PCs:Sinomi Sii

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Sinomi Sii was a Drangonari Pale Master and the founder and leader of Turiva Ilnuru.

Sinomi Sii

Race: Drangonari

Gender: Male

Birthplace: Grantir

Age: unknown, possibly deceased

Known Former Affiliations: Malwa Turole, Turiva Ilnuru Master Necromancer, Violet Order of the Skull Great Mage of Internal Affairs and Member of the High Mage Council, Ebony Order of the Moon High Apprentice, The Guild for Advancement of Knowledge in Nature

Appearance: Usually quite dusty and dirty, and often accompanied by a variety of smells that remind of crypts and corpses. Left arm is an undead graft. Skin/scales are brownish green and somewhat desiccated. Yellow, slitted, reptilian eyes are the only visible features of his real face, which is always covered by a skull mask that can be difficult to distinguish as a mask. Drangonari wings rise from his back, slightly less brown and desiccated than the rest of his body.

Player Info / Contact: Avlis Profile

Important Note

Per Avlis wiki policy, everything written on this IC wiki page is totally In Character and available for public consumption. What is written here can be used In Game by any and all characters. The following historical account reflects Sinomi Sii's point of view, but I have tried to avoid controversial or inflammatory statements while still getting his point of view across. If I haven't avoided such statements enough, and you edit this page, please note your edit and the reason. Please note the rules for editing disputes.

Early Years

Grantir Born in Grantir, Sinomi was a rather typical Drangonari, until he fell in love with a ghost elf slave named Levena. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, his family discovered it and sent her away. Distraught, Sinomi followed her only to find her killed by Shaahesk. He had no means to bring her back. Angry with his family, with Grantir traditions, with the Shaahesk, and with the gods for being either unwilling or unable to help, he left Grantir. The Road to Mikona As he had traveled occasionally with his family on business to Le’Or, that is where he first went. Here the effect of his lost love became apparent in his study of necromancy, and he also began to learn more about the ways of the larger world. In order to learn more of the world and more of necromancy, he left for Elysia and from there frequented Ferrell for a time. Sinomi took a liking to alchemy and herbalism and joined the AKN, where he would eventually become a High Apprentice before somewhat abandoning those studies. It was in Ferrell that he met Dralix of the Ebony Order of the Moon and learned much about Andrinor’s Trust and the many mage orders. He finally moved to Mikona to learn more about such things and to become more involved with the Ebony Order. An Artifact Discovered The Bones of Antimodes: Under threat by a dracolich, the authorities of Mikona called together a band of adventurers for aid. Eager to learn more about such a creature, Sinomi joined the defense and aided the city in discovering the bones of Antimodes in order to prevent the city’s possible destruction by the dracolich. Among the eventually-defeated dracolich’s hoard of treasure, Sinomi found a “Mask of Death” – a skull helm of considerable necromantic power. Sinomi was seldom seen without that mask from then on, until he later constructed a similar helm even more to his liking. Steelcasting Sinomi participated in the First Scaled Gauntlet, a series of organized duels, in Ferrell. Although the duels were focused on melee prowess, rather than arcane combat, Sinomi was still disappointed with his result, as he fell rather quickly to the then-young Shaahesk Rhissaerk Jalesh. This failure led Sinomi to pursue for some time martial skills, particularly the use of various weapons, and the art of steelcasting, in which a mage learns to cast arcane magic while wearing heavy army and carrying a shield. Once already quite proficient in the art, Sinomi would receive further instruction to hone his skills from the well-known steelcaster Tiras and then Crunk Steelcaster himself. Besides acquiring these new skills himself, Sinomi’s interest seemed to begin a renewed general interest in the art that had not been widely seen since the days of Crunk and his students Tiras and Lochlyn. Sinomi Sii - Pale Master, Steelcaster Pale Mastery Sinomi’s interest in necromancy led him to learn the basics of pale mastery. While learning martial skills and steelcasting, Sinomi’s main focus always remained on the pale art. His progress in it led Sinomi to consider more immediate and radical ways to obtain various advantages of undeath. While researching various possibilities, he found an ancient necromantic tome that described, among other things, one necromancer’s attempt to graft an undead limb to his own body. Following the ritual described in the tome and relying on his own knowledge of necromancy and pale mastery, Sinomi performed a ritual in which he removed his own left arm and grafted a suitably prepared undead arm in its place. As his old arm still retains necromantic power as a result of the ritual, Sinomi keeps it close to him at all times. Eventually other necromancers or pale masters would undergo similar changes, either by a ritual like Sinomi’s, or as a more "natural" development, such as in the case of the infamous Isamu. As Sinomi’s mastery of the pale art would only increase with time, his body continued to undergo further changes, whether by "natural" development or more direct means, and Sinomi would become more and more like the undead.

