Cal’thezar the Magnificent

Cal’thezar Din’aruus

Cal’thezar Din’aruus was born in Waterdeep in the year 1023 DR. Over his 52 years of life, Cal’thezar would go on to devise such spells as Cal’thezar’s Project Image and Hallucinatory Terrain. He spent his early years studying at Blackstaff Tower, alongside such revered wizards as Elminster and Mordenkainen, and would develop feelings for Tasha, the Witch Queen. Despite asserting in his memoir, Life as an Illusion, that he was good friends with both Mordenkainen and Elminster, as well as having an on-again-off-again relationship with Tasha, it was widely known that Cal’thezar had been endlessly ridiculed by his associates.

At some point after leaving Blackstaff Tower, Cal’thezar became a wildly successful playwright, crafting vivid and intensely life-like scenes and creatures with his illusory magic. However, he was eventually driven out of business by the Baldur’s Gate Thespian’s Association when it was discovered that he did not actually employ any actors. 

Using the profits from his short-lived but lucrative career, Cal’thezar retired to Malakova and built Castle Capricus. Sadly, he would find no rest there. The people of the nearby village of Respitez, which would later be known as Hunter’s Rest, began to grow suspicious of the overly-gregarious and talkative Cal’thezar, eventually deciding he must be some kind of evil sorcerer. Cal’thezar was forced to barricade himself inside of Castle Capricus for a week, and mysteriously emerged as a Lich, driving the villagers away from his home. 

Word eventually reached Malakova’s capital, and Queen Erzhebet II declared that anyone who could drive Cal’thezar from his castle would be granted lordship over it and the village of Respitez. After dozens of aspiring nobles and adventurers failed, a group of Vistani arrived in Malakova. Their clan was called Varnas, and among their number were many accomplished monster hunters. The patriarch of the family at the time, Gregor Varnas, sensing an opportunity to find a permanent home for his family, led his most trusted warriors in an assault on Castle Capricus, destroyed Cal’thezar’s phylactery, ending the Lich forever… or so he thought.

Shortly after the Fog overtook Malakova, Cal’thezar was restored to a fraction of his former power. Despite being stripped of his body, necromantic powers, and what was left of his tenuous grasp on reality, Cal’thezar was left with his mastery of illusions, and was now free to reclaim his former home. 

Cal’thezar’s Lair

Cal’thezar’s lair is Castle Capricus, a dilapidated castle in the Snowtooth Mountains of Malakova. His phylactery, the Grimoire of Cal’thezar, grants him improved powers of Necromancy. However, it is also his greatest weakness - for hidden in the ramblings of Cal’thezar is the secret to destroying his phylactery and severing his soul’s connection to this world. 

Destroying the Grimoire. Cal’thezar’s Achilles’ heel is his own ego. To destroy the phylactery, a character must read from the Grimoire within earshot of Cal’thezar the following passages;

• On Mordenkainen. “That arrogant egomaniac! So pontificate and self-assured is he that, when I expressed to him my latest successful spell,  Remote Expression of the Soul, he simply replied, ‘Insubstantial.’ The nerve!”
• On the Witch Queen. “My heart! The bubbles in my cauldron and the light of the moon upon my love-lorn visage! Tasha, Iggwilv or Zybilna, whatever name you so choose can only hope to capture a fragment of your intellect and beauty! Be mine, or I will lay waste to myself!” Next to this passage, written in a different handwriting, are the words, “Ew, no.”
•  On Elminster Aumar. “Save the world once, good for you. Save the world a few times, sure, your reputation as a wizard may precede you. But, do not think for a second, Great Sage, that saving the world countless times gives you the right to be a PRICK!!! I’ll show YOU a dangerous psychopath! I will show them ALL!”

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing ties), Cal’thezar can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects. The effects originate from the Grimoire of Cal’thezar, provided the book is not subject to the hallow spell or a similar effect. Cal’thezar cannot choose the same lair actions two turns in a row.

• Cal’thezar targets up to four corpses within 60 feet of the Grimoire of Cal’thezar  and reanimates them as skeletons or zombies.
• Cal’thezar targets one friendly undead within 60 feet of the Grimoire of Cal’thezar, allowing him to see through its eyes. Additionally, the undead gains temporary hit points and a bonus to its attack rolls, damage rolls and saving throws equal to Cal’thezar’s Charisma bonus. Cal’thezar may continue this effect at initiative count 20 for as long as he maintains concentration without using a lair action. The effect ends if the undead dies. 
• Cal’thezar can cast a spell of 3rd level or lower. The spell originates from the Grimoire of Cal’thezar.