The Skinsaw Man

The Skinsaw Man was a Dread Ghast serial killer that preyed upon Sandpoint and the surrounding area for two weeks during the winter of 4707 AR.

Aldern Foxglove
Aldern Foxglove was a local noble, the heir to a manor house near Sandpoint referred to as The Misgivings by locals, due to its tragic history, and rumours that it was haunted.

Aldern was forced to live with distant relatives after his parents died in a fire which took part of the house. His father, Traver, attempted to murder his mother after several weeks of growing mania. The legacy of Aldern's grandfather, the lich-aspirant Vorel Foxglove, had tainted the house and driven Traver mad.

Returning to the Lost Coast and in some debt, Aldern took a loan from his grandfather's business associates, the Brothers of the Seven, in order to restore the manor. Knowing the young noble would be easily influenced, the group lent the money, requesting that as part of the payment, Aldern deliver them samples of the virulent fungus which grew in the caves below the manor. This fungus could be distilled iinto an effective poison, one which was highly sought after by a client referred to as 'The Red Mantis'.

Vorel's spirit also twisted the mind of his grandson. Shortly after returning to the manor, Aldern met Iesha, a Varisian dancer, and fell in love. The two were married within a month, but, not long after, Aldern murdered Iesha and a contractor hired to repair the manor, suspecting them of having an affair. Fearing the consequences, Aldern ran to Sandpoint, where his life was saved by the Sandpoint 5 during a goblin raid.

The Skinsaw Man
After the attack on Sandpoint, Aldern returned to Magnimar, hoping that the Brothers would help him. Ofor a time they extorted him in exchange for their silence about his crimes, however, seeing that Aldern was flighty and a liability, the true nature of the Brotherhood was revealed- The Skinsaw Cult, a murderous band devoted to Norgorber, who hoped to shape society with select killings. Their new, serpentine mistress, Xanesha, imprisoned Aldern and experimented on him, turning him into a savage undead killer. Xanesha, however, needed her agent to be able to carry out a specific ritual with each murder, and thus was forced to retain a fragment of Foxglove's mind and personality.

Remembering only a warped reflection of his life, the Skinsaw Man returned to Sandpoint, driven by his envy of the strength wielded by those who saved his life, specifically Malik. After attempting to frame Malik, the Skinsaw Man lured the Sandpoint 5 into a confrontation in the Misgivings. There the 5 allied with the Revenant spirit of Foxglove's murdered wife, and killed the fiend.

The Echo
"'Hold up your end of the bargain, darling.'- Echo of the Skinsaw Man, in the dungeons of Fort Rannick."Merely killing The Skinsaw Man did not defeat him. An echo of his spirit lived on in his razor, now wielded by El, and began to influence her. This manifested itself in the dungeons of Fort Rannick, where the Echo pushed El to kill Malik. She resisted him, hopefully destroying any trace of The Skinsaw Man that remained.