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Aballister Bonaduce is the nemesis of his son Cadderly Bonaduce, the main character of R.A. Salvatore's The Cleric Quintet. Calculating, cold, and merciless, Aballister is determined to complete his conquest of the region. Guided by the goddess Talona, Mistress of Poison, Aballister creates The Chaos Curse and unleashes it upon The Edificant Library, home of Cadderly and his friends. Aballister's familiar is the imp Druzil, whom often holds the wizard in distaste. He is also the head of Castle Trinity, located north of the Edificant Library in the Snowflake Mountains.
Abdel Adrian
Abdel Adrian is the main protagonist in the Baldur's Gate series of novels. He is a male human Bhaalspawn and a mercenary warrior. He became tangled in the sinister plans of a number of other Bhaalspawn, as well as ofJon Irenicus, but emerged victorious.
Adon
Adon first appears in the 1989 novel Shadowdale by Scott Ciencin under the pseudonym of Richard Awlinson. He is the plain-looking only child of two beautiful, wealthy and devout followers of Sune. At 18, he became the youngest priest ever accepted into the clergy of Sune. After being assigned to the temple in Arabel, he met the adventurers Midnight, Kelemvor Lyonsbane, and Cyric, and joined them. The companions, set out on a quest to save the Lady of Mysteries, Mystra, who has been captured by the Lord of Strife Bane. Adon becomes wounded, leaving a long scar on the side of his face; disillusioned by the apparent lack of interest from Sune, he turns his back on her, refusing to worship so vain and uncaring a deity.[1]
In the novel Tantras, Adon met an avatar of the god Torm the True, with whom he works to trick the overly zealous clergy of Torm, who had brutally driven worshipers of all other faiths from the city and kept one of the two Tablets of Fate hidden from him. Torm and Bane defeat each other in a struggle over the city of Tantras, apparently killing both gods. Adon, Kelemvor and Midnight began their journey to take the one Tablet of Fate to the city of Waterdeep.[2]
At the end of the Avatar Crisis, in the novel Waterdeep, the Overgod Ao uplifts Midnight and Cyric to godhood, Midnight becoming the new Mystra. Adon finds his vision restored by the symbol of the new Mystra, his former friend and companion, and he takes up her worship, starting the reborn faith of Mystra.[3]
Adon first appeared in a Dungeons & Dragons game supplement in 1989's Hall of Heroes.[4]
In the 1993 novel Prince of Lies, Adon is tricked by the new god Cyric, mad due to the effects of reading the Cyrinishad, and gazes into Cyric's mind. This causes Adon to see everything as Cyric does, driving Adon mad himself, seeing Mystra as a vicious beast. Adon eventually commits suicide in the chaos of Cyric and Mystra's call to worship them.[5]
Adon appears again in the 1998 novel Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad. Cyric is placed on trial by the other greater gods, and Adon had Kelemvor open his own soul to him, making him see everything as the god of death sees it. Adon finally saw Mystra as she truly is, and was received to her realm of Dweomerheart.[6]
Akabar Bel Akash
Akabar Bel Akash first appeared in the novel Azure Bonds, written by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak. Akabar is a native from the southern lands of Turmish—a region of the Forgotten Realms roughly comparable in style and culture to the medieval Middle East.[citation needed] Initially, Akabar is conducting his affairs as a merchant but he also has training as a mage and inwardly yearns to prove himself as an adventurer. He is a sometimes companion to Alias of Westgate.
Appearance
Akabar is a tall man with dusky skin and brown hair. He wears a mustache and a beard cut straight across the bottom. He has blue eyes, three dots tattooed on his forehead (marking him as a scholar of religion, reading, and magic), and a sapphire earring denoting that he is married.
Biography
Akabar describes himself as a mage "of no small water," though Alias refers to him constantly as a "greengrocer," or a dabbler in the art. His work shown in the first book would tend to bear out Alias' disparagement, though he is clearly far more advanced during the third book. He does not have a part in the events of the second book.
Akabar joined Alias almost from the first, being the one who reassured the ownership and clientele of the inn that Alias found herself in at the beginning of Azure Bonds that the unconscious woman was not a witch. His attempt to work a magic spell to confirm the origin of the blue tattoos resulted in a violent explosion of blue light. From much that point further, Akabar's destiny was ruled by that tattoo.
He worked alongside Alias's other companions to free her from those who masterminded her creation, and returned to his lands thereafter. Akabar's life was far from finished with regard to Alias, however. During the time between the end of Azure Bonds and the beginning of Song of the Saurials, Akabar met and married a third wife, Zhara, a priestess of Tymora. It is revealed shortly after her first appearance that she, too, is a clone of Alias.
Akabar is eventually taken by the dark god Moander, though he managed to retain his own will. In the end, his body overtaken by Moander's vines of possession, Akabar called to the gods he'd served through his life to take him into their hands, to teach Finder how an unselfish man dies.
Appearances
The novels Azure Bonds, and Song of the Saurials, by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb, TSR.
Alaundo was the founder of Candlekeep, a long-dead prophet also known as the "sage of Candlekeep".[7] His prophecy played a prominent role in the Baldur's Gate series of video games.
Alias is a female warrior, who first appears in the novel Azure Bonds.
Fearing the loss of his artistic works, Finder Wyvernspur attempted to create a human vessel to contain and perform them as he intended, but he failed in his first attempts. Afterward, Cassana and Zrie Praxis unite with the Cult of Moander, the Fire Knives, and Phalse to create their own clone in Cassana's image, Alias. Unfortunately for them, she has a will of her own, and with the help of her "father" she breaks free to become completely self-aware. She plays a part in destroying her creators and eventually is recognized as a "real person".
Alicia Kendrick
Alicia Kendrick, born in 1345 DR, is the present High Queen of the Moonshae Isles, but this title could be disputed from 1375 with the leShay High Lady Ordalf, self-proclaimed queen of the Gwynneth isle.
History
Born in 1345, Princess Alicia was the eldest daughter of High King Tristran Kendrick and the druid Robyn. Groomed during her early years by the kingdom's arch-mage Keane, Alicia became an adventurer in 1365, during the events of the Druidhome Saga.
The Druidhome Saga
When her father had left on a trading voyage and her mother had fallen ill soon thereafter, it fell to Alicia to journey to Fairheight to investigate reports of a new Moonwell, the first one that had been known to appear in years. Together with her friends, Alicia managed to defeat the schemes of the current Earl of Fairheight and minions of Talos the Destroyer.
Malar the Beastlord had also loosed Ityak-Ortheel against the elves of Synnoria. Alicia and the elves went to battle the beast. Some of the elves fled through a gate to the elven realm of Evermeet, but more were trapped behind when the Elf-Eater destroyed the gate.
Alicia then made the journey to Evermeet and met with the elves there. With their help she was able to then rescue her father from the sahuagin.
Finally, an uprising of giants threatened the Isles as the forces of the evil Realmsian gods tried one more gambit to bring the Moonshaes under their sway. Throughout these events Alicia's sister, Deirdre, had become the pawn of these new gods, and it fell to Alicia to take the life of her only sister in order to save the Moonshaes for its people and the returned Earthmother.
After this latest threat to the Moonshaes was quelled, Alicia's mother announced her intent to retire and live the life of a serene and solitary druid. Robyn was joined by King Tristan, who bequeathed the leadership of the Isles to his daughter, who took Keane as her consort.
