The Lord of Shadows and Marten Shadowen

[Khyron1144]

The Rise of the Lord of Shadows
I will give you those things you thought unreal.
The Sun, the Moon, the stars all bear my seal.
-Black Sabbath, “N.I.B.”

Before the fall of the Rebel Angels/Spirits/Gods, the being who came to be known as Abraxas was already powerful and important.  He was created by the One to be the Tutelary Spirit of Magic.  As such, he was entrusted with great knowledge of spells.

When he heard of Lucifer and Satan's plan to rebel, Abraxas signed on with their cause, seeing it as a chance to increase his personal power.  Of all the rebels cast down after the failed rebellion, Abraxas was the least disappointed.  Instead, he saw it as his opportunity to explore the newly created multiverse and carve out his own niche.  Abraxas was the first sentient being to find the transitive plane known as the Plane of Shadows.

While he rose to greatness among the Daemons of True Evil under his own name, Abraxas, he also created an identity for himself on the Plane of Shadows as the Lord of Shadows.  In this guise, he created the Book of Shadows and the Staff of Shadows, which later became Shadowen's Book and the Staff of Shadowen.  Using these artifacts and his own power, The Lord of Shadows corrupted Marten the Wise into Marten Shadowen.

Since then, he has tried to spread knowledge of the School of Shadow upon the Prime Material and struck the occasional bargain.  He especially likes to offer power to Wizards in exchange for their corruption.

As a Daemon Lord of Primordial Age and the Tutelary Daemon of Magic, Abraxas is a being of immense power.  Adding the control of a Transitive Plane to that makes him even more dangerous, when he is acting as Lord of Shadows.

If your Player Characters insist on fighting him, they will almost certainly lose, but if you want a set of stats to prove it:

Abraxas (Tutelary Daemon of Magical Knowledge) [Lord of Shadows]
[Bracketed items refer to his Lord of Shadows persona on the Plane of Shadow]
Frequency:  Unique (Very Rare)
No. Appearing:  1
Armor Class:  -5, [-7]
Move:  12” [FL 18” (MC A)]
Hit Dice:  160 Hit Points [180 Hit Points]
%In Lair:  25% [35%]
Treasure Type N (*11), R, S, T, U
THAC0:  1
No. of Attacks:  1
Damage/Attack:  2d6 +5
Special Attacks:  Spell-like abilities and psionics
Special Defenses:  Daemon Immunities, +2 [+3] or better weapon to hit
Magic Resistance:  110% to 1st level spells [120%  to 1st level spells]
Intelligence:  God-like
Alignment:  Neutral Evil
Size:  M (6' Tall} [L (8' Tall)]
Psionic Ability:  310
Attack/Defense Modes:  All/All
Level/ X.P. Value:  X/Quite a lot

Abraxas has great illusory and shape-changing power, so it is uncertain what his true form is.  One of his favorites is a man-like torso with a rooster's head and a snake tail instead of feet.  He also will sometimes appear as a handsome man with wings, either bat-like or feathered.  As the Lord of Shadows, he is a looming humanoid figure composed of shadow.

If he deigns to enter physical combat, Abraxas wields a very stout quarterstaff that can at his option function as a Staff of Withering in addition to regular hit point damage.

As with all Daemons, Abraxas takes only half damage from acid, cold, and fire, as well as total immunity to poison, paralysis, Charm, Suggestion, and normal weapons.

He has the following spell-like abilities usable at will:  Detect Invisible, Read Magic, Comprehend Languages, Invisibility, telepathy with any being of low Intelligence or higher, Chill Touch, Ray of Enfeeblement, Change Self, Alter self, Polymorph Self, Shape Change, Spectral Force, Shadow Magic, Shadow Monsters, Continual Darkness, Evard's Black Tentacles, Wraithforrm, and Teleport Without Error

Once per day Abraxas may pronounce an Unholy Word;employ a Symbol of Hopelessness; Word of Recall back to either Gehenna or the Plane of Shadows; Gate in 1d8 Ebon Tigers, 1 Arcanadaemon, 2 Ultrodaemons, 3 Kelubar, or 2d6 undead Shadows; and fulfill another's Wish.

[Khyron1144]

The Tragical History of Marten Shadowen

You think you know, but you are never quite sure.
Your soul is ill, but you will not find a cure.
Your world was made for you by someone above,
But you choose evil ways instead of love.
You made me master of the world where you exist;
The soul I took from you was not even missed.
-Black Sabbath, “Lord of this World”

The mad wizard who terrorized Known Terra as Marten Shadowen was once known as Marten the Wise.  In those days, the Plane of Shadows was unknown to the wizardly inhabitants of Terra, and none of them knew the spells that draw on its power, like the Shadow Magic and Shadow Monsters spells.

