| Relatives | The Ten Heralds of Tiamat |
|---|---|
| Languages | Most known languages |
| Affiliations | Tiamat, The Ten Heralds of Tiamat, The Cult of the Dragon |
| Aliases | The Inferno Arcane |
| Date of Birth | 600 PR |
| Place of Birth | Isonhound |
| Species | Ancient Gold Dragon |
| Gender | Female |
Mesanth the Inferno Arcane is an ancient golden dragon and master of the arcane arts. Mesanth was one of the most dangerous and infamous of the The Ten Heralds of Tiamat, ten dragons who emerged in Quelmar and heralded the arrival of Tiamat and the coming of The War of Many Names. Most notably, she was known for the Razing of Isonhound, an event where her and her brother, the black dragon Ith, together burned down the forests of the continent of Isonhound, one of the major events that would later kick off the War of Many Names.
Physical Appearance[edit | edit source]
Mesanth is a massive golden dragon with glistening scales andwings that reflect sunlight so brightly they can blind you. But don't let her warm appearance fool you, as her eyes are cold and calculating, and her jaws hungry to eat you up. Instead of using a spellbook she has scribed her spells on the leather of her wings and has tucked her components in between her brilliant scales.
History[edit | edit source]
After emerging in Isonhound in 600 PR, Mesanth would enter into hiding. Mesanth was the only one of the ten heralds who knew Tiamat’s goal, to return dragons to the realm of Quelmar after centuries of banishment, and then to destroy the realm. As such, Mesanth bid her time slowly, waiting in secret under the nose of the realm while her fellow heralds emerged across Quelmar. During this time, Mesanth traveled around the realm in secret and disguise, learning from the greatest minds of the realm powerful arcane magics. She began to grow her hoard of magical secrets and artifacts from all across Quelmar. In this time she would begin strange experimentations where she developed backup clone bodies for her soul to retreat into if she was ever slain.
When Mesanth’s brother Ith, a powerful black dragon and the strongest of all of the Herald’s awoke, Mesanth knew it was time for the dragons to reveal themselves to the realm. In 700 PR, together the two would descend onto the continent of Isonhound and begin their campaign of continent wide terror in an event known as the Razing of Isonhound. This devastation would last for two years as together the titan dragons burned down the forested land, leveling any civilization in their path and killing nearly two million people. They left nothing but death and devastation in their wake. During this time Mesanth would establish a proper lair in the ruins of the fortress of an ancient wizard slain by her hand, remaining it to Dracservo Keep. Here she would move all of her magical research and experimentation and would hide the keep with powerful arcane illusions and wards, even giving the lair the ability to be teleported to different regions around Isonhound.
The Razing of Isonhound would end with the death of Ith and Mesanth going back into hiding. She would journey to the dragon continent of Kiston and begin to continue her work gathering all of the magical knowledge she could in order to serve her queen. The Razing of Isonhound would go on to be remembered as a pivotal moment in the War of Many Nnames and would go on to inspire the Second Draconic Crusades.
The next time Mesanth would be seen would be in the far off continent of Amusa. Her body was discovered dead in the mountains near Abzcar Canyon in 724 PR, though the story of her slaying is still unknown. When Mesanth’s spirit attempted to return to one of her Clone bodies, an accident occurred causing her to be overwhelmed with psychic energy, ravaging her mind and breaking it into two. While Mesanth was once again alive, she rose as a shell of her former self. She developed a split personality, a loving, caring, and naive mind who began to call themselves Beldriana. Utterly ashamed at her current state and seeing herself as a failure in the eyes of the Dragon Queen, Mesanth hid herself away in Dracservo Keep. Here Mesanth frantically continues her research in hopes of one day returning to her prime.
Personality[edit | edit source]
Mesanth, while having one body, is in fact two minds, Mesanth and Beldriana. They can radically shift who is in control, making discussion with one quite difficult. Another difficulty is that one does not share the memories of the other. Beldriana knows little of Mesanth’s history and Mesanth is ignorant to what happens when Beldriana is in control. This has caused both of them great frustration and if there is one thing they share, is that both would like to be free of the other. Where Mesanth is intelligent Beldriana is ignorant, where Mesanth is stern Beldriana is silly, and where Mesanth is cruel Beldriana is kind. Beldriana is Mesanth’s greatest shame and she hides herself away in hopes that one day she will be rid of her despicable partner so she may rejoin the Dragon Queen in the conquest of the realm.
