Emperor Mischavek and his ilk have outlived their usefulness, and circumstances require that we accelerate our plans. Collect a contingent of your men, go to the capital, and eliminate him, his sons, his advisors, and the hierarchy of the Govoryan Guard. Indulge yourself... we have bowed to these fools for long enough. Without their leaders, confusion will reign, and we will have more than enough time to reclaim Suraxis while they stumble over one another When next we meet, I will bear the full capabilities of our old empire once more, and we shall use that power to re-forge Govorya into a new age. MY age.

Lord Akashaar, to a lieutenant just prior to his final departure

Name: Akashaar
Species: Black Nejiri (Western Dragon)
Gender: Male
Faction: Nejiri Empire, later Black Dragon
Campaign Chapter Appearances: 3
Background: There are those with ambition, and then there was Lord Akashaar, one of the few survivors of the ancient Nejiri Empire, and one who saw the collapse of his own society as an opportunity rather than a tragedy.

Nearly all of Akashaar's early life is lost to history. It is known that he joined the sixteen member Nejiri ruling council at a mature age, proving to be both a shrewd politician as well as a master sorcerer. It was generally accepted that he always had an agenda of his own, but never revealed it until success was inevitable, and was a master at playing others off against one another. Other counselors were wary of his designs, but he never overplayed his hand to the point where others would outright refuse to deal with him.

During the waning days of the Nejiri empire, a drive towards expansion became popular, notions of a great destiny written in the stars, something that Akashaar supported whole-heartedly along with many others. Their forces began pushing out in all directions, entering conflict with the Great Birds to the east, the Autarchs of Calabria, and the Celestial Bureaucracy of Zhongguo to name a few. Initial gains were promising, as from the military ranks came Lord Morridax, the fearsome general renowned for his power and prowess, whom Akashaar saw as something of a rival given the other's rising popularity.

Still, the situation deteriorated as opponents regrouped and reorganized after initial incursions by Nejiri forces, and a string of high-profile defeats saw the Nejiri pushed back towards their home territory of Govorya. Arguments over what had gone wrong and who was to blame dominated the council chambers, and it was Akashaar who suggested the possibility of a betrayal by their own martial leadership, laying the blame squarely on Morridax, nearly at a level of treason. Morridax, who had faithfully and eagerly supported the Empire's expansionist goals all the way to the end, vehemently denied such allegations, and declared that if the council had provided him more resources, a clearer strategy, or a stronger resolve, they would not be here looking for scapegoats. This strategy of counter-blaming, valid or not, did not go over well. Akashaar had been doing some back-room diplomacy as well, convincing other counselors that even in defeat, Morridax was still dangerously popular, and his words carried weight, the kind that could undermine the council itself if allowed to spread. Faced with potentially being blamed for the mess themselves, the majority of the council sided with Akashaar, and Morridax was imprisoned, dragged from the ruling chambers while vowing retribution.

Through coincidence or otherwise, things worsened further still. A great plague swept through the empire, afflicting only Nejiri, and leaving their servants, the races of the 'lesser peoples' untouched. It was a horribly debilitating disease that killed nearly nine tenths of those struck by it, and left most survivors weak. So many died that the Nejiri empire descended into almost total anarchy. Survivors of the plague began feuding, reviving old grudges in the face of so many power vacuums. In some areas, where the lesser peoples were left leaderless, slave uprisings became common as their servants embraced their new freedom.

The end came when the surviving members of the Nejiri hierarchy grouped at their great city of Suraxis along with their loyal followers. Using their most powerful magics, the city and its surrounding landscape rose from the ground, turning to a flying island, which promptly departed to the north. The Nejiri left behind would continue to try and rebuild, but with so few, and their foundations ripped up, their numbers dwindled, until their very existence faded into myth.

Akashaar's role during this time remains unclear. The plague never deigned to touch him, for one reason or another, and when Suraxis rose, he was not on it. It is unknown how he survived the millennia-long expanse of time between the collapse and the present day... Nejiri could lead extended lives, but this duration would represent a stretch, even for one of their kind. Regardless, he waited, watched the lesser peoples build their own cultures atop the ruins of the old one, evolving into tribes, then kingdoms, and finally the modern Govoryan Empire.

