"Sadistic people are like that… but evidence is hard to come by. At least Amel is blatant about his dark deeds. Darkness and despair is in Rishkin's wake, but never is he linked to the maelstrom he creates." -Keeper Jiles Blon
Rishkin. In some far away land, it translates to brother of chaos. The man has a gravitational pull that attracts that same chaos to him faster than even his great skills or silver tongue can muster it. Once one of the most nefarious of villains, his greatest talent seems to be in keeping himself out of harm's way at the hands of the people he has wronged over his long years on Thain. Clever, but unlucky, as it seems everytime he clears one obstacle, three more fall in his path. -Athelas68
Rishkin is played by UltimatiumOmega.
Rishkin Templar is a human necromancer and former demonologist, and is responsible for various deeds and atrocities that have occurred across the island of Thain. He is feared, respected, and similarly the target of hate for many individuals on the island. His distaste for various groups is well known, including the Circle Defense Forces and The Keepers.
Appearance
- Race/Sex: Human Male
- Age: 33
- Height: 6'2"
- Weight: 182 lbs
- Hair: Brown wavy, disarranged, with gray strands
- Eyes: Dark Brown
- Languages Known: Common, Elven, Infernal, Abyssal, Undercommon, Draconic
- Tattoos: His right bicep has a picture of a succubus, wingspan flared and a tail emerging from the dress. His left arm has a woman in robes with an urn, conjuring various undead. His backside has "Forbidden In Heaven Useless In Hell" written in Elvish, stretching from shoulder to shoulder.
Left arm tattoo (larger version here):
Right bicep tattoo:
Pre-Thain
Rishkin has rarely spoken about his life before making his way to the island of Thain. From the details he does manage to unveil, he worked as a bartender, using the money to pay for wizard schooling in the city of Neverwinter. He excelled at necromancy, before some event placed him in prison at the age of 18. There he spent some time, before being suddenly released, and deported off to Thain.
Lynest
Rishkin first made headway when he decided to join Pariah Fetton and the Talons of Tiamat when they challenged paladin Lynest Hallion at Moribund Bog. Much to the shock of many, Rishkin played an important role, stripping Lynest of her defensive auras and allowing the Talons to defeat her quickly. However, Lynest's death acted as a martyr, symbolizing the unity of good forces against evil.
Syann's Order & The Circle Defense Forces
Rishkin soon found himself swept up in constant battle, under the servitude of General Kintaro of Syann's Order. At the time, the Circle Defense Forces had enacted numerous attacks against the Poisonwood, and Kintaro demanded retribution against the CDF for these transgressions. He was pivotal in the ambushing and assassination of various CDF members.
The Feud with Red
During the time that he was acting as an agent for Syann's Order, he had become enamored with Gwen Fynolds, a half-elven woman whom he had met early during his time on the island. When Rariulduil E'tanis D'amattre (a.k.a. 'Red') returned to the island, the grounds for a feud were quickly laid. Rarylduil, who had come from the fourth layer of the Nine Hells of Baator, had greatly opposed Rishkin's demonology, and vice-versa. Their feud came to a breaking point, when Rishkin attacked Red without warning, causing a brutal, destructive battle in Raven's Watch. Red was slain, and Rishkin called a balor to drag his body into the Abyss. It was there that Rishkin ended up breaking Red's magic staff, Phlegethos' Flame, rendering it ineffective. However, Rarylduil escaped, and returned to the Material Plane.
Kintaro
The Circle Defense Forces had managed to capture General Kintaro, leaving the Poisonwood and Syann's Order without a leader. Rishkin and a member of the Order captured Isilme, a CDF infantrywoman, and using torture, found out that Kintaro was being held in Greenvale. Soon afterward, a gate to the Abyss had opened up in Greenvale, with demonic hordes spewing forth from the gate to attack the elves. With the aid of Drogo Burrows, the gate was closed, but the damage had been done. Queen Yu'syu, in defense of the city, plunged both of Kintaro's blades into his chest, killing him, hoping to save her people from any further attack. A member of Syann's Order claimed the body and weapons, and was supposed to deliver them to the Poisonwood for burial. However, his body never made it there.
Soon afterward, Kintaro was spotted during the night, speaking of rage, and hunting Rishkin down. It appeared that Rishkin had somehow made General Kintaro a vampire, and was unable to control him. Rishkin, with the aid of friends and Keepers, ended up hunting down Kintaro in the Feywood, where he had made a shelter from the light. With a great battle, Kintaro was blasted into dust with a burst of sunlight. Rishkin threw down the Seal of Syann afterward, revealing his affiliation, and subsequent removal. The elves of Feywood declared Rishkin a criminal however, claiming his responsibility for endangering the elves of Feywood with the creation of a vampire.