Aliisza
Aliisza is an Alu-Fiend of no small power from the War of the Spider Queen series of novels. She takes a romantic interest in Phaurun and constantly visits him. After his death she finds his pinkie finger and takes it with her. It's later revealed that she is pregnant with Phaurun's child.
Aoth Fezim
Aoth Fezim is a war mage and captain of the Griffon Legion of Thay. He is infected by spellplague, and he now lives a very long life and sees a little of the future and danger before it happens.
Aoth is of Mulan descent although he doesn't look like it with his blunt features and short, stocky frame. His body and hands show the intricate tattooing of a wizard. He wears badges revealing him as a rider of the elite Griffon Legion.
His weapons of choice are his falchion, which he carries strapped across his back, and his long spear that serves as warrior's lance and wizard's staff.
Aoth can summon a flare of silvery light from the head of his spear or a wall of violet flame. He has spells to sober himself on will. Aoth can enhance his nightvision through a spell and cast emerald darts from his fingertips. He can conjure darts of blue light from his fingertips that veer to compensate a victim's dodging movements and seldom miss their intended target. Aoth can also conjure a crackling, forking flare of lightning.
Aoth shares a special bond with his familiar, the griffon Brightwing and then Brightwing's grandson Jet. Through their psychic link he can use Brightwing's enhanced senses like his own. Because the purity of his bloodline was suspect, none of the orders of the Red Wizards of Thay had ever thought to recruit him.
Appears in The Haunted Lands Trilogy.
Araevin Teshurr
Araevin Teshurr is a sun elf of the ancient House of Floshin (the House of Long Silences). In his younger days in Faerûn (before he joined the wizards at Tower Reilloch) he formed the Company of the White Star with Grayth Holmfast (a human priest of Lathander), Baron Darthen Ironwright, Theleda Rost (now deceased), and the dwarf cleric of Moradin named Belmora (now deceased). Araevin also had a hawk familiar named Whyllwyst, whose cause of demise is not explained.
Araevin returned from Faerûn to join the wizards at Tower Reilloch, where he broadened his already vast knowledge of the arcane arts. During this time he became engaged to Ilsevele Miritar, daughter of Seiveril Miritar (a sun elf lord of Elion and a high priest of Corellon Larethian), but they decided to wait twenty years before getting married.
Around the time when the Dlaedrageths awoke from their ancient slumber, Araevin was two hundred and sixty-six years old. To find the Telkiira that led to the Nightstar, he returned to Faerûn with Ilsevele and attempted to reform the Company of the White Star. They were joined by Grayth, his apprentice Brant, and Maresa Rost (daughter of Theleda).
Arilyn Moonblade is a half-elven "assassin" (although not of any assassin class, and certainly not evil) introduced in the Songs and Swords series of novels by Elaine Cunningham. She has a very youthful appearance despite her age, and pointed ears, because of her elvish lineage, and a slender body and beautiful face, and intense blue eyes with flecks of gold. She was raised in Evereska, but due to her half-human nature she was never fully accepted by the elves. After her mother, princess Amnestria of Evermeet, daughter of queen Amlaruil, was killed, she takes up her mother's moonblade and studies swordsmanship at the academy in the city. Adopting the surname Moonblade because of her sword (she was unaware of her royal family and true surname) she becomes an assassin for the Harpers (a challenger-to-combat, calling targets out and defeating them in honorable, open combat, not stalking and killing them from concealment.) She eventually leaves the group after deeming a mission to rescue a noblewoman to not be worth pursuing. She later marries Danilo Thann and connects with her family on Evermeet. Arilyn's father is Bran Skorlsun, an influential Harper ranger with a personal grudge against Khelben Arunsun (who even eventually succeeded in driving Khelben from the Harper ranks.)
Arilyn's moonblade is a powerful magical hereditary elven sword, used to determine the ruling family of Evermeet, which kills any unsuitable wielders and binds its wielders to it in service of the elven people, even after death (though for a time she lifted the killing restriction for Danilo, binding him to it, as well. She eventually released him from this, as she did not wish to curse him with being bound to the sword even after death, as she will be.) The moonstone in the hilt enables each successive wielder, signified by magical sigils, to grant a power to the sword over a period of time. It can produce abnormally fast swings, warn of danger by glowing or through dreams, disguise the wielder, open the elfgate (a magical portal to the gardens in the palace of Evermeet) and call forth a shadow version of herself wielding the sword. Arilyn's mark grants the blade the ability to warn her of when the wild elves of the Wealdath have need of a hero's sword.
Arklem Greeth
Arklem Greeth is a lich that appears in the book The Pirate King. Arklem is a former Archmage Arcane of the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan. He was single-handedly defeated, though not without trouble, by the wizard Robillard in the hull of a sinking Sea Sprite.
Artemis Entreri
Artemis Entreri is depicted as a ruthless assassin and the arch-enemy of Drizzt Do'Urden, the protagonistic dark elf. He is the creation of author R. A. Salvatore, first appearing at the end of the 1988 novel The Crystal Shard, the first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy. He makes regular reappearances in subsequent novels by Salvatore, reprising his role of main antagonist to the hero Drizzt Do'Urden.
Entreri's character has been well-developed in the series of books by Salvatore as well as in official material for the Forgotten Realms setting itself. Portrayed as a cunning and tactical assassin, Entreri lives an empty life, devoid of any kind of pleasure or companionship, existing only to kill. Credited with being one of the best assassins in Faerûn, he is a highly composed and calculating man, with fighting skills rivaling those of his dark-elven enemy, Drizzt Do'Urden.
Artemis remains one of the most popular D&D characters. He was voted fifth in the "Underdark All-Stars Poll" on Wizards of the Coast's website,[9] and was also rated as one of Dungeons & Dragons' top twenty most infamous and most powerful villains.[10]
Arumn Gardpeck
Arumn Gardpeck was first seen in Streams of Silver and later became more known in "The Spine of the World". He is a barkeeper that owns the Cutlass in the city of Luskan. As the barkeep in the Cutlass he served as a mentor and employer to Wulfgar. He also mentored a young woman, Delly Curtie, and employed her as a waitress.
Athrogate
Athrogate is a dwarven warrior of some repute in the Bloodstone Lands. Athrogate wears a broad belt depicted with metal lightning bolts which is rumored to be a belt of storm giant strength.
He has the stout and powerful build of a typical dwarf. He wears his black beard parted in the middle, two long braids of straight hair running down to mid-chest, each tied off at the end with a band set with a trio of sparkling blue gemstones. His bushy eyebrows nearly cover his brown, almost black eyes. He has large ears. Athrogate is well beyond 300 years old.
He wears a suit of armor, part leather, part plated, and covered with a myriad of buckles and straps, his twin morningstars tied in an "X" at his back, their handles reaching up and wide beyond the back of his bushy hair.
He speaks the goblin tongue though heavily accented.
He fights with twin gray Glassteel morningstars, their spiked metal heads whipping at the ends of adamantine chains. He calls these weapons Cracker and Whacker: on command the left-hand one of them, Cracker, emits a dark reddish and chalky fluid from the small nubs on the striking ball, the ichor of a rust monster, which on contact with other metal corrodes it. The right-hand morningstar, Whacker, coats itself with a clear, blue-gray and oily liquid known as oil of impact. Using thus enhanced weapons with first left then right strikes, Athrogate smashes anything from a portcullis to iron golems into rustflakes. He has faced Drizzt Do'Urden and Artemis Entreri, both highly capable warriors, in single combat once.
