Drishnek

	Drishnek
	Profile
Status:	Undead
Age:	Unknown
Race:	Lich
Gender:	Male
Class:	Necromancer
Nation:	Libaterra
Faction:	Totenkopfs; Council of Mages (formerly); Magicracy of Alent (formerly);
Era:	All Ages

"Yer sacrifice, it will not be in vain, mon. Ye will serve me from da underworld!"

—Drishnek, after possessing a new body

Drishnek is a powerful lich who has lived a long life and has worked for some nefarious purpose, manipulating his "masters" for his own ends. He hates especially Leon Alcibiates whom he sees as a meddling fool who has opposed his plans for too long. He became the advisor of Jemuel in Alent after the Cataclysm and was later revealed to be the one manipulating both the Magicracy of Alent and the Totenkopfs. After his plan to control Jemuel was foiled, he was seemingly defeated but survived through the use of dark magic. He reunited with Kamen Grimgaze after his resurrection and is currently acting as the co-leader of the Totenkopfs.

Biography

Early Years

A Sinister Path

Details about Drishnek's past before Taro Ofuchi's rise to power are unknown, although some suspect he was originally a human necromancer. What is known, however, is that he somehow managed to summon himself back from the Land of the Dead at some point, becoming a lich and a herald of Death as he began furthering his dark master's plans from the shadows.

Ofuchi Usurpation

"I've just sent two bounty hunters after Hayabusa. If they discover that the jewels I've paid them with are fake, or when they recover Krystallopyr, kill them."

—Taro Ofuchi to Drishnek

The first known record of Drishnek's activities in the Land of the Living was when he served the black shaman Taro Ofuchi and helped him usurp the throne in Grandbell during the Ofuchi Usurpation period in the Second Age. However, this role was only an act as Drishnek planned to use Ofuchi's powers to unleash an army of the dead in the world once he would get his hands on the magic sword Krystallopyr that the samurai Hiroshi Hayabusa had stolen from Ofuchi.

Ofuchi hired a group of mercenaries and ordered them to locate Krystallopyr and assassinate the rightful heir to the throne, Takeshi Seito, in Isaac. Drishnek was ordered to betray the mercenaries eventually, but he never managed to do that when he was summoned back to Ofuchi's tower where he and Ofuchi confronted a group led by Hiroshi Hayabusa himself who had come to defeat Ofuchi.

Hiroshi eventually killed Ofuchi's ass while the samurai's companion Daventhalas de Mont Hault disposed of Drishnek. Although Drishnek's body was destroyed, his soul lived on in his phylactery, and he planned to resurrect himself eventually and kill the ones who had dared to oppose him.

Power Behind the Throne

"Are we to trade the shackles of Cardia for those of the underworld? Tell me one time where consorting with the likes of Drishnek has ever turned out well?"

—Richelieu to Omaroch d'Zarnagon about Drishnek

Drishnek reappeared sometime after Leon Alcibiates had been reborn as a revenant in the Third Age. It is unclear whether Drishnek had been scheming before this resurrection or if Leon's rebirth drew Drishnek's spirit to the Land of the Living. However, he soon found a suitable host and began his nefarious schemes as the Great War engulfed the world into the flames of war.

The lich was responsible for influencing the dark cleric Dante Albrigant to create the Clones of Jemuel, and eventually he managed to use the rift Leon's existence had left behind between the lands of the living and the dead to drag the original Jemuel's spirit into one of the clone bodies. He watched with satisfaction as the resurrected Jemuel regained his memories over time and murdered Dante. Drishnek and Jemuel ordered the remaining, imperfect clones to assist the Grand Alliance in taking the cricket ball to the reactor core beneath Lutherin in Libaterra.

