Valindra Shadowmantle is a lich and sometimes Red Wizard who frequently works towards the far-reaching ends of Szass Tam.
It goes without saying that when you’re the head of the Red Wizards of Thay, you don’t have very many friends. Enemies? Plentiful. Lackeys? By the dozens. But when it comes to what you might call an ally or even a friend, Valindra Shadowmantle might be one of the closest people to the lichlord of the Red Wizards, Szass Tam.
And closest is doing a lot of work here. Shadowmantle is known for working with many magical organizations as a sort of mystic muscle for hire. Although, usually it’s a ruse to help further some scheme. Usually for Szass Tam. But who is Valindra Shadowmantle exactly?
Valindra Shadowmantle – An Elf With An Impatient Streak
Valindra Shadowmantle was born in the High Forest of Faerun. As a Moon Elf, she had every advantage. Except haste. With a gift for magic and no patience for the plodding pace of elves who think in centuries, the young Shadowmantle left home before she was even 100 years of age.
Within months of leaving her homeland, she found exactly what she was looking for: a kindly old Wizard, who would take her on as an apprentice and teach her the ways of magic. After a year, she murdered him, stole his magic items and spellbooks, and her life as a mage of the Forgotten Realms began.
Ambition and Arcane Power often go hand in hand in the Forgotten Realms. And for Valindra, this was no different. She cut her magical teeth working for the Arcane Brotherhood, where she met perhaps one of the most important figures in her life, Arklem Greeth, the Archmage Arcane.
It was her friendship with Greeth that saw her returned to life after she met her doom at the hands of the Hero of Neverwinter. After her resurrection, she found even more responsibility placed upon her shoulders by Greeth. She cemented the Arcane Brotherhood’s hold in Luskan, and though she was killed during the destruction of the Arcane Brotherhood’s Host Tower of the Arcane, she was given the secrets to lichdom by Greeth and transformed to rule from the shadows.
Unfortunately, undeath did not suit Shadowmantle, and she lost much of her own sanity. Especially when the Spellplague hit. Though Jarlaxle Baenre, the notorious criminal, was able to help restore her. At least to restore some semblance of her former personality.
Thus it was that Valindra Shadowmantle set out from Luskan and made contact with the Red Wizards of Thay. There, she did the almost impossible, and proved not only to be loyal – but useful – to Szass Tam.
The Shadows Of The Red Wizard’s Mantle
Working for the Red Wizards, and more directly, Szass Tam, Valindra Shadowmantle proved to be a capable lieutenant. The grand zulkir of Necromancy would often send her away to carry out clandestine operations and advance his secret agendas across the realms. Usually in Neverwinter.
For instance, Shadowmantle was sent to restore the Dread Ring in Neverwinter Wood to lay the seeds for an eventual Thayan takeover of Neverwinter. Later, she allied with the Cult of the Dragon in order to get Szass Tam access to the primordial known as Maegera the Inferno, sealed under Gauntlgrym.
She was even sent to Chult during the resurrection crisis brought about by the lich Acererak and his Soulmonger, when they took over the Tomb of Annihilation. Shadowmantle was sent to personally gain control of the Soulmonger, though ultimately that artifact was destroyed, and Valindra returned to Thay, triumphant.
She has been seen since throughout the Realms. Some say she was on hand in Dragonbone Vale, working to corrupt the Rite of the Dracolich enacted by the Cult of the Dragon. Others say they have seen her in Western Faerun. Wherever she can be found, you may bet the tendrils of Szass Tam and the Red Wizards’ influence follow.
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