Mesanth, like many Gold Dragons, is cold and calculating, patient to let her enemies make the first move to give her the upper hand. She is entirely and utterly loyal to the Dragon Queen Tiamat, feeling as if it was her divine duty to be the Queen’s greatest servant since the Queen had blessed her with the knowledge of the true mission. She is so loyal that some even consider her devotion to be fanatical. It is this very same devotion that has led her to despise herself and hide herself away in self isolation so she may not embarrass her queen with her failing mind. Her isolation and self hatred have only continued to worsen her mental state as she struggles to keep her already broken mind from fracturing anymore. This has led her to develop rapid mood swings and she is prone to break out into fits of maniacal laughter.
Beldriana runs opposite to Mesanth in nearly every fashion. She has no care for magic nor the desires of the Dragon Queen and instead wishes to be able to travel the world and meet its people. She hopes to one day be able to make true friends and to be able to live a quiet life of peace and comfort. She grows antsy trapped in Dracservo Keep by Mesanth’s own wards and will jump at any opportunity to talk with someone and possibly make a new friend.
In combat Mesanth will try to avoid a direct melee and will instead use her flight along with her breath weapons and spells to wear down her enemies from afar before swooping in to make the final kill. In combat she will focus on eliminating the spellcasters first in hopes of capturing them for her to bring back to her lair so she may interrogate them to learn their arcane knowledge. Beldriana on the other hand knows little of combat and if she find herself in one will do her best to try and escape, hoping to cause as little harm as possible. But if she is driven into a corner she is not afraid to get physical, attacking wildly in hopes of finding a way to flee.
Lair: Dracservo Keep[edit | edit source]
Dracservo Keep use to serve as the domain of a powerful wizard whose name Mesanth has since wiped from history. In order to remain hidden from her many enemies, Mesanth has enchanted Dracservo Keep and the region surrounding it with the ability to teleport around the continent of Isonhound. For this task she constructed the Waymaker Engine, which is located at the center of Dracservo Keep. Once per month she can activate the engine to teleport to a region of her choice on the continent, leaving behind a blasted heath where her lair used to be.
Dracservo Keep is surrounded by a mile wide ring of burnt and barren land where nothing can grow, populated by powerful fire elementals and by constructs buried beneath the earth. In addition the surrounding forests are enchanted with powerful illusion and enchantment magics in order to turn away potential intruders. Finally an enchantment is placed on her lair so that whenever an intelligent creature other than herself leaves, they lose all of their memories of their time at Dracservo Keep.
The keep itself has begun to decay and wear after centuries of disrepair, with only a few walls and towers still standing, very much reflecting the state of it’s current master. Its remaining halls are adorned with iconography of the Dragon Queen and are regularly patrolled by Mesanth’s construct servants. Mesanth keeps her personal laboratory and hoard in a deep cave beneath the keep, only accessible by a disguised portrait portal in the tallest tower depicting the Dragon Queen herself. Mesanth keeps herself resigned to her lab continually working to find a cure for her condition. She has placed wards near the cave’s portal exit to prevent herself from leaving when Beldriana is in control. Along with her research and experiments Mesanth keeps her mighty hoard of her plunders from when she and Ith razed Isonhound. Mesanth’s hoard contains a vast multitude of gold, jewels, and expensive artifacts along with powerful spell scrolls and magical components used in her research.
Minions[edit | edit source]
Mesanth wishes for no one to behold her tragic state and only utilizes simple minded constructs and elementals as her minions. She controls a number of fire based elementals which patrol the blasted heath around the keep while utilizing many more precise constructs to help her manage her arcane laboratories. If any of her minions begin to demonstrate a sense of intelligence or free will she is quick to destroy them so they could never share her horrible secret. Minions of Mesanth include Flesh Golems, Fire Elementals, Magma Mephits, Animated Armor, and mutated draconic experiments.
Formerly servants of the wizard that once controlled the keep, Mesanth commands four Iron Golems. She has them stand guard at each of the cardinal directions around her keep with orders to kill any would-be intruders.
