Lord Soth

Soth was a Knight of the Rose, the most esteemed rank of knight in the Knights of Solamnia, and married. While on a trip he encountered a band of ogres attacking elven priestesses; Soth fell in love with the fairest priestess, the Silvanesti Elf Isolde Denissa, and eventually managed to seduce her, bringing her back to Dargaard Keep as a friend in the eyes of the public and his wife. Soth's wife Korrine and her lady-in-waiting then visited a witch to help her conceive a child; the witch agreed, but warned that the child would be a representation of Soth's soul. Korrine eventually gave birth to an abomination, and Soth, thinking his wife consorted with some kind of demon, killed her and their child. Korrine's lady-in-waiting revealed to Soth's superior that Isolde was pregnant with his bastard child and he was brought before the Court of High Justice at Palanthas. Soth's lie about his wife and child passing in childbirth was corroborated by Istvan the healer, who was later compelled by the court to tell the truth about Soth's crime. Before he could be executed, Soth escaped back to Dargaard Keep.

Besieged by the other knights, Soth's mood turned black, and he even struck his new wife, Isolde, on one occasion. When he realized what he had become, he prayed to Paladine and his wife prayed to Mishakal. Mishakal showed her the future and the destruction that the arrogant Kingpriest of Istar was about to call upon Krynn. She was told that Soth could stop the Cataclysm, but he would die in the attempt. Isolde told Soth about her vision and he set out to redeem himself. On the way to Istar he encountered a group of three elf-maids. They poisoned Soth's mind with lies about his wife's infidelity. Enraged, Soth turned from his quest and confronted his wife just as the Cataclysm began. A chandelier fell upon his wife and newborn son, setting her aflame. His wife begged for him to save their child, but Soth stopped himself from doing so, to prevent his own son from growing up as he had. As her life ended she cursed him, saying "you shall live the lifetime of every soul that you have caused death today", and upon pronunciation of the curse the fire engulfed the entire keep, seemingly slaying Soth, his retainers, and the rest of the keep's inhabitants. Soth became a death knight and his followers became skeleton warriors. The three elf-maids became banshees, cursed to remind him of his folly every night.

Several centuries later, the evil goddess Takhisis launched the War of the Lance to conquer Krynn and wanted Lord Soth to assist her armies. Soth informed Takhisis he would only be willing to serve the Dragon Highlord (Takhisis's top generals) with enough courage and strength to survive one night in Dargaard Keep. Only the Dragon Highlord known as the Blue Lady, Kitiara Uth Matar, accepted this challenge. Kitiara survived the night, winning Soth's service.

Lord Soth would soon prove an invaluable ally to Kitiara. It was Soth that prevented Emperor Ariakas from executing Kitiara for the defeats she suffered in the Vingaard Campaign, and it was Soth who effected the successful kidnapping of Laurana, the Golden General of the Good Armies (who also happened to be Kitiara's romantic rival for the heart of Tanis Half-Elven.)

Soth became obsessed with Laurana, whose radiant elven beauty reminded him so much of Isolde, so he entered into a conspiracy with Kitiara where he would help her obtain the Crown of Power from Ariakas in exchange for her having Takhisis grant him the soul of Laurana, who would then suffer in undeath with him for all eternity. Thus at the Council of Highlords in Neraka, Soth personally carried the captive Laurana, who had been tightly wrapped into a cocoon of winding cloth, to Kitiara. The Dragon Highlord then cut Laurana out of the cocoon, offered her up as a gift to Takhisis and received Takhisis's blessing for the elfmaid's soul to be granted to Lord Soth.