A family born to the drow race (a component of R. A. Salvatore's series Forgotten Realms, including several subseries) the Baenre family is the family which has reigned in the fictional Underdark city of Menzoberranzan for over 2000 years. House Baenre is a family of powerful schemers and manipulators that holds more power than any other house in Menzoberranzan.
Salvatore has made the Baenre family the bastion of power for his creation, Menzoberranzan, keeping it so for over 2,500 years. Fiercely devoted to the drow goddess Lolth, as all houses in the Menzoberranzan society are, House Baenre is led by Matron Mother Triel Baenre, a shrewd priestess of Lolth who succeeded her slain mother Yvonnel.
Menzoberranzan is a city ruled by backstabbing and ambition, and House Baenre thrived in it, holding the greatest favor of Lolth longer than any other family in Menzoberranzan history. As such, the family was successful at keeping hold of the prestige deceased Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre succeeded in acquiring and continually supporting throughout her over 2,000-year reign.
Andzrel, a cousin of Triel and the current weapons master of House Baenre, may be a mere shadow of Dantrag or Berg'inyon with his blade, but he knows his way around a melee.
Bladen'Kerst, daughter of Yvonnel Baenre and second eldest to Triel. Sadistic, unpredictable and uncontrollable, she was slain by Gandalug Battlehammer during the invasion of Mithril Hall.
Doquaio Secondboy of Yvonnel Baenre. Killed at the sacrificial birth ceremony of third son Jarlaxle. Yvonnel tried to sacrifice Jarlaxle to Lady Lolth but failed due to the telekinetic interference of House Oblodra. Doquaio died when he picked up Jarlaxle and all the stabbings of Yvonnel flowed into him through the kinetic barrier.
Grendan, a 10th year student of Sorcere during the War of the Spider Queen, known for being good with illusions. He is involved with Noori.
Jeggred, a draegloth, stands by his mother Triel's side as bodyguard, and in the face of Lolth's Silence, has joined his aunt Quenthel in her search. He kills Ryld Argith (as ordered by Danifae) and is eventually sacrificed by Quenthel to the reincarnated Lolth.
Julani, a Master of Evocation, stationed at Sorcere during the War of the Spider Queen. He was killed during the events of the novel Extinction, when several Baenre mages tried to cast spells on an enemy, only to have them reflected back upon themselves.
Merith, a psychotic ex-commoner, was adopted for her clerical talent. Arguably as sadistic as the late Bladen'kerst, she knows nothing of intrigue and protocol.
Nauzhror, Triel's first cousin once removed. He is pudgy and a Master of Sorcere who sports a large beard, grown with a hair growth cantrip. He was Archmage during Gromph's brief absence.
Noori, a female 10th year student of Sorcere during the War of the Spider Queen. Noted by Gromph to have abandoned priesthood, despite being high-born, in order to study divination magic. Grendan is her lover.
Prath, a student of Sorcere and a nephew and apprentice of Gromph.
Sos'Umptu, the quiet and unambitious sister of Triel and Quenthel, tends the Baenre chapel.
Tiago, the impulsive, hot-headed, domineering grandson of Dantrag Baenre, he wields a magical sword and shield forged my master blacksmith Gol'fannin in the primordial fires of Gauntlgrym, re-christened "Q'Xorlarrin", and lives for the day when he meets Drizzt face-to-face in mortal combat.
Vendes, the now-deceased daughter of Yvonnel Baenre. Vendes was the House's master torturer, and earned the nickname "duk'tak" (unholy executioner). After she finished with her victims they were turned to stone and displayed around the house. Drizzt Do'urden killed her while escaping from House Baenre's captivity.
Vrellin, One of Triel's nephews. Unusual for the fact that he wears no armor in battle, only a hand crossbow strapped to his left wrist, loaded with magical, exploding bolts.
Zal'therra is a priestess and Triel's cousin. She also commands the Army of the Black Spider.
Zoran, a 2nd year Sorcere student during the War of the Spider Queen. Noted by Gromph as being unreliable and prone to making mistakes.
Bareris Anskuld
Bareris Anskuld is a human bard, later undead. As a bard he worshippes Oghma and Milil. He appears in The Haunted Lands trilogy.
Though Bareris is truly Thayan, he stopped shaving the wheat blonde hair from his head. He can move with a duelist's catlike grace.
Bareris weapon of choice is the sword swinging at his hip in a worn leather scabbard and, in a way, the silver-stringed yarting slung across his back. He also carries a small dagger.
Bareris later gives his yarting to a band of gnolls as fee for their help in his pursuit of Tammith' captors.
By singing a quick phrase and sketching an arcane figure in the air with a free hand, he can call forth a plume of noxious vapor to cloud an opponent. He can also sing a floating orb of light into being to light his way.
In the events of the Icewind Dale story, Belhifet seeks to conquer the home plane from which he was banished. To do this, he assembles an army, in order to conquer Easthaven and re-open a nearby portal to the Abyss. He is confronted by the player, but manages to flee and, in the process, capture Easthaven in preparation for opening the portal. The player then penetrates the crystal tower surrounding the temple and defeat Belhifet before the gate is opened. According to the story, Belhifet is banished to the Abyss, not killed. He would not be able to walk Faerun again for a hundred years afterwards.
In the story of Icewind Dale II, the legacy of Belhifet continues. During his time on Faerun, Belhifet managed to impregnate the elf Ilmadia, who gave birth to daemonfey twins, Isair and Madae.
Belwar Dissengulp
Belwar Dissengulp, a close friend of dark elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden, appears in four novels set in the Forgotten Realmscampaign setting based on the Dungeons & Dragonsfantasyrole-playing game. His first appearance is in Homeland, the first book of the Dark Elf Trilogy, and he reappears in Exile, the second book in the trilogy, as well as Starless Night and Siege of Darkness, both part of the Legacy of the Drow quartet. He belongs to a race called svirfneblin (deep gnome) and lived in the Underdark city Blingdenstone until its destruction by the drow and their demonic allies as revenge for their alliance with Drizzt to defend Mithral Hall.
According to the campaign settings book "Silver Marches" after Blingdenstone's destruction, he led some survivors to Mithral Hall.
Berg'inyon Baenre
Berg'inyon, the youngest son to Yvonnel, is a fighter of great prowess, outmatched only by Drizzt Do'Urden, Artemis Entreri, and his elder brother Dantrag Baenre. He is described as a typical drow with high ambitions and no sense of morality. Berg'inyon, along with Kelnozz of Kenafin, is introduced as a classmate of Drizzt in Melee Magthere, where he is constantly ranked below Drizzt, much to his dismay and to his mother's anger. After graduating Melee Magthere, he commands House Baenre's lizard riders, and after the death of Dantrag, becomes weapons master as well. After the drow retreat from their assault on Mithral Hall, due to the instability that would likely plague House Baenre after the disastrous failed conquest of Mithral Hall (and the likelihood that Triel would soon give birth to a son she would groom to replace Berg'inyon as the weapons master, which among the drow would likely mean Berg'inyon's death), Berg'inyon chooses to accept Jarlaxle's offer to join Bregan D'aerthe as a lieutenant of the renegade drow band. When Crenshinibon begins to cloud Jarlaxle's judgment, he joins Rai-guy Bondalek, and Kimmuriel Oblodra in their attempt to usurp control of Bregan D'aerthe, but in the ensuing conflict Berg'inyon faces off against Artemis Entreri in single combat due to Berg'inyon's desire to fight the one considered Drizzt's equal; however, Entreri proves to be more skilled than Berg'inyon and slays him.
