Lord Ruzsell, or Ascal, as he currently prefers to be called, has been alive for little over five thousand years, since vthe very begginings of the Ascan empire. He has been known by several names during his long existence; Negthal, the warrior who united the tribes of northern Gatzrhé; Hendrik Gutler, who started a civil war and became the first emperor of Thyrana; Gottfried Ruzsell, possibly the greatest of the thyranian emperors, and Hans Ruzsell, the last emperor of Thyrana, just to name a few.

The history of Ascal Merloth is an important part in the history of Raokrá, for he has created and destroyed empires, and entire armies have achieved victory or defeat under his command. It was he who defeated Nimbac, who built Thyrana from the ashes and elevated it to become the world's greatest empire, having controlled two thirds of the known world at a certain time, and it was his defeat and capture that began the fall of the empire.

But before that, I have to put something clear, hardly ANYONE knows about his immortality, only very few people know about this, especially today. The Lords of Soul and Steel were aware of it, but most of them are dead now, his most trusted generals knew about it, but none of them is left alive; it is safe to say that only five or six people in the entire world know Ruzsell's greatest secret.

After the ascan empire was torn apart by the ascans themselves, Ascal Merloth was not ready to accept it; and as it is told in ascan chronicles, he openly opposed the decision and became an outlaw. He travelled to the coasts of Karnar, gathered a band of brigands and trained them.

Those brigands became terrorists, probably the only criminals of the golden era of the ascans, but they never gave too much trouble, considering their low numbers and the power of the soldiers and Kactar Lemni (sacred warriors) who were usually dispatched to fight them. Ascal, however, was another matter entirely, it is said that even the greatest Kactar Lemni feared the slayer of Nimbac.

Ascal was in a losing battle, and he knew it. Even though ascans had extensive lifespans (100-110 years) due to the powers within them, Ascal was old and weary now, and felt his energy and life slipping away from him little by little. Ascal was dying, it was just a matter of time. He even began to learn the mystic secrets of ascan black magic, in hopes of finding a way to extend his life.

Just then, that chance to live appeared. Ascal learned of a powerful artifact, given to the eastern church of death by Kindramar himself, an object of praise that allowed the priests to communicate with the ancient one in times of need, and enabled the owner of the artifact to ask a wish from the lord of death.

Blinded by this new hope, Ascal mustered whatever troops he could, and savagely attacked the temple which held the artifact. The attack was overly savage, since Ascal and his men slain every single person they encountered in the temple, be it men, women or children. Even the high priest was butchered by Ascal's hand before taking the artifact, it is even said said that Ascal killed his lieutenants before using the artifact, fearing they might get greedy.

With the artifact (called the urn of spirits), Ascal invoked the ancient one, and in a few minutes, the great Kindramar stood before him, and Ascal demanded him to live longer, to live enough to defeat his enemies and rebuild the empire.

Ascal had made a terrible mistake, he had believed that the artifact held some power over Kindramar, and that he was forced to fulfill the artifact owner's wish, which wasn't true at all. Kindramar could have refused to fulfilled Ascal's wish, but he didn't, he was not only angered by the death of his servants, but also by the fact that their slayer had the nerve to invoke him and demand something of him, and as such was prepared to punish the offender.

"Very well mortal" said Kindramar, smiling, "You shall get what you seek, and more... lots more. I will teach you a lesson of humility". Kindramar stopped and raised his hand, releasing sparks of blue light that covered Ascal, "You will live all you want, and more. From this day forward, death will evade you; you will never die, unless the rest of the world dies first", Kindramar lowered his arm and smiled, "But, there is a price for your immortality, one that will ensure that you will no longer butcher any of my servants. Know that even though you can never die, nobody will ever again die by your hand".

With these words, the Lord of Death disappeared, leaving Ascal with his new neverending existence.

Through the long years, Ascal found Kindramar's gift to be a horrible curse, he has seen everyone he ever cared about die, and he has learned that no goal or purpose is great enough to please an immortal. Many times during his life, Ascal has tired of his immortality, and has tried to die. However, no natural (or supernatural for that matter) mean can kill him.

The first attemp to kill himself he ever made was when he had lived as an immortal for 100 years, he already knew that no blade could claim his life, so he walked through Karnar, learning the buried secret of ascan dark magic (Necromancy), hoping to find a way to die. Even though he became a powerful necromancer after a hundred years or so, he was unsuccessful in his attemp to rest.

In the year 2012, Ascal, now Gottfried Ruzsell emperor of Thyrana, in a fit of rage and desperation, invoked a Chaos Lord (see Shades of Chaos), known to historians as "the avatar", into this world, hoping that he could revive Rao, so that the primordial could destroy the world, and him along with it. His mad scheme was stopped by the lords of Soul and Steel, it was then that they learned about Ruzsell's immortality.