Ebony Years

The Ebony Order Sinomi was eventually admitted to the Ebony Order by Archmage Vanyankaya del’Trion. Quickly proving to be a quite active and capable member mage, Sinomi was soon promoted to Great Mage of Internal Affairs, a position he would hold for a Gnomish year. The position of Archmage was eventually passed from Vanya to Sand. Some time after becoming Archmage, however, Sand left the Order for an extended period, leaving internal matters to his Great Mage of Internal Affairs, Sinomi, and external matters to his Great Mage of Relations, Dralix. The position of Great Mage of Arms, previously held by Sand, was still vacant, as were most of the Senior Mage positions. This eventually left Sinomi with nearly all the responsibilities of a de facto Archmage. Known Ebony Exploits Zevarion: As Le’Or came under attack by minions of Zevarion, who was successfully weakening the Seal of Ages that imprisoned him in Zelvan Dur, the Ebony Order manipulated events in order to play a crucial role in the re-imprisonment of Zevarion and the re-admitting of Zal to be Zevarion’s eternal jail-keeper. As a result, in return for their aid, the ban on the Ebony Order in Le’Or was lifted, thereby allowing the Ebony mages greater freedom in T’Nanshi, which was becoming particularly important given the matter of the lich Lobera, who was operating from below Le’Or itself. In addition, Sinomi recovered from the shards of the Seal of Ages a gem which could for a short time grant him true sight, thereby minimizing the weakness of a necromancer being unable to use the arcane spells of divination. The Gentleman: During the time that the Gentleman, or the Woargshadeugh, ravaged southern Negaria, Sinomi had several encounters with the creature. A former Great Mage of the Ebony Order, V’Heress, returned from an absence only to be seen in league with the Order of the Shadow and the Gentleman. The Gentleman and V’Heress were eventually defeated, but Sand lead an expedition into the Hole where the Gentleman had been imprisoned before being destroyed. From this Hole those present, including Sinomi, discovered Woargshadeughstaves, magical staves created from residue of the Gentleman. Residue all over Negaria would later turn into such staves as well. Sinomi rarely carried any other staff after that day. The Artifacts of Najera: A lich by the name of Lobera was in possession of an amulet and a staff, together known as the Artifacts of Najera. With these artifacts, Lobera was practically invulnerable. In order to defeat Lobera and gain the artifacts for safe keeping the Orders of Andrinor’s Trust worked together to create the Hammer of Lithandiel using part of the flesh from the lich Sorvanok, under the idea that this hammer could be used to defeat Lobera. The Ebony Order played its part in this as well, in particular by supplying the lich skin that was used in the forging of the hammer. Sinomi was present in the ruined tower in the roots of Le’Or where Lobera was finally defeated by all the Orders working together. Many powerful magic bracers from the era of the original mage orders were discovered, and Sinomi became the possessor of the lone set of bracers once associated with the long-gone Violet Order – perhaps an omen of events that would come to pass. Rumors The following two entries are based upon persistent rumors. The claims are not verified. Se’Fassu: Once the magical seal that resided over the ancient Rift temple in Ferrell was removed, Se’Fassu, in control of the Rift, began sending his undead minions forth from the ruins, in particular to bring “the long night” to the land. The High Mage Council decided to perform a Rite of Closure to forever seal the Rift. Frustrated by being continually compelled to aid in the destruction of undead powers or in the imprisonment of necromancers and so on, Sinomi endeavored to see that there would be a different outcome in this case. Working with Se’Fassu’s general, Lar'Keston, and eventually with Se’Fassu himself, Sinomi and other Ebony mages worked to secure a secret means for Se’Fassu to avoid his own destruction in the event that the Rift was successfully destroyed. The aim was not to counteract the actions of the High Mage Council, which were simply to close the Rift, but rather to prevent Se'Fassu's incidental destruction in the process. The alliance proved successful, as Se’Fassu was saved when the Rift was closed. Some rumors attribute these actions to Turiva Ilnuru, but those rumors must be false, as Turiva Ilnuru did not yet exist at the time of the closing of the Rift. The Ebony Order and several of its former members have also denied involvement. The Mistress: A war was taking place in the deep of the Underdark, and a demoness referred to only as The Mistress, with her undead and demon army, had apparently defeated the Spider Queen, Kah’xithaeri’nayass. The Mistress was once a Nanshi woman once destroyed by worshippers of Dru'el, who she continued to hate even two-thousand years after their act of murder. However, the