Annu Adabra

Leader of Ashport's House of Crystal (pending evaluation)

(a.k.a. The Cataloger)

Perfect Information

Annu used to lead the House of Crystal in Ashport, overseeing all matters related to knowledge and mysticism. His position is currently under evaluation.
In this role, one would expect him to have a hunger for knowledge, but his search for what he calls "perfect information" goes beyond the call of duty. His entire existence revolves around a single creed: if one seeks to make decisions that are "perfect" (perfectly fair, perfectly impactful, perfectly free of unintended consequences), then one must have a catalogue of information that is equally "perfect" (perfectly complete, perfectly accurate).

History and Legends

It is a not-so-well-kept secret that Annu is an archlich, which means he should be an extremely powerful entity to be feared. He is comparably tame now.

Dead Men Tell Some Tales

Jimson Datura has relayed the following, which he learned from his conversations with lost spirits:

The spirits speak of a long, long while ago, with a new threat upon the countryside. Not outwardly hostile, this individual was callous. Uncaring. The entity, willing to disregard the lives of others to gain its own. It craved power. Knowledge. Its power grew slowly, but eventually, it became a threat. A threat that had to be dealt with — especially when one was about to found a country, for example, although this happened before that, even. It's a little tricky for me.
They attempted to find the lich's phylactery. The one weakness that everyone knows a lich has. But they were unsuccessful. The lich was clever: instead of hiding the phylactery in some long-forgotten cave or buried deep underground, he embedded it within himself, able to perpetually look after it. A strange semblance of a soul disjointed, but still connected. The firelord at the time — Scaldor, I believe his name was — eventually saw it necessary to remove the threat from the table. The lich had grown powerful enough to do what it saw adequate, to achieve what it believed to be perfection.
And so he assembled a strike force and a team of artificers. The grand architect designed such a disabling device. Unable to kill the lich outright — being unable to reach its phylactery — they could instead disable it in three key ways. They were called the Constraints:

1. One, the Constraint of the Body limited the movement of the lich, effectively paralyzing it.
2. One removed the soul. Theoretically, removing the connection it had with the soul limited the amount of power it could draw, and the abilities it could cast or use.
3. [The third one] disconnects the mind. This was thought to be important, as something as clever with knowledge as an ancient lich would be able to figure out how to bypass the other two.

Apparently, the battle was epic. Scaldor's task force was ultimately successful, the lich buried away in some secure location, the three commanding rods — each going to a prong of the Constraints — split up to god-knows-where.

Fact Checking

During subsequent research, Jim's tales have been confirmed to be accurate — or, at the very least, consistent with other historical records.

I Wander What She's Up To...

Specifically, Annu was captured in the year 180, a timeframe that lines up suspiciously well with a period when Scaldor's sister Hestia — who officially still held the title of firelord — had gone missing, leaving Scaldor in charge. From then, Annu was kept in The Albatross for hundreds of years.

Hot Rod

Jim's information about the Constraints seems correct. According to the most recent information about the Constraints, they were being controlled by Hestia (Mind), Scaldor (Soul), and the keepers of The Albatross (Body).
And according to Gorwin Texylraan, the location of the control rod for his mind was only known by "Hestia herself, a couple of the grand artificers, and the champion of the long-dead adventurers troupe that originally bound him", all of whom have passed away. This was quite fortuitous for Riley Ellasandra, who somehow managed to track it down and steal it without anyone else having a clue that it was her. The party only discovered this because she errantly left it behind when leaving town, allowing them to steal it back from her.

Snakes in Plain Sight

It is well-known that The Serpent War came to an abrupt end when Scaldor Haphistos retrieved the World Sunder from the dead body of his sister Hestia Zepheros and used it to slay the World Serpent. Less well-known is that Hestia had learned of the World Sunder — its location and how to use it — from Annu himself. He had given this information in exchange for her to allow him to have some (relative) amount of freedom. This would only have been possible for him to do if Hestia had allowed the Constraint of the Mind to be somewhat relaxed.
The exact terms of the deal that Annu struck with Hestia have not (yet) been discovered, but it appears that Scaldor is allowing this deal to continue even though Hestia herself has died.

Appearance and Behavior

Annu's outward appearance is as unyielding as the being himself. None have seen him without magical armor pieces and enchantments covering his entire form. His outfit consists of ornate pieces of silver and orichalcum, intermingled with the finest red and white fabric. A silver mask shields his face from the rest of the world, with six narrow eyeholes ensuring that the world is not shielded from him.
Even his movements add to the carefully crafted mystique that surrounds this individual: as he travels around a room, his legs barely move (if they move at all), and it appears that his feet never seem to touch the ground. Is he... floating?!
When Annu speaks, his stern (but emotionless) voice, as metallic as the mask he wears, seems to linger in the air just a little bit too long. Having a conversation with Annu is a rare occurrence indeed, as the term "conversation" implies a two-way dialogue: never wasting his limitless time with niceties, he cuts straight to the point, and he will relentlessly pursue whatever topic brought his attention onto the poor soul to whom he speaks.

"Safely Limited"

Annu very strictly follows the laws of the land, though circumstance suggests that he may not have much of a choice. He seems to be "blocked" from talking about certain topics. He will not say anything suggestive of illegal activity, or even insinuating as much. He readily changes the topic away from things he cannot discuss, even though he gets frustrated when people change topics on him.
However, he has been known to exploit loopholes to get around his limitations. Some examples:

• For a time, Annu was forbidden from confiscating contraband material. However, when he saw a goblin casually reading his lost research journal, he was able to convince the goblin to give it back to him for free.
• When confronted about his nature as an Undead and his apparent reluctance to answer certain questions, Annu would not give any helpful information. However, the next morning, he very carefully guided the party to make statements and gestures that he then used as some evidence for some bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that let him give them the information that they were looking for.

Specifically, the "warning label" that he gave:

It is true that I am an ancient entity designated as an undead. It is also true that I am a being of vast power, vast knowledge, and vast ambitions. I must inform you that my accessible power, knowledge, and ambition are safely limited. I must inform you that I pose dangers comparable to any other individual of similar station or rank within the government.

Quotes and Catchphrases

"Perfect decisions are only possible through perfect information."
"The catalog is incomplete."
"You will eat. You will sleep. And then you will stop whining."
"Even in life, an individual changes who they are. Death is no different."
"Desires, unrefined, are a distraction."

Physical Description

Special abilities

Abilities that he has used so far:

• Forced almost everyone around him to tell the truth.
• Created noxious clouds that caused everyone in range to choke and gag uncontrollably.
• Emitted a wave of lightning that knocked everyone over and caused damage to more frail individuals.
• Triggered severe frost burns on some unfortunate bystanders.
• Used a magical quill to record notes during a meeting he was attending.
• Conjured an unseen servant to whisk away a Turmoil device.
• Created a protective barrier around an area.

Alignment

Lawful

Current Location

Ashport

Species

Undead

Age

Unknown

Current Residence

Ashport

Aligned Organization

Ashport Government

Other Affiliations

• House of Crystal