Death (Lowellyn Dachine)

Death is the darklord of Necropolis and leads the Unholy Order of the Grave. This creature was formerly Lowellyn Dachine, a Kargat who was in fact both a clone and a prodigy of Azalin Rex. Lowellyn was transformed into a negative energy elemental by the Infernal Machine in the events leading up to the Requiem. He now considers himself to be the true incarnation of Death itself. Death lairs in Grim Fastness in the Old Il Aluk part of the Aluk Meridian borough of Il Aluk.

History

Before Becoming Death

Lowellyn Dachine was initially conceived as part of an attempt by Azalin Rex to get around his curse and learn new magic. Azalin utilized a Wish spell to impregnate several women across Darkon with clones of himself. Azalin hoped to leech the magical knowledge off of these children, though the attempt ultimately failed. Most of these died before birth or were slain early in childhood due to marked deformity, though Dachine and a scant few survived into maturity. As as an adult, Dachine seemed to demonstrate what "S" remarks as an unbalanced loyalty and love of his "father" Azalin, whom Dachine believed he was the illegitimate child of. Yet, according to "S", beneath the veneer of bold courage, Dachine seethed with bitterness at a seeming lack of approval. Beyond this seed for later madness, Dachine showed the most resemblance of his clone kindred to Azalin in personality and drive for achievement and power.

At Azalin's encouragement, Dachine pursued magic, in specific divine magic. He became a priest of the Eternal Order. He also joined the Kargat. Exceptional for a living, normal human, Dachine became a high-ranking officer of the Kargat. He oversaw the construction of the Infernal Machine, a prototype of the Doomsday Device, at the Temple of the Eternal Order in Nartok. Ladislas Sintesti, leader of the Ebon Fold, was to report to him with the progress of the Grim Harvest in Falkovnia. Dachine was even the Infernal Device's first (and only) test subject. In 750 BC, Dachine was transformed into a being of pure negative energy, losing the powers of divine magic but gaining many new unnatural powers in return. As a result of this transformation, Dachine's sanity seriously deteriorated, and a grandiose belief that he was the embodiment of Death began to take root.

The Shrouded Years

After it was was chased out of the Temple of Eternal Order in Nartok by adventurers and returned from the Mists, Death made its way to Il Aluk. There Death helped Azalin with the Grim Harvest until late winter of 750 BC, whereupon the lich king unleashed the Requiem and seemingly disintegrated into nothingness. All life in Il Aluk was snuffed out and reanimated as undead beings. It was then that Death felt emphatic joy. In its deluded mind, Death attributed this turn of events entirely to its own machinations. The Hour of Ascension was at hand, and Death would be the one to enact it and then dominate the changed Darkon. However, Death became trapped in Il Aluk, now dependent upon the Shroud for its existence. Despite this fact, Death was not yet a darklord and lingered not under a curse.

Following Azalin's seeming destruction, Darkon fell into a period of turmoil and chaos called the Shrouded Years. During this period, Death began to exert control and destruction over Darkon through its undead minions. At this point, people began to refer to all of Darkon as "Necropolis". However, a thorn remained in Death's side, for it came to realize Azalin was not truly dead. Instead, Azalin's essence had merely dispersed. As Azalin began to literally get himself together, the nightmares of the Drowning Dreams terrorized people across the land seemingly at random across the land. Three years in, Azalin was coherent enough to begin sending messages to his favored subjects on how to bring him back. However, Death also sense the Drowning Dreams and took steps to intervene. Death created both the Unholy Order of the Grave and the Horsemen and unleashed them upon Darkon, hellbent on preventing (in Death's view) a wayward ghost from escaping its deserved demise.

Ultimately, Death's efforts came to naught. In the summer of 755 BC, Azalin's servants restored him to corporeal form. As Azalin was restored, the Dark Powers made Death into a true darklord for all the murder and discord Death's creations wreaked under its commands. Necropolis came to only refer to Il Aluk and the surrounding environs enveloped in the shroud, and this territory was the limits of Death's domain. In addition, an accursed doubt was introduced into Death's mind, for it no longer exerted the control over all of Darkon's undead as it formerly did.

Current Sketch

Death does its best to impress upon everyone, including itself, that it is the manifestation of true death it claims to be. Death has culled most of the memories of its previous mortal life as Lowellyn Dachine from its mind, yet flickering shadows continue to haunt and torment it. Deep at its core, Death knows its life is a fraud, which causes it eternal horror and shame.

Game Statistics

2nd Edition

• as human: 10th level Priest (2E Class Group), Neutral Evil
• As Death: Hit Dice 10

3rd Edition

• Unique Negative Energy Elemental

Clarification

Lowellyn Dachine is not the Death that Strahd made a pact with to become a vampire. That is a separate entity entirely.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Ravenloft Third Edition Requiem the Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant Death Ascendant Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II
		Requiem the Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant - p62 Death Ascendant - p53, p61 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II - p139
		Requiem the Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant - pp61-64 Death Ascendant - pp52-54, pp60-62 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II - pp137-139
		Secrets of the Dread Realms - pp7, 17, 19, 131-132 Ravenloft Third Edition - pp16 Domains of Dread - p34 Requiem the Grim Harvest - Death Triumphant - pp61-64 Death Ascendant - pp45-46,49-56,60-62 Death Unchained - p64 TSR JAM 1999 - pp39-40, 42 Ravenloft Gazetteer Volume II - pp133-137