Ilyan Iskaar

"'The people of the Union have grown weak, distracted and too preoccupied with their own well-being to take action. They are not ready to make that sacrifice, but it must be made in order for us to be free...' ~ Ilyan Iskaar during his speech in Magistris."

Lord Ilyan of House Iskaar was a male human noble and the head of one of the three great houses of the Union, as well as the presumed leader of the Cult of the Children of the Dawn and main driving force behind the plan to bring Shadows of the Horizon back to the Prime Plane.

Description
Ilyan is an intimidatingly tall individual, standing above most regular people. He is of strong build and presents and imposing presence due to his large size. His face is described as usually bearing a warm smile and having features that make determining his true age difficult, as it contains a mixture of both youthful and aged features. His eyes are described as grey and glassy, and looking into them portrayed a feeling of cold ruthlessness and determination. Ilyan's skin was said to be rather pale and without many blemishes.

Lord Iskaar's choice of clothing was seemingly typical for a noble, though he did choose a dark color scheme for his clothing, not typical of his house. He wore a dark violet doublet with a ruby holding its rigid collar.

Personality and Traits
Despite his multiple appearances, Lord Iskaar's personality remains largely a mystery, mostly due to the comparatively few cases in which he engages in conversation with members of the Nameless Brotherhood. He appears to be convinced in the rightness of his goal to return the Shadows of the Horizon into the Prime Plane, and states that he is determined to do what is necessary to make it a reality.

Despite his ruthlessness and determination Ilyan claims he is not fond of killing, and is only seen doing so when some type of abyssal magic is at play, as he implies that anyone killed in this manner's soul is saved. In fact he is shown actively reprimanding those who commit murder and rescuing one of his servants, who was knocked unconscious, at great risk to his own safety. He also exhibits disgust and revulsion when presented with treachery, even if it benefits him.

Abyssal Powers
Ilyan Iskaar possess abilities linked in some way with the Shadows of the Horizon or the Abyss, augmenting his physical abilities greatly. He is able to produce cold burns of the flesh of others, as well as being able to paralyse those he touches. He possess some form of defensive ability, that allows him to phase weapons not enchanted by magic through his body. Ilyan also appears to possess superhuman reflexes.

Spellcasting
In addition to his abyssal powers, Lord Ilyan Iskaar is a powerful spellcaster, being able to teleport to far off locations, move large masses of solid stone and emit several rays of destructive energy, nearly instantly. His spells were demonstrated to be powerful enough to instantly disintegrate a healthy human adult.

Other abilities possessed by Ilyan Iskaar seen so far include manifesting highly poisonous gas in large quantities, draining the lifeforce of others and becoming invisible.

Time Manipulation
Ilyan Iskaar additionally had the capability to stop the flow of time for everything but himself for several seconds. During this time he was free to act and launch attacks with his enemies having no means of counter-attack. However, it appeared that he could not directly interact with any living beings during stopped time, as all attacks launched during his time stops would appear close to the victim after the flow of time resumed. This created the illusion of Iskaar teleporting and summoning attacks and spells from nothing that would blindisight his enemies. He most commonly used this technique in conjunction with his ability to move and manifest large amounts of matter into objects that would fall on unsuspecting victims. Objects included giant spiked cubes, large stones and a kiln-like construction that was used to entrap Ytril and Dustin.

Early History
Ilyan Iskaar was born sometime around 1960, presumably in Magistris, to the very wealthy and powerful House Iskaar, one of the three great houses of the Union. Barely anything is known about Ilyan's childhood, save that Mirinin became the house's court mage during that time and formed a friendship with the young Ilyan.

Sometime during, presumably, his late 20s Ilyan was part of an expedition to a large lake located in the western parts of the Union called the Black Pool. Strange magical activity around the lake led to a party being formed to sail it and somehow Ilyan fell into the water. It is unknown what exactly transpired afterwards, only that after recovering from his time in the lake, he was said to be a changed man. As his own daughter, who was quite young at the time, later testified he became obsessed with the Shadows of the Horizon and made great efforts to research them and gain an understanding of them, this was likely the time he formulated his plan to return them to the Prime Plane.

"Greenflow" Arc
Ilyan Iskaar is first mentioned by his daughter, Teena Iskaar, during the celebration event after the Tourney at Greenflow, where it is said he disapproves of her wandering and greatly restricts her actions when she is in Magistris.

"Siege of Hillgrove" and "Unraveling Conspiracy" Arcs
After retaking HIllgrove, the Nameless Brotherhood elected to use their connection to Teena Iskaar and ask her father to allow Hillgrove to be inherited by either Johnnyn Kart or Mikhael Strand and informed them of their capture of Ilarion, Lord of Hunger. After returning to Hillgrove, the Brotherhood found that the city had been given to Martin Gale, leading them to speculate that the Union leadership could somehow be involved in the return of the Shadows of the Horizon, implicating Teena Iskaar and Ilyan directly.

"Rotlands" Arc
Ilyan Iskaar first encountered the Brotherhood in the city of Lichfort where he posed as Lord Cherner Weiss, there he and his entourage of knights began moving into the Rotlands together with the members of the Nameless Brotherhood. This led to suspicions that he was not who he presented as, or that he was sent by the Union elite to reclaim the artifact known to have been stolen by Xi loyalists and brought into the woods.

