Leopold Anigama rose to prominence during the rebellion against King Shardamar II of Gazeara. He played a leading role during the revolution and upon its success, he became the new dictator of Gazeara. He built a cult of personality around himself as Gazeara’s head and soon used his hidden psionic powers to become the living god of the city. During the First Alliance War, Anigama joined the Alliance. He held his own against the Rages of Xoria, but unfortunately the tide of war turned against him. Grave and Wrath killed Anigama and Gazeara was conquered by Queen Anajakaze.
Anigama’s father, Josephus Anigama, was a sorcerer of limited ability from Gazeara. Wishing to gain greater power to better his station, Josephus made a deal with Hecate, the goddess of dark magic. Josephus promised her his firstborn child in exchange for the power to realize his dreams. With his blood, Hecate forged the pact. Josephus joined the Adventurers Guild of Phoenix. Over several decades he proved himself in the field using his eldritch power and with the occasional assassination he rose to the top. After forty years Josephus was Guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild. Additionally Josephus had maintained a vow of celibacy for those forty years. With no firstborn child he had no need to repay his debt to Hecate or so he thought.
Hecate saw through Josephus’s plan. The mortal unknowingly entered his final year of life and the dark goddess enacted her revenge. She plucked him from the mortal plane to her chambers on the shores of the River Styx. There Hecate tortured Josephus for the remaining year of his life in vengeance for denying the commodity she’d bargained for. At the end of the year she took what she wanted from Josephus and became the vessel for his fulfillment of their bargain. Hecate carried Josephus’s child and dumped the mortal’s body into the Styx. The unfortunate man’s soul would wander on the wrong side of the River Styx by his murderer’s home for a century before Charon allowed him across.
Leopold Anigama’s upbringing was particularly unusual. Anigama was born to Hecate nine months later. She suckled him at her breast and raised him by the River Styx until he was five years old. At that age, Hecate took her son to live with her cult at Lagina in Southern Ionia. The eunuchs of the cult brought Anigama up. They taught him the basics of combat, history, and leadership. Additionally, his mother continued to visit to train him in his budding magical talents. Hecate had instilled psionic powers in her child. She helped him to master these abilities. When Anigama reached the age of eighteen he was already one of the most powerful magic users in Cimmeria.
Anigama wanted to make a difference in the world while keeping the origin of his powers a secret. He feared persecution if others learned he was the son of a Titaness. To disguise his powers, Anigama focused on using his magic to enhance his physical body. To the untrained eye he seemed to be a strong warrior, but only due to the layers of magical powerups that he placed on himself. Anigama joined an adventuring group in Western Cimmeria. Together they defeated an Duergar and Drow invasion into the surface world. In doing so, Anigama’sa group became famed throughout Western Cimmeria.
After stopping the Underdark incursion, Leopold went to Gazeara to see the home town of his father. He lived there for a few months and grew fond of the Gazeara’s unique culture. However, he hated the restrictive power the city’s scrying dweomers gave to King Shardamar II. The people bent under Shardamar’s tyrannical rule until they snapped. The commoners rose up all at once against their evil king. Anigama traded on his fame to step into a leadership role during the uprising. His group of rebels took the royal family captive. Anigama gave a stirring speech to the gathered populace about equity and equality before the law. At the climax he kicked the bound Shardamar II into the Great Fire of Gazeara. The king burned along with the rest of the royal family. Anigama declared that he would lead Gazeara forward into a new age of equality.
As the new leader of Gazeara, Anigama distributed King Shardamar II’s hoarded wealth to the people. He gave everyone food, clothing, shelter, and education. To exemplify the spirit of generosity, Anigama walked through the city streets adorned in gold cloth and jewelry. He gave a piece of it to whoever asked. In return he asked for the people’s loyalty. By the end of his walk Anigama was naked, but for the faith of his citizens. In secret, Anigama continued his predecessor’s use of Gazeara’s scrying dweomers. He used them to control crime and maintain his hold on the city. He kept his psionic powers hidden, only revealing them to his most trusted allies.
Anigama used his psionic abilities to perform miracles for the citizens of Gazeara. He lifted entire buildings over his head. He started raging infernos with a thought and then conjured rainstorms to extinguish them. As his magic was neither arcane or divine the people assumed that his powers had an origin in Anigama’s own psyche. Slowly, they began to worship their dictator as a god. They prayed to statuettes and pictures of Anigama. Due to the scrying dweomers of Gazeara, Anigama heard their prayers and answered them. The people’s faith in their leader grew to heights never seen before.
Anigama guided his town well and led the people towards what he saw as a moral high ground. Gazeara’s culture warped over the three decades of Anigama’s rule. The citizens zealously adopted his specific ethical code and incorporated it into every aspect of their lives. In only a few years Gazeara bore almost no resemblance to the other city-states of Cimmeria.
Due to this wide cultural difference, the Gazearans fiercely resisted all foreign invasions. Under the direction of Anigama they turned back the Xorians and joined the First Alliance organized by Princess Tarigananata. Unfortunately, after Amalgami’s betrayal the First Alliance’s fortune’s turned in the war. Anigama met his end in a battle with three of the Seven Rages. Tempest, Wrath, and Grave attacked Anigama at the same time. Even with this stark disadvantage, Anigama managed to kill Tempest before he was slain as well. Queen Anajakaze occupied the town of Gazeara and installed an Amazon military governor.
Anigama’s cultural legacy within Gazeara ended up saving the city in the end. His fight for equality and independence stuck with the Gazearans who fled Xorian occupation to Bigby’s Forest. The Xorian Rebellion started with those few and spread across the Empire. After more than forty years of warfare they retook Gazeara from the occupiers. Anigama’s life continues to be honored by the Gazearan people as an exemplar of generosity and justice.
