The
History of Bradock Quasar, Suloise Mage
Bradock Quasar was a powerful mage - a
respected and feared fire elementalist who lived in the Suel Imperium in the
era just before the Rain of Colourless Fire. He was a member of the mages
council and enjoyed the attention of the Emperor. In 5080 SD (-437 CY) Quasar
was given charge of a fortress in the south-central Crystalmists. Following the
Emperor’s edicts, Quasar hired humanoid mercenaries, composed of orcs, goblins,
ogres, and bugbears to protect the border in the war with the Bakluni. He
bolstered their ranks with human warriors and summoned elemental creatures from
the Inner Plains. Bradock performed his charge with exceptional cruelty and was
kept as leader of the fortress, now named Flamereach in his honor, for the next
fourteen years. When the Emperor ordered the Invoked Devastation of the
Bakluni, Quasar was recalled to the capital and participated in its creation in
5095 SD (-422 CY). After the Baklunish cities were destroyed, Bradock returned
to Flamereach for an extended period of study - the recent discovery of a
source of volcanism in caves at the root of the mountain the fortress was built
upon gave Quasar the promise of many years of elemental research.
Unknown to the Suloise, the surviving
Bakluni had entered into a pact with Dorga Torgu. They brought down the Rain of
Colorless Fire, destroying the unprepared Suel Empire. Bradock, erroneously
believing all the Bakluni destroyed, placed the blame for this treachery on the
Emperor’s son, Zellifor, branding him a traitor. Quasar took it upon himself to
avenge the Emperor and all those that died in the Rain. For the next three
years, the mage sought the prince through his mercenary forces and the various
magics he had at his disposal. Eventually, Zellifor was found with a sizable
force of retainers and Bradock went to confront him in 5101 SD (-416 CY).
Bradock marched his army against Prince Zellifor’s forces and a great
battle ensued. Quasar and his personal cadre of elemental minions fought a
number of mages protecting the Prince. After the intense magical combat, the
fire elementalist was gravely injured and his army nearly destroyed. He finally
reached Prince Zellifor, also badly hurt. Despite a costly personal struggle
Bradock was able to capture his foe. After subduing the prince, Quasar teleported
Zellifor to the now-ruined Suel capital of Suendrako, to force the prince to
see with his own eyes the full extent of the devastation. As his final act of
revenge, the mage stranded Zellifor naked within the ruins, unprotected and
exposed to the destructive magical forces that still lingered.
After taking his vengeance, the fire
elementalist returned to his fortress. The surrounding mountains had changed
during the Rain, emitting clouds of smoke, ash and destructive lava flows.
Retiring into Flamereach, located in what the survivors were beginning to call
the northern Hellfurnaces, Quasar decided to withdraw from notice in the
affairs of Oerth - his army was destroyed and the mage himself had taken a
near-mortal wound in the fight with Zellifor. With the loss of the Suel Empire
and its Emperor, Quasar had no financial or military support to continue his
original duties. Bitterly scraping together the ragged remnants of his
mercenaries and the treasure that remained, Quasar secured first Flamereach,
and eventually a 100-square-mile area of the Hellfurnace range, locking out the
rest of the world. Similar to the mountains around him, Quasar’s temperament
had changed, becoming brooding, vengeful and volatile.
During the years of isolation Bradock came
to the decision that an attempt to refound the Empire or attack its remaining
enemies would be futile, at least at that time. Even when the news eventually
reached him of the survival of the lone Suel city of Lo Nakar in the western
Sulhauts, the mage held to his course. He would take as long as needed, using
his territory in the Hellfurnaces as a staging ground to rebuild his forces,
and then move north. By settling in the heart of the Baklunish lands after the
Devastation had subsided in the centuries to come, Quasar planned to create a
new Suloise homeland and empire almost upon the ashes of the old.
