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The Necromancer, who is later revealed to be Chamberlain Unthank, is the titular secondary antagonist of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Night of the Necromancer. He first appears as the seneschal of the Lord of Valsinore, the playable character whose death he ordered, but is in truth the high priest of the Shadow King. He seeks to release his idol on the world of Titan, hoping for immortality without realising that he is but a pawn.
Characteristics[]
The Necromancer is one of the few villains of the series about which nothing is known from the start. Indeed, finding out who he is and what he is after it the main goal of the story. As his title implies, he is a very powerful master of necromancy, who sold his soul to the Shadow King and became his main agent on the Earthly Planes.
He is the High Priest of the Shadow King and the true leader of the Death Cult fought by the playable character in the backstory. He can raise up to the rarest kind of undeads, create powerful monsters, call forth many spiritual blights and banish ghosts beyond the Veil, and wields his sacrificial dagger in battle with great proficiency.
He admits to have been born in the village of Fetchfen, which has been a ghost town for decades by the time the story takes place, evidencing that he lived much longer than he appears, perhaps for centuries.
It is all but stated outright that he sacrificed everyone there to his foul Idol and added their lifespan to his own to expand his wretched existence.
Personality[]
The Necromancer is very intelligent and cunning. He built an enormous and influential cult in complete secrecy, using part of it to set up a menace big enough to lure the entire order of the powerful Templars of Telak away, including his liege lord. Doing so, he removed them as a threat to secretly implant himself in Valsinore and enact his goal, controlling every stage from behind the scenes.
Also, he quickly adapts to get rid of his liege upon learning of their survival, while carefully diverting all suspicion away from him. He is a good liar, who can sow distrust and persuade people with few words, though the closer he comes to his goal the more he lets his charade crack.
He is cruel, callous and heartless, sacrificing his entire hometown and a large part of his cult without so much as a qualm, but more importantly horribly self-centered and self-aggrandizing to the point of sheer egomania and megalomania.
He covets complete immortality, describing it as his "victory over the vault", and craves for dominion over everyone, being fully willing to doom the entire world just to get the superiority he feels entitled to without reason. He revels in the prospect of seeing everyone cower before him, just to satiate his intense lust for power.
He is exceedingly overconfident and smug, singing his own praises without end. Yet, he cannot stand opposition, nor the slightest mishap. He is furious when his liege returns as a ghost for revenge hypocritically viewing their death as fair game but their interference as an outrage.
Worse still, he is despicably craven, always hiding behind servants and proxies and using them as meat-shields to avoid direct confrontation, only fighting when he has no choice left. Moreover, he is far too delusional to realize that he is nothing but a tool to use and discard for the Shadow King.
Role in the Story[]
Introduction[]
The playable character is the lord of the domain of Valsinore, in the Kingdom of Ruddlestone, as well as a powerful holy knight from the Templars of Telak the God of Warriors; like the hero Evrain Peredur who defeated the Dread Lord Belgaroth. The Templar spent the last three years fighting a Death Cult in the principality of Bathoria. Having destroyed it, the hero returns to Valsinore, which they left under the care of their chamberlain Unthank.
However, just as they reach their beloved castle, they are killed in an ambush by one of the Acolytes of Death, who conjures a dark energy spear. Now a ghost, the Lord of Valsinore vows to find their killer and get justice. However, they discover that Valsinore has been cursed by evil forces, and is plagued by spectres, undeads and monsters everywhere. Despite being the major threat of the story and the source of the scourges, the Shadow King has yet to enter the Earthly Planes, making the mysterious true master of the Death Cult the central villain of the story.
Playing as a ghost is a unique feature of the gamebook. The Lord of Valsinore cannot hold objects and heals by absorbing energy from fallen foes. They cannot go through doors with a spirit-repelling rune, but they gradually gain the ghostly powers of levitation, flight, invisibility, illusions and possession, gaining people's skill (power level) and stamina (life-points. They also have a score of willpower to keep their calm in frightful situations.
If the Lord of Valsinore was to lose all their stamina, they would get sent to the Land of the Dead and what happens next depends on their progress. They meet the Watcher of the Gate, the divine guardian of the afterlife, who might allow them to return to the Earthly Planes if they are convincing enough. Having a serious bone to pick with those who cheat death, if they can name the Cult Master as their assassin, he will give them the traitor's Hourglass of Life and send them back to put a definite end to his wretched life.
Unmasking the Traitor[]
The first thing the Lord of Valsinore must do is to deal with their murderer. They must attack the Death Acolyte at once, lest he banishes them to the other side of the Veil. He has only 7 in skill and 7 in stamina, but he escapes when weakened enough. Then, going near the cromlech of the Nine Maiden grants a significant power up, but the Lord must leave immediately after to avoid banishment beyond the Veil, and the quest can begin.
The Lord can visit the seer Madame Zelda; but must avoid the witch Mother Toadsfoot. Either the power-boost she grants forces them to kill the first living being they meet, or her familiar gets corrupted by the Shadow King and kills her before attacking. Beware Baron Blood, the ghost who brings wandering souls to the Land of the Dead.
