Verden Korlic, Theologian Primus

Verden is a tall, lithe man with corded muscle hidden underneath his baggy robes. He seems to be in prime physical condition despite his slightly aged body.

Verden bears countless scars across his robed body from the innumerable torturous religious practices he has and still puts himself through to this day. It is rumored at times screams of pain from his chambers can be heard mixed with exultations of religious piety and scripture, only for healing clerics to enter and tend to their holy masters' wounds.

Verden has a heavy, strong face with a large, full beard of black hair that grows out to grey at its ends, the hair stiff and scruffled in a way.

Verden is notable by his glowing crimson-orange eyes that denote his holy, pious, religious strength as a cleric of incomprehensible power.

Verden Korlic bears both immense and impressive magical, clerical, supernatural, and intellectual gifts that are not native to that of a normal mortal humanoid. Gifted immensely by his worshipped god, Harbinger, it is speculated that in the written history of The Empire, no Theologian Primus has stood as powerful and as tall as Verden Korlic ever. He bears supernatural senses, strength, speed, capable of knowing and learning spells and crafts in an instant. His reaction time is that of beyond a cat, his magical prowess surpasses that of even the greatest of the sanctioned mages of the Imperial Wizards Guild.   He is so suffused with righteous and divine power that he is able to impart through a divine link to Harbinger, part of Harbinger's power upon those he perceives as gifted, divine, devoted, or fanatical enough followers of his god's creed. This has earned him the name of Son of Harbinger, Heir of Hatred, and more. For very rarely does even a Theologian Primus earn the ability to grant power to others in the name of their god, through their god.

Other than his highly unique items, Verden Korlic wears standard yet the greatest of quality religious robes, jewelry, finery and enhancements. Treated as, and essentially, royalty of a religious sense as the highest priest of The Empire's religion, he is immensly wealthy, able to afford any silk, any gem, any ingot or ore or alloy with no exception.    As such he dons himself in the finest of silks with finest of jewleries crafted in the master forges of Setrak, Dadarian, Axxanit, or other personal master craftsmen employed. Nevertheless, he is always bedecked in the absolute finest of clothing and jewelry, representative of his divine and powerful position amongst even the other elite of The Empire.

Verden bears the Robes of Shadow-Saint Blood. The crimson threads said to have been physically woven from the liquid blood of ritually sacrificed saintly individuals, with the black pulled from threads of shadow and given physical form. It is said that these robes grant him unbelievable protection and resilience, immunity to fire, necrotic, radiant, cold and poison damage, allow him to teleport at will.   He wields the Staff of the Great Heretic, a staff bearing the upper section of a humanoid skeleton on it, that if one listens close enough to, can hear the screams and begging for death of the spirit of a long dead person. Said to be the skeleton and attached spirit of the Great Heretic Ultar Yesra, who attempted a rebellious coup to overthrow Harbinger and re-establish what he called "the Old Order" but with Harbinger as one of the ascended, heavenly members of the pantheon. This Coup was called the Coup of the Ascensionist, and it nearly succeeded, until Harbinger arrived. Ending this coup/civil war in a single night, Harbinger would strike down the Great Heretic and condemn his soul to an eternity of suffering atop a staff he picked up off the field. From that moment forward, it was the duty of the Theologian Primus to bare the staff and its horrible, yet great abilities.   At much torment to the bearer, yet a test as well of their piety and religious strength of will, the staff bears a heavy mental weight, many Theologian Primi having relationships of sorts with the spirit of Ultar, mocking it, insulting it, reading scripture to it, even having debates with it. Many view it as their holy charge to change the mind of a spirit steeped in heresy, yet it never is achieved. Some are driven insane by the staff and throw themselves off of the Tower of Hate. Some simply choose to let their old age overcome them rather than hear another moment of the staff's heretical, denying, insanity inducing words.   Verden Korlic has borne this staff for near 60 years, and has stated that the voice is no more than an annoyance, a whisper he supresses with his nigh-divine powers.

