Every thousand years or so an artist comes along that reaches heights in technical skill and esthetic style that have never been attained before and stands out far above and beyond not just their contemporaries but seemingly all those that have come before them.
Ihri’i (Eye-Rye-E) of Umar was that artist. Sculptor to be exact. Ihri’i had begun apprenticing when he was fifteen, and now in his early sixties had become a master of masters. His works were sought after far and wide for it was said that some sculpted accurate and life-like depictions of living things, but Ihri’i made sculptures that themselves could be alive. This could not have been more true than in his greatest work, the sculpture of the patron goddess of Umar. She was portrayed as a beautiful, young, lithe human female, mid-dance. She was twirling on the toes of her right foot with her left leg curled behind her, arms up above her, torso arched back a bit, head tilted back, her hair looked as though it was flying in the wind. Such detail – one could see the very tensing of some muscles while others stayed relaxed. It truly looked as though she was about to dance away, not just standing on one leg in a static pose. It was a work of both incredible beauty and extreme technical craftsmanship. Technical mastery on almost a supernatural level. No one had ever attempted such a feat and none could hope to. Ihri’i had been a celebrated artist for many years and the praise had gone to his head, although he did have the skills to more than back his pride. But this time he congratulated himself a bit too much. Ihri’i said, “This is the most beautiful work I’ve ever done, as beautiful as the goddess herself . . . perhaps even more beautiful.” Maybe. Maybe if he had stopped at, “as beautiful as the goddess herself,” he might have been alright. Maybe. But the goddess had been listening to Ihri’i’s self-aggrandizement for many years and thought it was time to teach this arrogant, little stone carver a lesson. The goddess had her cleric, right there in the temple as Ihri’i made his remark before her statue, curse Ihri’i. The cleric reached out and Ihri’i’s hands began to tremble uncontrollably. Panicked, he ran back to his studio and picked up a hammer and chisel – they trembled in his hands. He tried to control them, to steady them, but they continued to shake. He dropped the hammer and chisel and reached for other tools, clothes, stones, furniture – all shook in his hands. He fell on his knees and cried, thinking that he would never work marble again. On top of this curse the goddess ordered that all of Ihri’i’s sculptures, save one, be destroyed. Devastated, Ihri’i left Umar.
Several years later at the high holy day to the goddess, when the temple was full of her worshippers, the cleric, surprised, saw Ihri’i kneeling, head bowed in prayer. The cleric strode over to him, “So, you’ve come back to show that after all these years you’ve finally learned humility.” Ihri’i turned and looked up at the cleric and instantly the cleric was turned to stone. Ihri’i stood up, reached both hands into his cloak and took out a chisel in one hand and a hammer in the other, his hands no longer shaking, and slammed the head of the hammer against the striking end of the chisel. A sharp, high-pitched sound rung out and the petrified cleric shattered and fell to pieces. The other worshippers were aghast, some started to run. Ihri’i looked upon them all, scanning ‘round the temple. They all immediately turned to stone just as the cleric had. Again Ihri’i rang the hammer and chisel together, shattering all the worshippers, leaving only piles of dust and rubble in the temple. Ihri’i then walked down the main aisle to where his statue of the goddess stood and took off her head with one swing of his hammer. As her statue’s head lie on the floor Ihri’i raised up his left foot and then quickly brought it down, crushing the statue’s face with his heel.
Over the next dozen years or so Ihri’i hunted down all the goddess’ remaining worshippers, turning them to stone and shattering them. He killed them all – men and women, old and young, and even infants. Without followers gods cease to exist, and this goddess faded into nothing.
It’s speculated that perhaps the gods of Malice had some hand in this. That their agents “showed” Ihri’i the paths to take to learn what he needed to learn to accomplish his goal. If they did it would make sense, as Ihri’i would have been the perfect tool to help them with their Proxy War. “He was mad at his god. And she was just a little, regional god at that. They come and go all the time. She should have been more reasonable with her punishment. She took away what made him who he was. She made him have nothing. And a person with nothing to lose is capable of just about anything, even killing a god.” Isn’t plausible deniability grand?
Ways to incorporate aspects of the story into your gameplay:
Ihri’i is out hunting down the followers of another/other god(s) and you and your party have been tasked with stopping him by your god(s); some official; family members of those he has killed. A relative of those that worshipped the goddess of Umar that Ihri’i killed back in the day has tasked you with bringing Ihri’i to justice – dead or alive.
Ihri’i himself is a divine agent of the gods of Malice = a Malecene, and is looking to recruit you.
Ihri’i is long since dead/is lost to time, but one of his magical shattering tools, either the hammer or chisel, has been found and you have been commissioned to find the other in the pair. Perhaps you have been commissioned to find both and bring them to some place for safekeeping or to destroy them.
Ihri’i exists in the Demi Plane and is willing to teach you both how to petrify with a glance and make tools that can ring together and shatter stone, and/or help you out of the Demi Plane if you perform a task for him – such as bringing his new sculpture(s) into the Mortal Plane – they may be some type of Trojan horses, may come to life in the Mortal Plane, or be a phylactery for him or someone else.
Ihri’i is carving an army out of marble and has plans to take over some nation.
Ihri’i is turning people and things/beasts/monsters into stone and will use them in this form as his army.
Ihri’i lives (in the Demi Plane) in a grand house surrounded by what appear to be extremely life-like statues of people, animals, and some monsters. Ihri’i has/may have a connection to an Adriano Opunenza. Opunenza is a powerful mage that acts as an advisor to the nobles of his (Opunenza’s) country. Opunenza is also a dealer in fine art and antiquities and lives in a home that is more opulent and beautiful than many of the palaces of the richest kings and queens. He has some number of hyper, life-like statues in his entrance garden and it is said that the sculptures in his home and it’s architecture/ interior design/ fixtures could not have been made by mere mortal hands.
Ihri’i can turn himself to stone – marble, and can hide in stone, move thru stone at will.
If Ihri’i is a lich, and did break some deal with the gods of Malice, maybe he needs your help and is willing to teach you what he knows to either hide him, get him into or out of the Demi Plane, or hide one of his phylacteries.