However, Soth's desire would be frustrated when Tanis Half-Elven assassinated Emperor Ariakas and then Laurana escaped as the Dragonarmies began fighting amongst themselves. Soth eliminated the Green and Black Dragon Highlords, Kitiara's potential rivals for the Crown of Power, during this fighting but failed to obtain Laurana's soul, as Kitiara allowed Tanis and Laurana to escape. Soth mocked Kitiara for this apparent act of mercy, but Kitiara then told the death knight she did it only so she would always live in Tanis' heart, which would forever taint his relationship with Laurana. Soth accepted this answer and then presented Kitiara with the Crown of Power while vowing his undying service to her.

Several years after the end of the War of the Lance, Lord Soth would again assist Kitiara during the Blue Lady's War. Under his command, a great number of undead creatures (including his skeletal warriors and banshees with wyvern-carried chariots) breached Palanthas the Unconquered City. However, Soth had his own motivations. He had become completely obsessed with Kitiara (whose self-serving nature and survival-instinct had somehow rekindled his undead heart), and decided to make her become his eternal consort. Thus Soth waited until the dark elf wizard, Dalamar, struck Kitiara down during the fighting and then claimed Kitiara's body. Once Soth had Kitiara's body, he had his forces withdraw from Palanthas. Without their undead allies, the rest of Kitiara's forces were soon defeated by the Palanthians. However, due to the treachery of one of Soth's servants, Caradoc, his plan to obtain Kitiara's soul failed. The role-playing video game Death Knights of Krynn, in which Soth was featured, also happened during this era.[4]

The Mists of Ravenloft plucked Soth and Caradoc from Krynn while the two battled. His soul was brought to the domain of Barovia; wanting to return to Krynn, Soth sought out Strahd von Zarovich, the ruler of the domain, in the hope Strahd would help him. Strahd tried to use Soth to his advantage but this only cost him a red dragon which was one of his castle guardians. After a series of adventures with the Vistani girl, Magda, and the were-badger Azrael Dak, Soth had found out that Strahd was hiding Caradoc from him. Soth attacked Strahd unceasingly and the vampire had no choice but to release Caradoc in order to keep his domain in one piece. Soth then pursued Caradoc until he finally caught him at the edge of the mists.

Soth was then given the domain Sithicus ("land of spectres" in the elven tongue) in Ravenloft by the Mists after he exacted his vengeance on Caradoc's ghost.[5] His new castle, Nedragaard Keep (Solamnic, meaning: "not Dargaard"), was made as mockery of Dargaard in Krynn with a continually changing form so Soth could not maintain the military order he was accustomed to. During the Grand Conjunction he briefly returned to his Krynn body.

Soth's experiences in Sithicus had changed him only slightly. Throughout his time in the Dread Realm, Soth found himself entering mirror worlds, each which contained a portion of his past. Through these he lived in worlds of fantasy, ignoring the world beyond his keep. It is believed that his refusal to face his past sins and his willingness to suffer his curse led to his release from the Mists; Soth simply withdrew and ignored Sithicus until he was released.

The story of his ascension is told in Knight of the Black Rose,[6] the story of his temporary release is told in World of Krynn, and the story of his final release is told in Spectre of the Black Rose.[7]

In the 2002 book Dragon of a Vanished Moon,[8] upon his return to Krynn, Mina, Chosen of Takhisis, attempted to recruit Soth to lead the Dark Queen's armies. Soth had dwelt too long in solitude. This was time enough for him to come to peace with himself; to know how he had wronged his wife and child. He refused the goddess' invitation. In retaliation for this insult, Takhisis ironically delivered Lord Soth one final blessing: she restored his mortality. The Dark Queen then destroyed his keep, crushing him to death beneath its rubble. The fallen knight perished with a measure of his honor restored, vowing that he would forever search for the elf maid and his son in the afterlife. He hoped, that in this search, he would be redeemed.

Lord Soth was the primary antagonist in Death Knights of Krynn.[13] In a review of the game in Computer Gaming World, Soth is described as a "necrophiliac" who enjoys nothing as much as "animating some hapless corpse and sending it out to wreak grave consequences on the world."[14]

Lord Soth also appears as a non-playable character in the video game Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft.[15]