Verden Korlic was born to the low noble family of the Nestares. A family of extreme religious devotion and among the first ever to bend the knee to Harbinger and his high priestess Mes Ya, the family would meander for quite some years under the leadership of its weak patriarch Has Nestares until he was succeeded via assassination by Les Natarses, who would truly bring the family into rising notoriety and fame amongst the other political houses.   Verden Korlic, born Verden Nestares and reborn as Verden Korlic, was born into extreme wealth and luxury, yet it was not easy for him. An extremely devout and fanatically religious house, the Nestares household reputation is for one of unending brutality and cruelty when it comes to their religious, political, and military aspirations. Under the tyrannical reign of the then house patriarch, his grandfather Orsyn Nestares, Verden experienced a harsh and rough childhood that quickl disabused him of the naievety of childhood.   Beaten for the smallest infractions by his grandfather's personal guard at his grandfathers behest, forced to endure agonizing religious rituals such as The Sermon of the Burn, where performers are burn in different spots at various intensities while reciting scripture from The Book of Harbinger. It is said the suffering and pain of one who endures it while engaging in spiritual activity strengthens Harbinger.   As he grew though, Verden was educated in the best of schools, trained by the finest of swordsmen, tutored by the most brilliant of mages and more. Despite his brutal upbringing of physical, emotional and spiritual abuse, the boy was obviously brilliant. His grandfather would take credit for this, saying that he had forged Verden into the man he was. It seemed that he would be destined to join the church clergy, or The Assembly and at the age of 15, Verden Korlic chose the church. During his coming of age ritual when his hand was sliced by a red priest, as all young men and women must endure, it is said that Verden did not make any noise, and then offered his other hand. He endured this second cut, conjoined his hands, and offered a prayer. It is said that a red halo showed then above his head, and in that moment the red priest knew he was blessed.   After the ritual, he would join the Church and begin the process of ascending the ranks of the cutthroat, ruthless ladder that is the Church's internal hierarchy. Taking a new surname and forsaking his claim as heir of his families titles, wealth, legacy and all other forms of connection, he joined his new family in the Church.   Verden then began his over 80 year career in The Church. Learning to play 'the game' very quickly and being resilient, hardened and all around mentally tough, Korlic excelled. Scheming, conniving, backstabbing and orchestrating plots in the ruthless culture of the Church, Verden quickly amassed power, influence, and allies.   Eventually rising to the position of one of the Theologians, the penultimate rank of the Church. The Theologian of Jarentasar, Verden held immense political, militaristic, and religious power. The Theologian of Jarentasar is considered the de facto most poweful amongst the seven and the de facto heir to the ultimate religious rank of Theologian Primus. Forging a strong political bond with the Theologian Primus in his ruling of Jarentasar as its holy leader. Matres Estar, the current Theologian Primus, would play a game as all the Theologians and the Primus do, a game of primacy, of dominance. A game of betrayal, temporary alliances, grim ruthlessness, and in general a savage competition to outsmart and eventually destroy the Theologian Primus to become the new religious supreme leader of The Empire.   Verden outplayed his master and 'friend' expertly. Luring Matres into a trap that Matres believed he had coordinated with his own troops that were loyal to him, but actually loyal to Verden after subverting their loyalties through dozens of sub-plots. Hostages, extortions, blackmails and more coordinated perfectly to create a trap within a trap.   Before his body was cold and burned with honors, Verden was declared the new Theologian Primus, and his rule has extended for longer than nearly any other Theologian Primus.

Verden, like so many other high ranking priests of his relative position, grew up in a family of high status and religious devotion. This resulted in him having one of the best educations that money could buy, with the inclusion of a heavy dosage of religious indoctrination and religious teachings beyond what was normally mandated.

Obtained oaths of loyalty from all seven Theologian's, a feat that has only been achieved a few other times in the history of the Church.   Verden once resurrected a man who had been stated he was to become a saint but died before he could achieve his purpose. He then led the man to his destined death and killed him himself, making sure he would ascend to sainthood. It is said that the blood of this man, Saint Nafal, was collected in its entirety and stored in a vault under the Basilica of Hatred in the Vault of Wrath. Although... it is stated that many vials of the blood has gone missing from the inital gathering and can now be found out in the world.   Verden has amassed one of the largest sermons on the holiest day of the year ever recorded, the Day of Glorious Dawn. Held on the first day of the year as was the Day of the Glorious Dawn, the first recorded day of The Empire, at The Basilica of Hate the crowds overflowed in and out of the building, down the causeways, into the sewers, across bridges and outside of the city walls itself. This was the 1000th anniversary of the founding of The Empire, and it was a glorious day. Annointed as the Heir of Hatred to oversee such a day, Verden Korlic delivered a sermon of such rousing passion and force that it caused a mass riot of crushing bodies, shoving, stomping, raucous approval. Thousands died in the savage ritual prayer.

Verden's first wife and only child were burned at the stake when he made a crucial error in judgement regarding an ally he had made while climbing the upper eschelons of The Church. It was an error borne of arrogance, ignorance, and that final bit of remaining naievety. Still to this day he keeps their bones interred in his chambers in The Tower of Hate, with their ashes sitting atop his mantle. It is said that their deaths were the day his humanity died.    Now, he is an utterly cruel, merciless man who holds no love, kindness, mercy, or care for anything but power, his god Harbinger, and piety.

Verden is notably intelligent and in his seemingly at the very least somewhat enhanced lifespan given by his notable powers and abilities provided to him by Harbinger that he then provides to some himself. Considered near a demi-god by those that have seen him use his abilities in person.    Having studied nearly every form of magic, religion, political system, history and any and all things he can, despite his fanatical obsession with the Creed of Harbinger as its highest priest, he is obsessed as well with any and all books about and all other forms of religion, gods, worship and more. He finds them incredily fascinating.   A noted mind for proselytizing, debate, conversion, history, and religious knowledge, Verden Korlic is the supreme intellectual being in his sphere of influence, having mastered nearly all form of accepted magic identified by the Imperial Wizarding Guild and it is rumored, even some heretical formso of magic.

Verden bears an interesting morality and philosophy that is more or less the physically formed version of the Creed of Harbinger. He bears no mercy for the weak, no care for those who cannot endure pain, suffering, or loss. For he has suffered countless pains,

Verden's motivation now appears to be nothing more than to hold his power, for time immemorial, to crush and dissident to his reign, and to spread the word of his god repeatedly, to ensure the masses are nothing but slavering, fanatical, utterly mindless converts that would do anything for him, his power, and their god.