"He looked back at her and smiled - could she ever forget that smile? - and then he so very casually stomped on the back of her mother's neck, bones shattering under the blow."
| “ | You think I will kill you? You will soon enough pray for such an outcome, pretty girl. I will hurt you, oh indeed! And then I will tie you down for years to come and fill your loins with my progeny! | „ |
| ~ Alegni taunting Dahlia, a woman who was raped by him when she was ten years old. |
Hi. This is my first proposal as I only got whitelisted recently, although I have been planning on proposing this guy for a while. He has never been rejected, so here goes.
What's the Work?[]
The Legend of Drizzt is a book series written by R.A Salvatore set in the fantasy novel, role-playing game, film, and video game setting The Forgotten Realms, one of the largest literary universes ever conceived. The series revolves around the titular Drizzt Do'urden, who is a type of elf called a drow who live underground. The drow worship Lolth, the goddess of chaos, and their entire society revolves around xenophobia and murdering each other to move up the hierarchy. This insults Drizzt's strong sense of morality, so he leaves the drow city and travels to the surface. There he makes a group of close friends and fights to make the world a better place.
The series of books in which Herzgo Alegni is prominent is a teratology of books called The Neverwinter Saga. Most of Drizzt's close friends have died and he is alone. Consequently, he begins traveling with the morally ambiguous and untrustworthy Dahlia Sin'felle, who drags him into her struggles and challenges his morals. This teratology is significantly bleaker than the rest of the series, showcasing the darkest parts of humanity, with unheroic "heroes" and truly depraved villains.
Who is He?[]
Herzgo Alegni is one of the two main antagonists of The Neverwinter Saga. He was a tiefling (a person descended from people who bred with demons), and a warlord of an organization called the Shadowvar. Working under a warlock named Draygo Quick, he was responsible for taking control of the city of Neverwinter to establish Shadowvar presence. He was also a notoriously sadistic, temperamental, and petty rapist who often targeted children.
What has he Done?[]
Past/General[]
Firstly, he joined the Shadowvar, a jingoistic and murderous organization, because he believed it would give him the chance at getting power. He quickly made a name for himself for being exceptionally brutal and ruthless, burning several villages to the ground and killing the inhabitants with the somewhat limited number of troops he was given. He also gained a reputation for being so perverted that some of his servants (who certainly aren't good people themselves) go out of their way to make sure he receives no female prisoners, because they know how brutally he will rape them.
Arguably his worst crime is near the beginning of his career, when he led an attack against an elvish village. After burning many of the houses to the ground and killing most of the villagers, there remained one little girl named Dahlia. Herzgo gleefully murdered Dahlia's mother in front of her before brutally raping the ten-year old while all his men watched. He then laughed at her and left her to die alone in the ruins of her home.
Unbeknownst to Alegni, he had impregnated Dahlia, which he discovered when he met her again and she threw their son of a cliff to get revenge on him. The baby survived, but Herzgo was insulted to have a crippled son and tried to kill the infant, before Draygo Quick stopped him. Draygo and Herzgo raised the boy, who they named Effron, to hate his mother for trying to kill him. During Effron's childhood, Herzgo abused him constantly, making sure the boy knew what a disappointment he was and making it clear that if it weren't for Draygo Quick forbidding it, Herzgo would kill him in an instant.
At some point, Draygo Quick gave Alegni a magical and sentient sword called Charon's Claw. The sword was linked to a man named Barrabus the Gray, who had attuned his soul to it. With the sword Alegni had control over Barrabus's soul and made the once proud man his slave. He could use Charon's Claw to stab pain directly into Barrabus's soul, which he did on a daily basis, either when he needed someone to take anger out on, he believed Barrabus had disrespected him, or was simply bored. The pain was so intense and frequent that Barrabus tried to kill himself several times, but the sword wouldn't let him.
The Neverwinter Saga[]
Alegni was ordered by Draygo Quick to establish Shadowvar control in the Neverwinter area, particularly the city of Neverwinter itself. After years of scheming and assassinations, Herzgo practically owned the city, with the actual lord simply being a figurehead. A particularly petty incident occurred when he found the Winged Wyvern Bridge. He for some reason was obsessed with this bridge, believing it to be a wonder of architecture, but hated the name, believing it should be called the "Herzgo Alegni Bridge" since it was such a great bridge, and he was such a great person. As such, he had Barrabus torture to lord of the city till he renamed it and flew into a rage whenever a citizen of the city referred to it by its previous name.
Around this time, a volcano erupted which destroyed the city of Neverwinter. This pissed off Alegni, not because he cared about all the lives that had been lost, but because he lost all his influence in the area. A few years later, the city began to rebuild and Alegni returned to once again build influence. The city was under threat from a cult called the Ashmadai, and Alegni had his troops protect the city. However, this was only so he could have the chance to take the city for himself and take make himself look good to its citizens. Through assassinations and campaigns to look good he eventually made himself first citizen.
