13th Age Icons for D&D Next: Dwarves - The Archmage

I really like the Icons that are presented by 13th Age.  Powerful figures that tie into the history of the

land and reappear on a recurring basis through the ages is neat, and the way they are presented gives quite a bit of scope to steal/adapt them.

So that's what I did.  This is the first in the series.  

The Archmage

Adassar, High Mage of Ruywick.  Master of the Desolation.

Usual Locations: The Tower in the heart of the Desolation of Adassar, Ruywick, the Imperial Capital, or Erith Vendi, his floating fortress.

Common Knowledge: The Archmage's magical powers have long formed a bulwark for the Empire of Ruywick, maintaining it despite it's flagging military and naval strength. He has a floating citadel, called Erith Vendi, which can appear almost anywhere.

Adventurers: In the past, the Archmage has used adventurers to retrieve arcane items and tomes, as well as support the Empire’s interests.  Now he frequently recruits them to map the borders of the Desolation, retrieve samples of the mutated creatures and plants and to destroy particularly troublesome spots.

Allies: The Emperor, the Priestess to a lesser extent, the Great Gold Wyrm.

Enemies: The Diablolist, the Lich King, the Orc Lord (if one exists), the Three.

History: Adassar has been Archmage of Ruywick for many Ages, guarding the Empire and supporting the Dragon Emperors.  In the previous Age, the Orc Lord and the Horde attacked and destroyed the eastern Empire, crushing the Imperial Army, penning up the dwarves in their mountain homes and threatening the heartland and Ruywick, the Imperial City.

To defeat them, Adassar invoked the Desolation.  The spell annihilated the orcs, but it also destroyed a great portion of the lands between Ruywick and the east, essentially cutting the imperial lands in half.  Worse yet, the Desolation is slowly growing, and Adassar now spends much of his time trying to figure out a way to stop it.

One True Danger: If the Desolation begins to expand rapidly, or a new Orc Horde approaches, Adassar may finally be overstretched.  Further, when he invoked the Desolation, Adassar alienated the High Druid, the Elf Queen and the Dwarf King, who were previously neutral towards the Empire.