| Category | Heroes | ||
| Alias | Ageless Emperor | ||
| Region | Grashakh | ||
| Race | Lith-Crillion | ||
| Gender | male | ||
| Title |
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| Alignment | lawful evil | ||
| Deity | Gruumsh | ||
| Birthplace | Crillion Comet | ||
| Born | 2 Artifice 2455 LE | ||
| Died | 18 Bloom 1832 |
One of the earliest recorded accounts of this enigmatic figure originates from the iron tomes, the war journals of the future deity Gruumsh. Known as the Cadence, these writings document Gruumsh's personal experiences in every battle he fought. In book 114, the final installment of the series, is the account of Gruumsh engaging in combat against the goblin god Maglubiyet. It mentions a Lith-Crillion named Blac'drugulois who was serving as Gruumsh's chief of military intelligence and played a crucial role in cornering Maglubiyet. In 588 HE, following Maglubiyet's demise, Gruumsh ascended to the status of a Higher Power. Blac'drugulois then became a mortal emissary for Gruumsh, returning to Bal-Kriav with orders to disseminate his "master's" will among the Orc people.
Blac'drugulois traversed numerous lands, delegating the mundane task of disseminating the word of Gruumush to his assistants. Instead, he turned his attention to more pressing matters, studying and cataloging the intricacies of Orc civilization. He found them dispersed, leading a nomadic lifestyle, chaotic in their ways and generally inclined towards malevolent deeds. With a profound respect for the principles of Law, Blac'drugulois often clashed with the orcs and their proclivity for chaos. He faced a similar predicament with Gruumsh, only tolerating him due to the binding Urkal Directive he was obligated to uphold. This directive, emanating from Urkalzîr's Board of Overminds, was the primary reason for Blac'drugulois's continued service to Gruumsh, long after most of his kind had perished. Eventually, sometime during the waning years of the Lith-Crillion Era, Blac'drugulois and Gruumsh parted ways. Yet, their relationship did not end there.
In 993, having disregarded the issue of the Orcs, he joined the Zisi-Nul. Four years thereafter, he disclosed to them the whereabouts of their misplaced stronghold Limbgud. This deed engendered such trust and camaraderie that years later the Zisi-Nul would respond to Blac'drugulois's summons, ultimately crowning him as emperor and resolving the Orc predicament.
In 1022, Blac'drugulois entered the pages of the Tamlêrran empire. Within this nation, united under the rule of wizard-governors, he spent a decade in Sector Inzilthôr, battling the icy legions of Artaxertus. Blac'drugulois, a foreigner to Tamlêrran and of a race believed long extinct, convinced his employers of his desire for purpose and to bring law to the frontier. Tamlêrran's masters, the Zenduram, considered the possibility that Blac'drugulois was an agent of the gods or an impostor using the visage of a Lith-Crillion to imply trust and awe. Proving unreadable to their magic, his mind shielded, he demonstrated his usefulness on the field, earning their trust. On a mission to test his mettle and reliability, the Zenduram sent him to a dangerous area with a unit of expendable soldiers. When this unit returned, eight years later, it had become an army of elite soldiers, bolstered by fire giants and frost giants. These giants, normally the enemies of Tamlêrran, had been convinced they were fighting for the wrong cause, through psychic surgery. The 14th Tamar-Zidân Mountain Division, led by Blac'drugulois, was also accompanied by a team of special contractors from the githzerai mercenary legion Zisi-Nul. Close allies of Blac'drugulois, they helped train and maintain order in what became a multi-racial mercenary army, feared by their enemies.
He was the greatest War Mind of the Second and Third Epochs, and transformed a people inclined toward chaos and ruin into a lawfully guided force that grew into the mightiest empire of Brucrumus. Presaging his demise in the Third Epoch, he entrusted me with a memory crystal to safeguard securely beyond this threshold.
