View source for Nyrdru

{{ICE}}
'''Nyrdru''' was the High Priest of the Galthon, some kind of evil religion or subjugated people, who was killed by the [[Loremasters]] in 450 [[Third Era]] of the [[Shadow World]] timeline. He was mentioned in a stand-alone excerpt in the [[The Dark Path#Behind the Scenes|first edition]] of the Shadow World Master Atlas. The story was from a few centuries after the end of the [[Wars of Dominion]], when the Loremasters were trying to clean up the mess of all the demonic powers and other forces of darkness still roaming freely. The "Galthon" were unexplained, but the story was relayed by someone from [[Eidolon]], which was on the continent of [[Emer]]. It was supposed to be an illustration of what happens to people who lose themselves to the [[Unlife]], or what happens when you try to claim a soul back from it. 

Nyrdru was being hunted down by the Loremasters undoubtedly for having become wicked, which was the inevitable consequence of drawing power from the Unlife, and had taken refuge in the unholy "[[The Temple of Darkness|Temple of Night]]." There were no longer any demonic servants to protect him, so he was trapped against the pursuers. His "once-handsome face" was "now the snarling visage of animal rage and hatred", and he cast what was implied to be a Nether bolt at the group. The Loremaster Kedrik had anticipated the attack, and blocked it with a scintillating energy shield.

It was at that point the Loremaster summoned a [[Absolution Pure|Spell of Absolution]] in the [[Iruaric]] language, which provoked a shriek that "no human should be capable of" which "could only have been the utterance of the Unlife." The author described it as a shriek "whose origins were beyond the [[Wall of Darkness]]", which was the [[Flows of essence#Barriers|essence barrier]] separating the hemispheres of [[Shadow World]], enforced as a consequence of the [[Eye of the Drake#Behind the Scenes|Eyes of Utha]]. It was assumed to be a realm of darkness by those who had never been there, possibly a "negative universe" of Unlife, which housed surviving followers of [[Kadaena]]. Thus, the story most likely took place on the [[ICE age|I.C.E. Age]] continent of Gaalt, which was near the Wall of Darkness. These followers were sometimes called the "[[The Dark Path#Behind the Scenes|servants of the Shadow]]."

Regardless, Nydru's body convulsed in agony, and froze in a contortion of pain. His skin and clothing began to disintegrate, revealing himself to be an empty shell. Absolution is supposed to rip a soul out of its body, rendering the target temporarily or permanently dead. What happened with Nyrdru was that there was essentially nothing to rip out, he burned through in several areas with orange light and within moments there was nothing left but a smoldering heap of cloth. The point was that The Unlife had utterly destroyed his soul. He was "consumed by his insatiable master," the ultimate fate of anyone who would turn to it for power. [[Bandur Etrevion]] is portrayed the same way under certain conditions, when good lighting in his shrine defeats the illusion of his eternal vitality.

==Behind the Scenes==
Nyrdru would have been born after the Wars of Dominion, if he was human, but there were surviving servants of the Master of Malice in Gaalt. The Master was a former servant of [[Kadaena]] who was slain by [[Andraax]], the battle which drove Andraax insane. In fact, Andraax vanished for thousands of years, traveling through the Portal at Ruuth. This was a powerful gateway to the other side of the Wall of Darkness. It is possible Nyrdru has an implicit back story with these servants, having come to be enthralled by The Unlife through them. It was a few millennia before the Raven Queen, a [[Iylari|Dyari]] sorceress intrigued with Kesh'ta'kai ([[Fash'lo'nae]]), established her monarchy in the northeastern continents. "Master of Malice" is also a plausible [[The Temple of Darkness#Behind the Scenes|translation]] of the inscription on the [[Marlu#The Broken Lands|Dark Shrine]]. The only point at which "Nyrdru" seems to have any relevance is the allusion to his story under [[The Graveyard]], which is remarkable because this room is heavily based on the H.P. Lovecraft character "Nyarlathotep". The situation involves bringing the sun god to the underworld, which is directly based on [[Purgatory#The Graveyard|the parallel]] of The Graveyard to Egyptian underworld mythology. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyarlathotep Nyarlathotep] represented himself as a pharaoh.

[[Category:ICE Age]]