Asagran the Ghoul



is one of the most grotesque figures in the history of western. Appointed the ruler of by Horahnam of Tekhos in 569, his career was one of violence and insanity. The depredations of his rule have left a grim legacy of terror that persists to the present day.

Asagran was depraved even by the standards of the Theocracy. His appointment as governor of Dyrisa was intended to instill terror among the residents and keep him at some distance from the centers of power. His perverse excesses quickly made his name feared throughout the district.

Almost daily, Asagran ordered the gruesome executions of friend and foe alike, by impaling and quartering, and other foul means. He personally conducted the “ritual” execution of Eladas Kand, the father of. It was widely believed that he devoured Eladas’ heart before heaving the corpse into the. This is how he earned the sobriquet “Ghoul” - and rumors that he feasted on the bodies of his executed victims were not discouraged by Asagran.

Following the collapse of the Theocracy in 588 Asagran proclaimed himself King of Dyrisa, and was able to maintain his power by continued force and terror. Asagran’s realm extended along the Eryn from the to. During the, Asagran and his minions indulged every degenerate whim at the expense of a cowering populace. The ian rituals over which he presided grew ever more “creative” as his sanity crumbled.

In 598, after surviving what appeared to be a crippling stroke, Asagran claimed to be “The Necromancer”, and the “Befouler of the Dead”, titles used by Morgathians to describe, the greatest of Morgath’s demonic servants. Two years later he began excavating the s, a nearby ancient burial site, and was fond of meditating among the grave goods of the ancient chieftains. He is said to have devoured even the bones of the barrows’ inhabitants.

In 609 Asagran was murdered by Brovel of Leride, his closest deputy. He was entombed with thirteen living retainers in the barrow now known as Asagran’s Hill. Within a week the grave was found open, with no trace of Asagran or the thirteen sacrifices. Brovel died within the year, apparently of heart failure, and his successors were cursed with violent and unnatural deaths. All attempts to reseal Asagran’s barrow were futile; on every occasion it would be found open within a few days. Tales sprang up that the barrow was accursed, and there were frequent sightings of Asagran’s limping ghost.

The death of Daffyd of Welgar in 620 was commonly attributed to Asagran’s shade. Daffyd was the an priest who performed the ceremonies of exorcism over the ruins of the Morgathian temple, the castle chapel, and Asagran’s barrow. Thirteen days later, his dismembered body was discovered on the Elanan bridge, and Asagran’s grave was found open. No attempt was made to close the barrow, which has remained open since 620. Trees were planted on the hill in 703 but they withered and died. The barrow is covered by dense, thorny, brush. It has become commonplace among Dyrisans to blame strange events and accidents on the Ghoul of Asagran. Asagran’s shade is still occasionally sighted. Some say the spectre is not a ghost, but rather the undead form of Asagran.

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