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The Dread Emperor
One of the most arresting figures anywhere is the Dread Emperor. This striking human male stands 6½ feet tall. He wears golden plate armor and a long red cloak, and he carries a mirrored shield, although he bears no weapons. What is most shocking is that he walks about with four children in tow, each wearing an iron collar chained to his armor. The children shuffle behind the Dread Emperor as if in a stupor -- they do not appear to be treated well.
No one knows this man's real name. The Dread Emperor claims to be the Emperor of the World. Although this claim isn't true, the Dread Emperor is extremely powerful. Anyone who tells him that he doesn't rule all he surveys is likely to be dead soon.
Aside from the four children (and it's not always the same four children) chained to his armor, the Dread Emperor keeps to himself. His lonely (but well-warded) fortress is located on the Ethereal Plane, accessible via a hidden portal in a high mountain cave. Occasionally the Dread Emperor comes to a city to sell a magic item he has created, but he keeps to the shadier parts of town because only the most depraved are willing to deal with him. Upstanding, moral people often attempt to rescue the children, so the Dread Emperor has to kill the do-gooders and usually destroy a few city blocks in the process.
The Dread Emperor sometimes bargains for some bit of information, a magic item, or a spell. Those who study him claim that his sole motivation is to gather more personal magical power for himself, at any cost. He has been particularly interested in defensive items lately.
The Dread Emperor is clearly insane, but his isn't the cackling, madcap sort of insanity. He is delusional, paranoid, and psychotic. He does not delight in the suffering of others, but he has not an ounce of compassion or empathy. If left alone, the Dread Emperor is content to keep to himself and remain unobtrusive. However, the children he keeps in tow often temp would-be heroes to attack him, so he sometimes finds himself in battle when he moves among other people. When that happens, he does not hesitate to kill hundreds in the process of slaying a single target. One of his favourite tactics is to cast haste on himself and follow that with meteor swarmm a corrupted maximised fireball, and a corrupted quickened fireball all in a single round. Another favourite tactic is to use mass charm to get any and all bystanders on his side while some hero or constable attempts to acost him. He sometimes charms his assailants as well, although they are usually found dead later even if they were charmed into submission.
Armor of the Dread Emperor
This suit of +1 full plate has four 5-foot chains connected to it at the waist. Each chain has a ring manacle sized to fit around a humanoid neck. If people are placed in these manacles by either the armor's wearer or his minions, the armor is ready to display its true power. Whenever the wearer takes damage, the captives held by the chains take half the damage themselves. If the chains hold more than one person, divide the half among all of them. Operating in this armor with chains attached to other people is difficult. The wearer takes an additional -5 armor check penalty unless the victims are somehow magically subdued or controlled, such as by stupor or dominate person. If the captives are children, the additional armor check penalty is only -2. If the captives are subdued or controlled children, there is no additional armor check penalty.
Belt of the Dread Emperor
If a willing (or dominated or helpless) humanoid creature is attached to the wearer of this belt by a chain and a manacle, the wearer can draw energy from that creature to power spells. The belt of the Dread Emperor functions for all spellcasters who prepare spells (including clerics, druids, rangers, paladins, and wizards). The belt enables the wearer to recall a prepared spell, even if the spell has already been cast, as long as the spell was among those he most recently prepared. For each spell recalled, the chained creature takes damage equal to the square of the spell's level: A recalled 1st level spell deals 1 point of damage, a 2nd level spell deals 4 points, a 3rd level spell deals 9 points, and so on, up to a 9th level spell that deals 81 points of damage. If the chained creature does not have enough hit points left to power a desired spell, the spell fails and the creature dies.
home
The Dread Emperor
One of the most arresting figures anywhere is the Dread Emperor. This striking human male stands 6½ feet tall. He wears golden plate armor and a long red cloak, and he carries a mirrored shield, although he bears no weapons. What is most shocking is that he walks about with four children in tow, each wearing an iron collar chained to his armor. The children shuffle behind the Dread Emperor as if in a stupor -- they do not appear to be treated well.
No one knows this man's real name. The Dread Emperor claims to be the Emperor of the World. Although this claim isn't true, the Dread Emperor is extremely powerful. Anyone who tells him that he doesn't rule all he surveys is likely to be dead soon.
Aside from the four children (and it's not always the same four children) chained to his armor, the Dread Emperor keeps to himself. His lonely (but well-warded) fortress is located on the Ethereal Plane, accessible via a hidden portal in a high mountain cave. Occasionally the Dread Emperor comes to a city to sell a magic item he has created, but he keeps to the shadier parts of town because only the most depraved are willing to deal with him. Upstanding, moral people often attempt to rescue the children, so the Dread Emperor has to kill the do-gooders and usually destroy a few city blocks in the process.
The Dread Emperor sometimes bargains for some bit of information, a magic item, or a spell. Those who study him claim that his sole motivation is to gather more personal magical power for himself, at any cost. He has been particularly interested in defensive items lately.
The Dread Emperor is clearly insane, but his isn't the cackling, madcap sort of insanity. He is delusional, paranoid, and psychotic. He does not delight in the suffering of others, but he has not an ounce of compassion or empathy. If left alone, the Dread Emperor is content to keep to himself and remain unobtrusive. However, the children he keeps in tow often temp would-be heroes to attack him, so he sometimes finds himself in battle when he moves among other people. When that happens, he does not hesitate to kill hundreds in the process of slaying a single target. One of his favourite tactics is to cast haste on himself and follow that with meteor swarmm a corrupted maximised fireball, and a corrupted quickened fireball all in a single round. Another favourite tactic is to use mass charm to get any and all bystanders on his side while some hero or constable attempts to acost him. He sometimes charms his assailants as well, although they are usually found dead later even if they were charmed into submission.
Armor of the Dread Emperor
This suit of +1 full plate has four 5-foot chains connected to it at the waist. Each chain has a ring manacle sized to fit around a humanoid neck. If people are placed in these manacles by either the armor's wearer or his minions, the armor is ready to display its true power. Whenever the wearer takes damage, the captives held by the chains take half the damage themselves. If the chains hold more than one person, divide the half among all of them. Operating in this armor with chains attached to other people is difficult. The wearer takes an additional -5 armor check penalty unless the victims are somehow magically subdued or controlled, such as by stupor or dominate person. If the captives are children, the additional armor check penalty is only -2. If the captives are subdued or controlled children, there is no additional armor check penalty.
Belt of the Dread Emperor
If a willing (or dominated or helpless) humanoid creature is attached to the wearer of this belt by a chain and a manacle, the wearer can draw energy from that creature to power spells. The belt of the Dread Emperor functions for all spellcasters who prepare spells (including clerics, druids, rangers, paladins, and wizards). The belt enables the wearer to recall a prepared spell, even if the spell has already been cast, as long as the spell was among those he most recently prepared. For each spell recalled, the chained creature takes damage equal to the square of the spell's level: A recalled 1st level spell deals 1 point of damage, a 2nd level spell deals 4 points, a 3rd level spell deals 9 points, and so on, up to a 9th level spell that deals 81 points of damage. If the chained creature does not have enough hit points left to power a desired spell, the spell fails and the creature dies.
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