Halren

What — White-haired, robed "dungeon-lord" spellcaster; one of the four ancient immortal scholars of the Hollow House; boss of The Snatcher's Cave burial chamber. (Name garbled in recording: Halren/Halren/Halren/Halren/Halren — see NPCs/Halren.)

Threat — Deadly. A blaster who throws 5th–6th-level magic every turn, opens fights by removing a PC entirely, and shrugs off heavy damage while hiding behind wights (Session 42).

Observed abilities (all Session 42)

• Containment bubble — free action on round 1, sealed Lash out of the fight entirely (the nearest PC to the door).
• Chain Lightning — staff-launched arc bouncing among everyone; CON save; GM ruled it could not be Counterspelled because it came from the staff.
• Lesser Feeblemind (twin-cast 6th-level) — dropped Silithane and Pimothy to 7 INT; a "lesser" version (hampering, not the full instant mind-wipe).
• Slow (4th-level) — cast repeatedly at Fenric; reflected back onto him every time by Fenric's spellbreaking, leaving Halren himself slowed.
• Shield — reactive; raised AC after being hit, then later "shield with a higher spell level"; defeated by a 24-damage hit that beat it.
• Blink — vanished/reappeared ~30 ft repeatedly to break melee and reposition.
• Fireball — late-fight; DEX save; downed Pimothy and nearly killed Magra.
• Staff-sourced casting — most spells issued from a staff "blasting out 5th and 6th level magic on the regular," apparently Counterspell-immune.

Resistances / immunities / weaknesses

• No armor — attacks land easily on raw rolls (e.g. 15–16 hit), but he has a very large HP pool: repeated 21–24-damage hits each left him "looking fine"; only sustained focus fire dropped him.
• Weak to spellbreaking — Fenric's anti-magic both ripped Shield off him and bounced his own Slow back; his most dangerous casts fail against a spellbreaker.

Tactics & behavior — Plays a kiting controller: corners himself with 3 wights between any attacker and his body, neutralizes one PC turn one, then alternates control (Slow/Feeblemind) and blast (Chain Lightning/Fireball), blinking away whenever pressed. Showed real intelligence in positioning. Did not flee, surrender, or fear anyone — fought to the death.

Disposition to the party — Hostile. Awoke and attacked on sight when the party opened his sealed sarcophagus.

Status — Dead. Killed by Fenric's finishing blow, Session 42; a key was found hidden in his ribcage, his staff taken by Silithane.

SUMMARY: Deadly Hollow-House blaster-boss, killed Session 42; spellbreaking shuts him down.