vault door rune carving inside Torazan Sanctum
In 1031, Blac'drugulois eliminated one of Tamlêrran's wizard-governors. Some suggest this stemmed from an effort to dismantle his army. Observing the ease with which an arch-mage of a powerful border state like Artaxertus could be taken down, Blac'drugulois decided that some reorganization was in order. After declaring himself the head of the Tamar-Zidân state, he directed his forces against a neighboring territory. This was a diversionary tactic as he and the Zisi-Nul infiltrated and swiftly seized Tamlêrran's capital. The surprise and rapidity of this action stunned the country's wizard-governors. Blac'drugulois' rule was short-lived, as he lacked the manpower to hold the capital. He was captured six months later, with over half of his mercenary company perishing in the streets of Nizgimân. Blac'drugulois was imprisoned for murder, insurrection, and a litany of other crimes against the state and humanity. Deemed too hazardous to be confined, Tamlêrran's High Court sentenced him to death by disintegration. This fate was not to be realized, however, as he bribed a guard and teleported to Limbgud, joining the surviving Zisi-Nul members of his failed coup, evading the Travel Impenetrability Ward.
In 1040, he arrived in the Kal-Oni Empire. This marked the commencement of a scheme to persuade Gruumsh to embrace his perspective. He had not forgotten his objective of establishing a unified, robust orc power base, fortifying the will and religion of Gruumsh behind armies that would be less inclined to turn on one another than their foes.
In the southeastern reaches of the Kal-Oni Empire, the skilled and charismatic Blac'drugulois quickly established himself as a commander of one of their armies. This force was dispatched to confront the Graagvrii of Ghar-Lakh. After heavy drinking and facing disrespect from certain Tragarans, Blac'drugulois went on a deadly rampage, wiping out a reputable Tragaran family known for their opposition to a foreigner leading a Kal-Oni army. Rather than face a trial he suspected would be stacked against him, he fled to the frontier.
In 1041, Blac'drugulois intercepted orcs migrating northward through Hells Womb towards Grashakh. They had been pushed out by his former Kal-Oni employers. During the orcs' Arduous March (1041 - 1096), Blac'drugulois was contacted by Gruumsh, who granted him authority to handle the situation as he saw fit. Blac'drugulois eliminated the orcs' leader, and in accordance with tradition, assumed their new leadership role. On their arduous journey, he reshaped the orcs under his command, educating them akin to other civilized societies, simplifying their language, drafting laws for them, and indoctrinating their minds through psychic surgery. Today, the descendants of these transformed orcs are known as the Githirmil.
In 1096, Blac'drugulois founded the Orchish Empire. His rule endured until his earthly demise in 1832. It is widely acknowledged that the Orchish Empire would not have reached its current state without Blac'drugulois' impact, and more significantly, the existence of the Githirmil race may never have come to pass.
Emperor Blac'drugulois was killed in the Grashakh Front by his long-time adversary, Drog'paagol. It is said that the Realm Stalkers played a role in the events leading up to the confrontation between the two old rivals. The ruins where he perished, Surkiln, are plagued with psychic terrors and other horrors attributed to his demise. The Second Orchish Civil War commenced shortly after the death of Blac'drugulois. At the conclusion of this conflict, Monty the Mad became the new emperor of the Orchish Empire.
Blac'drugulois possessed a captivating charm and exceptional intellect. When cunning and acumen proved insufficient, he could rely on his formidable abilities as a fighter-psionicist. His precise origins remained a mystery; some speculate he was a Lith-Crillion freed from a state of hibernation, or that he had returned from the enigmatic realm the Lith-Crillion had vanished to.
During his reign, Emperor Blac'drugulois dedicated considerable time to intrigue, global dominance strategies, and psionic research. He possessed exceptional intelligence and wisdom exceeding that of most mortals. Regrettably, he appeared to descend into madness in the 1800s, as his mental faculties gradually diminished and he began to lose control of the Orchish Empire.
The experiment has taken a dire turn. Modragh and I have created a horror beyond our darkest imaginings. Five years of research by the Court, and explorations to ancient locales and across realms, have culminated in the birth of a monster of unparalleled power. It was an uncontrollable, unbridled force, and we fought it for a long while. It surpassed any Beholder we had ever encountered, with 24 distinct eye rays, 12 gaping maws, and a hide as tough as the skin of a Demon Lord. Modragh fell in the struggle, as did the gibbering orb. I am weakened, and my mind suffers; am I succumbing to madness?
Blac'drugulois, journal entry from - "Hollow 1812"
As an emperor, Blac'drugulois was attended by brilliant advisors - the Court of One Hundred Eyes, generals of the High Command, and the covert organization Overwatch.