Duerte

Duerte is a follower of X'toltn and seeks to free him from imprisonment in exchange for the eternal life he has been promised. He has been given command of the living darkness and become a true Vampyre. He has lived in the caves beneath Fountainhead for 150 years and has found he can no longer venture above ground except during nights of heavy overcast or the new moon.

• Occupation: Necromancer
• Nationality: Theodova
• Family: Jarric (M) and Reginn (F)
• Lifetime: 150 AH - 209 AH; Undead
• Religion: none
• Ethnicity: Human, Vampyre, Theodovans

Duerte has always been drawn to the darkness - even as a child the darkness held no fear for him. He spent much of his youth crawling through the caves that twisted through the mountains near his home. Twice he was able to rescue a child that was drug into the caves by a masked man. When he rescued a third child the town turned against him. The child told them Duerte was the man in the mask who drug him into the caves. Duerte loves to hear the terrified screams of the child when they were left behind in absolute darkness.

On the run he fled south to the Blackthorn Mountains. Long thought to be haunted he sought refuge where none of his people would follow. It was in the dark caves of the mountains that X'toltn first spoke to him. X'toltn whispered to him tales of riches and power, harems of women (both willing and not). None of these interested Duerte, but when he was offered command of a “living darkness” he agreed to X'toltn's terms.

Duerte is now a Vampyre a true creature of the living darkness and has dedicated his existence to freeing X'toltn.

Duerte moved from the mountains to the basalt shelf upon which Fountainhead now stands. It was here where Aegrin and Techiuan imprisoned X'toltn in the sun and waters. In the deepest parts of these caves he studied magic and the ways of the elf. He captured dozens of elves and experimented on them to understand their magic and so understand Aegrin.

His goal was to unlock the first of all things. He needed to draw the ancient ancestors of the elves, the Sidhe, to his lair. He destabilized the portals brought under control by Aegrin to allow the fae to easily cross over, which they did so in number once a Faerie Queen established her domain in this area. His next goal was the find a fragment of the lightstone that Aegrin used to ensure X'toltn would see eternal light. He helped Janos eliminate all of his rivals and establish himself as a powerful leader. Janos then assigned his work crews to searching the ruins and nearby lands for even the smallest fragment of the stone.

To prepare for the ritual Duerte has captured Seirian, a Sidhe Lady, who serves as Aegrin's ancestor.

In the Legacy of Marak campaign the Holy Cup of Techiuan is shattered by Quilate and Keribrar weakening the prison holding X'toltn. A small fragment of X'toltn's power was able to enter this world.