Father Lambrecht Raes

Father Lambrecht is the major antagonist of Black Crusade and chief adversary of Sir Diederic de Wyndt. A Catholic priest whom sought the power of the blasphemous Laginate Grimoire for the purposes of witch hunting and "saving" the church. His hubris drove him into conflict with Diederic into the Ravenloft domain of Malosia.

Background

Before Ravenloft

A Frenchman and Catholic priest, Father Lambrecht was one of the pilgrims sent by the Pope to Jerusalem. In the plague of madness that hit Jerusalem, he enlisted the aid of Diederic de Wyndt in his quest after the latter rescued him. Although he claimed to , he simply sought to gather the remains of the Laginate Grimoire and was willing to sacrifice Diederic's life as well as those of his fellow Crusaders, or even murder- such as in the case of Baron Joris van den Felle, to get what he wanted. However, his attempt at seizing the Laginate Grimoire was foiled by Diederic, and he was taken in to be tried for heresy and murder.

The trial did not go well, for there was no direct evidence of Lambrecht's responsibility in the baron's murder, and Lambrecht successfully argued that he pursued knowledge of the enemy in order to fight the enemy. Moreover, he called into doubt Diederic's credibility as a witness as a victim of the madness plague. However, Diederic turned things around by bribing the errant deserter Eliseo into providing false witness against Lambrecht. With such a witness, Lambrecht was convicted, to be hanged and the grimoire to be burnt. Yet the Laginate Grimoire did not burn and instead erupted in an explosion of mist, taking with it Lambrecht. Although injured by the explosion, Diederic followed into the Mists.

Rise to Power

Once he emerged from the Mists, Father Lambrecht Raes entered Malosia, albeit far removed from his pursuer. Lambrecht found himself upon upon a cold, snowy hill or mountain top. He was rescued by a shepherd whom had earlier stumbled upon the Laginate Grimoire Lambrecht had lost. Wary of handing over a tome of dark lore to a stranger, the shepherd refused to give Lambrecht the Grimoire, so Lambrecht murdered him. After getting the Grimoire, Lambrecht pursued his agenda of tracking down and destroying witches. Lambrecht exposed and defeated one such witch, Master Lassiter, in Firalene Down using forbidden knowledge from the tome. However, Father Marten exposed Lambrecht's use of witchcraft and murder of the shepherd and thereby turned the people of the town against him. Lambrecht vowed revenge.

Lambrecht's revenge came spectacularly. He reanimated the undead en masse from a nearby graveyard, using them to murder Father Marten and the others who turned the townsfolk of Firalene Down upon him. Captain Wulfaer of the Empyrean Inquisition responded to a report of a witch in the area and found his men overwhelmed by the undead. Lambrecht them stepped in and put the undead to rest, seemingly saving Wulfaer and his men. Wulfaer took the outlander priest to his Church superiors. Lambrecht talked to those up the chain of command all the way up to Pontiff Cornelis, whose approval Lambrecht won over as an advisor and witch hunter despite Lambrecht's use of methods that were questionable at best by church doctrine. From his lofty position of power, Lambrecht eventually learned of Diederic's emergence from the Mists and manipulated him into retrieving the missing half of the Laginate Grimoire and coming to face Lambrecht in Caercaelum at the halls of the Empyrean Basilica.

Clash in the Heavenly City

Although Sir Diederic and his companion Violca Hanza escaped detection at gates of Caercaelum thanks to Violca's ingenuity, chaos soon followed hot on their heels. Like in Jerusalem, the magic of Diederic's half of the Grimoire leaked out and afflicted people with madness, leaving a trail of discord and destruction in their wake. The undead minions of Lambrecht complicated things even more. Although Diederic was thankful he kept the chaos localized rather than all-out bloodbath throughout the city, Diederic dismissed any loss of lives as necessary casualties of war.

The pair was seemingly given shelter and led away from danger by a Vistani named Tobar, but be betrayed them to First Confessor Oste van Brekke, leader of the Empyrean Inquisition. Despite animosity from both sides, a truce was arranged: delivery to the Empyrean Basilica and pardon for their sins for Diederic and Violca in return for the defeat of Lambrecht, a figure the First Confessor to be a stain upon the church.

Diederic and Violca entered the church through donning armor stolen from the Redbreasts. However, they were barred entry from Pontiff Cornelis by his guards, and the imposters' charade was revealed. The intruders cut their way through the guards and confronted the Pontiff, calling for Lambrecht's location. Yet Lambrecht intervened, using dark and foul magic, with the pontiff's permission, to animate the dead remains of the fallen guards and create webs to immobilize the intruders. All manner of disgusting and unnatural vermin scurried forth to devour Diederic and Violca alive. However, First Confessor and his men interceded, calling out Lambrecht's witchcraft and the Pontiff's willful allegiance with such a damned wretch. In the ensuing battle, Lambrecht was badly injured and disarmed from the Grimoire, but he escaped through the underground passages beneath the Basilica. Violca and Diederic gave chase and discovered dark truths behind the Empyrean Church, but Lambrecht eluded them again.

Final Confrontation

After learning from the Pontiff that he had bestowed upon the heathen priest Lambrecht a church of his own, Diederic, Violca, and a contingent of Redbreasts marched upon the place of worship, battling and cutting down helplessly maddened lunatics and undead minions. Although nearly overwhelmed by enemy numbers and horrible magic, Diederic, Viocla, and the remaining Redbreasts persevered. The confrontation ended with a partial collapse of the church and it setting ablaze. Lambrecht was struck dead once, but the necromantic spell that animated his minions caused him to rise up and seize the Grimoire. Yet before his full faculties could return, Diederic knocked him into the burning conflagration, and both the fallen priest and his foul grimoire were consumed by the fire.

With the consumption of the Laginate Grimoire, the undead returned to death. Though confused and injured, the maddened were freed of their delirium. The fire soon sputtered out. The horror was over, but not so much for Diederic. Viocla's mission of information gathering was complete, Viocla took her leave. Diederic implored for her to help him find another way of escape, but she told him that Malosia would never let him escape. The people came and acknowledged them as the savior from strife and terror that afflicted their city, ignorant of the responsibility he had for it. Yet this was but ash in his mouth because he could never go home. For Malosia had found its new darklord.