Briza Do'Urden
Briza Do'Urden was the oldest of three daughters of Matron Malice Do'Urden. A powerful priestess of Lolth, she was angry and brutal, and she always punished infractions quickly. She killed her mother, Malice Do'Urden when she learned that her mother Malice had not successfully completed Zin-Carla, the highest gift of Lolth (Drizzt refers to it as Lolth's greatest lie). She had little time to savor her power, for house Do'Urden was attacked immediately after by house Baenre. She was the last Matron Mother of House Do'Urden, even if only for a few moments, in the comics Jarlaxle killed her himself, stating that he never liked her to begin with. In the books her killer is unknown.
Bruenor is the adoptive father of a human female named Catti-brie and of the Barbarian Wulfgar. He is the King of Mithral Hall, and lifelong friend to drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden[13] and Regis, a halfling thief. He crafted Aegis-fang and presented the gift to Wulfgar. It was said to be the best weapon Bruenor had ever made. As a youngster he was forced to flee his ancestral home at Mithral Hall when the kingdom was attacked by a great shadow dragon named Shimmergloom and an army of duergar, or gray dwarves. His exiled family and kin then took up residence in Icewind Dale close to Ten Towns living by selling weapons and armor to the local merchants.
The character of Bruenor Battlehammer was listed as number 11 in UGO Entertainment's list of "The Best Dwarves Ever".[14]
Appearance
Bruenor is a Mountain Dwarf. His hair and beard are described as red,[15] which later began turning a light gray.[16] His eyes are gray.[17]
The Dark Elf Trilogy
A blustery and fiery dwarf who is "gruff even for a dwarf",[citation needed] Bruenor Battlehammer first meets Drizzt in the novel Sojourn. Despite his daughter's affection for Drizzt, Bruenor does not trust him. After Drizzt saves him from a remorhaz and Bruenor chases away a bounty hunter looking for Drizzt, the pair become close friends.
The Icewind Dale Trilogy
After the battle with Akar Kessel and the Crystal Shard, Bruenor tricks Drizzt by pretending to be dying to get his help in finding Mithral Hall.
The Companions of the Hall think Bruenor is dead when they see him ride the shadow dragon Shimmergloom into Garumns Gorge, with both on fire. While Shimmergloom dies, Bruenor survives thanks to Icingdeath, a magical scimitar with cryogenic properties that Drizzt previously lost in a battle with Artemis Entreri, and which Bruenor later found.
Over the next few weeks, Bruenor works his way up from the lowest levels of Mithral Hall, disguising himself from the duergar that now reside there and killing any that discover his subterfuge or whom he catches alone. Bruenor eventually escapes, although he is poisoned from a spider bite in the process, which renders him unconscious.
He awakens in the care of Lady Alustriel, ruler of Silverymoon. The lady divined Bruenor's predicament and moved in to help. With her aid—and that of the Harpells of Longsaddle—Bruenor, in a flaming chariot and accompanied by Catti-brie, pursues Drizzt and Wulfgar, who are themselves pursuing Entreri, arriving in time to aid their ship in a battle with pirates.
The reunited Companions travel to Calimport, where they catch Entreri, rescue Regis, and cause the downfall of the dominant thieves' guild in the city. They return to their home in the North, and spend the winter gathering up forces to take back Mithral Hall. During their efforts to regain this lost dwarven stronghold, Bruenor slays the shadow dragon Shimmergloom.[18] Bruenor and his armies drive out the duergar, and Bruenor becomes King of Mithral Hall.
Legacy of the Drow
A small party of drow led by Drizzt's sister, Vierna, sought him out, causing the apparent death of Wulfgar, and Bruenor loses an eye in a battle with them.
The death of his adopted son Wulfgar sends Bruenor into a depression. Drizzt goes to Menzoberranzan to settle accounts with his people. Catti-brie sees Bruenor as being too grief-stricken to be useful in her pursuit of Drizzt. Upon the pair's return, their news of a planned drow war on Mithral Hall forces Bruenor out of his depression.
With aid from neighboring kingdoms and people, Mithral Hall survives the assault. Bruenor and company seek out the leaders of the drow—the Matron Mothers. Bruenor kills Matron Baenre in battle, ending her centuries-long rule of the drow city. Afterward, they find Gandalug—founder of Mithral Hall and Bruenor's ancestor—who had been Matron Baenre's magically-held prisoner for almost two millennia. The discovery allows Bruenor to abdicate the throne to his ancestor and pursue his own ambitions in Icewind Dale and its mines.
Paths of Darkness
During Drizzt's and Catti-brie's six-year absence from his side, Bruenor becomes closer friends with Regis and has a cleric restore his lost eye. When the balor Errtu gains the Crystal Shard, Bruenor helps defeat the tanar'ri. Drizzt and Bruenor are initially over-matched until Wulfgar, thought dead, reappears and joins the battle, helping them to win.
Bruenor is also one of the main characters in the Drizzt-centric Paths of Darkness novels, where he is often the supporting father figure to a struggling Wulfgar after his torment in the Abyss.
The Hunter's Blades Trilogy
In The Hunter's Blades trilogy, Bruenor returns to reclaim the throne of Mithral Hall after the death of Gandalug Battlehammer. In The Thousand Orcs, Bruenor suffers a near-fatal blow and for most of The Lone Drow is kept alive only by a constantly labouring team of Dwarven priests. Bruenor is brought out of his near-comatose state by the halfling Regis, who persuades Bruenor to aid his fighting kin. In The Two Swords, Bruenor finally reclaims his rightful throne and leads the dwarfs against King Obould and his army of orcs and frost giants.
The Transitions Series
In The Orc King, Bruenor sets out to find the ancient Dwarven homeland of Gauntylgrym, believing it will contain the secret to defeating Obould's horde. The Orcs, led by the half-ogre/orc Grguch and his clan, assault the dwarves and Moonwood elves. Bruenor's group uncovers what is believed to be Gauntlgrym, but is revealed to be a city founded by dwarves on the surface, and co-inhabited by orcs. Bruenor, however, believes the orcs double crossed his ancestors and destroyed the town. He attempts to kill Obould, believing him responsible for the latest attacks. Drizzt convinces Bruenor that the only peaceful solution is to slay Grguch and make peace with Obould. Bruenor then saves Obould and helps him kill Grguch. A treaty is created between Mithral Hall and the Kingdom of Many Arrows.
While living in Mithral Hall, Bruenor fakes his own death in order to leave, journeying with Drizzt and Thibbledorf Pwent, and later Jarlaxle and Athrogate, to again seek Gauntlgrym. Bruenor falls after a battle with a pit fiend in Gauntlgyrm, dying after sealing in the Great Primordial, the powersource of the Great Forges of Gauntlgrym, thus preventing catastrophe across the Sword Coast. He wakes up later in a special heaven created by the goddess Meilikki, and rejoins Cattie-brie, Regis and Wulfgar for eternity.