When the reactor core was destroyed and the Alliance had to flee, Drishnek, Jemuel and a bunch of others mages appeared and conveniently saved the day. What would become the Magicracy of Alent had taken its first step, and all went exactly as Drishnek had planned. Around this time Drishnek had also began collaborating with the death-seeking Totenkopfs whom he could easily influence. He secretly became the teacher of the Master of the Totenkopfs, hoping to use the Master's intellect and ambition to further the goals of Death.

Jemuel was beginning to show traits of a benevolent dictator, though, so Drishnek took him firmer into his grip by using mind control, which annoyed some members of the Magicracy of Alent#Council of Mages, particularly Richelieu and Omaroch d'Zarnagon who suspected foul play. Drishnek's power over Jemuel was absolute, however, so his opponents in the council could do nothing but watch the deterioration of Jemuel's personality under the lich's sinister influence. Drishnek thought that his opponents could do nothing else to stop him, but he would be proven wrong as time would go on.

Godslayer Era

Echoes of War

"The only true power is that of Death itself. Don't you see? It is inevitable..."

"That sounds like Totenkopf speak to me, lich!"

"Hahahaha! The Totenkopfs? They are useless! Oh yes, I tried using them to my own ends, but they have no idea about the dark power they dabble in! Once Jemuel raises his undead army, we will be unstoppable! We will deliver this world unto death!"

—Drishnek and Ariadne

Drishnek continued serving as a member of the Council of Mages and as Jemuel's closest advisor. During one of his missions outside Alent he happened to enter an inn where he noticed a group of travellers. He was surprised when he recognized the scent of an individual he thought had died a long time ago: Leon Alcibiates. Drishnek immediately teleported back to Alent to report this incident to Jemuel.

Leon's group eventually reached Alent and were escorted to Jemuel's throne room. Drishnek was annoyed by Leon's antics, but the tone soon changed when Omaroch's slip of the tongue revealed Drishnek's identity to Leon who remembered Drishnek from Ofuchi's tower and immediately attackeded the lich verbally. Drishnek mocked Leon's efforts to find a cure to the Blood Fever, although he secretly hoped that Leon would not succeed as the Blood Fever played a part in Death's plans.

Jemuel sent Leon's group to a nearby inn, and Drishnek realized that time was running out in case Leon or anyone else could figure out his plans. Drishnek had a short verbal confrontation with Richelieu who left, and then he began influencing Jemuel more heavily than before. He urged Jemuel to slay Leon's party and use them as undead soldiers against the Crimson Coalition. The lich's mind control worked once more, and Jemuel agreed to follow with the plan after a bit of hesitation.

Some time later Drishnek and Jemuel began the unholy rites that would finally make Drishnek's dream come true. However, they were surprised when a group of dark knights led by none other than Richelieu appeared to stop the ceremony. Richelieu used the power of the Beacon of Alent to stop both him and Jemuel, and Drishnek faced the knights and mocked their efforts. One of the knights, Ariadne, surprised the lich by suddenly turning herself and her companions into paladins, and they defeated Drishnek.

However, the lich showed greater power than anyone had expected. When Jemuel and Richelieu were freed from stasis, Drishnek rose up, approached them and pleaded with Jemuel. He explained that it was Jemuel's destiny to be the champion of the Underworld, but a slip of the tongue made it clear to Jemuel that Drishnek had been the one responsible for dragging his soul back to the Land of the Living and that he would just be another pawn of Drishnek's. Jemuel finally stood up against the lich, claiming that he was not the person he used to be and that he would guide Alent to a better future without Drishnek's aid.

Drishnek prepared to kill Jemuel for such insolence, but he heard a strange voice, which belonged to Death, saying that he had failed and that his gift of undeath had thus been revoked. Drishnek's powers were suddenly weakened, and he realized he had failed his master in the Underworld. Angered by this, Drishnek fled and headed for the inn where he knew Leon would be in. If he were to be defeated again, he would make sure to at least take his old enemy Leon with him to the grave.

