tenebraes_mitternacht | Please allow me to introduce myself...

I'm a man of wealth and taste

I am Tenebraes--I sacrificed my clan name in my distant youth to become the apprentice of the necromancer Talorial D'Estalian, in the Lodge of the Dead, beyond the Third Gate of the city of Neriak, in the north-eastern forests of Antonica, upon the world of Norrath. I am a dark elf from the city of dark elves, children of Innoruuk, god of Hate. As of this writing, I am one of the high necromancers of the Third Gate--not yet powerful enough to attend to our Queen beyond the Fourth Gate, but on my way there. I wield the powers of death and darkness, and summon the dead to serve me--and punish severely those undead who presume to serve some other will.

In my distant youth, the portals to New Tanaan on the Plane of Knowledge had only just been opened, and the first of Norrath's adventurers just beginning to presume to challenge the gods themselves in their home planes. Now? The self-same adventurers continue to try to unravel the mess they've made of the time-stream and the void between life and death. They've also managed to invade Neriak's Fourth Gate, thanks to the continual intrigue between the King and Queen.

When I was younger, I took the surname "Le Pecheur", because I loved to fish; now, I have taken the surname "Mitternacht". (I still like to fish, however.) I have won the title of "Dark Apprentice" from the great necromancer Kazen Facae, in the matter of helping him capture his father's soul for his necromancies. Other titles fell to me for more mundane accomplishments: Blightlord, Lich Lord, Warlock, Baron and Duke of various small dominions and courts who sought to appease me with favor and flattery. I like flattery, though I like a fine wine and aperitif better--so much so that I spent years studying under the renowned chef Cook Kosey in Crescent Reach, until I mastered the art of fine cooking. Likewise I mastered the vintner's and the brewer's arts. I am also very skilled with my hands, setting the finest of gems into exquisite precious metals, or sculpting porcelain into divine works of art and magic. I have not neglected the more practical arts either--I can hammer out the mightiest of blades in the forge, and inscribe the most powerful of spells on enchanted scrolls. Other arts I am still studying; in time, I will be a true master artisan.

In my earliest youth, when I could barely call myself an apprentice, I was giving the task of creating my first set of magical garb. All apprentices, pages and such like were given such tasks--in those days, it was the best armor available before the plunder of Velious reached the Old World. In our case--that is, that of myself and my childhood friend Uthelefel, who took up the mantle of a shadowknight--I think it was to teach us patience at dealing with our masters' sadistic whims. By Innoruuk, I nearly went insane trying to find the items for my Unholy silk garb! It was not enough for D'Estalian that I recover perfectly-cut scalps of Clan Deathfist orcs--no, it had to be the scalp of a Deathfist scout who was hunting north of the river in Nektulos forest! Nevermind that clan Deathfist only sent such solo scouts out once in a blue moon, and most of the time the knife would slip or something else would spoil the scalp...

Someday I will kill D'Estalian, just because of that. I could now, but I spend so little time in Neriak these days it's hardly worth going out of my way to find the bastard. I eventually completed my apprentice garb, and set forth to seek power and mastery in the wide world.

That, however, is a series of stories for other days.