Darklord Shebnar (died MS 5070) was a Darklord and Lord of Helgedad. He was obsessed with torture, to the extent of experimenting on himself, and ran the prisons of Helgedad, where he listened to the agonies of his torture victims, and indulged in their pain with his magic. An inattentive Darklord (except for his passion in pain), his carelessness allowed the Herbalish to understand the power of the Nengud-kor-Adez and prepare countermeasures to erase its corruption of the land (albeit slowly).
He was destroyed in MS 5070 with the destruction of the Transfusor by Lone Wolf. His spirit was captured by Naar, and tormented in the Plain of Despair for all eternity.
Appearance[]
Shebnar was once the most human-looking of all the Darklords, but chose to inflict centuries of surgery, torture and magical body alteration on himself, giving him a twisted, violated appearance. He wore a suit of armour made from his victims of torture.[2]
Personality[]
Shebnar was a sadistic individual who enjoyed nothing more than inflicting pain and suffering on innocent victims. While he had political ambitions like his fellow Darklords, he lacked the will to see them through, preferring to fall back to his enjoyment of torture. He was an expert on pain, having studied every single aspect of it, even subjecting himself to the same tortures.[2]
He was one of eight Darklords residing with in Helgedad.[1] He ruled Shebnar's Sector in Helgedad, as well as the city's prisons. Shebnar's Sector contained the Cell Ward, which in turn contained the underground realm of Shindaar. In Shindaar, Shebnar listened to the screams of his tortured victims within the Room of Agony, whilst also sharing in their pain through his own magic. His fellow Darklords often sent victims to Barazoth to be tortured.[3]
Biography[]
Shebnar arrived on Magnamund with his fellow Darklords in MS 3072, and became a Lord of Helgedad by the time Zagarna became Archlord.
In MS 5065, aided by the Tanoz-tukor, allowing the Darklords to operate freely outside of the Darklands, Gnaag sent Shebnar to conquer Slovia, thinking that this would be a seemingly-easy conquest, and one in line with Shebnar's capabilities and attention span. However, Slovia had been embroiled in a guerrilla war against the forces of Darkness, and Shebnar simply became bored. Owed a favour by Darklord Taktaal for torturing a powerful servant of his rival Ghanesh, Shebnar called in the favour by requesting a Lajakeka, to speed up his conquest. Normally a giant tank-like machine used to transport ore, Shebnar modified it with many weapons, including cannons to spew lava from the Nengud-kor-Adez, and this weapon the Barazoth. This modified Lajakeka caused untold havoc and terror in Slovia, and Shebnar raised the dead as the Kaggazutaagon, fiery undead.[4]
However, this was a strategic error. Shebnar's decision revealed to the Freelands, before Gnaag wished to, that the Darklands had gained this level of technological mastery. Shebnar also positioned the Barazoth in such a way that made it an unprotected target. Additionally, although Shebnar intended for the undead to dishearten the Slovians, it instead galvanised them into fury. The Slovian forces drove the Barazoth into the chasm of the Stornlands, and the Herbalish stole a piece of the machine to investigate its magic, a decision that would have far-reaching consequences for the Darklords.[5]
After conquering Slovia, some time between MS 5067 and MS 5070, Shebnar and Darklord Zhanshal led a pincer attack on Chaman and Bautar.[6]
Shebnar died in MS 5070, after Lone Wolf destroyed the Transfusor, causing the Tanoz-tukor to stop working, meaning he could not survive for long outside of the Darklands. For his failure, his spirit was trapped and tortured in the Plain of Despair by Naar.[7]
Design[]
- See also: Barazoth (domain)
In the first edition of The Darklands, Shebnar was instead ruler of Barazoth, rather than being a Lord of Helgedad.[8] This was retconned in the second edition of The Darklands.[9] Barazoth and Shebnar's Sector are mostly like-for-like in terms of characteristics, although the second edition goes into more detail about the tortures within the Cell Ward.