Receiving Taint
While spending an evening consulting with ally Slaith Drachinas, both men were ambushed by forces and kidnapped. They awoke in the lair of Eran-Ku, a shapeshifting wizard who had been at odds with Slaith for many years. Lying on tables, bound and unable to free themselves, Eran-Ku injected them with various narcotics, as well as substances from the Plane of Shadows. With Rishkin and Slaith minds' succumbed to the toxins, they eventually accepted the shadows' power, and used it instead as a treatment, allowing them to awaken and break free of their mental prisons. Eran-Ku was defeated, but had fled when he knew the battle was lost. Rishkin and Slaith walked away, both playing host to a corrupted essence. Rishkin's arcana was directly altered, and Slaith's sneaking abilities were enhanced.
Abyssal Trip
After a great deal of time, the madness and trauma of constantly interacting with the Abyss had taken its toll, one that Rishkin needed to remove himself from, as soon as possible. He ventured into the Abyss twice, once to slay Chedyna’ria, a powerful demoness that had assembled her own army after many millenia of existence, one that Rishkin struggled to bypass, with violent results. Tired and weary, he eventually dueled the demoness, who had shunned the mortal form for something much more grotesque. Rishkin was able to triumph over the demoness, but at a large cost; his life. A group of adventurers had watched Rishkin during this time, and went to retrieve his body soon after he passed into the realm of death.
Abyssal Trip, part 2
As great as the liberation that the prior trip earned him, it was not enough, as the Intrius Prognatus, a staff of Abyssal design and make, was still in Rishkin's possession. He decided to make a second trip to the Abyss, facing the succubus matron Zexzel in her fortress on the most chaotic layer of the Abyss, one that Rishkin created using the staff long prior. With the destruction of the staff, the plane itself started to break apart and shatter, with Rishkin trapped from escaping.
Split Sides
The staff was destroyed in the collapse of the plane, but so was Rishkin, who found a duplicate of himself in a vast, open, and empty plane. Reports started coming in of two Rishkin Templars roaming the island, one faithful, caring, and honest, the other cruel and manipulative. When these reports began to circulate, they met face to face in a lair far underneath the city of Steinkries. One version of Rishkin had found a demon named The Wretched, and attempted to barter with it, while the other spurned the attempt, defeating it. However, it was here that they each learned that they are halves of a whole, and that unless fused together, they would soon fade out from existence altogether. Many former allies of Rishkin met with each iteration, to hopefully convince the two to work together, and keep them from being erased outright. It was soon conceived that in order to combine the two halves, they would need to travel back to that empty, open void, and merge them there.
Unfortunately, the more malicious side was caught and captured, much to the group's dismay. Observing a large boat not far from where one Rishkin was deported off to, the other transformed into a dragon, and attempted to board the vessel. However, with a blast of anti-magic, it only served as allowing them all to be caught. The captain of the ship, Kathias, revealed himself to be a demonic king, that wished for the necromancer to serve him. Using a blade called Eventide, his plan backfired, as it separated both aspects of Rishkin's morality, and proved to be elusive to capture. However, Kathias was convinced to allow Gharos and Rishkin to open up the void plane. With Kathias enraged that Rishkin might yet again escape, he struck down one of them, and revealed to all that he was to absorb the powers of the necromancer, in order to continue his rule. A battle ensued, and Kathias was defeated: his body was left in the barren empty plane, though there has been no proof that it is stuck there.
With the ritual completed, Rishkin emerged, liberated from pressure or influence by other being, and whole for the first time.
What is not commonly known…
- Rishkin is fond of and has been trained to play piano. Much to his dismay, there are no pianos on Thain.
- Despite being a necromancer himself, Rishkin despises other necromancers, because they focus on nothing more than power, and dominance, instead of understanding and study. There are rare exceptions to this rule, however, and Rishkin will go out of his way to aid those he feels are worth aiding.
- Rishkin's mother was of Thayan blood, though she had done extremely well to hide this from Rishkin, who still is unaware of it to this day.
- The necromancer is a father of a little girl, whom he has never met, for that woman knew of who he was, and the madness that consumed him, opting to hide away forever.
{{Note to players interacting with Rishkin:
I play Rishkin as a human being, with emotions, morals, goals, and mistakes alike. He is capable of many things, though he also has to deal with the errors of his past, as well as stride toward being a necromancer in a world where necromancy is frowned upon by many of the island's residents. He hurts people, whether knowingly or not, and is now a being who has to be re-introduced to the world without being controlled by facets of his past. If you do not like the way I play this character, then stay away.}}
