Thalamara Vanthampur

Duke Thalamara Vantampur

Duke Thalamara Vanthampur was a member of the Baldur's Gate Council of Four and the leader of the city's cult of Zariel. Her meteoric rise in power and prestige over the course of her life was rivaled only by her swift end, as she was slain in her villa by the Lost Star Detectives, a group of adventurers seeking to disrupt her hold over the city.

History

Rise in Power

Born poor in the Lower City of Baldur's Gate in 1431, Thalamara Vanthampur spent most of her early life fighting for everythign she ever earned. Over the decades, she rose from street rat to criminal to securing an administrative job for the city's government. Thalamara rose from their to eventual become the head overseer of Baldur's Gate's sanitation and water systems, an unprestigious job, but one that gave her the access she wanted to the highest seats of power.
During this time, Thalamara also had three sons, Thurstwell, Amrik, and Mortlock, to three different husbands, all of whom died shortly after their child was born. While Thalamara was never implicated in any of their deaths, they all were wealthier than she was when they married her, and their inheritance did pass into Thalamara's hands.
This rising influence and fortune meant that, by 1490, Thalamara Vanthampur had secured a position on the Parliament of Peers and purchased a manor in the Upper City, which she named the Vanthampur Villa, ironically betraying her low class origins, as a "villa" was the preferred term for Waterdavian manors. Thalamara had also joined the city's burgeoning cult of Zariel, finding the power offered by the archduke of Avernus tempting and perhaps admiring another powerful leader unafraid to get their hands dirty.

A Duke of Baldur's Gate

In 1494, the Parliament of Peers voted to fill the seat left empty on the Council of Four since the Bhaalspawn Crisis, and Thalamara Vanthampur secured that vote, officially becoming a duke.
As duke, Vanthampur retained control over the city's sewer system, and during routine maintenance employees of Vanthampur discovered a secret temple to the Dead Three underneath Baldur's Gate in the Lower City. Seizing on it, Vanthampur built a bathhouse above the temple, and offered it to the cult of the Dead Three as a form of good will, and act that secured her the cult's extreme loyalty, despite her differing beliefs.
Duke Vanthampur also came into contact with High Observer Thavius Kreeg, the leader of Elturgard and another Zarielite, who filled her in on a plan by the cult fifty years in the making that would see the city of Elturel sent to Avernus to fuel Zariel's Blood Legion. However, Kreeg did not want to be in Elturel when it was sent to Hell, conspiring to live longer, and so he had Vanthampur made a deal. Vanthampur would house and hide Kreeg during and after Elturel's seeming destruction and would help hunt down members and relatives of the Hellriders and the Order of the Companion, which by a series of pacts and oaths would see them reborn as devils. In return, Kreeg arranged a state visit for Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard to visit Elturel the day of its teleportation, creating chaos in Baldur's Gate and leaving the grand ducal seat empty. Kreeg would also turn over the Shield of the Hidden Lord, a powerful artifact that had been advising the Elturian cult on how to damn the city.
On the 2nd of Eleasis, 1497, Kreeg and Vanthampur's plan without a hitch. Elturel was damned to Avernus, and Kreeg, who had been smuggled into Baldur's Gate just before, sat comfortably in the basement of the Vanthampur Villa. Duke Vanthampur also employed her sons to aid her. Amrik operated a human smuggling ring, getting Elturian refugees into the city while cross-referencing their familial connections with documents provided by Kreeg. Any Hellrider, Order of the Companion member, or relative of the two that was identified was relayed to Mortlock, who had embedded himself within the cult of the Dead Three, dispatching the cultists to murder the assigned targets. Meanwhile Thurstwell kept a watch over the city with his small army of imp spies and was given Kreeg's infernal puzzlebox, which contained the half of the pact responsible for Elturel's fate.
However, Vanthampur's plans were undone by the Lost Star Detectives, a group of adventurers working for the Flaming Fist investigating the murders committed by the Dead Three cultists. Their trail eventually led them to Duke Vanthampur. On the 15th of Eleasis, as part of her bid to secure the grand ducal seat, Vanthampur ordered the assassination of Duke Dillard Portyr, which the Detectives were unable to stop. In retaliation, Liara Portyr, Duke Portyr's niece and one of the candidates for marshal of the Flaming Fist, authorized the Detectives to attack Vanthampur at her villa. On the 16th of Eleasis, the adventurers did so, killing Vanthampur, Thurstwell, and Kreeg, effectively ending the cult of Zariel in Baldur's Gate.

After Death

As reward for her service in life, Vanthampur was given great power as a devil in death and charged by Zariel to hunt down the warlords that had long plagued Avernus. Vanthampur was also given the soul of her dead eldest son, keeping Thurstwell on her belt.
However, only a few months into her service in hell, Vanthampur again ran into the Lost Star Detectives, who were in Avernus attempting to save Elturel. Recognizing her, the Detectives killed Vanthampur again with ease, destorying her forever.

Current Location

Baldur's Gate

Species

Human

Date of Death

16th of Eleasis

Life

1431 CR 1497 CR 66 years old

Circumstances of Death

Killed by the Lost Star Detectives

Birthplace

Baldur's Gate

Place of Death

Basement of the Vanthampur Villa

Gender

Female

Aligned Organization

Council of Four