Sinomi Sii - Volume 1, 2nd Edition

Sinomi Sii Vol. 1 2nd Ed.

Sinomi Sii is a Drangonari Pale Master. Over the course of his existence, he has been: the founder and leader of Turiva Ilnuru; a Great Mage of Internal Affairs and member of the High Mage Council for the Ebony Order of the Moon; a Master Necromancer, Deathless Master, and Senior Mage of Verloghokbol for the Violet Order of the Skull.

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.

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 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 entries are based upon persistent rumors. The claims are not verified.

Yal'Drea: As part of the conditions to join the Ebony Order, Sinomi was required to demonstrate his resourcefulness by aiding the Order in a certain matter concerning Yal'Drea, an elder vampire of the Rift in Ferrell. Yal'Drea was one of the first vampires created by Se'Fassu, the vampire inadvertently released into the world by followers of Gorethar when they dug too far below the temple they had built there, thus exposing an opening to the plane of shadow. The vampires used this fissure and their access to the negative energy plane to create rifts beneath the temple that gave them great strength and regenerative powers, but the Gorethites eventually sealed the temple, which kept the vampires contained. Yal'Drea wished to no longer be contained and sought help from various members of the Ebony Order. Sinomi collected numerous ingredients that were required, including some incredibly rare ingredients that required special means to procure, such as essences of lightning, a lammasu head, and a greater gorgon scale. Sinomi completed this task and was soon admitted to the Order. He then joined the effort completely to free Yal'Drea, and the Order was eventually successful. It is rumored that the powerful, necromantic boots worn by Sinomi were rewarded to him by Yal'Drea for his part in freeing her.

Se'Fassu: Over time, the magical seal that resided over the ancient Rift temple in Ferrell weakened, and 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. (More is told of these events in the story of Le'Athyed'Dru'El.) 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.

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 believed that the fact that he was 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

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.