Dru'elites inadvertently freed her, and her soul was converted into a demon's form. However, unable to take any physical form for long, she reached out through her Vasharan allies and by other supernatural means for Sinomi’s help in order to overcome this limitation and make her move to become a true Demon-Goddess of the underdark. Sinomi, with the help of trusted allies, gathered remains of her earlier physical form and supplied the rest from other suitable sources. He then performed a ritual by which he was able to restore the Mistress to a physical form. In return for his aid, the Mistress caused wings to sprout on Sinomi’s back where most Drangonari had been missing them for ages since the defeat of the Avariel. The Mistress’s thirst for revenge was too great for her own good. She quickly and rashly lead an assault against the Dru’elites before solidifying her power and was finally defeated when an Avatar of Dru’el was summoned to aid in the battle against her and her forces. Other rumors persist regarding Sinomi's acquisition of wings. One of the most notable is that he gave up his soul to a demon in exchange for them. Another is that they were attached by Sinomi himself after various experiments with demons, sinister bats, and other strange rituals. Sinomi Sii - Founder of Turiva Ilnuru Turiva Ilnuru In order to organize his teaching of many students of pale mastery, and to do so both without causing any unnecessary attention for the Ebony Order as well as to hopefully find additional allies or recruits for the Ebony Order, Sinomi founded a school of pale mastery called Turiva Ilnuru (which, in Drangonari, means Masters of Undeath), which quickly became the preeminent training ground for pale masters, and did indeed help to bring many recruits to the Ebony Order for some time. Damar Ogdem Before Sinomi joined the Ebony Order, Damar – the second Archmage of the Order, following Cyprian - had already turned over the position of Archmage to Vanya. From then on, Damar entered the background of the Order, seldom even seen in the Order’s robes. Over time, Sinomi came to believe that Damar often acted with only his own approval and seldom in concert with the Ebony Order as a whole, and so Sinomi became suspicious of Damar. Turmoil in the Order Fulfilling his responsibilities to the Ebony Order proved especially difficult given the tenuous, unofficial status of his de facto position and the vacancies in the Order’s other leadership roles. A younger mage named Micah Elizabeth Ormane, however, had been acting as Senior Mage of Elysia and was eventually promoted to Great Mage of Arms. Sinomi had also been promoted to represent the Ebony Order with a seat on the High Mage Council, along with Sand and Dralix (by this time, Damar had been appointed Moderator of the Council). Sinomi’s suspicion of Damar only increased when Sinomi joined the Council, but this suspicion resulted in disagreements with Dralix and Micah, who had once been Damar’s own apprentice. This conflict began to cause tension within the Order. The High Mage Council Sinomi’s suspicion of Damar came to a head when Sinomi believed that Damar’s actions as Moderator were contrary to the good of the Ebony Order. Sinomi then hatched an ultimately doomed and rash political scheme to have Damar removed as Moderator. Before the plan could come to fruition, Arlin Everwine – new Archmage of the Ashen Order of the Stars – betrayed the plans to the entire Council. At the time, Angadarians were at war with Andrinor and the mages of his Trust. Arlin purportedly gained information that the Angadarians wished to see Damar removed as Moderator as a necessary step in their larger plans of attack on the Trust. Although this never proved to be true, it was at the time an unfortunate stroke to Sinomi (Sinomi believes that the fact that he is Drangonari likely made it easier for the Council to suspect him). A New Order When news of Sinomi’s plan against Damar was leaked, Sand removed Sinomi from the Council. It also became apparent to Sand that the Order could no longer afford to continue without an active Archmage, and he soon announced Micah as the next Archmage. Sinomi endeavored to rebuild his relationships with Damar, Dralix and Micah, but after much discussion Sinomi learned the cause of his suspicions of Damar. Damar, along with others, had long been planning to rebuild the Gold Order, and had been doing so from inside the Ebony Order. Soon after the Council matter and the change in Archmage, Damar and Dralix, as well as several others, left for the Gold Order. A New Turmoil Micah soon demoted Sinomi from the position of Great Mage and made her dislike of his school quite explicit. She additionally made it clear that she was not too fond of Ebony mages having any dedications outside the Order - a rather new and stricter policy for Ebony mages. Turmoil brewed again, especially once she began to force Ebony mages to give up altogether their pursuit of pale mastery under Sinomi’s teaching.