Leon wetted his pants when Drishnek appeared in a mad rage inside the inn. The lich killed many with his furious magical attacks, forcing Leon and the others to flee. Things turned even more dangerous when the Vulfsatz, who also wanted Leon dead, appeared on the scene. When everything seemed lost, Ariadne and two of her knights appeared to save the day. The Vulfsatz realized that they had lost the element of surprise and vanished, and Drishnek was eventually destroyed by the joint effort of Ariadne and one of Leon's companions, the paladin Khasra III. It seemed that Drishnek's scheming had finally come to an end.

A Crimson Dawn

"There's no hope of normalizing relations with Remon before Maar Sul, and Drishnek has seen to it that we have little chance of that. I wonder if the bastard foresaw that as well."

"Perhaps one last attempt at keeping people from uniting against the Crimson Coalition."

—Jemuel and Richelieu about Drishnek

Although Drishnek had seemingly been vanquished for good this time, his plan had managed to hinder the alliance between Alent and the Grand Alliance. The Maar Sulais group fled the city quickly after Drishnek's attack, and the recovered Jemuel realized that Drishnek had won the first round by making Leon's group doubt Alent's motivations.

Alent began preparing for war, although some members of the council still hoped to talk to the Grand Alliance and Leon eventually in order to unite against the growing menace of the Crimson Coalition and the demon-controlled Yamato.

Drishnek was not quite dead yet, though: his spirit had somehow lingered on, and a week after his defeat he possessed one of his acolytes deep within the Alentian catacombs. It would take time for him to regain his strength, but he promised to make the Council of Mages and Leon Alcibiates pay for their meddling in his plans.

Sowing Season

Drishnek contacted the Master and managed to get back in his favour. They lured the Shadow and Xerathas d'Zarnagon into the catacombs beneath Alent where Drishnek met them personally and captured Xerathas to fulfill his nefarious goals. He posed under the alias of Teacher in order to not make the Shadow suspicious, and he restored the Shadow back to its original self: Taliesin. Although Drishnek hated Taliesin, he needed his wisdom in order to promote the Master's campaign, and he told the revived Taliesin his sinister plan, to which Taliesin agreed for his own reasons. Thus a new alliance of sorts had been formed between the former Andain lord and the Totenkopfs.

The Point of No Return

Drishnek plotted behind the scenes when the Alliance and the Sarquil appeared at Alent's gates to seek sanctuary. He sent his agents to attack the Alliance camp while posing as Alentian guards, but he did so to not only discredit Alent in the Alliance's eyes but to also distract them while he sent Mordecai de Ardyn and Cain Highwind to eliminate Leon who was travelling with the Alliance. Although Drishnek's minions managed to cause quite a bit of chaos, the heroes managed to save Leon just in time and captured Mordecai and Cain. Drishnek had suffered a setback, but he had the cunning to carry on and turn his defeat into victory over time.

While Drishnek was brewing his Dread Garlic of Mind Control potions, he saw one of his acolytes, Edward Cullen, enter the catacombs with Razoul, Rain and Razravkar Dominus. Drishnek, not revealing his identity and simply posing as the Teacher once more, lured them to eat his garlic soup, which instantly knocked Razoul and Rain out. The lich had different plans for Razravkar, however, who was a necromancer. He offered the necromancer a deal: he'd be allowed to leave the catacombs alive and even get paid if he delivered a message to Cain who was imprisoned in the Alliance camp. Seeing no other option, Razravkar agreed to the terms and did what he was told and also escorted Rain and Razoul out of the catacombs before the effects of the lich's spell would wear out.

Drishnek later received Cain's reply to his message through his liaison Zenobia. He revealed to the woman his undead self and promised to make her one of the Master's Blessed because he saw potential in her. Zenobia was pleased by this and swore to promote the Totenkopfs' plans. However, Zenobia was only yet another pawn in Drishnek's grand scheme which he was slowly putting into motion.

Aliases and Nicknames

Mr. Garlic: A derogatory nickname given by Leon.

Teacher: A title used by the Master of the Totenkopfs whom Drishnek had been teaching in secret.

