V&V A to Z: Zarthwyn

Character Name: Zarthwyn     Secret ID: "Mark Fisher"     Side: Evil

Gender: Male     Height: 5'9"     Weight: 175lbs     Age: unknown

        

Physical Description: A dour looking male with blue eyes and black hair with the occasional wisp of gray, appearing to be either in his late 30's or early 40's.  As a businessman, he favors classic three-piece suits with a conservative flair to them.  If he is expecting trouble of a magical nature, he will be wearing a dark blue ceremonial robe inscribed with various yellow magical sigils.

STR: 11     END: 15     INT: 23     AGL: 13     CHA: 21

Level: 11th     XP: 66,334     Basic Hits: 4     Hit Points: 14     Healing Rate: 1.6/day

Movement: 39"     Power: 62     Carrying Capacity: 248 lbs     HTH Damage: 1d6

Damage Modifier: +3     Accuracy: +1     Detect Hidden: 16%     Detect Danger: 20%  

Inventing Points: 3.3     Inventing: 69%     Reaction Modifier: -4 good/+4 evil

Training: INT  

Powers/Talents/Spells

Unaging - although susceptible to normal injury, Zarthwyn is immune to the ravages of time, and does not age (or at the very least, ages very slowly); as a side benefit of this, his END is effectively doubled when resisting disease

Eldritch Bolt: Damage and range as per Power Blast, but attacks as per Paralysis Ray

Eldritch Shield: Acts as the Force Screen aspect of the Force Field ability; 1” radius circle, range 1”

Heightened Charisma A: +8

Heightened Intelligence A: +10

Heightened Expertise: +4 to hit with all magical attacks

Animal Control (cats)

Astral Projection

Darkness Control

Emotion Control (fear, radius attack)

Flame Power (attack only ("fireball"), PR 2, 26", 1d12 damage)

Heightened Senses: Feline Clairvoyance (can see through the eyes of any cat within 42" (CHR x 2) range)

Heightened Senses: Magic Awareness (21” range, automatically works in most cases (unless somehow shielded), PR 1)

Illusions (type A, visual/audible/odor/taste, PR 4)

Invisibility

Noxious Cloud (attacks as Chemical Power, 2d8 damage, range 22", PR 8, 4" radius)

Weather Control

Animated Servant

"Molly" (iron golem, appears as a young woman due to permanent illusions cast on her form, does not speak, follows Zarthwyn's verbal commands and will otherwise attempt to protect him at all costs, STR 15, END 15, AGL 9, weight: 1200 lbs, basic hits 24, CC 2,925 lbs, HTH Dam 1d12, HP 61, Invulnerability: 10, 4th level)

Equipment

Ring of Protection (grants Invulnerability: 12 and Heightened Defense: -4 to be hit to the wearer of the ring)

Cloak of Flight (flight 165" - 38 mph) 

Areas of Knowledge

Magic/Occult, History

Character Notes/Origin/Personality: Very little is known about the background of the wizard known as Zarthwyn.  It is believed that he was born somewhere in Europe at some point during the Middle Ages, but more than that is unknown except to the wizard himself, and he prefers to give as little information about his past as possible (partially not to give his arch-enemy Khronos any more information, and as a wizard he is reluctant to give out his true birth name anyways).  The first known historical documentation concerning the magician is a passing reference in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in which it is implied that by that point he is already a few centuries old.

Occasional glimpses of Zarthwyn have occasionally been noted throughout the following centuries, but they have been relatively rare; he is/was a solitary figure for the most part, willing to spend years, if not decades (not to mention Invention Points) in search of learning and perfecting a new spell.  He has occasionally been seen battling the time-traveling Khronos; the nature of their feud is unclear to everyone else, but the loathing these two have for each other is palatable.

The 20th and early 21st century has seen more changes than Zarthwyn would have liked, but he has adapted reasonably well.  Thanks to the wonders of long-term investments, he is quite wealthy, and his current persona as "Mark Fisher" is that of a somewhat reclusive businessman who lets others handle the day-to-day work of running his various business interests.

Zarthwyn isn't a cackling, malicious sort of evil, but rather an amoral sort who thinks nothing of destroying lives to obtain some rare or obscure bit of magical knowledge.  He prefers to avoid dealing with superhumans directly, and will rather hire third parties to deal with any superhuman threats that challenge his interests. 

Campaign Use: PCs are not likely to encounter Zarthwyn directly, at least not at first.  If they are in search of some sort of magical knowledge or information, the PCs may encounter mercenaries hired by Zarthwyn to obtain that same information for him.  Zarthwyn may also discreetly manipulate the PCs to obtain something for him, and of course, he may try to trick them into attacking his hated foe Khronos.  Likewise, Khronos, or perhaps some other magician of great power, may try to have the PCs attack, and weaken (or even hopefully destroy) the centuries-old wizard.

Should the PCs ever knowingly face Zarthwyn directly, it most likely means one of two things: that they have managed to track him down, bypassing any misdirections and false trails along the way, to face a deadly (but not undefeatable) foe... or that they have become enough of a nuisance that he chooses to deal with them personally, at a time and place of his choosing, in which case their chances of survival and escape are somewhere between slim and none.