Quasar busied himself with researching new
spells, creating magical items and investigating planar travel. He successfully
created potions of longevity to extend his span of years and armed his
troops with fire-, smoke- and magma-based items that he created. The mage also
slowly began recruiting humanoid troops, inducting firenewts with their giant
strider mounts into his forces, since the creatures had moved in and settled
throughout the Hellfurnaces in the years after the Rain. They in turn
enthusiastically accepted the leadership of a mage specializing in fire magic.
Bradock’s most ambitious project centred on
his obsession for vengeance - the loss of the Empire had driven the desire for
retribution deep into the mage’s soul. He began to create an artifact in the
name of Joramy, his personal goddess. The artifact took the form of a simple
adamantite gauntlet clenched into a fist and suspended on a chain of the same
metal. The medallion’s purpose was to allow its wielder to take revenge upon
any person or creature that had done them some wrong or injustice. Upon its
completion, Quasar named the item Joramy's Vengeance. (See Oerth Journal
11 for a full description of this item.)
While Bradock remained isolated from the
rest of the world, scattered survivors of the Suel Empire were emerging from
the newly made Sea of Dust. A number of them arrived in the lands controlled by
the mage’s fortress, seeking to settle. Quasar granted them new homes on the
surface and, as their numbers increased, in several caves and caverns of
UnderOerth accessible from the lower reaches of Flamereach. Bradock’s
protection came with a price: all who were able must join his forces and swear
that their descendants would protect his new Suloise Empire when he established
it. Upon discovering that this would not be until several centuries had passed,
to allow the effects of the Invoked Devastation to subside, the refugees
quickly agreed to the terms.
The Suloise refugees also brought with them
news that electrified the mage - the Rain of Colorless Fire had been caused by
the surviving Bakluni. The realization that his vengeance had been misdirected
came close to unhinging Quasar completely - he had not only chosen the wrong
target for revenge, he had slain the last surviving member of the Suloise
Imperial family in doing so! Fearing the wrath of his goddess, Bradock
undertook several rituals to appease her. He cast a number of his personal
magical items into the lava pools deep beneath the keep and even sacrificed
some of the newfound settlers in secret. Perhaps Joramy approved of the mage’s
acts of atonement, since Quasar always attributed the outcome of later events
to her favor.
In 5161 SD (-356 CY), after some 60 years
of near-complete isolation, an army of four hundred Bakluni veterans entered
the Hellfurnaces from the northwest. Seeking territory to claim as their new
home in the changed lands of their ancient enemies, the Bakluni attacked and
razed any settlements - human or otherwise - that they came upon. After two
months of terror, the remaining Suloise survivors fled into the caves below
Quasar’s fortress. Believing that the Bakluni were unstoppable, the war-torn
remnants’ morale finally broke and the majority of the refugees fled into
UnderOerth, never to be seen again.
Scouts of the advancing Baklunish force
finally discovered what they believed to be an empty but intact fortress of
Suel design. Deciding to occupy the fortress and settle the surrounding
territory, the main force of warriors marched up to the gates. As they
approached magical traps of fire and death magic were triggered, slaying over a
quarter of the soldiers. Worse still for the would-be invaders, Bradock himself
emerged from Flamereach for the first time in six decades.
Quasar’s desire for revenge and the need to
appease his goddess led to an attack, the ferocity of which the Baklunish had
not seen the like of before. Bradock personally engaged the army with his
arsenal of spells and the of powers Joramy’s Vengeance. With the
advantage of surprise and after a short but extremely violent battle, the mage
utterly crushed the Baklunish force, destroying them almost to a man. The few
survivors fled to the Baklunish lands with tales of a mage with incredible
power.
In truth, Bradock had slain over two thirds
of the Baklunish force in the first minutes of battle. With such a complete
defeat, the battered remnant sought easier and safer lands to settle. No
further expeditions were sent into the Hellfurnaces and the area was considered
anathema. A watch was placed on the border of the mountains, but this slowly
dwindled as the majority of the Baklunish withdrew to their colony lands of
Zeif, Ekbir, Tusmit and Ket far the to the north. Bradock was eventually
forgotten, save for scattered legends amongst the Dry Steppes nomads and the
southern Uli of a terrible magical fury hidden somewhere within the northern
Hellfurnaces.