The Winged Wyvern Bridge had survived the eruption, and Barrabus, who was a local hero for fighting the Ashmadai, suggested they change the name the Bridge of Barrabus as a way to annoy Alegni. This angered Alegni more than anything, and he tortured Barrabus brutally for hours. He probably would have killed him, but Charon's Claw wouldn't allow it.
Around this time, Alegni discovered that Dahlia was in the area and had Barrabus and Effron try to kill her. Barrabus ended up joining Dahlia's party and Effron failed, so Herzgo was forced to confront her in Neverwinter. During the ensuing battle he mocked her for her rape and tried to take her alive so that he could turn her into his sex slave. He was defeated and almost killed, but was saved by Draygo Quick, who teleported him to the plain of Shadows.
After healing, Herzgo and Effron were ordered by Darygo Quick to find Charon's Claw, which had been stolen by Dahlia's group. Along with a group of Shadowvar soldier, the duo tracked them to the ancient, ruined city of Gauntygrym. The city was being inhabited by drow elves, who Alegni's group murdered their way through. Alegni once again confronted Dahlia, and this time she killed him.
Mitigating Factors/Redeeming Qualities?[]
He's got a couple of things that could be mistaken for preventions, but most of them don't hold up.
- A Lack of Moral Agency: In the Forgotten Realms demons have no moral agency. They are naturally driven by the desire to torture and destroy everything they see and couldn't qualify for PE. However, despite how he looks, Herzgo Alegni is not a demon. He is a tiefling, who, while distantly related to demons, are basically weird looking humans. Mentally they are the same as everyone else and have no innate desire to be evil, with most of them just living normal lives. Herzgo Alegni has a conscience, but he chooses to ignore it.
- A Sense of Honor and Remorse: Herzgo Alegni seems to enjoy acting like he only does what he has to do. While torturing Barrabus, he blamed his victim, and frequently acts like he is simply a tragic hero forced by those around him to do what he does. This is obviously completely ridiculous, since everything he does is done out of lust, sadism, or power hunger. Additionally, most of the rape, torture, and murder he commits serves no real purpose. The honorable facade he puts up is also pretty thin, and the temperamental, petty sadist underneath is always obvious.
- Loyalty to his Master: Although Alegni does follow Draygo Quick and acts affable towards him, his POV shows that he despises the warlock and taking orders from anyone. The only reason he joins the Shadowvar and furthers their cause is to help himself obtain more power, and he feels no loyalty to the organization or any of its members.
- Affection for his Son: Despite his incredibly abusive behavior, after Alegni died, Effron set out to avenge his father. Effron truly did love Herzgo, and during his quest for vengeance thought about moments when Alegni had briefly shown affection or pride, citing these as evidence that deep down, his father did care about him. However, Alegni's actual behavior and POV never shows this, with everything he ever said or did just proving that he only saw Effron as a disappointment and nuisance. Furthermore, Effron is a mentally unstable young man who spent most of his early life trying to please his father, so he is not the most reliable narrator. He even eventually admits that most of those rare moments of affection were nothing but a delusion on the part of a boy desperate for his father's love.
Heinous Standard[]
The Forgotten Realms has a very high heinous standard, with rulers, gods, and demons having wiped out entire cities and nations. Although Alegni has less resources than them, his kill count alone is not high enough to push him over the heinous standard. Even the torture he inflicts on Barrabus, while despicable, has been surpassed by a couple others. What makes Alegni stand out is his status as a serial rapist. There are only a couple other rapists in The Legend of Drizzt, such as Akar Kessell, Malice Do'Urden, Tiago Baenre, and Arklem Greeth. However, all of these people rely on fridge horror, and their actions are only ever implied and never confirmed. Additionally, none of them do it serially. Basically, Hergo Alegni is the only chracter whose status as a constant rapist drives the story.
He is also one of the only pedophiles in the Forgotten Realms. The only other was an unnamed merchant who appeared in Sellswords. However, he only appeared in a vague flashback dream, and his crimes are not nearly as explicit as Alegni's, relying somewhat on fridge horror, since it is possible that he was just really creepy without engaging in intercourse. Additionally, he gets almost no characterization, and has no real crimes other than pedophilia, so Alegni surpasses him. Basically, while Alegni's torture and murder show that he is a horrible person, his rape and pedophilia push him over the heinous standard.
Verdict[]
Herzgo Alegni is a sadistic torturer, petty murderer, and pedophile. A combination of these factors pushes him to be one of the most despicable people in the Forgotten Realms. I'd say yes, but obviously it's up to you. Thank you for reading my (admittedly long) proposal.