Lord Shazar

The Dungeon of Torments is one of the most infamous locations in the cursed realm of Anathraad, a place dedicated to the most terrible tortures that mortal minds can conceive. Its warden is the tyrannical Lord Shazar, a being who, to the enemies of Siroth bound within its depths, is a walking nightmare. His heavy tread brings with it the promise of agony and misery, merciless and brutal. At his command is a veritable army of sadistic Demonic jailers and torturers, hungering Fellhounds, and bloodthirsty Hound Spawn. It would surely surprise those who suffered at his hand to know that Shazar was once a mere mortal, capable of love, compassion, and remorse. It is certainly unknown to the Demonspawn known as Helicath, who desires Lord Shazar’s position greatly and plots daily to have him hauled into the Doom Tower and chained away forever behind the Arbiter’s nigh unbreakable magical wards and bars. In his life before the dungeon, Shazar served as an executioner-for-hire in Kaerok and wider Anhelt. The Free Cities needed someone willing to perform the executions prescribed by their courts, and though such a job comes with stigma, it paid well enough. Although he sometimes did the duties of the hangman, Shazar's preferred method was beheading, using his great broadsword in an act that he considered more merciful than letting the condemned dangle from a rope. It was grim work and in those early years Shazar was careful to separate it from the rest of his life. He was a loving husband and father, and he spoke often of his hope that one day he would be able to collect enough earnings to leave his thankless duties behind. Certainly, he took no pleasure in doling out death. But slowly, that began to change. Those who claim to know something of Shazar’s origins tell how his troubles began when he beheaded a cultist of Siroth. They say that as he met his death at Shazar’s hand, the cultist cursed his executioner. Others believe that Shazar’s descent was the inevitable consequence of his grizzly job, for wherever death, killing, and suffering abound, the energies of darkness will pool and spread. Shazar had been taking work in a blacksmith and, with some money and stores saved up, his family had hopes that their lot might finally change. When Shazar began to take more execution work they did not understand why. People knew something was wrong when their executioner’s family left town. But Shazar stayed on – he had now started to take other work, conducting interrogations and torture for anyone who asked. He named his sword ‘Dismemberer’ and when performing his execution duties, discarded the mask traditionally worn, revealing his identity in a quest for infamy. It worked, and it wasn’t long before Shazar gained a bloody reputation. Rumors of his approach unsettled folk as thieves lay low and streets lay hushed. After so much killing, the faces he saw before him meant nothing to Shazar – that is until the last execution he conducted as a mortal man. This time it was his wife who lay upon the block, accused of stealing to feed their son. She begged Shazar to relent, but he did not recognize her until he had already sliced his blade through her neck. Only too late did the reality of what he had become strike home. Shazar’s world collapsed. He wandered into the wilderness. Perhaps guided by the darkness within, he made contact with Demonspawn and went willingly with them into Anathraad where he sought to confess what he had done to Siroth. He wanted to be punished by the cruelest judge imaginable, and Siroth was happy to oblige. Pleased with Shazar’s sin, the God of Shadow condemned Shazar to be his executioner and torturer for all eternity. He infused Shazar with Darkness, weaving it into every cell in his body. It smothered what good remained in him and emboldened and strengthened every bitter memory, cruel thought, and shameful desire. Shazar was transformed, his form becoming bulged with muscle, and thick horns and spikes jutted from his head and arms. All of his thoughts were turned to malice, and the infliction of pain. He was a Demonspawn. Since that day, Lord Shazar has put his Darkness to work in the Dungeon of Torments. Sometimes he ventures into Teleria, seeking out beings condemned by his dark master. In his fist he still carries Dismemberer, the sword now twisted and warped by the Demonic energies that coarse through its wielder. This sword has been the bane of prince and pauper for centuries, but those who die by its blade can at least rest in peace – a far better fate than for those dragged to the depths of Anathraad.