Legacy of the Dragons
Domagoth the Dominator J.D. BRUCE
140
In the final years of the great war, while the victorious giants hunted down the dramojh, Talyn son of Molen was taken. Servants of the dramojh stole him from his bed at the age of two—he was one of many children taken this way, to be raised by the dramojh as special weapons against their enemies. The children were instructed in the arts of dominating others, through both magic and more mundane means, and were implanted with magical items that enhanced these powers. Their mission was to turn the enemies of the dramojh against each other and cause chaos in the opposing ranks. While some of them succeeded at times, obviously the effort made no difference in the eventual fate of the dramojh. Talyn’s childhood was not pleasant. Even the allies of the dramojh were treated cruelly and without a spark of kindness. By the time the dramojh were gone, Talyn had long since lost the last bit of humanity within him. He had become an adept magister, extremely skilled in dominating others, and nearly as cruel as his former masters. He was 19 years old. Talyn spent the next 70 years keeping his magical abilities secret. He knew if the giants discovered him, his life would surely be forfeit. In secret, he used his powers of domination to gather resources for his driving obsession. He wanted to transform himself into a dramojh. He gained enormous wealth and a vast library of magical books and dramojh artifacts. By the time he was 90, he had despaired of ever reaching his goal. He was dying and had found no magical or mundane means of becoming dramojh. Shortly before his 91st birthday, a hooded figure appeared on his doorstep with word of a newly discovered ceremony that allowed a human to become akin to the dramojh. The creature was brought before Talyn and removed its hood. It was the first mojh Talyn had ever seen. The mojh, Travathar, offered to sell Talyn the instructions for the technique. The price was steep—more than half of Talyn’s considerable wealth. However, no price was too high. With no hesitation, Talyn accepted the offer and began preparations for the ceremony. Within a few months, the human known as Talyn was no more. He had taken a new name in his new form. Domagoth meant dominator in the language of the dramojh, so that was the name Talyn chose. Domagoth—now genderless, as are all mojh—soon became feared throughout the Lands of the Diamond Throne. Eventually, tales of the Dominator became legend, of the kind told to children to make them behave. Domagoth lived on. The mojh continued to build its magical and monetary resources to protect itself from discovery. Memories of the war were still fresh in its mind, and the mojh still worried that groups of giants would hunt him down for the crimes of
Talyn. Domagoth focused all its energy on hiding its identity and location. The mojh scried on veterans of the dramojh war to watch them die, one by one. This behavior continued until finally, one day, it believed itself the only one left. Domagoth could find no other humanoid creature that had been alive during the war. At this point, Domagoth became less afraid. The mojh remained vigilant against discovery, but it no longer feared being punished for wartime offenses. In time it renewed its attempts to discover a way to transform into a dramojh. The mojh shape had satisfied Domagoth for more than two centuries, but the magister was now starting to feel its age. The creature desired the virtual immortality of the dramojh— wanted it with every fiber of its being. But, in the many years that have passed since then, Domagoth has not found even a hint of such a transformation. Bitterness filled the mojh. It eventually gained enough power and knowledge to magically reduce the effects of its great age, but its body is ancient and weak. Its mind is keener and more powerful than ever, though. Domagoth spends its waking hours tormenting and dominating prisoners the servants bring to it. The practice gives it small pleasure.
Combat Domagoth avoids direct confrontation at all costs. If accosted, the mojh uses its dominated minions and defensive spells as shields while retreating to one of its many safe houses. When dominating its victims, it first uses spells to learn as much about a target as possible, including its truename, if possible. Domagoth records this information in a great book that contains the truenames of many powerful living and dead creatures. The mojh then boosts its spell save Difficulty Class as high as necessary, depending on the dominated creature’s strength of will. Domagoth then reduces the creature’s resistance and dominates it for as long as possible, sometimes permanently.
Using Domagoth Domagoth is an ancient and shriveled version of its former self. Hunched and weak, the mojh is frequently troubled by a wracking cough. It still retains some of its mojh height, standing slightly over 6 feet, but is quite thin. Domagoth wears fine robes and jewelry of considerable value. It always wears two magical rings and carries a pair of magical lenses. The mojh also has a magical green gem imbedded in the center of its chest by its dramojh masters. It glows when the mojh uses its spells to dominate other minds. Domagoth surrounds itself with a constantly changing group of dominated servants. Servants who break free of