A time came when the Order of the Ancient Blades came into existence, an organization under the Govoryan Emperor tasked with researching and reverse engineering artifacts and magics from the Nejiri age. One line of study involved recovery Nejiri souls, held in stasis containers, and merging them with compatible individuals in hopes of creating hybrids that would possess enhanced physical and magical attributes. The process produced mixed results at first, but did produce a number of empowered individuals that not only possessed some measure of Nejiri power, but also varying levels of their memories as well. Several individuals merged with souls belonging to Nejiri who had known of Akashaar before the collapse, and ascertaining his fate became a private priority for them. Their efforts would prove ultimately successful, but rather than finding merely remnants of a legacy, the found Akashaar himself.

Akashaar casually dispatched those amongst the expedition that he knew would oppose him, and conversed with the others, better understanding how fates had brought them back to him, learning much and seeing fresh potentials in this new Order. Caution would be warranted at first... while Akashaar and his new allies were powerful, they were few in number, and would be at a disadvantage if discovered too early. From there, Akashaar served as something of a secret advisor to his followers, guiding them to certain beneficial discoveries and dictating the removal of Order members who could prove problematic to his future plans. His largest contribution was to assist in refining the merging process, and providing the location of a hidden vault of stored souls, and ensuring that the ones chosen for merged attempts were Nejiri who would be loyal to his plans. The number of 'agents' grew, and within a few decades the Order was entirely run by those who had sworn fealty to Lord Akashaar. The organization became more secretive and broke many of its earlier connections, reporting only to the Govoryan Emperor, and even then, maintained its own hidden agenda. Akashaar transitioned from an advisor to a shadow leader, locating his sanctum in the caverns beneath the organization's headquarters at Kallador Keep. The Order was, at this point, rebuilt into the Black Dragon, a gesture of respect to its new leader.

Akashaar's plan at this point involved the continued recovery and salvage of Nejiri materials, sharing just enough of it with their Imperial masters to maintain an illusion of usefulness, though most members of the monarchy began to suspect that the Black Dragon had their own plans, and thus kept a close watch on them. While this was an impediment to Akashaar's schemes, it was an expected one, and he urged patience. Their opportunity would come. The ultimate goal was the recovery of the lost island of Suraxis and the treasure trove of knowledge and materials it contained. There had been no word from it for centuries, and Akashaar expected it to be fully abandoned, capable of being secured by Black Dragon forces, at which point they would become unstoppable. But reaching Suraxis would not be easy, as it sat in the center of a massive polar vortex far beyond the northern tundra. Transportation would be a solvable issue... Akashaar had directed his agents to the remnants of a salvageable Nejiri shipyard, where they could recover the needed materials, and could construct their airborne vessel under the guise of gifting a new flying fortress to their glorious Emperor. The larger issue was that there were few safe paths through the vortex, and a number of guidestones has been left behind after the departure to point the way for any Nejiri left behind. Recovery of one of these guidestones was to be top priority, and Black Dragon agents kept continual watch for rumors that could lead to one.

When war broke out, the Black Dragon opted to remain loyal to the Imperialists... their base of operations was deep in Imperialist territory, and, more importantly, they believed that the new Emperor Mischavek could be more easily manipulated. This assessment was proven correct as the conflict turned into a bloody stalemate, and Mischavek, fearing an appearance of weakness, gave the Black Dragon more leeway if they would win him the war. They dutifully obliged, putting magical weapons into production, to be delivered to frontline troops, offered the services of their agents for combat and intelligence operations, and completed the Arnothian, their flying warship, all in the name of the Emperor, of course.

Locating a guidestone continued to remain a problem, and some began to suspect that they may have all been lost or destroyed. As a contingency, Akashaar ordered preparations for the possibility of brute forcing Arnothian through the vortex... a considerably more dangerous and time-consuming alternative, but a feasible one. Fortunes changed though, as fresh rumors about a new item in possession of an Imperialist collector surfaced, and the Black Dragon worked through intermediaries to assess and potentially recover the item, fearing that direct action risked their exposure. The item in question did seem to be a guidestone, but it's recovery was hijacked by unknown parties, and pursuit would take time. Additionally, a powerful entity of unknown origin had attacked Kallador, resisting the combined might of the forces within, forcing an evacuation and retreat. While the loss of Kallador was problematic, the blow to prestige that came with a successful direct assault on their headquarters was almost worse.

The other hitch in the plan was that the Emperor was growing more dependent on use of the Arnothian in combat operations. The Black Dragon had cautioned against using it in direct actions that came with the risk of significant damage, as this would be difficult to remedy, made even more so by the destruction of the vessel's hidden dock by insurgent forces. The Emperor disregarded these warnings, and stated that the Arnothian would be deployed at the forefront of his final push into Loyalist territory with the spring thaw. Worse still, as punishment for repeated delays and setbacks, Mischavek decreed that he was transferring command of the vessel from the Black Dragon to the Govoryan Guard.

