Marland Ashe

Marland Ashe was the undertaker as well as a member of the town council of Cortton. He is also a traitor, having put into motion the Zombie Plague of Cortton.

Background

Marland Ashe sought a way to revive his deceased wife from the grave. At the suggestion of Harkon Lukas, Marland brought about a mass reanimation of the undead in order to perfect his methods of raising the dead through the development of more and more lifelike zombies. Marland began by animating corpses stolen from the vast graveyards outside of Cortton, the graveyards so large that the supply of dead outnumbered the living. Marland Ashe also poisoned the village's drinking supply, infecting it with a disease agent that caused those who died in Cortton to rise again as the undead.

Fortunately, Elaine Clairn and Gersalius discovered the poison in the water and purified it. The mage-finders led by Jonathan Ambrose discovered and rooted out Marland. Hoping to gain assistance from Elaine Clairn in ressurecting the dead, Marland Ashe sent out his zombies to capture Elain Clairn. He tempted her with the resurrection of her dead brother Blaine Clairn. However, she did not give in.

Marland's end came at the hands of Harkon Lukas. Lukas stabbed Marland in the back merely to save face and conceal his involvement in the conspiracy. The mage-finders set Marland's home ablaze, burning many of the zombies in the process.

References

		Death of a Darklord
		Death of a Darklord - pp