Korenth Zan

The Father of Obedience-The Scarlet Brotherhood

Korenth Zan was born among the Scarlet Brotherhood, the product of a program of selective breeding initiated by the first Father of Obedience. His father was an evil fighter in the service of the Brotherhood, and his mother was an assassin. He knew his parents, but since he was raised by the Brotherhood, and his parents were both killed in action against the enemies of the Brotherhood, he regards the Brotherhood as his true family.

At an early age, he was tested repeatedly, to find his true strengths. He was eventually determined to have the qualities needed to become a monk, and was accordingly selected for monkish training. For the next fifteen years he trained intensively, learning the beliefs of the Scarlet Brotherhood as well as the monkish skills. In his youth, he was known to be the leader in all sorts of childish mischief, such as midnight raids on the pantries, as well as vandalism against the residences of unpopular teachers. This pleased the trainers, and they decided that the boy showed marked leadership qualities of the sort that the Brotherhood needed.

When he had completed his training, Korenth Zan was sent into the world with a party of assorted Brotherhood Servants, to gather treasure for their leaders and foil the enemies of their order. For several years, the evil adventurers traveled, slaying good creatures for their treasures, aiding allies of the Brotherhood, and gaining much experience of the world outside the Brotherhood’s stronghold. Korenth Zan soon became the leader of his group, and his cunning saved his party many times. He rose rapidly through the ranks of monks, and used his martial arts to defeat a host of foes.

When the surviving adventurers had reached about tenth level, they came back to the Brotherhood, laden with gifts and information. With their knowledge of the outside world, their advice was in demand, and all of Korenth Zan’s former companions were soon high in the councils of the Brotherhood.

Korenth Zan himself returned to the monastery, and concentrated on rising higher than the rest. He fought and defeated challengers as necessary to gain rank, or defend it, until he became a Master of Spring. He also found himself elevated through the ranks of the Scarlet Brotherhood to become the Father of Obedience.

Korenth Zan is an average-sized man, with a shaved head (required by his order of monks), pale skin, and black eyes. He is completely loyal to the Brotherhood, and works ceaselessly to advance its goals in the world. He spends much time overseeing the activities of the Scarlet Brotherhood, and almost all the rest of his time training new monks and keeping himself in training.

At lower levels Korenth Zan used various weapons, and became proficient with the hand axe, bo stick, club, crossbow, dagger, javelin, jo stick, spear, and falchion. He still practices daily with each of these weapons to set a good example to his trainees, but in actual combat he scorns weapons. He owns a club +5, a crossbow of accuracy +3, a ring of invisibility, and a ring of marid summoning.

As Father of Obedience of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Korenth Zan is suspicious of his subordinates. He tends to suspect them of ambition, and of plotting to replace him. Some secretly believe that his mental state is deteriorat- ing, and that he will slip into paranoid insanity. His subordinates are still loyal to him, but his accusations of treason, usually followed by swift execution of the “trai- tors,” are shaking their loyalty. Eventually, the imaginary traitors will actually exist, and he will have sealed his own fate.

Korenth Zan is an excellent administrator, when he isn’t traitor-hunting. He checks his subordinates’ work so often that they dare not dawdle or make avoidable mistakes. In fact, many of the “traitors” Korenth Zan thinks he has caught were only ordinary subordinates who had erred in some way.

Korenth Zan’s list of actual and potential enemies includes all those not of the Scarlet Brotherhood. In his years outside the Brotherhood’s stronghold, he heard enough bad opinions of the Brotherhood to thoroughly confirm to him that those outside of the Brotherhood were plotting against it. In many cases, he is right. There are plots enough against the Brotherhood, but mostly because the Brotherhood is seen as a major danger to all of Oerth.

Korenth Zan is unmarried, but has fathered several children through a selective breeding program. Since no member of the Brotherhood is permitted to have children in any other way, he accepts this as normal, and would be very surprised if anybody told him that this was wrong. He has been known to sneer at outsiders who dared to criticize it, “You of the outside take more care breeding dogs than you do in breeding your own descendants! And then you won- der why we of the Brotherhood are so powerful!” His chil- dren include an evil 3rd level fighter, an assassin, and two monks. He is enormously proud of his progeny, but does not show it in public; this is contrary to Scarlet Brotherhood principle, and he is always a stickler for principle.

Currently, he has a mistress who is an evil mage in the service of the Brotherhood. She knows that using her spells on any high-ranking official, much less the Father of Obedience himself, would result in her unpleasant demise, so she uses only high comeliness and charisma to keep her lover’s affections. Since Korenth Zan, along with all other monks, is of Lawful alignment, he does not believe in random promiscuity.

As long as Korenth Zan manages to avoid falling into paranoia, he will continue to lead the Scarlet Brotherhood.

AC -2; MV 30”; MK 16; hp 60; #AT 4/1; Dmg 5-30 or by weapon type + 8; Str 17, Int 11, Wis 16, Dex 17, Con 18, Cha 13; THACO 10; AL LE; SA as 16th level monk; SD as 16th level monk.