Nibenay, in his true half-draconic form, lounging on his throne.

The Lore

Yes, he named his city after himself.

Nibenay seems to be a very academically-minded Sorcerer-King, which is evident in how his transformation seems to be the furthest along among the living ones, but he’s also kinda lazy. For about two thousand years now, he’s been holed up in his palace-temple complex of Naggaramakam enjoying a life of luxury and study while his priesthood took care of all those boring “running the kingdom” tasks.

His priesthood are also his templars, which are all women and all his wives. So this might explain why Dregoth outpaced him 1700 years ago - Nibenay still has his vices.

Nibebay’s highest ranking templars are known as the High Consorts. There are five of them, each in charge of one of the city-state’s temples. The Shadow King’s inner circle is composed of these five, plus his personal arcane assistants, his half-monster son Dhojakt, and a group of elite goliath warriors. Only they can enter Naggaramakam and interact directly with their king. And only they know what Nibenay’s true draconic form looks like - he disguises himself as a human in his rare public appearances.

Things might have continued this way forever if it wasn’t for Kalak’s assassination and the liberation of Tyr. This kind of lit a fire under Nibenay, and he decided to end his isolation and take a more active hand in the ruling of his domain. This has nearly all Nibenese nobles and a large number of lower-ranking templars in a panic because they’ve been up to a lot of self-enriching shenanigans that they were sure their king would never notice or care about. There’s a lot of unpleasant purges in the city’s immediate future.

Still, Nibenay hasn’t completely abandoned his research. He seems to be particularly interested in Athas’ distant past, and is rumored to be looking for a way to “bring about a new Age”. That probably involves some sort of large-scale environmental engineering, though it’s unlikely to be beneficial to the inhabitants.

The Numbers

We get three different stat blocks here, which we’ll see in order of level.

Shadow Bride

This is one of Nibenay’s lower-ranking templars. The city’s nobles tend to look down on them and use them as pawns in their own schemes - the name “Shadow Bride” is something of an insult. The brides resent them for this, and do whatever dirty deeds they need in order to claw some wealth and influence for themselves and climb the ranks of their organization.

This Shadow Bride is a Level 13 Soldier with 130 HP and Speed 6. She fights with an Obsidian Short Sword in melee, and with Shadow Bolts at range that do light cold+necrotic damage. She can inflict the Curse of the Shadow King an adjacent enemy with a minor action. This marks the enemy until the end of the encounter and makes it grant combat advantage for a turn.

Marked enemies within 6 squares who decide to ignore the mark can be targeted with Nibenay’s Retribution as an interrupt - the bride teleports to a square adjacent to the enemy and makes a very accurate attack vs. their Fortitude, dealing fire+necrotic damage on a hit.

In her own turns the bride can also Demand Penitence (recharge 5+), targetting up to two marked enemies in a Close Burst 5, dealing psychic damage, pulling them 4 squares, and knocking them prone.

Yup, this is a Soldier Warlock. Not a combination you see every day. The “eldritch blast” equivalent here is distinctly secondary. She wants to bring enemies into melee range and keep them there.

High Consort

One of the five highest ranked priestess-wives of Nibenay, part of his inner circle. Just like the city’s nobles, they jockey for position amongst themselves, constantly engaging in backstabbing and intrigue, though they are loyal to their hubby and will fight at his side against meddling PCs who manage to get that far. They will also fight to the end to protect their own temples. In any other situation, they run away when the fight turns against them.

High Consorts are Level 27 Artillery with 192 HP, Speed 6 and Low-Light Vision. They fight with Obsidian Spears in melee and with Shadow Blasts at range 20. These deal cold+necrotic damage.

Their special spell is Cage of Shadows (ranged 10), which deals heavy force damage and immobilizes (save ends). It recharges when they’re bloodied. They can also practice Arcane Defiling whenever they miss with this power or with a Shadow Blast while allies are present within 2 squares of them. This is a free action that inflicts 10 necrotic damage on each such ally, and lets the consort reroll the attack.

If they get surrounded, consorts can use Nibenay’s Gift (recharge 5+) as a minor action, dealing 15 cold+necrotic damage to each adjacent enemy, teleporting 6 squares, and gaining concealment for a turn.

Nibenay, Sorcerer-King

Nibenay in his true form is a Large Natural Humanoid, and a Level 29 Elite Controller with 532 HP. He has ground and teleport speeds of 6 and Darkvision.

His Sorcerer King’s Guile is going to ruin the day of many a PC fighter, as it makes him not provoke opportunity attacks from making ranged and area attacks.

In melee, he fights with Reach 2 Dragon’s Talons, which damage and restrain (save ends). At range, he uses the classic Ego Whip (range 10), which deals psychic damage and dazes (save ends). Yes, it’s at-will, and Ego Storm lets him use it twice in the same action.

Less often, he can use Defiling Burst (recharge 5+), which automatically deals 15 necrotic damage to each adjacent enemy and lets Nibenay attack an Area Burst 2 within 10 to deal necrotic damage.

The text is a bit strange here, as it says Nibenay gains +1 to the burst’s attack roll for each enemy damaged by it. I guess you roll once, count the hits, add the bonus, and keep repeating the last two steps until he either runs out of targets or misses someone.

As a minor action he can creaze a Zone of Shadows that lasts for a turn and blocks line of sight for everyone except himself. Enemies inside are blinded. The power recharges when the zone vanishes.

His version of Arcane Defiling triggers when he hits and deals damage with either of his basic attacks. It inflicts 10 necrotic damage on each enemy within 2 squares and weakens the target of the triggering attack for a turn. It’s a free action, not a reaction or interrupt, so this happens every single time he hits with Dragon Talon or Ego Whip.

Nibenay’s Demand is his anti-stunlock power, a reaction that lets him inflict 10 necrotic damage on an enemy within 5 squares and roll a save whenever he’s subject to an effect a save can end.

Encounters and Final Impressions

Nibenay being an Elite instead of a Solo is not necessarily a sign that he’s weak, but that the final fight against him will be a crowded affair. Any surviving high consorts will surely be here, as will any other epic level assistants and guards the GM wants to add to make the battle a worthy challenge.

Unlike Andropinis, Nibenay doesn’t have powers that boost or benefit from his allies, but at least he doesn’t get in their way either - his area attack is selective. The High Consorts, however, are likely to step on each others’ toes because their version of Arcane Defiling targets allies instead of enemies.