Violet Years

Sinomi Sii - Master Necromancer of the Violet Order of the Skull Whispers in the Darkness As the Ebony Order fractured, Sinomi began to notice the shadows and darkness calling to him, and his dreams spoke to him. Soon, Micah announced an impending absence from the Ebony Order and hinted at changes to come. Seeing an opportunity to once again take a leadership role within the Ebony Order, Sinomi suggested that the Order learn from past mistakes and not allow the Order to be without an Archmage for any extended time. He therefore proposed that he should become Archmage. Meanwhile, the shadows and darkness continued to call out to Sinomi. Soon, he would learn that the Violet Order was not non-existent, that it was thriving in the Underdark, and that it was now reaching into the Overlight and calling to Sinomi. The End of Ebony As it became clear that Micah would prevent Sinomi from taking over leadership of the Ebony Order once again, and as Sinomi began to communicate with the Archmage of the Violet Order, Sinomi began to become resigned to the fact that he and the Ebony Order were growing apart. In his mind, Sinomi began to leave the Ebony Order behind. Then if there was still any doubt about his place in the Order, the doubt became certainty when he received a letter from Micah notifying him of his expulsion from the Ebony Order. Once again, then, Sinomi felt free to master his arts as he chose, and despite being Orderless for a brief time, Andrinor saw it fit to allow Sinomi to retain the mark of Andrinor’s Trust. Then soon a summons would come, and Sinomi, along with many others, including other Ebony mages who wished to leave the Ebony Order, met The Master – the Violet Order Archmage – in the High Temple of Andrinor in Visimontium and joined the Violet Order, an Order in which they would be free to pursue power and master their arts however they pleased. Damar Attacks The Violet Order Archmage invited the High Mage Council to meet him and discuss the Violet Order. Almost immediately, Damar began to direct several verbal jabs at Sinomi. Neither Sinomi nor The Master was goaded into a fight, however, and The Master answered many questions about his Order. Then, after clenching his jaw for a while as The Master spoke, Damar spoke up. He all but called The Master a liar and announced that he would tell everyone present, including the Violet Order Archmage, what he knew about the Violet Order. As Sinomi found this humorous, Damar said to him, "Silence Sinomi, before your wings find their place on my mantle." As Sinomi replied that he had heard that threat before, Damar rose out of his chair, crossed the room, and attacked Sinomi. Spell battle raged between Damar and Sinomi, and Sinomi was the victor. Ebony Attacks Not long after, the Ebony Order announced that Oorayv had taken over the mantle of Ebony Archmage. Micah had left for the Red Order of the Flame. Desiring to see if peace was possible with the Ebony Order under new leadership, Sinomi went to meet with Oorayv. Sinomi quickly came to believe, however, that not much had changed in the Ebony Order with a change in Archmage. After disappearing from the discussion, Oorayv tracked down Sinomi with a few other Ebony mages and attacked him by surprise. Although Sinomi would fall in the battle, he did so only after the new Ebony Archmage had fallen as well. The conflict between Sinomi and the remainder of the Ebony Order cooled off, but relations remained far from amicable. Turiva Ilnuru Grows Most of the mages forced to choose between Ebony and Turiva Ilnuru in the end chose to stay with Turiva Ilnuru, and so most joined the Violet Order as well. The Ebony restrictions proved to be a blessing in disguise for the new Violet Order, as they helped demonstrate that mages who wished for freedom in their pursuit of power would best fit in with the Violet Order. And, in the end, Turiva Ilnuru had lost very little in the conflict with the Ebony Order. The influence of Turiva Ilnuru continued to grow and their name became well-known among the undead, as well as among their enemies.