The term "Barazoth" was repurposed to describe his Nengud-kor-Adez-enhanced Lajakeka.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hahn, August [2004] (2011). "Helgedad — The Eye of Evil", The Darklands, Dever, Joe, Second Edition, Mongoose Publishing. “Helgedad is the permanent place of residence for eight Darklords: the Archlord Zagarna himself and the seven Lords of Helgedad, namely Ghanesh, Taktaal, Kraagenskûl, Xog, Shebnar, Mrugor and Khatellu.”
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hahn, August [2004] (2011). "Darklords, Demons and Gods of Darkness: Shebnar, Lord of Helgedad", The Darklands, Dever, Joe, Second Edition, Mongoose Publishing.
- ↑ Hahn, August [2004] (2011). "Helgedad — The Eye of Evil: Shebnar's Sector", The Darklands, Dever, Joe, Second Edition, Mongoose Publishing.
- ↑ Jonathan Stark and August Hahn (2024-01-04). Episode 14: The Darklands War (Part 2 of 2). Journeys Through Magnamund. Holmgard Press. Timestamp: 4:43
- ↑ Jonathan Stark and August Hahn (2024-01-04). Episode 14: The Darklands War (Part 2 of 2). Journeys Through Magnamund. Holmgard Press. Timestamp: 7:08
- ↑ Jonathan Stark and August Hahn (2024-01-04). Episode 14: The Darklands War (Part 2 of 2). Journeys Through Magnamund. Holmgard Press. Timestamp: 34:58
- ↑ Vincent Lazzari (2024-06-03). Vincent Lazzari on Discord regarding the fate of the Darklords."I can assure you that this specific scene in LW20, in the Plain of Despair, did not feature all the villains Lone Wolf canonically slew during his adventures. Simply because there are too many spirits who were specifically punished by Naar for their failures, Lone Wolf couldn't see all of them. And so, among them, you do have Darklord Zagarna, even if not mentioned. As well as the other Darklords that Lone Wolf didn't know personally (considering Claws of Helgedad is not canon in the main continuity). All were judged supreme failures by Naar and punished the same way - this is the fate of the champions of Darkness who don't succeed in their conquests. You can think about all the major servants of the God Naar slain by Lone Wolf - they are here, somewhere in the Plain of Despair, suffering terrible tortures. Cadak was a notable exception, his soul being sold and bound to the Lords of Decay."
- ↑ Hahn, August [2004]. The Darklands, Dever, Joe, First Edition, Mongoose Publishing, pp. 7–8.
- ↑ Hahn, August [2004] (2011). "Helgedad — The Eye of Evil", The Darklands, Dever, Joe, Second Edition, Mongoose Publishing. “Helgedad is the permanent place of residence for eight Darklords: the Archlord Zagarna himself and the seven Lords of Helgedad, namely Ghanesh, Taktaal, Kraagenskûl, Xog, Shebnar, Mrugor and Khatellu.”
| Archlords | Vashna • Zagarna • Haakon • Gnaag |
| Darklords | Chlanzor • Dakushna • Ghanesh • Ghurch • Gnaag • Haakon • Khatellu • Kraagenskûl • Menashga • Mrugor • Nhorg • Shebnar • Slûtar • Taktaal • Tomogh • Unc • Vashna • Xog • Zagarna • Zhanshal |
| Domains (and capitals) within the Darklands | Helgedad • Aargataag (V'taag • Argazad) • Dajaraa • Dajdorza • Ghargon (Gournen) • Gourizaga (Gourzaa) • Hourdast • Iznogdazokim (Aarnak) • Jegdazok (Dugazogak) • Kagzizad (Nadgazad) • Luurvad • Maarkaag (Kaag) • Northern Skaror (Gazad Helkona) • Tar Ogashaar (Ogvast) • Yr-Naoga (Naargarod) • Zutzinozaga (Mozgôar) |
| Media | The Darklands • Terror of the Darklords |