Tahl Nihil

Another to add to our list of psychopaths is Shiiath’s right hand man, Tahl Nihil. A murderer by trade, Tahl greatly enjoys making friends and finding ways to dispatch of them. He is what you might call ‘slightly unbalanced’ with a tendency to commit antisocial and violent acts and a failure to feel any guilt about them.

At 47years old he works beneath Shiiath as an enforcer and agent for Lukas. This job includes in the field tasks such as information gathering, creating alliances with potential targets, killing targets and ‘acquiring’ items. Standing a respectable 5ft 11in Tahl is a well-known degenerate, an abuser of the magical arts and an outcast from his homeland.

When questioned about his past Tahl speaks candidly about the facts. He tells us that his father was one Amren DeNihil, a rejected member of the drow, and cutthroat criminal without reform. Amren was punished as with all drow criminals by having his glyphs seared red and the prefix removed from his surname. To add insult to injury Amren then married a pale ordic woman named Sophie Astir, and their resulting child, Tahl, was scorned before his first breath. Ergo, like his illegitimate father, young Tahl DeNihil was often in trouble; it didn’t take much for him to earn the red mark and lose that precious prefix from his own surname.

What Tahl doesn’t reveal are the more twisted details of growing in a skewed household where manifestations of love were lashed, displayed feelings were literally ignited and any self-esteem was bolstered by regular electrocution. It is likely his emotional distance stems from these early years. He certainly learned his façade in that time, a warm and friendly persona that he now presents to us. Unfortunately it is painfully obvious to the majority of our staff that he is putting on an act, a mishmash of mimicked interactions that prove whilst he loves trying to fit in he’s actually not very good at it. Still he maintains an air of calm and continues to speak despite being aware that we see through his egregious lies. His biggest fear is having his true personality uncovered, something we’re not keen to aid in overcoming as we hear it results in various forms of death.

Moving on he explains that he currently identifies himself as Sen Tek (an extropian convert), a key sign of which being the two splits in his once sheer elven ears. He defected from his birth species for several reasons, none of which relate to his father or a dislike of the drow, even though carrying either resentment would be justified. Mostly he fears being disliked and finds he relates well to stereotypical Teks, those who appear as cold or as emotionally depraved as Tahl is himself.

From his awkward demeanour it is clear that Tahl is unable to experience love or establish meaningful relationships. He possesses a deep desire to control the people he meets and once secure he has gained their trust he indubitably terminates their friendship. 

Trust is a weapon Tahl greedily extorts, a sensation that sickens him and a concept he ultimately fails to understand.