Turiva Ilnuru Years

in progress The timeline of Turiva Ilnuru overlaps with the Ebony Years and the Violet Years (for the end of Turiva Ilnuru, see below). The following entries are based upon the activities of Turiva Ilnuru during those years. Some entries are verified, others are based upon persistent rumors and are not verified (and will be noted as such). Most of the rumors surfaced during the Final Years. The Order of the Dragon and the Keepers of the Cycle A Spy Nise This entry is based upon persistent rumors and is not verified. The Queen of the Forest of Midnight This entry is based upon persistent rumors and is not verified. Dranuhl This entry is based upon persistent rumors and is not verified. Mertas Venetor

Final Years

The Violet Order Upon its resurfacing in the Overlight, the Violet Order became stagnant as its Archmage, The Master, put little time or energy into leadership. Among all the Masters, only Sinomi managed to recruit more mages to the Order. Eventually succumbing to pressure from the Overlight mages, The Master named another in his place during his temporary but indefinite leave of absence from the Order. Citing "tradition" rather than relying upon merit, he named the current Master Executioner, Karrek Asen, as acting Archmage of the Overlight branch. This unconscientious decision proved to unravel all that had so far been accomplished. Violet Principles Ignored The distinguishing mark of the Violet Order was to be as follows: "The Violet Order of the Skull supports and encourages freedom and individuality in the use of arcane magic for whatever purposes a mage desires. The Order also supports and encourages mastery over arcane magic and whatever other arts or methods a mage desires to master. A Violet mage's goals and methods are his or hers to choose and pursue without interference; the mage need not be concerned about restrictions and constraints placed upon him or her by others. In no other Order of Andrinor's Trust will a mage find such dedication to freedom and the pursuit of mastery as in the Violet Order of the Skull." When the High Mage Council announced the expulsion of Sinomi and all remaining members of Turiva Ilnuru from the Violet Order and the Trust, Karrek, desiring a seat on the Council himself, eschewed the principles of the Violet Order, betrayed its mages, and went along with the Council's decision, thereby expelling Turiva Ilnuru Violet mages from the Order and the Trust. The Master, despite stating that he cared not at all for the Trust or the High Mage Council, also cared no longer for the state of the Overlight Violets, and thus did nothing to correct Karrek's mistake. Like the Ebony before it, the Violet Order fractured as mages were forced to choose between the Order and their study of pale mastery. Only two mages chose the Violet Order over Turiva Ilnuru. War of Words A campaign began in the court of public opinion in which Sinomi argued that, contrary to the charges by the High Mage Council, neither he nor Turiva Ilnuru had acted in any way against Andrinor or the Trust. Sinomi charged the Council with abusing their authority in order to pursue their personal agendas and that it was they who were harming Andrinor's Trust. The effort had a great effect at first as mages throughout the Trust protested the manner in which the Council had handled the decree against Turiva Ilnuru, but the protests were eventually silenced by the Archmages. In the end, the Council was not deterred from pursuing its actions against Turiva Ilnuru. The Hunt The hunt commenced. Ferrell made a deal with the High Mage Council, and later Elysia aided the hunt in its own way as well. Several Trust mages registered for licenses to hunt the members of Turiva Ilnuru in M’Chek. There were casualties on both sides. The Death of Sinomi Sii One day during the hunt, Sinomi entered the old Dagath crypt near Westshore, but did not walk out. Sinomi had been conducting research inside the crypt, and as he was making his way out he encountered two mages accompanied by two adamantium golems. The mages were Thalarian of the Blue Order and Robert Wallace of the Ashen, and both were prepared for battle – apparently they had arrived looking specifically for Sinomi, having somehow divined his presence there. Thalarian was all business – other than referring to Sinomi as “old friend” – as he claimed that he was a mere pawn and was bound to serve and carry out the Council’s decree, but Robert seemed to delight in the prospect of what was coming. Discussion did not last long. Sinomi covered himself in darkness to confuse the golems, and summoned a lich to his aid. A Bigby hand – a spell that had apparently become his nemesis – held him in place, however, and he was not in range of the two mages to breach their protections. He was bombarded with ice storms and lightning and could not maintain enough mantles to ward them off. He was killed, with Thalarian delivering the final blow. Sinomi's corpse was later discovered by some of his former students, and they spirited it away. His soul was forced to the Abyss and did not return, and would not return even when others called it. Why this was the case is not known - it is believed that, as eventually happens with everyone, it was Sinomi's time to die. It is rumored that his spirit was transformed into that of a Tanar’ri and he now fights in the Blood War against the devils, but this is not confirmed. The End of Turiva Ilnuru Soon after Sinomi's death, the High Mage Council declared victory and an end to the hunt. However, members of Turiva Ilnuru were banned from the Orders of the Trust, from Visimontium, from all properties related to the Trust, and from any Trust-sponsored events. Nevertheless, without its founder and leader, Turiva Ilnuru was no more.

