Ernst

The Entrepreneur

Ernst was a human lich and a Marked of Yog. He was a player character in All Hail Yog, portrayed by Allen Walton.

“Mystique clings like a garment to this skeleton. Tall and understandably thin, they carry themselves with an unassailable air of confidence and allure that naturally draws people – living and dead – to them. At all times, the skeleton is followed by a small herd of sycophants, whether employees, admirers or simply astonished passerby. Most notable, however, apart from the twin burning embers in the eyes, is the skeleton’s wardrobe. Made from rich fabrics and immorally-sourced materials, whatever the skeleton is wearing at the current moment immediately puts everyone else’s attire to shame and fills them with an immediate desire to change.”

History

Even when alive, Ernst was a famous – and famously vain – wizard. Obsessed with his own appearance and, what’s more, its deterioration, he took every possible precaution – arcane and alchemical – to slow the aging process and retain his youthful appearance. As he aged and aged, however, his methods became more and more drastic until, near the end of his mortal life, Yog offered him another option.
Ernst became a lich. For many years, he attempted to maintain his illusions and his fleshy appearance, even as that flesh rotted away. Eventually, however, he grew tired of maintaining the charade and, at a flashy gala event, he first appeared as simply a skeleton – nature’s purest form. Ever since, his fame has only skyrocketed and now, as one of Yogoth’s most celebrated and controversial figures, Ernst is the premiere clothing designer for the undead.

Character

Personality

Vain in the extreme, Ernst nonetheless sees himself as an artiste, always on the cutting edge of fashion. He enjoys provoking a response from the masses and typically garbs himself in shocking or scandalous attire, often with an ironic twist, to ensure he’s always the talk of the town. As a lich, Ernst has little respect for human life and will happily kill or slaughter his underlings to achieve his ends. He treats his own retainers with little more dignity, often forcing them to perform menial tasks. Despite this, Ernst can show true camaraderie towards those – few – he deems his equals.

Abilities

As a wizard, Ernst specializes in illusion magic, a vestige of his former de-aging practices. As a lich, Ernst specializes in necromantic magic, raising the dead and conscripting them to his bidding. In addition, he is virtually unkillable, as his body, once destroyed, will simply reform, bone by bone. Only Yog holds the key to his destruction as It possesses his all important phylactery, which It uses as leverage to keep Ernst on a tight leash.
He also travels with a bevy of retainers, from lawyers to arm candy to porters, and is waited upon, claw-and-talon, wherever he goes.

