Dante Albrigant

Dante Albrigant
Profile
Status:	Dead
Age:	40 (at time of death)
Race:	Human
Gender:	Male
Class:	Cleric
Nation:	Remon
Faction:	Clergy of Mardük House of Albrigant
Era:	Third Age

Count Dante Albrigant was a high-ranking member of the Clergy of Mardük who ruled over Remon from Fragnar during the years of the Yamatian occupation of Remon. He mind-controlled Leon Alcibiates to take a group of potential heroes to Tes Pellaria, hoping that the spirits of the dead would destroy them. He also created clones of Jemuel under orders from Distreyd Thanadar XII, although he was unaware that a mage named Drishnek was influencing his research from the shadows. Dante was killed by the real Jemuel whose spirit had taken over one of the clone bodies.

Biography

Early Years

Dante was born as a son of Count Virgil and Countess Beatrice Albrigant to the House of Albrigant in Fragnar. His father was a cleric of Mardük, and young Dante began learning tricks of the trade from his father gradually. However, the family did not live a normal life; Virgil was a paedophile and he raped his son every night. Dante could not resist because Virgil's powerful black magic compelled Dante to obey his father's every whim.

Darkness Within

"My power has grown, and yours has weakened throughout these years! Now let us embrace one more time, father, for old times' sake!"

—Dante to Virgil Albrigant

When Dante was 10 years old, Virgil took him and Beatrice to Remonton, the capital of Remon. The family was attacked by marauders, but the arrival of Aramien, Daventhalas de Mont Hault and Omaroch d'Zarnagon turned the tide of battle. Virgil asked them to accompany his family to Remonton, and the trio agreed.

The injured Aramien was put under care of physicians while Omaroch and Daven attended a dinner between the Albrigant family, Jonathan Ferron, and Countess Isabelle and her son Frederic Drima. Dante remained silent and let the others talk. He was very observant during the dinner, though, and learned much valuable information.

Omaroch and his companions soon discovered Virgil's sadistic nature, though, when they found him trying to rape the young Jonathan Ferron. Omaroch helped Ferron and his two companions flee the city while he faced Virgil and Koschei Dravaris. In the end Omaroch was defeated, and he was taken to the laboratories underneath the manor. There Virgil and Koschei subjected Omaroch to horrible experiments in hopes of figuring out how much pain a demon like Omaroch could take. The most disgusting device was the Machine which had been built specifically to break a test person's mind with psychic penetrations. It was more horrible than any physical damage.

Dante had been observing all of this and thought that Omaroch's appearance might finally change everyone's lives one way or another. While Koschei was ordered to meet with a representative from the Order of the Black Rose, Dante used the opportunity and ordered guards and Chaos Dwarves to leave the dungeon for a moment. He claimed that some test subjects had escaped and were running loose in the manor.

Virgil was surprised that Dante was aware of the secret room in the dungeons, and it was then that the horrible truth was revealed: Dante had been secretly studying black magic and had thus been able to dispel some of geas that Virgil had placed on him. The only reason Dante had not acted yet was because he had wanted to grow more powerful in magic so that he could finally slay Virgil.

Dante proved his power by paralyzing Virgil and then he hugged Virgil, disintegrating him in the process. The boy then released the confused Omaroch. He said that he would let Omaroch get out alive if Omaroch would kill Koschei Dravaris in return. Dante explained that Koschei had corrupted Virgil and killed many of Dante's friends, and thus Dante wanted him dead. Omaroch accepted the deal because he too had a score to settle with Koschei. He left Dante behind, never to see him again.

Distreyd Era

"Now, Master Alcibiates, I realize that you have little reason to like me, for the part I played in the regime that occupied this town between your arrival here and that of the Yamatians. I confess now that I was wrong, and may have unwittingly helped to deliver Remon into the hands of the enemy. I wish to redeem myself as best as I am able, by doing what little I am able to drive them back out. But for this, I need your help."

—Dante to Leon Alcibiates

Dante continued his studies in magic and eventually became a cleric of Mardük because he felt it was the best way to hone his skills. He eventually rose in the ranks of the Clergy of Mardük and became the highest-ranking cleric in Remon when Zarnagon was summoned abroad. Dante's ambition was still intact, and High Cleric Distreyd Thanadar XII used this ambition to ask Dante to create clones of Jemuel. Dante did as was told, but he secretly planned to use the clones against Distreyd and Zarnagon and become the next High Cleric of Mardük.

After Mori'sul Agara's unit, including Leon Alcibiates, had smashed the bandits who had been waylaying elvish citizens in Remon in 1000 AE, they entered into Fragnar triumphantly, welcomed by Dante. Leon had never really trusted Dante, and he felt certain in his bones that the count's cooperation was a facade. Nevertheless, Mori'sul Agara accepted Dante's allegiance as legitimate.

Dante used Mori'sul's trust to his advantage and cast his Evil Eye spell on him. Mori'sul came out of a conference with Dante and declared that any prisoners who refused to swear loyalty to the Provisional Government were to be executed as traitors. Among those executed was Dorças Luchester. Leon left the city, and Dante and Mori'sul continued strengthening Remon.

