Voaraghamanthar, known as the Black Death, was one of the most famous black dragons.[1][2]
Personality[]
Voaraghamanthar shared an unusually powerful empathic link with his twin Waervaerendor. They truly acted as one soul in two bodies and their greatest fear was that someone would discover their secret.
From a young age, Voaraghamanthar and his twin desired immortality but they were not interested in normal dracolich transformation. However, they believed that Chardansearavitriol's condition was somehow different and tried to replicate it.
Both were able sorcerers, Voaraghamanthar preferred to study ancient tomes.
They saw most other creatures only as food or annoyances to be quickly disposed of. The exceptions were adventurers and other dragons. They avoided other dragons, not out of fear but in order to avoid being discovered as twins. Adventurers, on the other hand, they viewed as tools too useful to be killed and the Black Brothers needed to recover too many artifacts to not use adventurers that agreed to work for them.[2]
Activities[]
The Black Brothers patrolled their domain efficiently. If they detected other dragons, they retreated underwater to avoid conflict, unless the visiting dragons were trying to settle in the mere. In that case, they fought to the death to kill the intruders and keep their secret. If they detected adventurers, Waervaerendor would spy on the group to see if they could be useful for the brothers. Voaraghamanthar intervened only if his twin's talking failed and they needed to fight.
History[]
Voaraghamanthar and his twin Waervaerendor hatched in the Mhair Jungles, and thanks to their empathic link they managed not to kill each other before hatching. On the contrary, they killed all their other siblings and fled before their parents came back.
After wandering Faerun for a time, they finally found a home in the Mere of Dead Men, attracted by the isolation of the place and legends about the hoard of Chardansearavitriol and the treasures of flooded Uthtower and other realms. They especially hoped to find the lost Twin Crowns of Myrmoran, reputed to have enhanced the empathic bond between the fraternal monarchs of Uthtower and Yarlith and granted them magical powers.
They started posing as only one dragon, named Voaraghamanthar, and soon tales were told across the Realms about the legendary Wyrm of the Mere, a strange black dragon that could appear out of nowhere to assault adventurers.
Despite not being really interested in becoming dracoliches, they approached the local Cult of the Dragon cell to use them for their plans. Thanks to the cultists, the Black Brothers recovered one of the Twin Crowns of Myrmoran.
In 1372 DR, they captured a Helmite adventuring party and planned to use them to search for the Twinned Crown of Uthtower, the second of the Twin Crowns of Myrmoran. With both crowns, Voaraghamanthar and his twin hoped to increase their powers.[2][3]
Sometime after the Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR, Lazlo Buckman, unbeknownst to the villagers of West Harbor, stroke a protection deal with the black dragon twins. Voaraghamanthar and Waervaerendor received the town's famous Harvest Mead in exchange for keeping the swamp's dangers at bay. However, the deal was broken and the dragons began threatening West Harbor. The village mage Tarmas set out to infiltrate the dragons' den further into the swamps but ended up disappearing – captured and locked away. A group of the village militiamen set out to retrieve the wizard. However, the man they rescued was one of the dragons who used polymorph magics to infiltrate West Harbor in Tarmas's guise.[4]
Luckily, a band of adventurers who sought to establish a trading post in West Harbor became involved. They ventured deeper into the caves and eventually found gaunt and beaten Tarmas still in a cage. He was rescued and brought safely to West Harbor, where the dragons confronted the town's defenders issuing an ultimatum – Voaraghamanthar and Waervaerendor would take over the town and its mead production or the town would be razed. Even though it remained unknown wether West Harbor defeated the dragons or was claimed by its new draconic masters, it was said that as years passed, West Harbor was lost to time, slowly consumed by the swamp.[4]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
- Adventures
- Dungeon #73: "Eye of Myrkul" • Hoard of the Dragon Queen
- Video Games
- Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
External links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 149. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ed Greenwood and Sean K. Reynolds (May 1999). “Wyrms of the North: Voaraghamanthar, "the Black Death"”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #258 (TSR, Inc.).
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (March/April 1999). “Eye of Myrkul”. In Christopher Perkins ed. Dungeon #73 (Wizards of the Coast) (73)., pp. 22–53.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Obsidian Entertainment (November 2008). Designed by Tony Evans. Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir. Atari.