Campaigns

All Hail Yog

• The Watchtower: Ernst is one of the four Marked of Yog tasked with conquering the Gatehouse protecting the Bay of Thorp. Whisked away from a midnight masquerade, he made small talk with Narcinae Barrityl before the Vessel’s arrival. During the briefing, Ernst theorized that, due to Throka Ten-Tusk's incompetence, she could conceivably be manipulated into surrendering control of the army. Upon arriving in Tzal Umbros, the lich was frustrated by his lack of retainers and, during the voyage, he designed an “evilastic” costume for Erick, once that would survive the rigors of his transformations. Upon arriving at the Gatehouse, Ernst accompanied Skoura and Erick on the unsuccessful scouting mission around the island. It was Ernst’s seeming spell that allows the villains to approach the island – disguised as a Cymbian patrol – but that spell is shattered by a hail of arrows. Scrambling to escape, Ernst and Narcinae slip into the zombie horde and reach the walls. With his immovable rod, Ernst gained the top of the wall, laying about with spells – ray of enfeeblement and tasha’s hideous laughter, purchasing the space for the zombies to mount behind him. As the orcs make their landing on the beach, Ernst casts a darkness spell to blind a tower’s worth of mages. Twice during the battle, he healed the wounded Skoura with life transference, destroying himself in the process. Once his bones reassembled, he waltzed through the battle and distracted two members of the Soulsworn – Dortek the fighter and Idele the rogue – before joining his companions for the final battle. During that battle, Ernst – disguised as a wounded elf – kept an eye on the invisible rogue and came the closest to preventing her escape, nearly casting a tasha’s hideous laughter on her before she teleported away.
• The Instrument: Ernst was among the four Marked tasked with recovering the Starsphere from Cape Cowrie, where last the artifact was seen. Studying a strange project in his studio in Tzal Necros, Ernst was bemused to arrive atop the Spires of Yog, rather than inside them, and questioned his new companions about whether he was in the right place. He was the second villain to leap from the Spire and plunge into the Fissure. When he arrived in Cape Cowrie, he was immaculately dressed in a black-on-black suit, immediately soaked by the sea. As they crossed the bay atop their steeds, Ernst travelled underwater. In the seaside cave, Ernst was fabulously bored, pestering his retainers with message after message. On the outskirts of Clamuth, he cast a seeming over the party, to better disguise them to question the halfling townsfolk. During the Clamfaire parade, he was accosted by a knight of the Order of the Loyal Hound, only avoiding detection by making a scene. When the villains reached the Stargaze Spire, Ernst made an ass of himself immediately and loitered in the lobby, cursing Cordelia and inadvertently causing Wickerbock’s tragic demise. Following Yancy Wickerbock’s murder, Ernst tracked the wizard’s last sending spell westward and then north across the bay to the small chapel on the rock. Like Desdemonia, Ernst too was taxed beneath the hallowed aura that protected the chapel but nonetheless managed to raise a posse of skeletons to aid him in battle. During that battle, Ernst emptied nearly his entire arcane repertoire, casting danse macabre, darkness, negative energy flood, bestow curse, blight, life transference and ray of enfeeblement. At the last moment, his retainers arrived to rescue the astrolabe before it rolled into the sea and it was Geller, his unholy steed, who retrieved and carried the astrolabe to safety.
• The Ritual: In 898 4A, Ernst was among the four villains tasked with brokering an alliance with Hadar. On stage for the launch of his latest clothing line, the undead entrepreneur was whisked away to the Houses of Enigma and plunged into total blackness and screaming. He healed Dr. Hughbert's wound with a life transference spell, fascinated Smuj with his fleshless nature and followed the Vessel into the obsidian vault to hear the briefing. During the meeting, he attempted to coax Raelas into speaking but was unsuccessful. Once reunited with his retainers – West, Plutarchia and Salazar – Ernst dashed off to find a book of evil fabrics, to meet the arachnid Librarian and eventually to correctly translate the components they’d need for their ritual. It was West, Ernst’s lawyer, who recommended Witherby as a potential politician, were the villains in the market for a tongue. Meeting the Deputy Vice-Liaison to the Task Force on Community Development in his office, Ernst distracted the wight long enough for Raelas to sever his tongue. During the unicorn hunt, Ernst and his retainers drove the beast into the ambush and it was Ernst’s bestow curse and vampiric touch that ultimately slew the poor creature. During the ritual atop Mount Masarthaga, Ernst elected to manipulate the Starsphere, his innate resistance to necrotic energy allowing him to endure longer than the rest of his companions. When Hadar’s slavering tongues emerged, they reached for Ernst and the Starsphere, which slowly sapped his strength with its immense necrotic magic. After briefly advertising in the stars and attempting to chew Plutarkhia’s finger, Ernst was snagged by a tentacle and crushed into his component bones, only to rise again, as he ever does. During the negotiation, Ernst proved instrumental, calming things between Hadar and Smuj and ultimately tricking the Hungerer into accepting a much less favorable deal.
• The Heroes: Ernst was one of the four villains summoned by Yog to the Spires of Yog in the heart of Yogoth. Awoken from a strange dream, Ernst – still in his pajamas – believed this summons was all part of his elaborate dream, even when the pillar of radiant light struck the tower and it began to collapse. After a failed attempt to share Azathomet's coffin, Ernst fled with Skoura out the window, before realizing that they’d left the Vessel inside. After an abortive rescue, Ernst activated his immovable rod and dangled in the air while the tower collapsed past him. During the battle with the Soulsworn, Ernst not only revived the crushed Skoura but bedeviled Dortek in particular, eventually killing the dwarf with a negative energy flood and transforming him into a zombie under his control. Upon the defeat of the Soulsworn, Ernst got into a pissing contest with Neogi, Yog’s seneschal and failed to seize control of the empire in their dark master’s absence. Leaping into the Fissure, Ernst was first whisked to Tzal Stigmos but eventually relocated to Tzal Necros. There, he purchased a new coffin for Azathomet, amidst much headache and hassle. While there, he overheard a banshee klaxon, warning about some danger or another to the city. Returning to the Houses of Torment, he presented his gift to the vampire and conferred with his allies about where to search for the Vessel. Upon rushing back to the defense of Tzal Necros, Ernst was instead deposited outside the Unwood.

Name: Ernst
Ancestry: Lich (Human)
Class: Wizard (Necromancer)
Born: 564 4A
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 30 lbs
Hair: None
Eyes: Red
Alignment: Neutral Evil
First Appearance: The Child (Episode 1) Most Recent Appearance: The Heroes (Episode 10)