Alander Mangvhune

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Alander Mangvhune

(Person)

Aliases

Temple Hill Slasher

Titles

Professor

Alignment

Chaotic evil

Ancestry/Species

Babau

Class

Assassin 10

Gender

Male

Homeland

Formerly Kintargo, Cheliax;
Currently Razorspan, Outer Rifts

Deity

Norgorber / Shax

Organization

Alabaster Academy

Died

4599 AR

Source: Demons Revisited, pg(s). 8–9

Professor Alander Mangvhune was once a beloved teacher at the Alabaster Academy, but he was also the Temple Hill Slasher, Kintargo's most notorious serial killer. The Slasher claimed victims from 4596 AR until his arrest and execution in 4599 AR. New murders have recently occurred in Kintargo that follow his same methods and patterns, and Mangvhune delights in watching others mimicking what he did.

Mangvhune transformed into a babau demon after his death, entering into the service of the demon lord Shax. He currently inhabits a den on the edges of his new master's realm. This lair, named Razorspan, is a bridge-like structure composed entirely of metal blades, suspended over a deep rift filled with bones. When summoned to the Universe, Mangvhune typically demands a period of time after his services are completed to stalk the world to hunt and kill of his own volition, renewing the terror of the Temple Hill Slasher in cities throughout the Inner Sea region.

Background

Alander Mangvhune was born in Vieland, Ustalav and studied anatomy at Lepidstadt University. He came to the conclusion that he could not learn about the nature of life within a human lifetime, and his research into immortality revealed an unsettling fact: after death, his soul would be transformed into something else without his memories. Unable to abide the loss of his individuality, the egotistical Mangvhune dedicated years to study the soul's fate after death. His research took him to the corruption of the River of Souls known as a soul anchor, and he moved to Kintargo in 4592 AR when he discovered that one might exist somewhere beneath the city.

During his tenure as a surgeon and professor of anatomy at the Alabaster Academy, Professor Mangvhune's charm and handsome looks made him a very popular figure in Kintargan society. His standing-room-only lectures drew listeners from even outside the academy, and he convincingly hid his obsession under the façade of a perfect gentleman scholar.

Unable to locate the soul anchor, Mangvhune theorised that a departing soul would sense its location, and claimed his first victim in 4596 AR after building a hidden laboratory. However, he met with nothing but frustration, as speaking with the dead only allowed communication with their physical corpses, while raising his victims as undead only forced him to put them down later since they only remembered vague memories of their brief time in death.

In 4598 AR, Mangvhune had a breakthrough by repeatedly torturing someone on the brink of death and then bringing them back to life at the last moment. He felt an unmistakable tugging upon the soul after using this method on an Abadaran priest, and located the soul anchor in the Darklands beneath Kintargo after a few more murders. Presently, he successfully reached the soul anchor and bathed in its energies, then came back to Kintargo to torture and murder people.

The discovery that he was the infamous Slasher that had stalked the city, capturing victims off the street and torturing them for days before leaving their bodies on the slopes of Temple Hill, took the city by shock. He was swiftly tried and sentenced to execution by beheading, putting a stop to the killings. However, his reputation continued to hang over Kintargo and the Alabaster Academy for years afterwards.

Mangvhune's soul swiftly plunged into the Outer Rifts following his death, where the taint of his murderous life quickly transformed it into a babau. Due to his contact with the soul anchor, he maintained the memories and personality that he had in life. Mangvhune thrived as a demon, and eventually rose to be one of the favorite servants of the babaus' master, the demon lord Shax.

Possessions

Mangvhune used the intelligent magical kukri Balgorrah to murder many of his victims.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.