Velsharoon

Velsharoon (VEL-shah-roon) is the Archmage of Necromancy, a demipower who has gathered the study, practice, and practitioners of necromancy and evil liches into his portfolio and who is striving to add general undeath as well. Newly elevated to a divine state, the Lord of the Forgotten Crypt is only beginning to create a cult of worshipers in the Realms. Although many prognosticators, mortals and immortals alike, have predicted the quick destruction of this arrogant necromancer, Velsharoon has played one power off against another, and he has begun to establish himself in the Faerunian

pantheon.

As a mortal, Velsharoon was a renegade Red Wizard of Thay who lived in the Tower Terrible in Soorenar as well as several other abodes. He aspired to the position of Zulkir of Necromancy, but was driven from that land centuries ago after feuding with his chief rival, Szass Tam, and several other powerful Red Wizards. Nearly as powerful as his archrival, Velsharoon spent many decades seeking enough power to destroy Tam and other wizards who challenged his evil machinations, including Halder of Delzimmer, Omn Hlandrar of Halruaa, the Simbul of Aglarond, and Elminster of Shadowdale.

In a very old ruin in the Plains of Purple Dust, southwest of the city of Zindalankh on the Sempharwater, Velsharoon discovered a process laid down long ago by Talos the Destroyer by which a great wizard can achieve demipowerhood. The Vaunted, as the archnecromancer was sometimes pilloried, managed to complete the ritual, which first turned him into a lich, and ascended into the ranks of Faerun's pantheon with the Destroyer's sponsorship at the end of 1368 DR. (Sages speculate Ao allowed his ascension to provide a balance to the new Lord of the Dead's dislike for the undead.)

Velsharoon served the Storm Lord dutifully, if not loyally, before realizing that Talos was forcing him to expend his divine energy at a profligate pace. Unwilling to be worn out like a footsoldier's marching boots, Velsharoon shifted his allegiance to Azuth after forging an alliance of convenience with the Patron of Wizards. Infuriated, Talos railed against his fickle servant, but Azuth, with Mystra's help, backed the Archmage of Necromancy in a bid to redress Talos's encroachment on Mystra's province of magic. After Talos calmed down, Velsharoon made a secret alliance of convenience with the Destroyer, and he now plays Azuth and Talos off against each other. Officially, Velsharoon serves Azuth as the power primarily concerned with one class of specialist wizard – necromancers - much like Savras the All-Seeing serves Azuth as a patron of diviners. Unofficially, Velsharoon continues to aid Talos's quest for perennial destruction by encouraging his followers to unleash their horrible creations on an unsuspecting world.