Nadziranim (singular: Nadziran) are evil wizards who practice the black arts of right-handed magic and serve the Darklords. They barely possess individual personalities; rather they have something more like a collective mind of a colony of ants. They are tremendously loyal and will obey instructions even if it meant their own demise.[1]
Appearance[]
A Nadziran's true form is one of a semi-transparent, ghoulish, goat-like bipedal creature, with small straight horns and claw-tipped humanoid hands. Their faces are caricatures of various sins such as greed and pride. Their eyes are malevolent, and they have patches of facial hair, wide nostrils, fat lips, large, broken teeth and wet, sausage-like tongues.[2]
They are often clad in shimmering semi-transparent hoods and masks.[2]
Biology[]
In their primal form, they cannot exist beyond the borders of the Darklands, but can transform into lesser forms that can and are better-suited for the environment. Some of their most common transformations are:[2]
- Fire Dragon: A scaly, muscular, bipedal winged dragon, about the same size as an adult horse. It is highly-resistant to extreme heat and poisons. This form is typically armed with a magical flaming sword.
- Ice Dragon: Approximately twice the size of a Fire Dragon and by far the most powerful form in combat. It is impervious to cold and can exhale a blast of super-cold air.
- Tahrdemon: A revolting six-clawed feet beast with a bulbous head, reeking fur and a pair of milky-coloured eyes that roll in its skull. It is the most powerful form in terms of mental attack, firing balls of psychic flame from its mouth.
- Vodok: A deceptively-weak black creature, covered in shaggy fur, with a white, bony head with flaming red eyes, and razor sharp fangs and claws. This fur can turn into a shiny steel-hard shell, and Vodok can spit out liquid fire. This form is extremely fast and agile.
When a Nadziran is destroyed, they are destroyed utterly, with nothing remaining of their bodies or spirit, only leaving behind a harsh, caustic stench. In rare cases, by the grace of Naar, a select few Nadziranim are able to keep their body intact, and be revived by a trio of Nadziranim loyal to the same Darklord that the dead Nadziranim served.[2][3] Zashnor, one of the most powerful Nadziran, was one of these, his body remaining after his death, forcing Grand Master to shatter Zashnor's skull, destroying him for good.[3] The Nadziranim are seeking to invent a spell to automatically resurrect themselves by leeching power from creatures that inadvertently touch their corpses, but this has not been successful.[2]
Powers and abilities[]
The Nadziranim are notoriously sadistic, relishing the pain and misery they inflict upon mortals. They are extremely intelligent and possess potent psychic powers, able to overwhelm most psychic shields. They are gifted with a massive array of magical spells, from necromancy to draining energy, or shielding a target with magical armour. They communicate amongst themselves using telepathy.[2]
In combat, the Nadziranim tend to attack with their powerful psychic abilities. Most are armed with powerstaves, firing bolts of crimson energy.[2]
History[]
In MS 3072, Naar sent them to Magnamund alongside the Xaghash, to serve and advise the Darklords. The Nadziranim became the most prolific uses of Right-handed Magic, and constructed some of the most powerful and destructive weapons of evil on Magnamund.[2] They imbued Vonotar with the powers of Right-handed Magic, allowing him to become the greatest wizard of the age.[4]
Despite their loyalty to the Darklords, their true allegiance is to Naar himself. The Nadziranim will support — covertly or otherwise — the Darklord they consider most capable of advancing Naar's goals, rather than their nominal master. After the demise of the Darklords, the Nadziranim continue to support the efforts in conquering Magnamund for Darkness, even willing to abort the resurrection of the Darklords' most powerful member, Archlord Vashna, in order to bring the Chaos-master into Magnamund instead.[5]
List of known Nadziranim[]
- See also: Category:Nadziranim
References[]
- ↑ The Claws of Helgedad, chapter 4 "A Welcome to Barakeesh", section 7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Dever, Joe [2017]. Bestiary of the Beyond. Cubicle 7, pp. 77–80.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Storms of Chai: §312
- ↑ Dever, Joe (1989). Legends of Lone Wolf: Eclipse of the Kai. New York: Burkley Books. ISBN 0-425-12314-6.
- ↑ Dead in the Deep: §300