Given that the vessel figured prominently into Black Dragon plans, this could not be allowed, and Akashaar decided that they could no longer be patient. He dispatched a contingent to the winter planning session in the capital, with orders to eliminate Mischavek and other senior members of the Govoryan Guard. Additional strike groups were sent to the other factions that the Black Dragon had tangled with previously, such as Ironheart's Legion, the Torchbearers, and the Brotherhood of Mercurial Sight, with the expressed goal of disrupting their capabilities for the near future. All of this was intended to throw up a massive smoke screen and distract any potential adversaries long enough for the Black Dragon to complete their intended mission, which involved loading most remaining personnel aboard the Arnothian and making a straight run north, with the objective of securing Suraxis.

Lacking the guidestone, they were forced to power through the frigid wind currents of the northern vortex, which took a toll on even a vessel as powerful as the Arnothian. The crossing took more than a week, resulting in substantial damage to the hull and severe depletion of its power crystals. When the vortex was breached, the ice-encrusted vessel was forced to make a crash landing on the island's forested hills. But at long last, they'd arrived. The island did indeed seem to be deserted, save for local wildlife and a few malfunctioning magical guardians, which could be dealt with. Victory was in reach.

Or seemingly not. It was quickly realized that others had arrived first in smaller ships, utilizing the stolen guidestone, and had made contact with a small enclave of Nejiri survivors and a larger population of lesser peoples, descendants of the original servants who were present for the original evacuation. Akashaar could not sense what their purpose was here, but ordered that these interlopers be neutralized immediately, dispatching his scouts across the island to hunt them down. The largest concentration was found to be holed up in an old temple on the city's outskirts, so that's where the Black Dragon forces converged. With the battle at its height, Akashaar himself arrived on the scene to lend his considerable arcane powers to the fight, and driving these annoyances to the breaking point.

But at that moment, Akashaar found himself outflanked. From the right came an enraged roar, his old enemy from all that time ago, Morridax joined the fray, seemingly somehow alive and in league with the interlopers for the. From the left came the Neji, one of the elder Nejiri spiritual leaders, intent on protecting the former servants from her people's mistakes one last time. Pinned between sword and staff, Akashaar attempted to break free, but the magics reflected and reverberated through the temple hall, shaking it to the foundation and collapsing the ancient structure in on itself. While Akashaar and his opponents may have survived in the rubble, Suraxis itself was destroyed shortly after when the magical array holding it aloft was sabotaged, shattering the island and sending it plummeting into the depths of an ancient lake far below, both the Black Dragon and it's leader going down with it.
Fate: Presumed to be very, very dead. Buried by the collapse of an elaborate stone temple, on a floating island that blew up, with the pieces dropping into an extremely deep lake, in the middle of the tundra, surrounded by a wind vortex. But there was no body to recover, so one never knows for sure...
GM Thoughts and Comments: Right, so for being the BBEG of the whole campaign, Akashaar only made an actual appearance in the last couple games. This was intentional, as he was supposed to be the 'hidden leader' of the Black Dragon (the organization's name hinted at his existence from the very beginning). There was no monologuing when he appeared on the scene, no gloating, no call for surrender, only cold efficiency in the form of a black arc of lightning that raked its way across the temple hall. The party did at least seem to grasp that trying to fight this guy in close quarters was a bad idea, but they needed to absorb enough of his magics to charge an artifact that would allow them to safely evacuate most of the island's surviving inhabitants, which basically meant playing dodgeball with the guy flinging the instant-death-beams at full auto. Once this was done, it was a matter of feigning a retreat to draw him in close enough for the two high-power NPCs, Morridax and the Neji, to close in and finish him off. I will admit that this ending was perhaps a bit scripted, but really did want to make the point that, as a master-level Nejiri sorcerer, Akashaar was well above their capabilities, so it was intended to be something of a team effort, trying to draw his fire and accomplish a goal rather than just trying to chip away at his extremely-long health bar. Overall, I'm reasonably happy with how the final fight ended. I always tended to low-ball the difficulty of most of the fights I ran, but in this case, I think things balanced out fairly well and made the last battle appropriately epic.

Artwork by  dhstein of a younger Akashaar in his prime during the height of Nejiri power

Main index of campaign factions, plot, notes, etc can be found here.

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