Korenth Zan was born among the Scarlet Brotherhood,
the product of a program of selective breeding initiated by
the first Father of Obedience. His father was an evil fighter
in the service of the Brotherhood, and his mother was an
assassin. He knew his parents, but since he was raised by
the Brotherhood, and his parents were both killed in action
against the enemies of the Brotherhood, he regards the
Brotherhood as his true family.

At an early age, he was tested repeatedly, to find his true
strengths. He was eventually determined to have the qualities
needed to become a monk, and was accordingly selected
for monkish training. For the next fifteen years he
trained intensively, learning the beliefs of the Scarlet
Brotherhood as well as the monkish skills. In his youth, he
was known to be the leader in all sorts of childish mischief,
such as midnight raids on the pantries, as well as vandalism
against the residences of unpopular teachers. This
pleased the trainers, and they decided that the boy showed
marked leadership qualities of the sort that the Brotherhood
needed.

When he had completed his training, Korenth Zan was
sent into the world with a party of assorted Brotherhood
Servants, to gather treasure for their leaders and foil the
enemies of their order. For several years, the evil adventurers
traveled, slaying good creatures for their treasures,
aiding allies of the Brotherhood, and gaining much experience
of the world outside the Brotherhood’s stronghold.
Korenth Zan soon became the leader of his group, and his
cunning saved his party many times. He rose rapidly
through the ranks of monks, and used his martial arts to
defeat a host of foes.

When the surviving adventurers had reached about
tenth level, they came back to the Brotherhood, laden with
gifts and information. With their knowledge of the outside
world, their advice was in demand, and all of Korenth
Zan’s former companions were soon high in the councils of
the Brotherhood.

Korenth Zan himself returned to the monastery, and concentrated
on rising higher than the rest. He fought and
defeated challengers as necessary to gain rank, or defend
it, until he became a Master of Spring. He also found himself
elevated through the ranks of the Scarlet Brotherhood
to become the Father of Obedience.

Korenth Zan is an average-sized man, with a shaved
head (required by his order of monks), pale skin, and black
eyes. He is completely loyal to the Brotherhood, and works
ceaselessly to advance its goals in the world. He spends
much time overseeing the activities of the Scarlet Brotherhood,
and almost all the rest of his time training new
monks and keeping himself in training.

At lower levels Korenth Zan used various weapons, and
became proficient with the hand axe, bo stick, club, crossbow,
dagger, javelin, jo stick, spear, and falchion. He still
practices daily with each of these weapons to set a good
example to his trainees, but in actual combat he scorns
weapons. He owns a club +5, a crossbow of accuracy +3, a
ring of invisibility, and a ring of marid summoning.

As Father of Obedience of the Scarlet Brotherhood,
Korenth Zan is suspicious of his subordinates. He tends to
suspect them of ambition, and of plotting to replace him.
Some secretly believe that his mental state is deteriorating,
and that he will slip into paranoid insanity. His subordinates
are still loyal to him, but his accusations of
treason, usually followed by swift execution of the “traitors,”
are shaking their loyalty. Eventually, the imaginary
traitors will actually exist, and he will have sealed his own
fate.

Korenth Zan is an excellent administrator, when he isn’t
traitor-hunting. He checks his subordinates’ work so often
that they dare not dawdle or make avoidable mistakes. In
fact, many of the “traitors” Korenth Zan thinks he has
caught were only ordinary subordinates who had erred in
some way.

Korenth Zan’s list of actual and potential enemies
includes all those not of the Scarlet Brotherhood. In his
years outside the Brotherhood’s stronghold, he heard
enough bad opinions of the Brotherhood to thoroughly confirm
to him that those outside of the Brotherhood were
plotting against it. In many cases, he is right. There are
plots enough against the Brotherhood, but mostly because
the Brotherhood is seen as a major danger to all of Oerth.

Korenth Zan is unmarried, but has fathered several children
through a selective breeding program. Since no member
of the Brotherhood is permitted to have children in any
other way, he accepts this as normal, and would be very
surprised if anybody told him that this was wrong. He has
been known to sneer at outsiders who dared to criticize it,
“You of the outside take more care breeding dogs than you
do in breeding your own descendants! And then you wonder
why we of the Brotherhood are so powerful!” His children
include an evil 3rd level fighter, an assassin, and two
monks. He is enormously proud of his progeny, but does not
show it in public; this is contrary to Scarlet Brotherhood
principle, and he is always a stickler for principle.

Currently, he has a mistress who is an evil mage in the
service of the Brotherhood. She knows that using her spells
on any high-ranking official, much less the Father of Obedience
himself, would result in her unpleasant demise, so
she uses only high comeliness and charisma to keep her
lover’s affections. Since Korenth Zan, along with all other
monks, is of Lawful alignment, he does not believe in random
promiscuity.

As long as Korenth Zan manages to avoid falling into
paranoia, he will continue to lead the Scarlet Brotherhood.