Ilyan later appeared in Krevan's chamber within the statue of Xi within Strifort Gart, where he revealed his true identity and confronted the Brotherhood, having captured the rest of the Keen Lances mercenaries they had brought with them, and requiring that they hand over their artifacts and map. During the negotiations Senecius attempted to stab Ilyan in the stomach, but was unsuccessful. Ilyan was able to acquire both Krevan's artifact and the artifacts in the possession of the Brotherhood before a fight between his forces and Brotherhood members erupted and he used teleportation magic to escape.

"Man's End" Arc
The new brotherhood encountered Lord Iskaar again when searching the city of Man's End for abyssal activity, happening upon several of his cultists and following them into his manor where they saw the spear Hrithspel being brought to him. They followed him further into the mansion and set up an ambush, taking the noble by surprise. They quickly discovered, however, that he was not one to be trifled with, as he was able to quickly dispatch Gladys, Shia, Opinor and Senecius, forcing them to flee the building, before teleporting away with the spear and leaving his followers to slow the Brotherhood down.

Deducing that he would likely find the place closest to the Isle of Sacris to use the spear and break the blockade on it, Mirinin, Edith, Senecius, Mikhael and Lithiel traveled to a nearby fishing hamlet and found the noble, confronting them. Using the spear Ilyan destroyed most of the Imperial fleet battle ensued, where Ilyan's minions set up a large magical field reminiscent of a magic circle and he unleashed his full set of capabilities, swiftly disintegrating Edith, crushing Lithiel with a large boulder and grievously wounding Mirinin. He engaged in a monologue towards Mikhael Strand, explaining that he believed the Abyss was the only way to save humanity from the Four's tyranny, and alluding to experiments done by the Empire on its citizens to disconnect them from an intrinsic connection humans had to the Abyss. He explained that the other Union lords were too weak-willed to enact the plan he had set in motion, and that it was necessary for humanity to be free. Catching Senecius off-guard Ilyan was able to deal a blow, which prompted him to beg for mercy, and ask to join the lord's ranks. Ilyan denied, claiming that he had no need for a traitor in his midst and attempted to blast Senecius away with a beam of cold energy revealing a hidden weapon and his true intentions. Shortly after, as Mirinin urged both Senecius and Mikhael to group together and teleport away, Senecius snuck up to him and stabbed him in the back in another attempt to gain Lord Iskaar's favor. This once again failed and Ilyan and a now reluctantly allied with him Mikhael chased Senecius down and executed him.

"Sacris" Arc
Ilyan Iskaar once again made an appearance during the Battle of Sacris, where he was seen speaking with Zethaniela and Streno before heading out to face Glaurum, the Lord of Sacrifice atop the temple on the Isle. It was later revealed he barely escaped the encounter as most of his companions were slaughtered, and acquired Glaurum's artifact, though, unbeknownst to Ilyan, Glaurum had spread his power throughout his body making the artifact much less potent.

"Magistris" Arc
Lord Iskaar held a speech at a grand event in Magistris announcing his taking of full executive power over the Union. During this speech he demonstrated the power of one of the artifacts in his possession and assured the populace that he would use the power of the Abyss to destroy the Empire and The Four. As well, he took the members of both House Hung and House Gornik hostage, with the exception of Shart Gornik who was rescued by Dustin.

He debated Noerin Dekatt on stage, branding him as a foreign spy attempting to disrupt the inner workings of the Union. Iskaar was soon after confronted by Gladys who was fighting the Hellspawn Swarm, which he used the power of the artifact to permanently destroy before offering the two members of the Brotherhood stand down and come to be detained, which they refused and used teleportation magic to escape from.

Several hours later the Brotherhood, during their escape from the city, were cornered by Iskaar, Streno and several Amorphous Pursuers and confrontation ensued in which the lord realized that his own daughter was leading the resistance against him. The group narrowly escaped the fight utilizing Noerin's shapeshifting capabilities.

"Lengthening Shadows" Arc
After gaining power over the Union, Lord Iskaar mobilized a large number of house militaries in order to set up a defensive perimeter around the Black Pool and the castle on its shore. He was also stated to be inacting the final steps for his ritual to connect to the Abyss.

"Shores of the Void" Arc
After the remaining members of the Nameless Brotherhood entered Bryaglee castle they confront Lord Iskaar and engaged in combat with him. The ritual he was performing, involving using Lina Iskaar as a vessel to open a portal to the Abyss with the power of the artifacts. Before the energy could be channeled into the child, however, Teena Iskaar intervened and was able to take her off the pedestal, causing a pillar-like gateway to the abyss to open and swallow her, the rest of the Nameless Brotherhood and Lord Iskaar, sending them to the Abyss.

When Ilyan awoke in the Abyss he and his two followers set out to track the location of Iskra, in the hopes of being able to utilize her power to fully open the gateway into the Prime Plane. They were eventually successful and waited for the Nameless Brotherhood members to arrive and bring the infant Lina to them to utilize as a vessel. Upon getting there the Brotherhood and Iskaar had a confrontation, exchanging words and having Lord Iskaar take Teena and her child as hostages. A scuffle ensued, resulting in the deaths of both of Iskaar's followers and evenetually him as well. With Noerin using the flames of Iskra to burn the lord's body, before the brotherhood left to explore the Abyss.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the flames of Iskra had actually revitalized Ilyan and he later appeared to take revenge on the brotherhood in a semi-maddened state. His flesh was seen to be sloughing off his body and his spellcasting abilities were bolstered. He was successful in killing Mikhael Strand, Teena Iskaar and Dustin in the battle that ensued, as well as knocking Noerin and Gladys unconscious. He was then promptly stabbed and killed by Ytril, with his body being unable to take the stress of Iskra's fire any longer and crumbling to ash.