In the year 2020, after Sao suffered his first defeat in Shanaphria, Ruzsell unleashed a timeless evil known as The Dragon Master, a being that wanted the destruction of all humanity and the supremacy of dragons, who had been encaged during the golden Era. Ruzsell hoped that, as Kindramar said, he could die if all humanity died first. This time, the lords of Soul and Steel tried to stop him, but it was Sao Diasonori the one who ultimately destroyed the Dragon Master.

In order to keep his immortality from prying eyes, Ruzsell has used lots of tricks during his life. He has assumed hundreds of identities, and has used his knowledge of the arcane arts to alter his appearance in every change. Somethings that never changes, however, is his eyes, his deep, commanding green eyes and their heavy gaze have always been the same.

In the times of the thyranian empire, in which the Ruzsell dinasty ruled supreme for centuries, Ascal himself masqueraded as most of the emperors, the rest were nothing but his puppets. Ruzsell can have no children, but everyone in thyrana believed that he could, it was said that all members of the royal family were taken to a magnificent castle, called "The castle of the Heavens", in there, future heirs to the throne prepared for it. And all other members lived a life of happiness.

The castle, of course, never existed, but most will swear it still exists, nested deep within the province of the crown in Thyrana.

Currently, it has been less than a year since he escaped the prison in Centhaz in which he was held since he was captured a little before the great cataclysm.

He escaped to find that in scarce 80 years, the bickering governors and greedy nobles have managed to tear down most of the thyranian empire. His empire, the only thing that made him proud, is now in ruins, and he is not very sure if he has the strenght to rebuild it.

He now travels all over the world, trying to find a new purpose to his existence. He has assumed, for the first time in thousands of years, his original appeareance, and if anyone cares to ask, he is only Ascal.

What does he look like, you ask?. Well, he is a muscled man, apparently in his early fourties, and stands a 1.85 mt. tall. His brown and white hair is beautiful and long, cascading down the sides of his head to his shoulders. His features are rough and commanding, he is the kind of person that everyone notices when they walk into a room. He is always dressed in fine armor, with at least one weapon with him at all times. But something that a person who meets him will never forget is his eyes, they are green, and with an incredible depthness to them, his gaze is enough to strike fear in the most seasoned warriors. Also, he has a birthmark in the likeness of a lion head in his chest.

When roleplaying Ruzsell, remember he is arrogant and aloof, he always deals as if he had the upper hand (he usually does), always dropping a threath here and there. To his men, he is strict but fair, and rewards loyalty very well.

When the apeiron beast was destroying the ascan capital and Acron prepared to sink Karnar beneath the sea, Ascal rode out of the capital city, trying to escape the disaster. In the outskirts of the city, he found a man dressed in a white robe leaning against a tree, sobbing. When he approached him to get him away before it was too late, he sttoped dead in his tracks as the man turned to face him; his face and eyes were filled with light, and the screams of the disaster could no longer be heard near him.

Ascal then knew who the man was, he was Ascan, ancient one of life and patron and benefactor of the ascans. Ascan looked at him mercifully and asked: "Why?, why did you do it?". Ascal fell to Ascan's feet and cried, begging for forgiveness, he realized that, in his madness to be free of Kindramar, he had offended (with the creation of Morfos) the only ancient one who cared about him, about all sentient beings, the only one who wasn't high above humanity, beyond reach.

Ascan put his luminous hand on Ascal's head and caressed him, "Worry not, my son" he said. Ascal raised his head, and saw Ascan melancholically gazing at the destruction of the city, a single tear running through his perfect cheeks. The tear fell to the ground as the land itself sank beneath the waves, with a broken Ascal on it.Ascal could not drown, and eventually crawled out of the sea, but he has never forgotten the tear of Ascan.

If Ascal ever knows that Morfos is back, he will certainly plot against him, seeking Morfos' destruction to avenge the tear of Ascan.

Human male, Warrior/Necromancer 18/16

As noted above, he regenerates 20 hp per round, even lost limbs.

As also noted above, he cannot kill anyone, if he reduces someone to 0 or less hp, that person will wake up in 1-10 turns in 1 hp.

Ruzsell is an accomplished necromancer and the last master of ascan black magic, said to be the most powerful of all. However, since his most powerful spells are ritual in nature, and since he likes wearing armor, he doesn't have many spells memorized at all times, except when he knows he is headed for battle.

When choosing spells for Ascal, remember that he uses magic as a last resource, and he will probably choose damaging or terrifying necromantic spells or useful ones.

He has hundreds of weapons and armor, kept in hideouts all over Thyrana, but he currently carries this with him in his travels:

• A bag of holding, containing 5,000 gold pieces
• A beautiful black heavy war horse with full barding, named "Tempest"
• A Vorpal long sword +4, it is black, and the pommel is in the likeness of the head of a screaming demon.
• A full plate armor of fear +5, dark with a lion engraved in gold and silver.
• Gem of true seeing
• Ring of protection +3, only AC, no saving throw bonus (as if he needed it), it is made of platinum with a small saphire
• Ring of flight (type A), it is made of gold, and looks like a lion head.

Ascal has been a warrior for thousands of years, and he has learned to use nearly all weapons, the following are the weapons he specializes in.