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  1. Characters

Mardyth

This character is dead.
The Shade
NPC

Mardyth was a thief and accused murderer that was being tracked fervently by Journey after he murdered a member of her family. Mardyth manipulated, hurt, and killed a large number of people during his life before meeting his timely demise at the hands of the Peas.

Description

Mardyth had fair skin and bright red hair, and notably had a large, deep scar coming down from his left ear to his neck. He tended to cloak himself in dark robes.

Mardyth had a caustic and foul personality, constantly insulting others and enjoying their misfortune. He seemed solely concerned for himself, but was smart enough to know when it would be more beneficial to work alongside others. He held an unyielding grudge against those that slighted him.

Skills and Abilities

Mardyth exhibited supernatural powers, and was nigh immortal.

Power of the Sun

Mardyth appeared to have some sort of sun-like power within him. The Nightseeker believed this to be related to the goddess Erudia. He was capable of manifesting the flames of this power across his body, augmenting his abilities. In addition, upon receiving damage that would normally end his life, he would become wreathed in flames that scorched the earth.

Roguish Skills

Mardyth seems to be a dexterous individual, trained as a thief and assassin. He was trained with a bow, and knew where to hit in order to cause the most pain.

History

At some point in the past, Mardyth killed a member of Journey's surrogate family and greivously wounded another. Mardyth claimed to not recall this, as he has "killed a lot of people".

At a point when Mardyth was in Atavar, more specifically Astrilane, he worked with some portion of the Darkheart to steal the Farseeker's Eye.

It was revealed that he was working with Leadbelly Balnar, and that at some point he had his shadow stolen by the "shadow lady", as Balnar put it. As such, he began working with the organization known as the Darkheart, and began to look for the Sallow Stone, mugging various people in the area around Vardev. Also at some point, likely when he first realized the Peas were on to him, he hired Arghan Highmaker Athuniano to attack the party.

The Peas fought Mardyth on their way to Madrioc, between Whort and Kerakoss. He kidnapped Kradva Ospen in his search for the Sallow Stone, and the group responded with violence. He took Kradva hostage and promised he would kill the man if the group approached, driving his knife into various parts of Kradva's body, prompting him to cry out in pain. The party managed to separate him from Kradva, and the rogue attempted to flee with Balnar when he believed himself to be outmatched, but the combined efforts of the party overcame him. When Journey finally managed to sink her dagger into his body, bright light like the sun began to escape from his body. As he was dragged into the shadows by the Nightseeker, he told Journey he couldn't be killed because his life was no longer his own, laughing to himself.

When the Peas were fighting Yyk Sen outside of Hazerhorn, he made good on his promise to kill Kradva, and slit his throat.

In Madrioc, Mardyth hired the rakshasa assassin Hjesta to attack the party, leaving a mocking note to the Peas after the rakshasa fled. Leadbelly heard the voice of the rogue from the other side of the closed door when he was spying on the Darkheart in their hideout.

Mardyth followed the party out of Madrioc up to Caedalir, where he attacked the group from the forest, shooting painfully accurate arrows out of the treeline. Grognock and Tyerjon ventured into the forest to strike him down, but he managed to escape using his powerful sun-like abilities. Later, on the party's way up to Sanaris, the Nightseeker admitted that she was having trouble reigning Mardyth in, and that he seemed to harbor a vendetta against the group for their previous actions in defiance of his will.

Multiple times over the party's trip north, Mardyth poked his head out to attack the group, just to duck away once they noticed him. 

In the sealing of Tarisi, Mardyth appeared in the battle under a glamour disguised as Leadbelly Balnar, making a few mostly ineffective attacks against the demigod, doing his best Balnar impression. As the ritual finished, he fled from the scene, dropping the glamour and throwing a firebomb at the Peas.

Mardyth later ambushed the Peas alongside the necromancer Fezoan, but turned tail once the situation turned dicey. The party gave chase, and after a particularly unfunny joke and Hideous Laughter by Wander, Mardyth was incapacitated and tied up using the Silver Rope. Still apparently immortal, Mardyth begged for death as the party tossed him in the Roomy Chest, checking on him intermittently during their travels back to Hymathel. Mardyth refused all food and water in an attempt to starve himself.

Due to the nature of the Roomy Chest, Mardyth was bounced around incessantly as Tyerjon battled his foes. Eventually, the damage was enough to break open the secret door in the chest leading to Razodon's cellar. Mardyth escaped the binding of the Silver Rope in his struggles and managed to climb up to the kitchen of the manor, coming face to face with a housekeeper, who stabbed him with a kitchen knife, effectively killing him and allowing him to enter his flaming form. Mardyth flew into a rage, killing many of Razodon's servants and eventually even his brother, Gestro Goswin. He flew out into the streets of Madrioc, murdering some of the populace before escaping to the north. This earned the murderer the ire of Razodon, furious at the death of his brother.

At some point, Mardyth was able to locate Arghan and transport him to the entrance of the Tomb of Zelvass, where they ambushed the Peas just as their fights against Inglis Alexandar, the Shadow Guard and the Divine Branch were winding down. Mardyth engaged with murderous intent, spending no time toying with the party as he mercilessly killed Leadbelly. He turned his focus to Phaelnah next, but Seamus was able to retrieve Razodon, and together the Peas subdued the godtouched man. Following his revival, Leadbelly used the sun-like heat contained within Mardyth's chest to reforge Onyr's Tongue yet again at the behest of his god. Razodon held Mardyth down with a hellish spell as Wander researched possible ways to kill him, eventually learning from his Infernal Library that Phaelnah had the power to do so all along. Using her Extract Being, Phaelnah sucked the life out of the man, distributing it to the party as Mardyth finally lost his immortality. Razodon then reverted to his rakshasa form, tearing at the thief and murderer until there was nothing left but a bloody pulp.