Esbin

Once a fearsome and terrifying lich, Esbin currently acts as the head housekeeper of the Malanti-Ilyani family and has grown from begrudgingly serving them to being their firm friend and adviser. He currently lives in Eden, Edenvalia where he performs his duties as the head butler and designs weapons in his spare time. Occasionally, Rei brings him along on missions and adventures as an honorary Gladestalker.  

History

  Esbin was once a respected arch-arcanist of the Sebekian Empire and directly served Emperor Zuzaria Martuche IV until its fall at the Aboleth invasion. At the height of his position, he was entrusted to develop new spellcraft and weapons at an underground laboratory somewhere in modern Kogheim. However, Esbin's work was interrupted when raiders attacked the town where the compound was placed. Unwilling to give up its secrets and his life's work, he collapsed the tunnels leading to the laboratory and buried himself, alongside his hundred workers. The move appeared desperate, but Esbin was convinced the raiders would be defeated and he and his colleagues would be eventually rescued. Additionally, he was confident that if they were unable to receive help, they could always craft an arcanic means to escape.   However, help would never come as the raid was part of a larger invasion force of thralls controlled by the Aboleths of the North who had swept the land. To make matters worse, any attempt to magically leave the laboratory was stifled by the very wards and layers of neutrydium designed to prevent rivals from scrying or teleporting in. Desperation and madness quickly set, especially after the food stores emptied and water reserves dried. What was once a place of collaborative work became a bloody battleground of survival and insanity. Esbin tried to remain composed as any semblance of order unraveled, but even his great mind broke when he decided he needed to fend for himself. When the chaotic frenzy and the howling screams subsided, Esbin found himself to be the only survivor. To cope with the ordeal, he decided he would continue to work out of loyalty to the Emperor and used the corpses of his dead colleagues to conduct a gruesome ritual transforming him into an undying lich. The remaining body parts would be raised as undead servants to assist in his research until the Sebekian Empire rescued him.   Over half a millennium later, an archaeological expedition into the ruins of the town uncovered the forgotten laboratory and among the explorers were Cera Malanti and Rei Ilyani. Almost immediately after the facility was unsealed, the archaeology team was attacked by the undead workers whose ghosts remained in anguish and unable to return to the world's spirit cycle. To make matters worse, the complex was littered with arcane traps put in place by Esbin who had become mad with paranoia. Yet, the expedition team had talented arcanists of their own who were able to hold off the lich while Rei snuck away to search and steal Esbin's phylactery. Before the facility's master could harm the archaeologists further, Rei convinced Esbin to stand down at the threat of destroying the source of his undeath. The lich was resistant to doing so and believed the Sebekian Empire was still the dominant power of the region. Through clever wits and a silver tongue, Rei made a deal that if he could show Esbin his former nation was no more, the lich would have to serve him. The undead master agreed and it did not take long for him to see evidence of his former masters' domain to be a hollow shell of what it once was. Esbin relented and swore an oath to serve Rei's household while he held his phylactery hostage.   At first, the relationship between Esbin and his new masters was uncomfortable to say the least, especially between him and Cera who deeply distrusted him. Yet, as centuries passed and the lich became more exposed to the new times as well as assisted the couple in their many adventures, they began to appreciate each others' talents as well as grow fond of their company. Shortly after Rei and Cera wedded and became bonded life partners, they gifted Esbin his phylactery as a sign of trust and relinquished him from servitude. Yet to their surprise, the lich chose to remain by their side and would continue to do so to this day.