Marten, upon learning the relatively simple spell of Continual Light and its converse, Continual Darkness, was fascinated by its the conjured darkness:  Where did it come from?  Is there more to be found there?  What else can this source of darkness be made to do?

Pursuing this line of questioning led Marten to the Plane of Shadows.  While wandering the dim and mostly barren Plane of Shadows, Marten met a mysterious being calling itself the Lord of Shadows.  Marten struck a bargain with this shadowy Lord; the exact terms are unknown, but upon his return to Terra, Marten was quite mad; he was also the first specialist Shadow Wizard on Terra and had in his possession the book and staff that bear his name.

Now calling himself Marten Shadowen, Marten began a campaign of terror across Terra, killing peasants simply to learn the strengths of his new spells, then reanimating the corpses as zombies and skeletons and turning a select few victims into undead shadows.

While rampaging across the Barbarian Lands, Marten Shadowen met his death at the claymore of Liam of the Tribe of the Ram.  Liam attempted to destroy Shadowen's artifacts but failed.  The current whereabouts of Shadowen's Book and the Staff of Shadowen are unknown.

It is believed that Shadowen's Book and the Staff of Shadowen confer powers that would be thought of as largely defensive in nature with a small number of very powerful offensive spells.  They are also expected to exert a corrupting effect on the owner.

Shadowen's Book is first and foremost a spellbook containing all the known spells of the School of Shadow, as well as around 80% of known Necromancy spells and about half of the most popular Illusions and Conjurations.  An evil owner of Shadowen's Book will gain the benefits of a Libram of Ineffable Damnation (advance one level as a Wizard) and of a Tome of Clear Thought (gain a point of Intelligence).  If someone not of evil alignment comes to possess Marten's book, there is a 10% cumulative chance per week of the possessor's alignment shifting towards evil.  Upon becoming evil, the possessor will gain the level and Intelligence point as detailed previously.
Shadowen's Book also confers the following spell-like abilities:
I Minor Benign Power:  Animate Dead (1 body) by touch up to seven times a week.
I Minor Benign Power:  Darkness 15' Radius up to three times a day.
II Major Benign Power:  Phantasmal Killer once a day.
II Major Benign Power:  Passwall up to twice a day.
IV Major Malevolent Effect:  Cumulative 1% chance per use of Prime Power of summoning the Lord of Shadows, who will destroy the owner's soul, possess his body, and then slay his henchmen and associates.
V Prime Power:  Double strength (for purposes of number of Hit Dice affected) Death spell, once a day.

The Staff of Shadowen is a blackened quarterstaff of stout oak.  The Staff will function as a Staff of Striking for any Wizard, although its to hit and damage bonus improves to +5.  Expending extra charges doubles or triples the damage bonus as is standard for a Staff of Striking.  The Staff has a pool of 30 Charges to power this and the Withering function; these charges regenerate to full at the stroke of midnight.  In the hands of a Shadow Wizard, the Staff also functions as a Staff of Withering and a Staff of the Serpent (may function as an adder or python at the owner's option).  A Wizard of any specialty other than Shadow Wizard, as well as generalist Mages, in possession of the Staff of Shadowen have a cumulative 15% chance per week of becoming a Shadow Wizard of their current level.  A Shadow Wizard will also gain the following spell-like abilities from the Staff:
I Minor Benign Power:  Speak With Dead once a day.
I Minor Benign Power:  Improved Invisibility 3 times a day
II Major Benign Power:  Slow once a day
II Major Benign Power:  Fear by gaze
IV Major Malevolent Effect:  After Prime Power is used, user goes insane 1D4 days.
V Prime Power:  Plane Shift once a day.

An evil Shadow Wizard with both the Book and the Staff also gains:
I Minor Benign Power:  Obscurement once a day
I Minor Benign Power:  Immune to fear
I Minor Benign Power:  Web once a day
II Major Benign Power:  Paralyzation by touch.
II Major Benign Power:  Dimension Door twice a day.

Because the Book and Staff want to be owned and used in order to spread their corruption, they are somewhat more gentle than other artifacts:  The Major and Minor Benign Powers may be used without ill effect, only the Prime Powers will trigger the Malevolent effects.