on, it continued to hold its own, even against Damar's onslaught of spells. Soon he had exhausted all of his offensive magicks, and the Balor still in perfect condition was tilting the melee into his favor. Damar searched through his bags for anything that may turn the tide. He found a single scroll. As the battle continued in front of him, he recited the parchment's inscriptions. The scroll disintegrating, Damar stretched out his arm, pointing his index finger at the demon. This last effort proved to be enough, the spell destroying the demon. Shortly after the battle, Damar was approached by Equalizer of Mikon, Agatha Dane. Agatha wanted Damar to join her for a special meeting. The next day Agatha, Damar, and Jorio Alerian of the Order of Gorethar entered the Great Library to speak with the wizard sage Meliorn. It was Meliorn who revealed the secret door in Sorvanok's throne room leading to the small temple housing his soul jar. Later, Damar joined the assembled heroes for the final operation against Sorvanok, which lead to the demilich's destruction. For his part in the campaign against the demilich, Damar was awarded an Amulet of Balance, marking him as a hero of Mikona. It would not be long until Damar learned of the powerful Artifacts of Najera. While the other Orders learned of the artifacts on their own, Damar and the Ebony would not come into conflict with them as it was the returned Reyes, former partner and rival to Cyprian, who would be their main competition. Damar was able to stay ahead of Reyes, having planted a spy among his ranks, who then passed reports to the Ebony. Damar learned of the Demiliches Lobera, a former Archmage of the old Gold Order during the period when it was no longer among the Fold (small and mostly insignificant), and Ibrasis, also from that period having been one of Lobera's officers. In their time, they had planned to bolster the Gold Order with undead, restoring the power it lost when the orc magi were destroyed, and once again joining the Fold. It was not to be however, as once Lobera obtained the Artifacts of Najera, Ibrasis turned on him after Lobera refused to honor their agreement of sharing both the Staff and Amulet. Ibrasis took half of the undead they had gathered and fled Lobera, who now sought his destruction. One note sent to Damar from his spy detailed a planned expedition by Reyes and his people into the Mikona Underdark to search for Ibrasis. the Ebony Order was able to defeat Reyes' group, and in return for his life Reyes gave Damar a key to Ibrasis's lair which was said to be deep in the Underdark. Days after this, Damar was on the road to Mikona when he saw a zombie wandering out of the crypt. Upon closer inspection he determined this zombie was differant than the usual variety. He dealt with it and entered the crypt. On the lowest level with a swirl of blood, a floating skull appeared before Damar, an amulet hanging from a non existant neck, a staff held by invisible arms. This was Lobera. The two spoke, and Lobera said that he could take the key to Ibrasis's lair now if he desired, but that he would wait for Damar to come to him, after meeting Ibrasis. Before Lobera left, the demilich stated that he resided someplace Damar had been, but could no longer go. Weeks later, the Ebony had an expedition to the greater Underdark, in search of Ibrasis. Finally after scouring the Underdark for days, the key triggered a secret door. Damar and the others met with Ibrasis, who was in posession of a magical mirror capable of watching the artifacts' bearer. This was how he had managed to keep away from Lobera these three hundred years. Their host told them that the Ashen had already been to see Ibrasis, and confirmed Damar's suspicion that Lobera was in Le'Or T'Nanshi. It was between these events that Damar completed his contribution to the Academy of Mortal Magic's History of Mortal Magic. Later in the year, the spy interrupted a meeting of the Ebony to announce that Reyes and some of his magi were in the Underdark below the city. He passed to Damar something he had just stolen, a peice of Sorvanok's flesh. Damar and the Ebony rushed below and confronted Reyes' group. The two factions began to negotiate. Damar was going to give Reyes the flesh in return for more information on Lobera and the Artifacts of Najera. As they were finalizing their agreement, Reyes vanished. Suspicious now, Damar quietly passed the flesh to Vanyanakya, as he questioned Reyes' mages. They did not know what happend to their leader either. It was then that what seemed to be a modified gate manifested, pulling Damar through it.

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