When Black Roses Bloom
2e
Lord Loren Soth, Lord of Sithicus, Death Knight: Lord Soth is a death knight (see the MONSTROUS MANUAL), a corrupted Knight of Solamnia who was cursed by the gods for betraying that order's sacred oaths of honor and service to the cause of good.
The blast of magical fire that turned Soth into an undead creature permanently blackened his armor; no amount of polishing can remove the fine layer of soot that covers it.
Honor. Devotion to duty. Chivalry. Love. Military law. Discipline.
As a Knight of Solamnia on the world of Krynn, the Lord Soth held these concepts dear.
He followed the Measure of his order, paying tribute to the gods, holding to the letter of his Oath, and fighting for good on behalf of Paladine, the father of all good and the patron god of all valiant warriors. In time, he was awarded the order's highest honor and became a Knight of the Rose.
"Est Sularus oth Mithas. My honor is my life."
Soth's dishonor became his death.
Cruelty. Jealousy and greed. Falsehood. Unbridled lust. Infidelity. Murder.
Through these acts, Soth became what he is today—a death knight, a fire-blackened, undead travesty of all he once stood for.
There once was a mighty warrior whose jealous passions and neglect of duty led him to lose all that was dear to him—his love, his life, his very spirit. His tale is a descent into darkness and evil.
His name is Lord Soth, and this is his story.
Long, long ago, Lord Soth was mortal. Nearly four centuries ago, he fought on the side of good in the distant land of Solamnia.
In those days, Lord Soth was a Knight of Solamnia. Through deeds of great daring and chivalry, he earned each of that order's honors—crown, sword, and rose. He built the mighty Dargaard Keep of rose-red stone, and married the beautiful Lady Gladria of Kalaman. Proud he was of his wife, though it was duty alone made him wed her. Proud he was of his fortress strong.
Pride. As we Vistani say, "The greater the pride, the farther the fall." And what caused this proud warrior to fall?
Desire for a woman who was forbidden to him. Possessing her would make a mockery of his wedding vows. Possessing him would contradict her own promise to the gods. But then, as we Vistani say, "The sweetest fruits lie behind the stoutest fence."
Lady Isolde was her name. She was an elf maid of Silvanost, travelling with thirteen other maids to the mighty city of Palanthas. There she would pledge herself to the god Paladine the Valiant Warrior, father of all good, platinum dragon of the evening sky.
The maids were beset by bandits and taken prisoner. There were dozens of the rogues, perhaps even hundreds. Somehow, they had known just where and when to strike.
Lord Soth met their leader, a fearsome ogre, in single combat. He fought the brute in accordance with the rules of fair combat, besting him even though the ogre resorted to trickery and unfair tactics. The bandits fled—and Lady Isolde fell into Lord Soth's arms. An innocent spark of love was kindled. All too soon it became the flame of lust.
The elf maid had vowed to serve her god but had not yet been sworn a priestess, and so had no formal oath to break. Lord Soth, however, was bound to his wife by sacred marriage oath. His vows were binding "until death parts us." There was only one way to break those vows.
And so Lord Soth committed the ultimate sin. He ordered his seneschal, a vain and evil man named Caradoc, to murder Lady Gladria. What should have been a bed of love was turned into a death bed. Blood on her bedclothes showed that murder had been done, though her body was never found.
With unseemly haste—and without a tear of mourning for his dead wife—Lord Soth took Lady Isolde to live with him in Dargaard Keep. His bloody secret seemed safe, but the elf maids who accompanied Isolde had sharp ears and keen eyes. Somehow, they learned of Lord Soth's crime. Somehow, their gossip reached the ears of the High Knights.
Called before a council of his peers, Lord Soth was found guilty of murder, adultery, and dishonoring the vows of his order. He was dragged through the streets of Palanthas in shame and sentenced to death. The execution would take place the very next day; according to tradition, Soth would die by his own sword.
That night, thirteen knights who had remained loyal to Lord Soth rescued him from his prison. By dark of night they stole away to Dargaard Keep.
The Knights of Solamnia besieged the keep, demanding that Soth emerge to meet his fate. They lifted the siege just long enough for Lord Soth to wed Isolde in a joyless, sparsely attended ceremony.
The siege was a long and harsh one, but Dargaard Keep held. Just as things were at their darkest, the god Paladine spoke to Lord Soth. The knight's sins would all be forgiven if he undertook one last, heroic task. Success would mean Soth's death—but also bring about his salvation.
Paladine ordered Lord Soth to journey to the city of Istar, where the Kingpriest of that city was about to demand of the gods the power to eradicate all evil from Krynn. Unless the priest could be stopped, the gods would retaliate by utterly destroying the city. Only Soth could prevent this cataclysm.
Lord Soth set out for Istar. But he never reached the city. What stopped him?
Soth never reached Istar because the fiery hand of jealousy gripped his heart. One of the elf maids whispered in his ear that Isolde had been unfaithful to him, that the son Isolde had borne was not Soth's own.
Infuriated, Lord Soth rode home to confront his wife with her imagined crimes. At the same moment that he raised his mailed fist to her, the Kingpriest of Istar raised his voice to the heavens. The furious gods hurled a mountain at the city—and hurled holy fire at Dargaard Keep.
Even as she was consumed by the flames, Lady Isolde begged her husband to save the life of Peradur, their newborn son. But Lord Soth turned away. He lost his wife, his son, his life, and his spirit that day. But something evil lived on inside his empty chest. And so Lord Soth was reborn as a death knight. A creature of darkness, a heartless servant of evil. A mockery of a man, with an icy voice and chilling touch. A fiend capable of killing with a mere word, of causing wracking pain with a mere glance. A creature capable of turning the bravest warrior's blood to ice, of burning the holiest priest to cinders with a mere thought. A creature who bends the shadows to his will and laughs in the face of the gods.
Tickelmop Toothfang, Kender Vampire: Tickelmop is one of 50 kender whose village was drawn into Sithicus from Krynn some 15 years ago. Lord Soth killed half of them in hideous experiments, and the other half were turned into vampires.
Caradoc, Ghost: ?
Baron Gundarak: ?
Count Strahd Von Zarovich:
Skeleton: ?
Zombie: At will, Lord Soth can cause any dead warrior to rise from the ground as a zombie completely under his control.
Kender Vampire: Tickelmop is one of 50 kender whose village was drawn into Sithicus from Krynn some 15 years ago. Lord Soth killed half of them in hideous experiments, and the other half were turned into vampires.
Poltergeist: ?
Skeletal Warrior: ?
Banshee: ?
Skeleton Animal: ?