Near Sleath Village, they must destroy a Phantasmal Fiend spawned from the nightmares spread by evil to free the villagers. In the cemetery, they must destroy a dangerous Grave Golem to free the souls in its grasp, risking becoming one of its captives forever. Finally, the Ghost Hunter Josef Van Richten must be avoided, for he is a fanatic who attacks all ghosts on sight and risks trapping the Lord forever in a bewitched bottle.
There, they confront Nosferatu of Bathoria, a former Vampire Lord driven away from his domain by the Templars' crusade against the cult, who took shelter in the ghost town but degenerated into a grotesque humanoid bat because he had nothing but corpses to feed upon. The Lord of Valsinore can also head towards the Icefinger Tower, and fight the fearsome Winter King to gain the Spirit Stone.
The Acolyte reporting to Unthank.
Entering their castle at last, the Lord might reunite with their loyal hound Korzen, who follows them and constantly harasses corporeal enemies, weakening them. They might reunite with their beloved sister Oriana, who provides valuable information, but risk getting exorcised by the benevolent Father Umberto who mistakes them for yet another evil spirit.
They eventually learn that the one who ordered their death is none other than Chamberlain Unthank, in fact a necromancer and the true master of the Death Cult that the Templars of Telak fought in Bathoria. The cunning necromancer used the Bathorian branch of his cult to lure the Templars and the Lord of Valsinore away and take control, then spread the Shadow King's influence and brought in the Dread Knights of the Order of the Black Shroud: a batallion of powerful undead chaos warriors.
Quest for Revenge[]
The Lord of Valsinore must be cautious when interacting with people. With so many evil spirits running wild, most will mistake them for one mimicking their liege and attack out of fright.
They must avoid Sir Marrok of the Eldermark, a visiting Templar deceived by Unthank into attacking on sight. But Bertild the blacksmith trusts them from the beginning, and Cador the captain of the guard can be convinced. Both provide crucial intel, and all three can be possessed. (Though only Marrok, Cador and Father Umberto own a weapon that can harm spirits.)
Two Dread Knights.
The Lord of Valsinore must possess someone to venture into the crypts. There, they must fight a dangerous Hellfire Golem, and the Wraith Queen who took their powerful magic sword Nightslayer from their corpse. In the dungeons, a necromantic spell assembles a bunch of bones into a fearsome Bonebeast, whose nature and level of power is determined by a dice roll.
Many very useful items can be found in the dungeons, including the Codex Mortis (Unthank's handwritten Grimoire), the Oil of Midnight, the magic scythe Amethyst Blade, and the magic Soul Shield. Finally, the Lord of Valsinore must fight a powerful guardian before reaching the final setting.
The Final Battle[]
Unthank is found in the cromlech of the Nine Maiden, surrounded by many Death Acolytes, ghastly shadows and Dread Knights. He is preparing to sacrifice Oriana and use her life-force during a moon eclipse, in order to bring the Shadow King on the Earthly Planes. The Lord of Valsinore can chose many option to settle their score.
- The easiest solution is to rush towards Unthank, who reacts with a surge of dark energy costing 3 in stamina. Right after, he brings forth the Shadow King, who casually kills the now useless necromancer.
- Using an amulet only serves to weaken the Lord. Then the Shadow King will rise and dispose of his servant.
- If the Lord tries to sneak into the ceremony, they will have to fight two shadows and watch Unthank bring forth his lord and get killed.
- Using the Codex Mortis enables the Lord to cast three spells that can weaken, destroy or strengthen the two shadows that will attack them, while the wretched necromancer bring forth his lord and gets killed.
- Shattering the Spirit Stone unleashes a swarm of ghosts who destroy Unthank's servants. If the Lord uses this to rescue Oriana, they must fight either a Death Acolyte or the Dread Chapter Master, leader of the Dread Knights (a very powerful foe with 12 in skill and 12 in stamina), and the Shadow King rises and kills Unthank.
- If they shatter the Spirit Stone and attack the necromancer, they need the Soul Shield to deflect his spell or get banished beyond the Veil. They can kill him without fight by breaking the Hourglass of Life given by the Watcher of the Gate. Otherwise, Unthank is a powerful enemy with 11 in skill and 10 in stamina, who fights with a black dagger. The Shadow King rises right after the despicable traitor is dealt with.
- The Lord can kill Unthank without fight by shattering the Watcher's hourglass, but two dangerous Dread Knights with 9 and 8 in skill and 9 in stamina will try to avenge him. Their blows can cost 3 in stamina instead of the regular 2. The Shadow King will enter the Earthly Plane after they are dealt with.
After Unthank's death, the Lord of Valsinore is miraculously resurrected by the life-force he stole to live beyond his time, but the Shadow King rises no matter what.
The Shadow King rises.
If the Undead Lord killed Unthank himself, he raises him as a shambling and rotten yet dangerous undead with 9 in skill and 8 in stamina, who deals a dice roll worth of additional damage if he strikes twice in a row. After that, the Lord must destroy the root of the evil that plagued their domain.
With the Shadow King destroyed and both the Lord of Valsinore and Oriana safe and sound, the rising sun destroys the vengeful spectre of Unthank before he can strike them and banishes him to the Realm of the Damned for eternity. With Valsinore purged of the evil influence and the threat of the Death Cult well and truly terminated, it is time to enjoy the second life granted by the gods to its fullest extent.
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 Villains
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