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Nargol the impaler was a disgraced knight of an unimportant noble family. Acts of cowardice and drunken violence had cost him any of the little reputation that his birth right and knighthood had given to him. In times of relative peace his attempts as a sellsword yielded too little money to sustain himself. When he had sunk so low as to have sold most of his family arms and armour he started working as a bruiser for local thugs. His fate turned once again, when he became the bodyguard of a spirit speaker. So he accompanied his employer to the court of king Zelos, who was strongly interested in speaking to the spirits from beyond. He was there when the king consulted the spirits with the help of the medium and witnessed some of the plans that took shape in such seances. Seizing the opportunity in a sober moment, he pledged his sword and service to the king, which the latter accepted. King Zelos had only a few loyal allies and some knight, up to anything the king might command, suited him well enough. Even to his own surprise Nargol proved quite effective and efficient in his new role. Soon he became the chief enforcer of Zelos, who soon would become known as the ghost king. For his faithful service to the king's cause, Nargol was awarded with the best weapons and armour available and even magic items found their way into his possession. With an iron fist and without mercy or remorse, Nargol carried out his king's will, in a mockery of true knighthood. The king liked that Nargol acquired a reputation of needless cruelty and violence. Even the threat of a visit of Nargol and his men brought villages and nobles back to the heel. In service of the ghost king the fallen knight took many injuries and was maimed several times. His king though had him stitched together again and again, sometimes replacing or 'enhancing' whole body parts with gruesome, magical substitutes. Over the years he became more and more a thing than a man. A walking magical construct of its own. In the end he seemed almost mindless. Fused with his armour and weapons. Inactive or lost in the dark abysses of his soul unless called to action. When the ghost king finally perished, Nargol simply stopped to 'function'. He was found standing motionless on his horse that strode into a small village. He was rather stored away at a secret place then properly buried, because it was feared he might rise again.
