Editing Novius Dorian (section)

== The Fall of the Empire & Ascent to Lichdom ==
Rumors of underground forces attempting to assassinate Emperor Urmenator had been spreading throughout the continent since the early 3200s, but it wasn't until 3265 VR that any came to light. With the Gate Scheme, which saw Empress Kamarena taken via a ''gate'' spell which thrust her deep into the bowels of the Abyssal Plane to be killed by demons, Novius witnessed for the first time the danger in being a Dorian. He abandoned Wellork, not attending his mother's funeral, and disappeared from public life once again, for many years. His whereabouts were unknown when his father was assassinated in 3275 VR, but it was later discovered that he was in possession of the ''Libaris Mortalis Rezzi''<sup>[6]</sup>, the Book of Lichdom, by 3278 VR. It is widely believed that he obtained or purchased the book from a drow who was unaware of its potential.

Almost nothing is known of Novius's time between his disappearance in 3265 VR and 3399 VR, when he hired the Black Hand to retrieve various items needed to create his phylactery. The Black Hand members were unsuccessful in obtaining any of the items, and Novius learned that his brother, now in hiding and going by the name Ghein, had hired his own group of adventurers to prevent Novius from proceeding. In response, Novius waited for Ghein's team to gather several of the items and then killed them, taking them for himself. He then presumably plane shifted or otherwise left Avo, disappearing once again.

The first sightings of Novius in his lich form, Alrenn, were in the early 4000s, over 600 years later. What happened during that time is virtually unknown. Scraps of knowledge include Alrenn meeting with the atropal Jarunvandir, deep underneath the city of Urster, roughly 100 years prior to the Alrennean War. Alrenn also created at least one planar portal (the one underneath Urster) to a hidden alternate home or safehouse. There was a sharp rise in shadow and undead activity in Teveren during the early 4000s, leading some to believe that Alrenn had lived or spent time in the Shadowfell or other negative energy planes, gathering the dark energy required to sustain his lich form.