However, only a year or so later the Yamatiansinvaded Remon, and Mori'sul disappeared in the chaos. Dante began serving his new masters; everything had gone exactly as he had planned. Dante spent the months after the Yamatian Invasion perfecting his clones.

He summoned Leon to him in 1003 AE, manipulated him with the Evil Eye and gave him instructions to travel to Tes Pellaria. Dante hoped that Leon would gather enough resistance forces and take the heroes there, and the spirits of the dead would kill everyone in Tes Pellaria. Dante was too confident for his own good, though, and his actions led to the formation of the Fellowship of Tes Pellaria under Marcus Sarillius who would eventually form the Grand Alliance.

Around this time Dante noticed that one of his clones, Apprentice, was successful, and he immediately travelled with the clone to meet Distreyd in Yamato. Distreyd was pleased by Dante's progress and told him to proceed with the plan to use the Apprentice's powers to destroy the Grand Alliance. However, when Dante returned to Fragnar, he realized that the Grand Alliance had grown more powerful than he had anticipated. He began planning a strategy to defeat the Alliance who now posed a threat to his plans.

Death

"I do not have to obey your orders anymore, Dante. For you see, in trying to bring back my power, in your typical ineptitude and haste, you have inadvertently brought back me."

"What are you talking about? I--"

—Jemuel and Dante

The Apprentice regained his memories of his past life as well as his ambition while Dante was busy repelling the Alliance's attacks. The Apprentice named himself Jemuel and appeared in front of Dante who realized too late what had happened. Jemuel killed Dante in cold blood and assumed Dante's identity for the time being to fool Dante's other underlings. Ironically Dante's death was similar to Virgil's: both were disintegrated by black magic.

Dante never realized that he had only been a pawn of the lich Drishnek who had used him to bring Jemuel back to the Land of the Living. Dante's actions had grave ramifications for the world as a whole because without his work Jemuel would never have been able to come back to life in such a powerful clone body.

Aliases and Nicknames

Lord Dante

Used by lower-ranked clerics of Mardük.

Appearance

Average height, thin (practically wasted), white hair. Gaunt, pale features, rasping voice. Looked older than he was.

Personality and Traits

A bastard.

Powers and Abilities

Innate Ability: The Evil Eye. Dante could stun or hypnotize people if he made direct eye contact with them. This ability had already been used on Leon. It could be resisted through a strong-willed effort. Often, Dante caused his victims to forget what has happened in order to preclude such an effort, but if the victim was caused to remember any of what was forgotten, they could easily throw off the rest of the enchantment. The Evil Eye could not be used to modify personality.

Relationships

Distreyd Thanadar XII

Distreyd considered Dante a great asset to the Clergy of Mardük, but Dante only obeyed Distreyd in order to betray him with the clones at a later date.

Jemuel

Dante treated Jemuel like a slave. He only saw Jemuel as a means to destroy Distreyd. However, Jemuel regained his memories and eventually betrayed Dante who he saw as a hindrance to his plans.

Koschei Dravaris

Dante hated Koschei Dravaris once he broke free of Virgil's mind control spell. He knew of the vile experiments Koschei had conducted and how Koschei had turned Virgil into a sociopath. When Omaroch appeared, Dante used him to get rid of Koschei, although he was unaware that Koschei survived the encounter.

Leon Alcibiates

Dante manipulated Leon once he had used Mori'sul Agara. He hoped that Leon would lead any rebel elements to their doom in Tes Pellaria, but he severely underestimated not only Leon who eventually broke free of the Evil Eye spell but also the will of the Fellowship who accompanied Leon. Although Leon was suspicious of Dante, the Evil Eye prevented him from assessing the situation properly, and it took some time for him to break free of the spell and realize what a backstabbing bastard Dante had been.

Mori'sul Agara

Dante manipulated Mori'sul when he realized that the elves had crushed the anti-elven movement that the Clergy of Mardük had backed. He used the dark elf to turn Remon into a dictatorship and more ripe for Yamatian forces to conquer with all the internal division. Mori'sul was under the Evil Eye and thus only saw Dante as a trustworthy advisor. It would take years of self-reflection for Mori'sul to figure out that Dante had been evil all along.

Omaroch d'Zarnagon

Dante's meeting with Omaroch was brief but it gave him an opportunity to kill Virgil. He used Omaroch as a means to dispose of Koschei Dravaris, but he was more than willing to get rid of Omaroch if needed. Omaroch left Dante on his own, thinking that he should not influence Dante's decisions, and the two never met again.

Virgil Albrigant

Virgil was a paedophile who brutally raped Dante whenever he had the chance. Dante eventually broke free of the mind control spell and began learning black magic in secret in order to destroy his father. He finally managed to kill Virgil when he had turned 10, and it gave him great satisfaction to see Virgil disintegrate in front of his eyes.

See also

• Clergy of Mardük
• Clones of Jemuel
• Darkness Within
• Distreyd Thanadar XII
• Fragnar
• House of Albrigant
• Jemuel
• Koschei Dravaris
• Leon Alcibiates
• Mori'sul Agara
• Omaroch d'Zarnagon