In an August 2011 interview, author R. A. Salvatore confirmed that Bruenor had indeed died, saying of Bruenor and Pwent, "They didn't 'seem to' meet their demise; they met it."[19]
In the 4th edition version of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Bruenor Battlehammer is said to have died sometime before 1479 DR.[12][20]
The Companions
In The Companions, the first book of the series The Sundering, it is revealed that Bruenor, along with Regis, Wulfgar, and Catti-Brie, were gathered together in Mielikki's personal heaven to be given a choice to aid Drizzt against Lolth at a future date by being reborn into new bodies. Bruenor, Catti-brie, and Regis choose to temporarily forgo the choice to seek the afterlife in order to save Drizzt, while Wulfgar chooses instead to seek the afterlife and his family after the Companions of the Hall. He is reborn among a dwarven family in Citadel Felbarr with his full knowledge intact, and subsequently lives with them before setting out for Mithral Hall, and finally makes his way to the appointed rendezvous with Drizzt, an event that takes place immediately coinciding with the ending of the previous Drizzt novel, The Last Threshold.
Other media
Bruenor also appears to the protagonist in Baldur's Gate II along with Catti-Brie and Drizzt. He later helps the character with a very difficult fight against vampires in the crypts in Athkatla.
C
Cadderly Bonaduce
Cadderly Bonaduce is the title protagonist of The Cleric Quintet series by R.A. Salvatore and a minor character in the Drizzt Saga. He is a priest and a Chosen of Deneir, God of Literature and All Images.
Creation
The character was created specially for Cleric Quintet, after six Drizzt books were completed – as Salvatore wrote in his introduction, "We were done with Drizzt. Or at least, we thought we were". The new protagonist was originally planned to be a monk, but it was rejected due to changes in Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, where the class of monks was absent. Mary Kirchoff proposed that the protagonist should be a cleric. Salvatore invented a concept of spiritual journey for his character, who initially treats his religion as just a lifestyle, but gradually becomes more tied to his god, Deneir.[21]
Appearance
Standing 6 feet tall and weighing a bit less than 200 pounds, Cadderly is a man in his early-20s with striking gray eyes and curly brown hair. He is handsome and has a sincere, warm smile on his boyish face. If he is angered, his glare can be unrelenting. Near the end of the series, a new cathedral called 'The Spirit Soaring' was being constructed. Cadderly channeled the power of his god to help the construction. This caused him to age rapidly. By the time the church was completed, his body was as that of a 100-year-old man. But as a reward from Deneir, over the course of several years, Cadderly had gradually returned to his normal age. Years later he was said to look younger than his 22-year-old son.
Personality
As he was growing up at the Edificant Library in the Snowflake Mountains, Cadderly was a likable young man who was intensely curious about life, living, and things unusual. He was not particularly interested in learning spells or combat techniques; however he is quite good at wrestling. Now Cadderly is a changed person. He is so serious about being the Chosen of Deneir that he has made it his foremost commitment, greater even than that to his beloved Danica. He is still warm and gentle, and horrified by death and destruction, although his experiences have tempered this trait. For example, while he had nightmares about killing the priest who unleashed the chaos curse, he does not give the death of his father or the destruction of the vampire Kierkan Rufo a second thought. Cadderly believes in justice tempered with mercy, as evidenced by when the wizardess Dorigen was helpless before him. She had caused great destruction and his friends urged him to kill her, but the young priest could not. He broke her fingers with his walking stick instead, so that she could not cast spells. His act of compassion would prove to be for the better, as Dorigen later became a powerful ally and friend. Only the threat of the most potent evil can distract Cadderly from his task of completing the Spirit Soaring. He works hard at it and does not say much. Those who are evil or who have evil intentions, however, will be noticed. One of Cadderly's abilities is to see images on the shoulders of people; these images replicate the thoughts and desires of their owner. Hence an assassin will be seen as having devilish, snapping beings with dripping, wicked black claws. A man who is thinking about his beloved wife will be seen as having an image of a happy lady cuddling their child.
Combat/Tactics
Cadderly never intended to become embroiled in combat as a priest of Deneir. His spindle-disks, essentially primitive Yo-Yo's used as weapons, which he crafted after reading about in an old book, were originally intended for amusement. Similarly, his crossbow armed with Oil of Impact darts was meant to be used for blasting obstacles rather than for combat. The course of his adventures, however, made fighting a necessity.
When he fought, he preferred to let allies who had a better grasp of strategy and tactics do their thing. This is not to say that he was a coward. He could use his spindle-disks to disarm or incapacitate opponents, and against undead he did not hesitate to use his explosive darts. When he killed the evil priest Barjin with a dart, it was an accident, and one that preyed on Cadderly's mind for a long time. As he got more experienced, Cadderly was forced more often to resort to melee weapons, such as his magical ram-headed walking stick.
Eventually his connection with Deneir became so powerful that spells became his most potent weapon. As the Chosen of the Father of All Literature and Image, Cadderly does not need to acquire magic in conventional ways such as praying in advance. Through the Song of Universal Harmony, he can access any spell he so chooses at the casting time. He has faced foes such as drow, vampires, greater demons, ancient dragons (on two occasions), even evil artifacts such as Crenshinibon and Ghearufu, yet each time emerged victorious.
Magical Items
Cadderly's ram-headed walking stick was a multipurpose magical weapon. The head was made of silver and it served well in melee combat as a bo stick, or he can remove the ram-head end and use the hollow stick as a blowgun. It has been magically enchanted by a wizard friend of his; a blow with it can have bone-shattering results. The walking stick was destroyed, but could easily have been replaced. His bandolier holds a maximum of 50 unusual crossbow bolts: darts with a small vial of explosive Oil of Impact inside each one, constructed so that the vial is crushed and the oil explodes when the dart hits a target. Cadderly also has a tube with a continual light spell cast on a glass disk inside of it. An adjustable closure on one end of the tube allows him to focus the light into a narrow beam or expand it to brighten a large area (an invention of Cadderly's, a magic-based flashlight).
History
Cadderly was the son of Aballister Bonaduce and an unknown mother. Aballister was a highly talented wizard, but also obsessed, and held an unhealthy interest in dark magic. He drove his power to its limits, and his limits of control. One day, he finally went too far; he conjured a Mordenkainen's Sword that killed his wife and was driven from the then Edificant Library. Cadderly remembers his mother's face, but almost nothing else, including her name. The Headmaster, Avery, took Cadderly under his wing, being like a foster father to him. The Headmistress of the Deneir order, Pertelope, being like a foster mother to him. Thus Cadderly lived a carefree life at Edificant Library for his childhood.
Now almost twenty years later came the Time of Troubles (1358 DR), and Cadderly's father Aballister encountered the avatar of the Goddess Talona, who gave to him the name of an imp of the abyss, Druzil, and told Aballister that he had information that would grant him great power. She was referring to the potion called the chaos curse (the Ultimate Poison), a recipe Druzil had found in an ancient tome while in the abyss. It became his obsession to create the potion to please Talona and grant him the ability to conquer the region. Aballister spent two years gathering ingredients for the potion, sacrificing many lives in his quest[citation needed]. When completed, after testing it on a member of the fighters sect of castle trinity (who then became enraged and challenged the leader of the sect in an unbelievable rage, and continued fighting even after his brain had been skewered with a dirk through the top of his skull; he ultimately lost the fight) he named it Tuanta Quiro Miancay, translated meaning the Most Fatal Horror, the title of the highest priest of Talona, mostly as an insult to Barjin, his primary rival in the priest sect of castle trinity, ranking the potion above the priest himself in Talona's eyes.
