Afej the Black
Jaef of Kale became a Lich in the year 7460 F.R. after being the court wizard and the power behind the throne of Kale for 21 years (The king at the time was young Felmat, who was putty in the aging wizard's, and then the lich's hands.) After becoming a Lich, Jaef remained the power behind the throne until the year 7487 F.R., when a group of adventurers called the Band of Five discovered that he was responsible for the evil and aggressive policies that had been instituted in the kingdom. They attacked him and slew him, although three of their number fell. Two were forced to flee with the treasure and items of Jaef, pursued doggedly by the lich's undead minions. The remaining heroes turned to face their undead pursuers in the town of Wotun in Kelerak, where they slew them but then died of their wounds and were buried with the lich's items. Meanwhile, Jaef's sentience had escaped into his phylactery (a pre-prepared golden enruned amulet). The amulet was well-hidden in a secret room beneath the palace in Kale City, and since the lich's undead minions had all been destroyed, there was no one to bring a freshly-slain body to the secret room and thus the lich could not escape his phylactery and again take physical form. Thus he spent centuries locked inside the amulet.
Finally, the amulet was found in 8160 F.R. by Valanduil the elf, who did not realize the item's true nature. When the eldar brought the amulet into the proximity of a freshly slain corpse, Jaef was released from it, and he assumed a new body and a new name-- Afej the Black. He immediately established himself in the ruined castle of Carn Marrot in Dessingrove, and, through his underling Widfaral, gained control of the town . He was able to establish a rapport with the dragon Skywing, who had gained a new paranoia about his treasure. Afej began supplying guards for when the Dragon was out hunting, and in return the dragon paid him handsomely out of his vast treasure. The lich used this new wealth to rebuild the castle, and thereupon, he began a two-pronged plan. He allied himself with the cult of Grlarssh, pretending to be an avatar of Grlarssh, in order to use the cult's assistance to recover his lost items, including some of his spellbooks, that were buried in the cemetery in Wotun. He also began an assault on Western Kelerak, and quickly established himself as baron of all lands in Kelerak west of Lake of the Sky. His first plan was stalled by the actions of the Lords of the West, but with the assault of the Lords of Greed and Envy, Afej was able to recover all of his items in the war-wrought confusion. Thereupon, he launched his assault in full, making a bid to capture the ravished Dragonspur after it had been weakened because of its recent battles. Because the Lords of the West recovered the Stone of Silence and even managed to slay his most valued servant Widfaral, however, the army of Afej was defeated and he was forced to recall the remnants of his troops to Dessingrove to plot his next strike. While machinating his next move, Afej also continued his experiments in the necromantic arts, researching a way to open a portal to the Plane of Death in order to create an army of invincible undead warriors.
As an individual, Afej is vastly intelligent. This intelligence sometimes leads to overconfidence, but Afej himself is aware of this and often takes measure to counteract it; he is not always successful. He tends to be closed, guarded, and secretive, revealing his plans not even to his most valued underlings. He is also vastly ambitious and values power for its own sake. He does not wish to ally himself with anyone, though, especially the Dweller in the Wintervale (Afej knows that the Dweller has no allies, only slaves). Therefore, he ultimately aims to establish a kingdom in the West that rivals the might of the Lords of Sins, and he hopes eventually to subsume their lands-- then will come the final battle between the Dweller and Afej, and he knows he must be carefully and completely prepared.
