The Slanted Circle Mage
deadThe Slanted Circle's primary field operative — a 15th-level necromancer slain at last on the Maw Frame in Session 12
The Slanted Circle Mage
“You, the stubborn wardens of a dying world.” — His final monologue, Session 12
A terrifyingly powerful wizard and the Slanted Circle’s primary field operative. For sessions on end, the Circle Mage escaped every confrontation — the kraken’s jaws, Nythraxil’s lair, the Heart Stone Chamber. He always vanished. Until Session 12.
Description
The Mage appears as a gaunt figure draped in tattered, ash-black robes. His hollow eyes glow with sickly green light, and faint motes of necrotic energy swirl around his skeletal fingers. Arcane runes float in a slanted circle before his chest, pulsing ominously with each whispered incantation.
Lore
Once a mortal scholar obsessed with the secrets of life and death, the Slanted Circle Mage performed a forbidden ritual that fused his soul with the essence of countless undead. He served the Circle as field operative, pathfinder, and ideologue — his ice magic in earlier encounters giving way, by Session 12, to a fully-revealed necromantic doctrine.
He spoke of the Circle’s true objective openly only when victory seemed assured: the awakening of Vorthalax, the Sleeper Beneath Stone. The party’s prior adventures, in his framing, were not crimes the Circle committed — they were measurements, experiments, calibration.
Stats
- Hit Points: 180 (16d8 + 48)
- Armor Class: 17 (Natural Armor, Mage Ward)
- Speed: 30 ft.
- Challenge Rating: 15 (13,000 XP)
- Origin: Supernatural
- Alignment: Chaotic Evil
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 (+0) | 14 (+2) | 16 (+3) | 20 (+5) | 16 (+3) | 18 (+4) |
- Saving Throws: Int +11, Wis +9, Cha +10
- Skills: Arcana +11, History +11
- Damage Resistances: cold, necrotic
- Damage Immunities: poison
- Damage Vulnerabilities: radiant
- Condition Immunities: charmed
- Senses: darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
- Languages: Common, Abyssal, Undercommon, Telepathy 60 ft.
Abilities
Legendary Resistance (3/Day): Choose to succeed on a failed saving throw.
Mage Ward: Surrounded by a shimmering ward of protective magic, granting +2 to AC and saving throws.
Circle of the Dead: When casting Animate Dead or Create Undead, can target one additional corpse or pile of bones.
Actions
Multiattack: Two Scythe of Souls attacks or one necromantic spell.
Scythe of Souls: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage.
Spellcasting: 15th-level spellcaster. Spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 17, +11 to hit with spell attacks).
- At will: chill touch, mage hand, prestidigitation
- 3/day each: animate dead, blight, vampiric touch
- 2/day each: circle of death, finger of death
- 1/day: create undead
Legendary Actions
Cantrip: Casts a cantrip.
Necrotic Burst: Releases a burst of necrotic energy. Each creature within 10 feet must make a DC 17 Con save, taking 14 (4d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, half on success.
Summon Skeleton: Summons a skeleton (MM 272) in an unoccupied space within 30 feet. Acts immediately and obeys mental commands.
Life Drain (Costs 2 Actions): Targets one creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Con save or take 21 (6d6) necrotic damage, and the mage regains hit points equal to half the damage dealt.
Loot
- Bone Amulet of Necromancy: A skull-shaped amulet that grants advantage on saving throws against necromancy spells. Valued at approximately 5,000 gp.
- Slanted Circle Grimoire: A dark spellbook bound in preserved flesh containing forbidden rituals. Highly prized by necromancers, worth about 2,500 gp.
Encounters
1. The Kraken Attack
During the sea journey to Stonehell Isle, the Circle Mage was spotted observing Captain Tallow. When the kraken attacked the pirate ship, he dove into the water and escaped.
2. Stonehell Isle
Arrived at Nythraxil’s lair and killed the ancient rose quartz dragon with an ice blast that severed its wing. Fell down the mountain during the combat but survived.
3. Heart Stone Chamber
Appeared when the anchor core opened beneath Sharn. Vanished mysteriously, leaving his sigil burned into the floor — a warning that this is not over.
4. The Maw Frame, Xen’Drik (Session 12)
Descended through the open Maw from Ulnex Arhun, robes whipping in the ley wind. Delivered the campaign’s central reveal: that every prior adventure was the Circle’s calibration, that Vorthalax is the reset, that the world is “tired” and the Circle is “only giving it permission to sleep.” Offered the party a choice — “Stand aside. Let the world end gently. Or die screaming while we fix it.”
The party chose. The Mage burned through all three Legendary Resistances, dropped Mal to one knee with a point-blank Necrotic Burst, and Life-Drained Stol from a ledge. But Rudiger’s force damage cracked the Mage Ward, and the tartans of Clan Eaglesnout did the rest.
When he fell, he did not vanish.
He stayed down.
Threat Level
Defeated. First named Slanted Circle operative slain by the party. His body remained on the Maw Frame in Xen’Drik when Rook stepped through from Astgrove. The Circle’s field operations are now leaderless — but the doctrine of Vorthalax persists.