When the potion was concocted, the chief priest of the evil Castle Trinity, Barjin, demanded the right to strike with the potion. After placing a clerical spell upon the bottle that made it impossible for someone who is not innocent to open it, he brought it to The Edificant Library and tricked Cadderly into opening it. He placed it in the cellars of the Edificant Library, where its vapors spread throughout the library, causing those inside to act without inhibition coupled with a Suggestion (magical charm) for each person to act on his or her most secret desire, except the one who released the potion, namely Cadderly himself.
Barjin made his way to the catacombs of the Edificant Library and loosed the potion. This caused an invisible mist to seep upward, affecting all of the library's residents and visitors, causing them to indulge in their most audacious fantasies. It took the combined efforts of Cadderly, Danica, the Bouldershoulder brothers, and a heroic druid named Newander to destroy Barjin and a host of undead that he had summoned to guard the cursed bottle. The bottle was neutralized by immersing it in holy water and warding it against further intrusion. In the final battle against Barjin, Cadderly accidentally killed the evil priest with a crossbow bolt anointed with Oil of Impact from his hand crossbow (which was a re-invention of his from the design of a drow hand crossbow). Due to Cadderly's innocent nature, the accidental murder brought him much guilt and inner turmoil which took him a great deal of time to resolve.
Following the defeat of Barjin, Aballister's position in Castle Trinity was unchallenged. Aballister at first had mixed feelings about Barjin attacking the library, presumably at least in part because of his son's residence there, but as Cadderly grew in power and as a direct opponent to his own plans, Aballister became increasingly enraged with him as he became more and more of a threat.
Cadderly was filled with remorse and revulsion after killing Barjin and for a time showed an aversion to any killing whatsoever, even of enemies. As he and his companions routed a major offensive by the armies of Castle Trinity in the elven wood of Shilmista he grappled with the moral questions that plagued him, choosing not to kill the powerful sorceress Dorigen, who had accompanied the evil host's assault, when he had the chance. Instead he merely stripped her of her magical items and broke her fingers to prevent her from performing the gestures that accompany most spellcasting.
Never one who was overly concerned with the rituals or magical spellcasting of his order, Cadderly became ever more confused as new powers began to assert themselves to him in the battle for the elven home. After the battle was over, Cadderly left the forest to explore some of the questions assaulting him, and began to find his answers in the Tome of Universal Harmony, the holy book of his order, that of the god Deneir. While Cadderly's lax attitude toward the rituals of his order earned him much disapproval within the library's structured hierarchy, Deneir apparently approved of Cadderly's ever-questioning, ever-learning, ever-inventing nature, and had made him one of his Chosen. By continually reading from the tome, Cadderly began to tap into the raw power of Deneir, which came in the form of a constantly flowing melody in his mind, which he was able to access, first by singing along with it, and eventually by running it through his mind.
Later on after Cadderly, Danica, Ivan and Pikel saved the elf kingdom Shilmista, they go their own ways, Danica, Ivan and Pikel to the Edificant Library, and Cadderly to Carradoon where the Night Masks( Book: Night Masks ) attempt to assassinate him.
Becoming increasingly concerned with the threat Cadderly posed to his plans, Aballister hired a savage and efficient band of assassins to kill him, to Dorigen's horror. As he and his friends dealt with the assassins, known as the Night Masks, after his life, Cadderly grew more and more in tune with the song of his god, and similarly grew in power, eventually killing nearly all of the assassin band, including an assassin named Ghost who would possess his victims using a powerful and evil magical device known as the Ghearufu. In so doing they freed from Ghost's possession a Firbolg named Vander who joined with them to exact vengeance and lead them to Castle Trinity.
Making a stop back at the Edificant Library before proceeding in his quest to take on Aballister and Castle Trinity, Cadderly met with his mentor, who encouraged him that his path was the correct one. This, combined with his increasing faith in Deneir, as well as his own powers, led him to the drastic action of magically dominating the mind of the library's dean to prevent him from interfering with Cadderly's course. He decides also to take with him the Ghearufu, knowing that it must be destroyed rather than to risk the library's scholars from studying the evil artifact and being unable to resist its temptations.
Several events take place where Rufo betrays his companions on three separate occasions, the third that costs the life of Avery Schell (Cadderly's mentor, and essentially his surrogate father). After Cadderly learns of the betrayal costing the life of Avery, he curses Rufo with a mark of Deneir: a symbol of a broken candle above a closed eye, a variation of the holy symbol of Deneir. This brand caused a terrible smell. Rufo is informed that any attempt to cover the mark will cause it to burn through his skull until he is dead.
Cadderly then follows the events and kills Aballister. Druzil, after feeling the pain of Aballister's death, stumbles upon Rufo and convinces him to return to the Edificant Library, telling him the chaos curse will give him power. Druzil unthinkingly called the mix a 'potion' and Rufo imbibed the potion and began vomiting up his blood until he was dead. He rises as a Master Vampire several days later, empowered by the potion as its personification: Tuanta Quiro Miancay, The Most Fatal Horror. He kills nearly everyone in the Edificant Library until Cadderly returns. After several encounters in which there is no clear winner, Cadderly finally rids the Edificant Library of the Chaos Curse, Rufo, and his minions. The Edificant Library is permanently desecrated. Cadderly calls upon Deneir and destroys the library, after retrieving all of the irreplaceable books and artifacts, and over the course of 5 years, creates The Spirit Soaring.
Crenshinibon is the true name of the crystal shard, first mentioned in R.A. Salavatore's "The Crystal Shard". Cadderly first learned of the artifact when Drizzt Do'Urden came to the Spirit Soaring in search of a priest, hoping to learn the whereabouts of his father Zaknafein. Cadderly assisted Drizzt by dragging the name of Errtu from his old enemy Druzil. After learning about Crenshinibon, the priest agreed that he would locate a way to destroy it in the event that Drizzt could bring it to him. However, it was later taken from Drizzt by Jarlaxle, leader of the drow mercenary band, Bregan D'aerthe.
Ironically, two of the major villains, Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri, took the Crystal Shard to Cadderly, and asked it to be destroyed. At first, Cadderly and Danica just wanted Entreri to hand the Crystal Shard over, but he claimed he is the only one that he knows can ignore the call of Crenshinibon. Together with Pikel, Ivan, Danica, Jarlaxle, and Entreri, the six formed a most unlikely temporary alliance, and bore Crenshinibon to the dragon Hephaestus to be destroyed by its breath. They also needed Jarlaxle because the sentient artifact had to be engulfed completely in a magical darkness, and then burned by the fire of an ancient and powerful Red Dragon. The dragon, of course, was not so easily manipulated, and at the same time, Jarlaxle's former mercenary underlings, Rai-Guy Teyachumet, from Ched Nasad, along with Berg'inyon Baenre and Kimmuriel Oblodra, both from Menzoberranzan, also wanted the shard. In the end, Artemis Entreri killed Berg'inyon, and, while Rai-Guy held the shard, he and an Ilithid, Yharaskrik, who had secretly been in league with Kimmuriel to destroy the evil artifact, were engulfed by a globe of darkness, created by Jarlaxle, and so, Rai-Guy and Yharaskrik were brutally burned, and Crenshinibon was destroyed, when Hephaestus blew his mighty fire. Subsequently, Hephaestus was blinded by the release of magical power that occurred when Crenshinibon was destroyed. After the fall of Mystra's Weave, the joining of Yharashrik, Hephaestus, and the liches of Crenshinibon into the Ghost King dracolich occurred. After Drizzt and Cadderly, gifted with divine magics of an unknown source but supposedly Deneir who is trapped in the breaking Weave, strike the Ghost King a blow that forces it to return to the Plane of Shadows, Cadderly uses Catti-brie as a conduit to the realm and fights the Ghost King, defeating the sentient force in the Plane, while absorbing its essence. To protect from the return of the dracolich, each night Cadderly as the new Ghost King circles Spirit Soaring in eternal service, creating an entire circuit many times each night, sustaining only until the next night, to keep the planar opening between the Prime Material Plane and the Plane of Shadows blocked and the dracolich trapped and unable to leave the area, though it has not returned yet.
