Ishtar Korat Muael

Ishtar Korat Muael

About

Ishtar was originally described as tall with a hard face and intense expression as if he dissected every part of you with a look. He was a powerful channeler but rarely turned his strength to the field of battle. His power was subtle and intricate, manipulating the structure of DNA itself. His power was high among the channelers of the second age of a rank similar to Raviel, although he was known to be subservient to Lews Therin and later was deferent to Baldragos. He was known to be afraid of Eshamir.

Profession

During the Age of Legends Ishtar Korat was a renown biologist and geneticist who understood “the most basic structures of living things” at a level that far surpassed those of his peers. His earliest productivity was centered around understanding and manipulating the structure of plant life, and he was responsible for the creation of Avendesora. Ultimately he began to create sentient plant life, designs that later resulted in the more widely accepted constructs known as the Nym, but they were a successful creation of many previous more monstrous experiments.

Insect-plant-worm hybrids bridged the leap to animal work since insect work was not considered unethical. His actions, however, drew attention. He would frequently create biological pairings and release them into the wild to monitor their habitat, mating, and predator behaviors. Often these unnatural creations would dominate a landscape and wipe out native species. When they entered population-centered areas, they drew immense concern until direct action was taken to wipe them out. Despite these efforts, many of these species successfully infiltrated wild lands and eventually came to thrive in the shadowlands known as the Blight of the 3rd Age.

When his passion for biological creativity led him to begin experimentation on animals, he was taken before the Hall of Servants and sanctioned although by that time he was already honored with the third name and his disgrace was kept private.

The Shadow

He was recruited during the Collapse to join the Shadow.

Though it was remarked by Baldragos that it was only Ishtar’s genetic engineering skill that allowed him to gain the rank of Forsaken, his creations tormented the world for Ages afterward. He created Trollocs and through them, their progeny Myrrddraal, which fascinate and also disturb even him, as well as Draghkar, Gholam, Darkhounds, Cafar, Zomaran, Jumara and others. Historians suggest that between 35 and 50 million people died in the efforts of his mass, population-wide experiments.

He pursued his research with a complete lack of ethics or empathy, regarding the lives lost in his pursuit of knowledge to be trivial. He was said to have been the sort of person who would have created a plague that could have wiped out humanity just to see if he could do it. Indeed, one of his creations, the jumara, was speculated by the Forsaken not to have been made to serve any practical purpose, militarily or otherwise, but was made simply because Ishtar wanted to see how horrific a monster he could engineer.

Amongst the Forsaken, he was held in low regard despite his great strength, and appeared to be a rather poor combatant. He seemed to have virtually no talents or abilities beyond his skill at genetic engineering. In fact, the Forsaken, who all generally hold him in contempt, agreed that were it not for Ishtar’s monstrous expertise, he would never have been selected to be a member of the Chosen

The Forsaken Amogorath

Ishtar was in Shayol Ghul the day that the Hundred Companions led by Lews Therin attacked their headquarters, but Ishtar avoided combat. As soon as they realized what was happening, he attempted to flee. As a result, he was on the edge of escape when the bore was sealed and the Forsaken trapped within its boundaries.

He was lucid throughout the 3,000 years that followed. The proximity to the edge of the seals resulted in the aging of his body, and when he was freed, he was the equivalent of 500 years older than when he was trapped.

Shortly after being released, he sought hints of the survival of the tools he used in his laboratories. This led him to the last remaining Nym, and in the effort to extract the Nym’s mechanical innards, he was confronted by the Dragon Reborn. He was always a coward, but trapped, he was forced to face the Dragon. That the reborn Dragon was a naïve youth emboldened him a little, but he was quickly bested by a superior courage and sheer talent. He fled for his life and decreed he would not confront the Dragon a second time.

Afterward, Ishtar embraced his Forsaken name of Amogorath. He was still disdained by the other Forsaken, but he only cared for one thing: his creations. The power over life and death itself was in his hands. There were hatchlings to oversee and spawns to cultivate. He entered deep into the Blight to begin his work anew.