The Pale Knight
Murdoch Selanmere, also known as Mordoc and as the Pale Knight, is the main villain of the videogame Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II and a posthumous villain in Baldur's Gate 3.
He has claimed to be first vampire king in all of Toril.
He was voiced by Mitch Lewis.
History[]
Murdoch, after becoming the king of the vampires, led his army of vampires, nightwalkers, and nightshades into the Battle of Bones, where they began to thrive. Just outside, or at the edge, of the battlefield, Murdoch built the Keep of Pale Night where his vampire servants lived with him. At one time, the assassin Karne was sent to slay him, but Murdoch defeated Karne in battle and appeared to kill him instead. Karne however, had found his mortal enemy and had feigned his death.
Murdoch then pledged his allegiance to Eldrith the Betrayer, though his true masters lay in Mulhorand. Mordoc's ultimate goal was to destroy the city of Baldur's Gate and remake it as his kingdom of the undead, and through Eldrith, he hoped to achieve this. He assisted Eldrith by supplying the troops of the Dark Alliance. Later, an agent of Karne in the beholder Xantam's thieves guild posed as a servant of Eldrith and tricked him into building for him the Orb of the Undead, which was used to animate the dead in the Crypts of Ilmater in Baldur's Gate.
Dark Alliance[]
When Vahn, Kromlech, and Adrianna killed Eldrith and used a shadow gate to escape the Onyx Tower, Murdoch was overjoyed as he was now the ruler of the Onyx Tower. Murdoch informed his allies in Mulhorand of the delay and informed them of his plan to move the Onyx Tower to Baldur's Gate to destroy the city.
When the Harpers activated all the elemental foundations to activate the tower and thus hope to seal it, Mordoc gained access to the tower. However, Karne discovered Mordoc's plan and with his enemies, the Harpers Jherek, Dorn Redbear, Allessia Faithhammer, Ysuran Auondril, Borador Goldhand, and Vhaidra Uoswiir, the Keep of Pale Kight was infiltrated.
Karne then freed Vahn, Kromlech, and Adrianna from Murdoch's holds and with Jherek, he stayed behind to fend off Murdoch's zombies, mummies, and shadow creatures. The eight adventurers fought Mordoc and bested him in battle causing him, weakened, to flee and move the Onyx Tower to Baldur's Gate.
Murdoch used the Onyx Heart to transform the citizens of Baldur's Gate into zombies under his control, while his vampires transformed other citizens into vampires. The soldiers outside of Baldur's Gate launched a desperate attack against the undead. Mordoc renamed Baldur's Gate to Murdoch's Gate and to allow his allies from Mulhorand to enter the Onyx Tower, he added an entrance to it. While it took the eight adventurers, Karne and Jherek about a month to enter Murdoch's Gate, their appearance changed the tide of the battle.
The eight adventurers once again battled Murdoch, who had become nearly as powerful as a god. But they managed to destroy him, leaving one of them entitled to the leadership of the Onyx Tower. However, they decided to destroy the Onyx Heart, which in turn broke the elemental foundations, destroying the Onyx Tower and restoring Baldur's Gate to the way it was.
Baldur's Gate 3[]
In the late 15th century DR, Murdoch's bust was displayed in the lair of Cazador Szarr, a vampire lord, and it is implied he was mentored by Murdoch.
Trivia[]
- Despite being one of the most powerful vampires in the setting, Murdoch is never mentioned in Forgotten Realms lore outside of the Baldur's Gate games.
 Villains
| ||
|
Recruitable Party Members Gods Demons Devils The Iron Throne The Shinning Crusade Bhaalists & Bhaalspawns Dark Alliance Cult of the Absolute The Sharrans Shadow Druids Vampires Others | ||