Captain Deudermont commands the ship Sea Sprite, and is a tall, refined man. By his look, you would expect to find him amongst the Lords and Ladies during his shore time, but he cares about his crew. He typically spends his time keeping an eye on them, and making sure they stayed out of trouble. He features in novels by R.A. Salvatore.
Drizzt Do'Urden and Wulfgar first met him in Waterdeep when they were trying to secure passage to Calimishan looking for Regis. Several years later, Drizzt and Catti-Brie spent many years as part of Deudermont's crew. While being escorted by Drizzt and Catti-Brie, he is attacked by a doppelganger that attempts to take his place as the captain of his ship.
Deudermont is almost unshakeably loyal to his crew, and expects that loyalty in return. When Drizzt arrives to sail with the Sea Sprite, it's under a mask which gives him the appearance of a surface elf. When Drizzt becomes unmasked during a battle Deudermont and his crew accept him with little hesitation seeing his true character. In Spine of The World Deudermont is nearly killed in an assassination attempt, in which Wulfgar is blamed. He survives however and speaks to free Wulfgar.
Deudermont returns to action in The Pirate King where he attempts to eliminate the corruption found in Luskan at the hands of pirates and, most notably, Arklem Greeth, the lich who controls the Hosttower of the Arcane, aiding in their destruction only to have the high captains stage an attack on those loyal to his claim as governor of Luskan. Deudermont ultimately finds his end during the battle for the city against the high captains, killed by the most powerful, Kensidan, who uses his cloak to turn into a large crow with razor sharp talons and beak, and strikes a fatal blow before the pirate Maimun came to stop Kensidan from finishing the captain off. Though Maimun attempted to console the captain for what he believed damning choices made he had made for Luskan and its people, he ultimately dies with regret and guilt.
Cireka
Cireka is a character in Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone. She is the general of a Githyanki army who wishes to take over the realms. She uses a powerful sword that can transport matter between planes. Ygorl wishes to take this sword from her. Little is known about the history of this character.
The Cowled Wizards are a secret organization based in the city of Athkatla. Their main job is to find and destroy "deviant" wizards and sorcerers, and are completely separate from the ruling Council of Six in Athkatla. Nobody is aware of their numbers, or power, though they keep an asylum (called Spellhold) on the island of Brynnlaw, where they house their offenders. Although they are feared in Amn, they are tolerated because the general populace fears rogue wizards and sorcerers more.
Cult of the Dragon
The Cult of the Dragon is a semi-religiousevil organization. The cult worships dragons, believing they will rule the world in the future and will keep them as monarchs next in line. Sammaster, a mage of considerable prowess, founded the cult. The cult schemes to create undead dragons, mainly the dracolich.
The Cult of the Dragon "marshals the Evil Dragonkind of the Forsaken North against hapless villagers".[33]
Danica has an unruly mop of strawberry blonde hair and soft brown almond-shaped eyes, the heritage of her oriental mother. She has a merry, twinkling smile. Standing only 5 feet tall and weighing just 100 pounds, she does not appear much of a threat. Those who have failed to notice her well-toned muscles have discovered otherwise.
Danica is an interesting personality mix. She is quite rigid and lawful, as she must be to follow the disciplined training of Grandmaster Penpahg D'Ahn. And she absolutely loathes things that are evil, yet she also has a strong streak of independence and ruthlessness. It was Danica who urged Cadderly to kill the sorceress Dorigen when she was down and helpless, and who was upset when Cadderly did not do so. She wants to be loved by Cadderly as much as she loves him. Although she is physically attracted to him, she loves him most not for his appearance, but for the warmth of his heart and the truth of his soul. Unfortunately for her, it is those same qualities that have prompted Cadderly to devote his life to building his cathedral. He has elected to serve his deity before all other goals, including her. She respects his decision, but nonetheless feels a grievous sense of loss in her own life. If someone can befriend Danica, he will find no one more loyal or trusting. But she expects the same loyalty in return, and will deck a double-crosser without a second thought.
Danica begins each morning with a series of stretching exercises and meditative techniques that clears her mind. If someone needs a shave, she can pull out her twin crystal daggers and whirl about in a series of fast, whipping motions that neatly slices off all stubble without a trace of bleeding.
She has mixed feelings about the use of magic. Any magic that is used to control another being absolutely horrifies her. On the other hand, when Cadderly cast wind walk on her, she found the experience exhilarating and laughed like a schoolgirl. Someone who offers to cast a fly spell or similar magic on Danica could gain her favor quickly. Someone who gives her a magical item that enables her to fly could win a friend for life.
In combat Danica is occasionally reckless, charging forward with abandon. Sometimes she laughs and shrieks, "There are only ten of them!" or something similar. It is unknown whether this is to embolden herself or to unnerve her enemies (or perhaps both). What is certain is that she can throw her enchanted daggers on the run and then get embroiled in melee with a whirling array of circle kicks, high kicks, back kicks, elbow smashes, and forceful hacks with the heels and sides of her hands. She can jab a finger into the limb of an opponent and paralyze it. This is known as "Withering Touch". Using her hands and feet is her preferred mode of combat, but against more powerful opponents, such as undead, she uses her enchanted crystal daggers.
Even if prone, she can lash out with a vicious kick and spring to her feet in a flash. Foes using ranged weapons against her can get frustrated, as she can easily slap aside arrows, bolts, spears, and other missiles as long as she can see them coming.
She has the monk skill of 'iron skull' which allows her to break a large block of solid stone using her head—she once shattered an ogre's ribcage by imagining it as a stone block.
Her mastery of the monk's arts has long since been taken to what she saw as the ultimate expression of personal control—the ability to suspend one's own animation, without magical aid of any sort, and then revive at will.
Danica was raised (in her early years) in Westgate, the daughter of a wagoneer and his wife of Eastern ancestry. Her parents were killed however by Night Masks assassins, and Danica underwent tutelage in combat arts under a disciple of Penpahg D'Ahn, and eventually found herself at the Edificant Library as well beside Cadderly Bonaduce to complete her training through the texts of the venerated master.
Danica and Cadderly were in love almost from first sight, and consummated their love after the battle of Shilmista Forest when Cadderly arrived in Carradoon. Cadderly had left the war to find his own answers, and Danica quickly came after him. After a series of battles with the Night Masks, she joined him in seeking out Castle Trinity, source of the evil chaos curse. Facing magical monsters, the red dragonFyrentennimar, and the soldiers of the castle, Danica accompanied Cadderly up until his confrontation with his father, Aballister Bonaduce.
