Mordraneth

Mordraneth is an archmage necromancer and illusionist who serves as the villain of the gamebook Stealer of Souls. He also goes by the titles of the Wicked One or the "Stealer of Souls".

Mordraneth

About Mordraneth Himself

The book's summary and intro explain that Mordraneth is known and feared in the whole world of Titan. Where and when he learnt magic is never explained and stated to be unknown.

He is said to have large numbers of spies and secrets agents working for him all over Titan. He is also said to be based in Allansia which may be his homeland. He has several Human warriors, Dark Elves, Orcs, Trolls and other monsters at his command. His major servants are the two Dark Priests, his students to whom he taught Dark Magic and the art of fighting.

Physical Description

Few details are given about Mordraneth's physical appearance. He his described as the average Evil sorcerer; tall, thin, wearing a black robe. It is said that he has an "evil face" and shinning green eyes. The cover illustration shows him with a black and red cloak, whose hood keeps his face in the shadows, a belt of carved gold and a scimitar.

In Stealer of Souls

Mordraneth is in a permanent conflict with the mages of Pollua led by the Great Mage Vanestin who keeps standing against his schemes of world domination. Recently, the wizard Alsander - who was spying on Mordraneth and discovered his current project - was captured by his henchmen and brought to the Isle of Despair. That's why Vanestin hires the player to rescue Alsander and not to kill the Wicked One, but things get complicated.

Having saved Alsander, the player is informed that Mordraneth deceived Vanestin as to his location, making him believe that he is in Allansia to make him concentrate his forces on an empty target and leave him vulnerable, while he is in fact established in the Isle of Despair and intends to take him by surprise with his followers absent and unable to come to his aid. The archmage discovered how to give life to the fears of his victims and plans to create an army of these nightmares to take over Titan. The player must then venture in the depths of the archmage's lair, in his Empire of Illusions swarmed by his nightmares in order to kill him and free all the souls in his grasp.

Fighting Mordraneth

Mordraneth defeated.

In spite of his immense magical abilities, Mordraneth is not as strong as one could expect him to be. He can even be regarded as disappointing, compared to other fearsome foes created by Keith Martin such as the Vampire Count Reiner Heydrich and the monumental Night Dragon. Yet he is still a dangerous antagonist with 10 skill and 17 stamina.

Mordraneth is not only a powerful necromancer, he is also a talented warrior who uses a sword in battle, in much the same way as Malbordus. Before facing the player in a swordfight, the Wicked One will cast a fireball spell (minus 6 stamina points (1 with an Anti-Fire Ring)). The player can either dodge or use a spell of his own. If he does so, an Attack Round will be launched and the winner will strike his enemy with his spell. Mordraneth can also attack with thousands of black energy wires which kills the player if he/she get caught. It can be countered with a silver ring.

Powers and Talents

Mordraneth is a powerful archmage who can be regarded as one of the worst warlocks ever seen in Titan, along with the Archmage of Mampang, Razaak, Shanzikuul, Shareella, Zagor, Balthus Dire and Zharradan Marr themselves.

Despite being one of the weakest among them in terms of physical prowess, he numbers among the strongest in magical power, mostly due to trapping the souls of those he has killed and drawing near-limitless energy directly from them. As with all of the most powerful sorcerers, Mordraneth has managed to create a number of unique spells which he teaches to the most worthy of his adepts. Within his lair, he has near god-like powers, being fully aware of everything that occurs and being able to communicate with or cast generic magic at anyone inside it.

It is his mastery of illusions which is his most dangerous ability - similar to a Mik's, his illusionary nightmares are more than capable of killing a person, his most potent illusion being almost immune to dispelling magic. The player needs specials items, such as a magical glove and a magical staff to overcome these nightmares safely.

He is able to give life to the deepest fears of the dead under the shape of nightmarish illusions monstrously augmented; for example, a fear of the dark will create thick darkness which swallows everything, a fear of drowning will create a huge flood, and so on and so forth. Furthermore, Mordraneth is able to disturb the balance of magical forces, impeding everyone from spell-casting in his own territory - the only way to counter this is to use the spells Mordraneth himself devised to circumvent this.

He can also warp reality itself to some extent, being able to transform a small cavern into a magnificent subterranean palace. By doing this, he created a dimension filled with his illusionary nightmares which he calls his Empire of Illusions.

Mordraneth is also a very intelligent and cunning mastermind, and a master of strategy and deception, as evidenced with his many magical breakthrougs and the way he baited Vanestin, himself a talented war leader. This is a characteristic shared with Reiner Heydrich, Relem and several other villains created by Keith Martin.

Trivia

The French translation of Stealer of Souls uses the title of the Supreme Necromancer instead of translating the Wicked One, which is fitting considering his unrivalled mastery of the subject.