Talmbrack Snaketeethed, nicknamed Cunning One by his Fourth Order peers and Devilish One or The Snake-Teethed, was a powerful warlock who served in the Undine Fourth Order and ruled the Ochebana Empire.

Personality

Talmbrack's Fourth Order nickname "Cunning One" was well chosen: the man's incredible ability to plot, maneuver politically, and use magic for social engineering was extraordinary. He was also endowed with an awesome intelligence and analytical mind, making him a capable commander and efficient ruler. His focused and direct manner, with his single piercing eye, often made people uncomfortable; as a result, though he was a favored ally, he did not make friends.

Biography

Talmbrack was born in Sapto to an Archaen father with Weluchian roots, and an Eastern mother with Drummirian roots.

Undine Kingdom: Magic and the Fourth Order

After trying out several career paths, Talmbrack enlisted as an apprentice in the prestigious Monyariva Academy of the Weave. He made some progress in the study of the arcane, but found the long years of study required to be a wizard wasteful; he did not have centuries to waste like his elven peers. Instead, he turned to easier sources of power, which would allow him to focus his studies in other fields. Thus, he joined the prestigious Fourth Order, entering its Keep Thay in northern Undine in 571 b. OW.

Talmbrack proved an excellent warlock. He closed the warlock's pact years before the maesters judged him ready, which still allowed him considerably more freedom than many of his peers, and access to specific but powerful spells. Thanks to his good pact, with an entity Talmbrack would only refer to as "Benevolent One", he swiftly rose through the ranks of the order, and left Keep Thay to take on his first leadership role as Prior Maester in 568. He demonstrated great ability and, after successfully routing a tribe of orcish raiders in 566, was promoted to Maester and given command of a stretch of the Everriver.

Several Fourth Order officials recognized Talmbrack's qualities as leader and warcaster, giving him a renowned status within the order; he often attended meetings of order high command to orchestrate major Everriver defenses and communicate with Rownor commanders. Talmbrack spent nearly as much time in Fourth Keep as he did in his Everriver sector. Because of his extreme attention paid to geopolitical events around Undine, he noticed the Ochebanian threat much earlier than most of his peers, and twice sent a letter to Monyariva, warning the government that Ochebana would attempt some sort of violent conquest near Undine.

He was proven right when Ochebana invaded the Brimmer Kingdom. The present coordinator of Undine's defenses was released of his duties and Talmbrack went to Monyariva as the Warden Maester. During his two years in the role, he coordinated all of Undine's defensive orders, and met with Undine and other important officials to discuss matters of national importance. He was somewhat disillusioned by the position, however; he was less of a commander and more of a source of information for the Monyarivan government. So he decided to reject the title and instead took command of the Fourth Order as its First Maester. He successfully coordinated several defenses of the Everriver and led the order successfully, and remained an important personality in the kingdom.

During this time, Talmbrack developed an intimate appreciation for Undine, and attempted several times to meet her privately. However, she rejected each time.

Talmbrack knew that Undine's pacifist ideology would not keep the nation safe for much longer. Foreign threats from north and south, of which the Blood and Flames were a vivid example, would require a coordinated army to defend, but all of Talmbrack's attempts to create a single command structure for the defense orders, or a command structure under the Warden, failed. When he finally requested to take the title of Royal Warden in addition to his role as First Maester, Monyariva refused. Certain that Undine's pacifist traditions would lead to its unmaking, and angry at Undine for rejecting him, he left the kingdom in 529.

Ochebana Empire: Military Career

Though Talmbrack was initially interrogated in Orksed for his potential military value, he quickly gained the trust of its commanding officer and was made advisor of a colonel in the Northern Legion. Talmbrack's leadership qualities and cunning maneuvering allowed him to swiftly rise through the ranks. He was given an officer's commission, and full general rank only two years after changing sides. He spent seven years strengthening his position and making sure his forces were fully loyal to him.

In 520, Emperor Jonas had recently made some criticized reforms, so Talmbrack decided to seize his opportunity: he marched on Londerhome and executed the emperor, taking over the Imperial Palace. The military cadre wanted a capable military man at the head, and so supported him; and the northern nobility gladly welcomed him. Thus, Talmbrack became Ochebanian Emperor.

Ochebana Empire: Emperor

One of Talmbrack's first government initiatives was to prepare the invasion of Undine. He knew that no one would lend military support to the kingdom - Rownor would not risk its small army in the open plains - and that it was an easy target. It was also a plentiful source of good farmland. He marched 20'000 soldiers north, pillaging the countryside and easily taking Monyariva. Undine was swiftly incorporated into the Ochebana Empire; Undine herself was bid into the imperial chambers, where Talmbrack smothered her with a pillow.

Talmbrack's seventy-year reign over Ochebana was ruthless and extreme. He kicked it off with an invasion and the Firbolg Genocide, where a large part of the Undine population was arbitrarily executed. Thereafter, he engaged in certain extreme reforms, including the Devil Ban - denouncing the female gender as dangerous and inferior - and sweeping religious reforms, creating a new Imperial Church of Auril.

In 453, old Talmbrack's rule was unpopular among the elite; there were accusations he had gone mad. There had already been three foiled putsch attempts; the fourth by Colonel Alrik Morgan was successful. Though Talmbrack defended himself vigorously with destructive warlock spells, he was brought down by the blade.