Appearance

A piss-soaked mage; in other words he wears yellow mage robes. He wears gloves and a mask to hide his lich features. As a lich he looks rather skeletal and decaying because of his heavy use of dark magic which keeps deteriorating his host bodies, and his skull and bones have a rather yellow-ish tint to them. His eyes glow blue as his unholy spirit occupies the host body and keeps it from crumbling.

Personality and Traits

"YOU ARE MINE TO BE USED!"

—Drishnek to Jemuel

Drishnek is a cold and manipulating person who only sees people as a means to an end. He has used various people as pawns, including Jemuel, Taro Ofuchi, and the Master of the Totenkopfs with varying levels of success. He used to be a loyal servant of the Land of the Dead and wanted to promote the rise of the dead. However, when Death revoked Drishnek's gift of undeath as punishment after failing one time too many, Drishnek became a wild card, no longer bound to his former master and free to pursue his schemes however he pleased.

Drishnek also wants to roast that sheep Leon and spice up the poor bard's meat with garlic. Believe me, garlicmancy will revolutionize the kitchen! Drishnek is quite fond of an ancient and powerful herb, the Allium Sativum Telepathae, also known as the Dread Garlic of Mind Control, and he is secretly growing it in the catacombs beneath Alent.

Powers and Abilities

Drishnek is a skilled in shamanic and shadow magic as was shown during his rampage through Alent when he hurled destructive shadow bolts at his enemies. He is also skilled in close combat although his body is frail, but his hand can deform into a claw-like appendage that can rip weaker opponents apart easily.

Unlike other undead, Drishnek is a lich and can summon himself back from the dead, although that power has severely weakened after he lost his gift of undeath for having failed Death one time too many. In short, Drishnek is a body snatcher. When one body gets too old--and aging can be accelerated by some of the dark magics a lich would use--he just finds another young person, drains their soul, and takes over their body. Although it is possible for him as a lich to take over the body of someone of the opposite sex, it would be more difficult, and he would be extremely uncomfortable until he found a host of the same sex as he was during life. Even if Drishnek changes bodies while the old one is still good, the old body dies.

Relationships

Jemuel

Drishnek acted as Jemuel's advisor, but in fact he was only using the mage for creating the army of the dead which could then attack every living being in the world. Jemuel was under heavy Mind Control, but he was released from it by Richelieu. When Jemuel regained his pride and mind, he defied Drishnek. The lich would have killed Jemuel on the spot, but his powers were drained. Jemuel was both shocked and enraged when he realized what Drishnek had been doing, and he would spend a long time fixing the damages Drishnek's machinations had caused.

Leon Alcibiates

Drishnek may remember Leon from the Ofuchi Usurpation, but he is in a different body now, and Leon is mortal, so Leon will not know Drishnek from the crack in his ass. They eventually recognized each other, however, and immediately became hostile. This escalated up to the point when Drishnek openly attacked Leon with all his might, intent on killing Leon.

Richelieu

Richelieu and Drishnek never got along, especially when Richelieu became the first person to realize what Drishnek's goals were. Jemuel's power was the only thing that prevented Drishnek from killing Richelieu outright, although he often tried to make Jemuel finish Richelieu off. Richelieu was furious that he would have to serve a being from the Land of the Dead and planned to use Ariadne and her knights to finally rid Jemuel of Drishnek's influence.

Taro Ofuchi

Drishnek posed as a loyal servant of Taro Ofuchi. The mage was intelligent, so the lich had to act carefully when he was around him. However, Ofuchi was just another fool to be used for Drishnek, but he let the mage imagine that he was in control of Drishnek and not vice versa. The partnership between the two came to an end when Hiroshi Hayabusa eventually killed Ofuchi, and Hiroshi's friends defeated Drishnek.

Trivia

Drisnek's name came from "chesnek," the Ukrainian word for garlic. Thus all of the garlic jokes.