Jon Irenicus

Jon Irenicus
Record
Other names	Hooded Man
Gender	Male
Race	Elf b
Class	Mage
Alignment	LG NG CG LN TN CN LE NE CE
Involvement
Allegiance	Enemy
Ability scores
Level	30
Hit points	96
XP value	26000
Str	13
Str	13
Dex	18
Dex	18
Con	14
Con	14
Int	18
Int	18
Wis	18
Wis	18
Cha	17
Cha	17
Total scores	98
Morale	19
Break	0
Recovery	60
Combat basics
Natural AC	10
Base THAC0	11
Base APR	1
Saving throws
Dth	8
Wand	3
Poly	5
Brth	7
Spell	0
Magic	0
Damage resistances [%]
Acid	0
Acid	0
Cold	0
Cold	0
Elec.	0
Elec.	0
Fire	0
Fire	0
Crush	0
Miss.	0
Pierce	0
Slash	0
Technical information
Voice Actor	David Warner

“

Ahhh, the child of Bhaal has awoken. It is time for more experiments. The pain will only be passing; you should survive the process.

”

Joneleth Irenicus, also known as "Jon Irenicus," or, simply, "Irenicus", is an elf who originally hailed from the elven city of Suldanessellar and is the main antagonist in the Shadows of Amn.

After the events of the Siege of Dragonspear, his henchmen managed to capture Gorion's Ward in an ambush. At that time, the child of Bhaal was accompanied by Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc and Dynaheir. Dynaheir was killed in the ambush and Khalid was later killed after being tortured in Irenicus's dungeon. He imprisoned the remaining members of the party and started experiments on Imoen and Gorion's Ward.

Note: The actual composition of the party at the end of the Siege of Dragonspear is irrelevant.

Backstory

Once a powerful elven spellcaster within the city of Suldanesellar, Irenicus was well-respected by his countrymen and loved by the elven queen Ellesime. However, Irenicus’s hunger for power and ambition leads to an eventual downfall. At some point, Irenicus, assisted by his confidante and "sister" Bodhi (their actual kinship is never truly verified; however, Bodhi does refer to him as both family and a brother) attempted to obtain powers that would rival the gods but ultimately failed. For their deed, Bodhi and Irenicus were cursed and stripped of their connection to the elven race and cast out of the elven city. The nature of the punishment significantly shortened both of their lifespans, with Bodhi voluntarily turning into a vampire as a means of survival, while Irenicus, who was affected to a lesser extent but was still left physically scarred by the experience; most notably, the pointy ears typical for his race are missing, looked to obtain greater powers to extend his lifespan.

In the beginning of the Shadows of Amn, Irenicus has not given up his plans to ascend to godhood. He has built a massive secret base of operations beneath the Waukeen's Promenade district of the city of Athkatla, from where he conducts experiments on test subjects with the ultimate goal of restoring his soul and recreating the love he once felt towards Ellesime. The appearance of the Bhaalspawn proves a unique opportunity to forward his plans and even get his revenge toward Suldanesellar by draining the Tree of Life as a source of divine energy. Ironically, the word 'Irenic' means aiming for peace and reconciliation; an "Irenicus" would be someone aiming for said peace.

Beginning of Baldur's Gate II

“	A name that is synonymous with death and ugliness.	”
— Ulene

When Irenicus appears for the first time, it is only known that he is experimenting on Gorion's Ward and Imoen in order to release their untapped power, which might be beneficial for the Ward as well. After escaping his dungeon, the party will find themselves in Waukeen's Promenade. At this point, Irenicus is battling some hooded figures, easily defeating them, after which a group of Cowled Wizards appears as a result of his illegal use of magic. He defeats the first group easily, but more Cowled Wizards continue to teleport in, replacing those that are killed. Irenicus claims he does not have the time for fighting and lets himself be captured but requests Imoen be taken in as well, as she used a couple of Magic Missile spells on him. Irenicus and Imoen are taken to the Council of Six building in the Government District where the Cowled Wizard judge calls Irenicus a deviant and orders him and Imoen to rot in the asylum known as Spellhold. After a while, Irenicus easily overpowers the Cowled Wizards of the asylum and becomes its caretaker. He then continues experimenting on Imoen.

Main Quest

After Irenicus and Imoen are taken away, Gorion's Ward must now begin the quest to find and release Imoen from wherever she has been taken. Jon's motives at this point are unknown to the Ward, who is left to attempt to identify and pursue his former captor.

At the beginning of Chapter Four, Gorion's Ward has obtained passage to the island of Brynnlaw, where the Ward finally enters Spellhold, finds Imoen, and confronts Irenicus. But Irenicus not only used Imoen as bait to draw the Ward to the asylum so he could steal the Ward's soul essence, Imoen was also used as a source of soul essence for Bodhi. Another confrontation with Irenicus occurs at the end of chapter four, again taking place in the basement of Spellhold. However, this time Irenicus escapes and, with his vampire "sister" Bodhi, flees the asylum into the Underdark.

Escaping from the Underdark begins the events of Chapter Six, where Gorion's Ward and party are finally able to enter the city of Suldanessellar, and the circumstances surrounding the events that lead to Irenicus's downfall and banishment are finally revealed.

The final showdown with Irenicus takes place near the Tree of Life and then in The Abyss during Chapter Seven.

Quotes

• "Torture? Silly girl, you just don't understand what I'm doing, do you?"
• "I cannot be caged. I cannot be controlled. Understand this as you die, ever pathetic, ever fools!"
• "Life is strength"
• "You are but a gnat, compared to my power."
• "No, you'll warrant no villain's exposition from me."
• "Silence, child. Allow the fool to make his judgment."

Notes

• In cut-scenes, Irenicus uses some spells not normally available to players, such as Daer'Ragh's Aura Cleansing, which is a better version of Improved Alacrity, and Rapture of the Father , a ranged insta-kill spell.

Bugs

• Baldur's Gate II:
  Shadows of Amn (2000)
  This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn campaign. In the original Shadows of Amn, Jon Irenicus is of the human race. This is fixed in the Enhanced Edition.

Gallery

Mod content

This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.

Mods:

Irenicus can join the party as a companion during Throne of Bhaal and may be redeemed with the mod Longer Road, available for the original game at Original Source and for the Enhanced Edition at Infinity Mods.

Gallery:

mod portrait

Portraits from Portraits Portraits Everywhere

References

External links

• Jon Irenicus on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.