Current
Sketch
Quasar has survived, despite the
intervening centuries since the destruction of the Suel Empire. Although almost
a thousand years of age, he still appears as a man in his early sixties thanks
to the use of longevity potions. Bradock has established areas within
his stronghold containing many strange magical effects, most relating to fire.
The mage maintains portals to different inner planes, as well as ancient
magical devices believed to have been lost with the Rain.
The battle with the Baklunish did cost
Quasar however: his crowning achievement, Joramy’s Vengeance, vanished
once the engagement was complete. All of his attempts to locate the artifact
through scrying and consultation with powerful inner planar creatures have not
provided any clue as to its current whereabouts.
Bradock has become obsessive about the events
that destroyed his countrymen and home. His library contains many ancient texts
of Suloise history along with his collection of spell books. Within these books
are treasure troves of strange and powerful spells dating back to the Suloise
Empire. A few of the books contain histories and annotated timelines of the
Invoked Devastation, the Rain of Colorless Fire, and the resulting migrations
of the Suloise. These texts would be priceless to a modern scholar, assuming a
translation could be made from the ancient Suloise vernacular they are recorded
in.
Over the years Quasar has devoted himself
to traveling the Inner Planes of Magma, Smoke and, of course, Fire. He has
managed to secure ties with lesser Elemental and Para-elemental lords. Armed
with new knowledge and these alliances, Bradock is still intent upon
re-establishing his cherished Suel Empire.
The mage remains isolationist, but has
gained much knowledge of the modern Flanaess, especially regarding the hated
Baklunish to the far north of his tiny realm. His current forces include
firenewts, other humanoids and a number of permanently summoned elementals
along with one or two rogue efreet.
Perhaps the most disturbing event for the
Flanaess as a whole connected to the long history of Quasar is the recent
arrival of agents of the Scarlet Brotherhood. The agents are delighted to have
found a living representative of their ancient empire. They openly back his
plans to deal with the rest or the Flanaess, beginning with the Baklunish
nations. They may even have learned of the survival of Lo Nakar through perusal
of the fire elementalist’s voluminous and meticulous histories and chronologies
of the Twin Cataclysms. The future plans of the Brotherhood regarding Quasar
are currently unknown, but it is likely they will begin moving colonists to the
Hellfurnaces from the Tilvanot via their hidden holdings in the Amedio.
Bradock
Quasar
Neutral
Evil Human Male, 26th Level Magic-User (Fire Elementalist)
Strength:
12 (To Hit/Dmg: Nil/Nil; OD: 1-2; BBLG 4%)
Intelligence:
19 (+Lang: 7; Learn Spell: 95%; # Spells: 11/All)
Wisdom:
10 (MAA: Nil, Bonus Spells: N/A)
Dexterity:
12 (RAA: N/A; 0 to AC)
Constitution:
17 (HP Adj: +2; SSS: 97%; RS: 98%)
Charisma:
12 (LB: 0%; RA: 0%)
AC:
-5; Shieldless: -5; Surprised: -5
Size:
M (5’8” tall)
Move:
12
Hit
Points: 64
Base
THAC0: 11; Strength: N/A; Missile: N/A
No.
of Attacks: 1 or 2 (daggers)
Damage:
By weapon
Base
Saving Throws: P/P/DM: 8; P/P: 5; RSW: 3; BW: 7; Spell: 4
Current
X.P.: 6, 621,423
NPC
adapted from Paul Rokuskie’s character sketch in the Greyhawk Grimoire
Collection, Oerth Journal 11, WG12 - Fate of Istus, World of Greyhawk Boxed
Set, Guide to the World of Greyhawk, First and Second Edition Player’s
Handbooks