The Philosophy of Sinomi Sii

The Value of Existence The most important thing to any being is its existence. All else of value is worthless if the being ceases to exist. Existence is thus the only thing of intrinsic value to any being – the only thing valuable in itself. It is the very thing upon which everything else of value is dependent. The most valuable instrumental goods are therefore those that protect a being’s existence. As no being’s existence is entirely safe so long as anyone or anything can end its existence, power, freedom, and self-improvement are the most important things to cultivate. The ultimate goal, to put it another way, is total self-sufficiency – to be able to depend entirely on oneself for everything, including one’s continued existence. Achieving Self-Sufficiency Fundamental to achieving this self-sufficiency is understanding life and death, particularly what can end life and cause death. Living beings can cease to exist for many reasons: severe trauma, poison, disease, or mere aging, for example. A certain class of beings, namely the undead, do not suffer from these weaknesses. They are unaffected by severe trauma, poison, disease, aging and so on, and can often shrug off many attacks to their body, whether the attack be physical, magical, or otherwise elemental. Nor do they need to eat, sleep, or breathe. They are also immune to necromancy, one of the most potent means of causing death to the living. Of course, there are disadvantages to undeath as well. The undead are vulnerable to divine and positive energy, often suffer from cravings, such as for blood, and can be controlled, repulsed or even destroyed by sufficiently powerful clerics. Thus, those who seek total self-sufficiency are unlikely to desire undeath, unless they can become some of the most powerful undead, such as liches. For the rest, the dark art of pale mastery provides a means by which to achieve many of the advantages of undeath without also taking on its disadvantages. The pale master’s deep study of necromancy and undeath and his bond with undead leads to acquiring many of those advantages. True masters of the art can be difficult to distinguish from the undead as they come ever closer to achieving total self-sufficiency.

Opinions

This section is for other players to write in what their characters think of Sinomi. Please do not post anonymously. I will reformat, edit, correct spelling, etc., but not change content, unless the content violates Avlis wiki policy. Note that as part of that policy everything written on this IC wiki page is totally In Character and available for public consumption. What is written here can be used In Game by any and all characters.