Monty the Mad

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Monty the Mad was born in the old dwarven ruins of Strumpktar. He claims that he was abandoned at birth and raised by a hag thus he had no family name.

Monty has been around since the time of Black Banner. While raiding the Eastern Shar, Black Banner encountered Monty the Mad and recorded this in one of their journals:

The foul Mughorzan was having intercourse with a troll! Monty was garbed in the most cruelly spiked armor, which cut deep into the troll, yet her regenerative powers kept her alive. Meanwhile, trollhounds lapped up the blood like a kitten with a bowel of milk - a most startling sight at the time - now I grin, and salute Ole' Monty with a chalice of cold elven blood.

- Dax Jagg, from his autobiography - "My Encounter With Monty"

Monty the Mad lived for many years and in many regions - his early years surely prolonged by magic. He gained power over a very long period of time, overcoming the stigma of being a Mughorzan. A race similar to the gnolls, and not trusted by those that share borders with them. In the Fograth, Monty earned respect through his charisma, terror he dealt out, and victories in battle. After many years of fighting alongside Githirmil, he decided to pledge fealty to their main god Gruumsh.

Monty quickly rose through the ranks of the Orchish military. He proved himself as a grand strategist and master tactician. He began as a mercenary for the Orchish Empire, field promoted to a lieutenant in the Gimhak War, and later becoming second in command to Emperor Blac'drugulois.

In 1470, Monty and his large mercenary force ("Monty's Marauders") captured Avalkhirân.

In 1494, then serving as a mercenary colonel in the Orchish Empire, was seduced by Defilnus.

In 1501, Monty was leading the armies in the Gimhak War. They were fighting the Gimhak and had started the attack on a dwarven fortress built more in the mountain than on the surface. The orc army burst into an enormous hall of Tharam-Khâl and the orcs lost many and had to pull back. Monty led the next charge and they were about to clear the last bit of resistance when two great bronze doors opened and out came two slaughterstone behemoths. These were no normal constructs of that sort, but armored with plates of mithril. The lesser troops were cut to pieces in short order. Monty dropped one of the constructs but was then knocked prone by the other, pinned, and then crushed to death. A week later, another orc army came up and was better prepared for the dwarven defenses of Tharam-Khâl. They captured the place and recovered most of their dead, including the crushed body of Month the Mad.

The valiant death of Monty garnered the attention of higher powers.

Monty single-handedly fought two greatly enhanced slaughterstone behemoths and should be rewarded for his bravery and combat skill. Oh he will Ares, he will, I have plans for Monty.

- Gruumsh, "God Chat"

Gruumsh informed the necromancers at Úrwath to bring Monty back as a death knight. The state funeral turned into a grand celebration when the Orchish Empire's greatest general rose from the funeral pyre as a death knight. Defilnus and Monty continued their love affair even after Monty became a death knight.

In 1660, Emperor Blac'drugulois approached Monty the Mad with an offer he could not refuse. The Emperor offered him the title Arch-Dragern of the Armies, but with a catch. Monty had to kill the one he loved to prove his loyalty to the emperor. Monty's lover, the powerful necromancer Defilnus had at her command, a guild chapter of the Rat Swarm. Wererat spies of this guild learned of the deal between Monty and the Emperor not long after his departure from Gháshulg. When Monty returned to Collossapolos, Defilnus was entrenched in her fortress, and little did he know that Defilnus had an underground labyrinth of unimaginable size spanning four levels under Collossapolos. It took a year to finally track her down and carry out the Emperor's bidding. When Monty carried out the task of killing Defilnus, a powerful curse was activated. The weapon that was enchanted by Defilnus and then given to her former lover, a relic called Tiamats Spur, became the focus of the curse. Tiamats Spur teleported away from Monty, yet still rather close, and he knew that from a felling inside of him, that it was somewhere in or under Collossapolos. Monty was aware that it was near but not where. For two centuries, he had his soldiers routinely search homes of Collossapolos, digging new tunnels and exploring the subterranean level under the city. This led to the expansion in the size of the this underground labyrinth and to the creation of more levels in what has become known as the The Twelve Tiers.

The item was ultimately discovered by Crimson Eye, Inc. and turned over to Monty the Mad. Monty's digging and search for this item led to the formation of countless tunnels and chambers beneath Collossapolos.

In the Year 1832, Emperor Blac'drugulois was slain. After a brief civil war (c.f Second Orchish Civil War), Monty became the second emperor of the Orchish Empire.