Vasculio

Vasculio was a mage of Moonshade, who specialized in death magic and was eventually executed by the Council of Mages for it. Able to survive his own death, Vasculio lives as an undead creature among the ruins of the Ophidian city beneath the Skullcrusher Mountains.

Unlike the necromage, Mortegro, whose studies concerned summoning and speaking with the dead, Vasculio's magical practices focused on causing death -- quickly or otherwise. He tortured and killed, using the "death agony" as well as the forbidden reagent, bloodspawn, to fuel his spells. Mortegro eventually alerted the Council to his crimes, and upon launching an investigation, they found him engaged in acts so horrible, that it was determined he was no longer human. Filbercio, the MageLord, sentenced him to die. His co-conspirator in his experimentation, Torrissio, distanced himself from the doomed mage and was never caught up in the affair.

Not a week after the execution, Vasculio's tomb was found open and empty. Ensorcio, Vasculio's apprentice, claimed that the necromancer's experiments with bloodspawn enabled him to escape death. This speculation proved true. Vasculio had, in fact, kept himself alive through use of a spell intoned immediately before his demise, and had kept his undead form sustained through use of the forbidden reagent and the blood of the living.

Vasculio, after his "resurrection", eventually travelled to Skullcrusher knowing the area to be rich in stoneheart, the mineral needed to produce bloodspawn, and secure in the fact that none of the mages of Moonshade would follow him.

When the Avatar journeyed to the Skullcrusher Mountains in Ultima VII Part Two, Vasculio was found apparently asleep within the ruins. When awakened, the undead mage offered to spare the Avatar life in exchange for the lives of one of the hero's companions, siting his need for fresh blood to sustain him. Regardless of the hero's choice, Vasculio eventually attacked the party and was slain.

An investigation of his laboratory revealed a variety of artifacts and trinkets which Vasculio had stolen from the mages of Moonshade. These artifacts included: a locket taken from Frigidazzi, whom Vasculio hated for rejecting his advances; a strange and obviously enchanted hairpiece called the "Living Scalp" taken from Filbercio; an artifact called the Spectral Orb taken from Mortegro; Gustacio's Flux Analyzer, stolen out of spite for the adept's prestige, which could later be used by the Avatar to repair the damaged Black Sword; and the Philanderer's Friend, a wand formerly belonging to Torrissio which was needed eventually to restore Fedabiblio to life. The undead mage also had in his possession the Gwani horn, although it was protected by a force field which could not be dispelled until the Avatar found the magical scroll for Dispel Field on the body of Batlin's ally Selina.

The Avatar could also find the skeletal remains of Maleccio, a man from Moonshade whom Vasculio had captured, tortured and fed from. His animated bones stood upright in the cage where he had died and begged the hero for succor. If released, Maleccio's skeleton would attack those who freed it, ceasing only when dispatched by violence. Maleccio's journal could be found on his body, detailing his last days in the hands of Vasculio.

Vasculio was once the apprentice of Erstam, from whom he inherited a Serpent Jawbone which he later passed on to his own apprentice Ensorcio.



Trivia

 * If the Avatar or anyone in the Avatar's party has the Magebane in their possession, Vasculio will offer to spare them in exchange for the enchanted weapon.
 * According to the original design documents for Serpent Isle, Vasculio was a "wild mage" who was never found by the Magister and given proper training in the magical arts.
 * Also according to the above mentioned document, the Spectral Orb would have originally been used to banish ghosts of the Avatar's past enemies from Mortegro's house after Banes had been released.
 * The in-game book "Parting Verses" by Vasculio is suspiciously similar to the lyrics of the song "Buried Alive" by British heavy metal band Venom.