Returning to the Edificant Library, Danica found it under the control of Kierkan Rufo, who had become a vampire by ingesting the liquid form of the chaos curse. Beaten by Rufo and his undead horde, she was taken prisoner. Rufo attempted to turn her into his queen, but she was able to escape his thirst for blood by employing the ultimate technique of Penpahg D'Ahn: suspended animation. Sadly, Danica was then forced to watch for five years as Cadderly gave up his own life force to construct the Spirit Soaring cathedral, making him an old man. Her only comfort was that she conceived and bore twins during this time. Another bright side was that as time went on, she became pregnant again as Cadderly began growing younger again.
Catti-brie found a kindred spirit in Danica when she and Drizzt Do'Urden came to the Spirit Soaring in search of Cadderly, needing his power to commune with the demon Errtu. The two talked, and became quite friendly before Catti-brie was forced to leave. Still later, Danica accompanied Cadderly on his quest to destroy Crenshinibon. She found a natural anti-thesis in the form of Artemis Entreri, who was in the company of Jarlaxle Baenre. After a grueling battle against both the red dragon Hephestus and the drow band Bregan D'aerthe, they succeeded, but shortly thereafter parted ways.
Danilo Thann
Danilo Thann was created by author Elaine Cunningham in the Song and Swords series of novels. He is often portrayed as an inept dandy, bard and nobleman that blunders into the most inopportune situations. However, in reality, he is a skilled magician and a crafty adversary, trained by none other than Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun himself.
Appearance
Danilo is a young (below thirty winters, during the events of Elfsong) Waterdhavian nobleman, and aspiring bard. At six feet tall, he stands about three inches taller than Arilyn Moonblade (as stated in Elfsong.) He has wavy shoulder-length pale blond hair. However, even among the nobles, Danilo's choice of clothing is considered "extravagantly ridiculous". He commonly wears clothes that suit his theme as a dandy and dilettante – from suits of purple which Arilyn Moonblade says make him look like a "walking grape", to the "Ruathym Adventurer garb" he once wore. Whatever he wears, he can consistently be found wearing the height of fashion among the nobles of Waterdeep. In addition, he carries a complete wardrobe's worth of clothing in his bag of holding, as well as "enough jewelry to bedeck a harem".
Personality
Danilo, when faced by the public, acts like a complete fool. There are moments of intelligence within his mask as a dandy, but very few notice the truth of the matter. Danilo, despite his canny intelligence and skill in subterfuge – is actually quite reckless, a fact brought to because of his alternate "dandy" ego (this is evidenced through his naughty pranks and reckless magical experiments). There are times when Danilo completely forgets his true self and fully reverts into the comfortable guise of the fool. However, when faced with the truly important, Danilo becomes a serious and calculating genius, and a very dangerous adversary.
Talents and abilities
In 3.5 Edition Dungeons & Dragons game terms, Danilo is rated as a 3rd-level aristocrat/9th-level wizard/1st-level spellsinger. Danilo is a very skilled magician, one whom Khelben had considered his probable heir and his apprentice with the most potential. His skill with magic is such that he mastered the art of Spellsong in just a few days, he was able to charm a magically resistant dragon to slumber, and his illusionary pranks that get his uncle Khelben each time. His magical skills include prismatic displays of light, fireballs, spells of invisibility, scrying and various charm spells.
Aside from his magic, Danilo is also well versed with subterfuge, disguise, and manipulation. Although less of a pragmatist than his Uncle Khelben, Danilo is still skilled in manipulating the political and social threads in any given situation. His degree of expertise is as such that when he engaged the crime lord Elaith Craulnober in a verbal sparring match – it ended as a draw. His skill may arguably be even better than a drow's – since he once tricked the drow princess, Liriel Baenre (crafty even among her people) into revealing more than she wished to.
History
Danilo Thann was always considered the "young dandy" in the house of Thann – as such, even his mother and father never takes him seriously. Despite this reputation, Danilo has been trained by several bardic tutors around the world, one for each bardic tradition. He has also been secretly trained by his uncle, Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun.
To the public, Danilo is a novice mage who never seemed to have progressed past some parlor tricks to amuse the nobility – and well known for many unintentional magical mishaps. The truth of the matter, however, is he is an extremely capable wizard – enough to make Khelben consider him as his most promising apprentice. He maintains the facade as a court dandy as a means to let others underestimate his abilities – thus he hears more information, and becomes a greater agent/informant for the Harpers.
During the events of the Harper Assassin in the novel, Elfshadow, Danilo met the half-elven adventurer Arilyn Moonblade – inflicted by the unfortunate label of "assassin". Initially accepting the mission due to Arilyn's unsurpassed beauty – he soon grew more attached and involved in the events. He arranged to be kidnapped for his horses. The relationship that started as kidnapper (Arilyn) and captive (Danilo) soon fostered into true friendship, and later on, true love. It is also in this event that Danilo first met the rogue elf, and future enemy and friend, Elaith Craulnober.
Danilo was initially gifted the shared use of Arilyn's moonblade, but in the events following Silver Shadows – it was taken back by Arilyn, after realizing the gift would also curse Danilo to eternal servitude to the sword.
During the events of Elfsong, Danilo was forced to ally himself with his hated enemy, Elaith Craulnober – in order to answer a deadly riddle by the ancient green dragon, Grimnoshadrano. It is also here, that Danilo met and befriended Morgalla the Mirthful – one of those rare female dwarven bards, and Wyn Ashgrove, a powerful gold elven spellsinger who taught Danilo the sacred art of the Spellsong. The ragtag group, calling themselves Music and Mayhem, was from the very beginning a group with divided loyalties – split between Elaith's quest to reactivate his Moonblade, and Danilo's quest to save Waterdeep. However, in the very end, Elaith and Danilo worked together to finally defeat the deadly enchantment and saved Waterdeep from ruin.
Relationships
Danilo is foremost married to Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elven granddaughter of Queen Amlaruil of Evermeet. They have adventured together and Danilo has pushed and manipulated Arilyn considerably to reconcile with her elven family and come to terms with her roots.
Danilo's father, Lord Thann, is largely impotent in the family business dealings, and prefers to live quietly off the proceeds that the Lady Cassandra Thann makes. The Lady is a formidable person in any respect, and disapproves of Danilo's various exploits to some degree. She has elven blood, but has never mentioned it, as there is some animosity towards elves in the Waterdhavian nobility. Danilo has five brothers, at least one sister named Judith, as well as a deceased half-sister, Lilly Thann.
Dantrag is the amber-eyed former weapons master for House Baenre, fourth son of Yvonnel Baenre. Was considered second son during earlier novels[clarification needed] due to unknown circumstances which was later revealed in the Sellswords trilogy. He wields two enchanted swords, one of them of drow make, one of them named Khazid'hea, forged in the lands above and possessed of its own personality and will. Dantrag also has a pair of bracers that increase the speed of his hands, allowing him to defeat many of his opponents by simply striking so fast that they cannot move fast enough to effectively counter. He is considered second only to Zaknafein, Drizzt Do'Urden's father, and thus longs to defeat Drizzt, Zaknafein's son and protégé, to emerge from under Zak's shadow. In Starless Night, Dantrag challenges Drizzt to single combat in the tunnels above Menzoberranzan. Initially, his superior speed gives him the advantage. Drizzt's superior skills and insight allow him to win even against this disadvantage, by figuring out the weaknesses in Dantrag's seemingly undefeatable fighting style. Drizzt realizes that Dantrag's magical speed is countered by understanding his predictability; moreover, Dantrag lacks a certain level of control, and is unable to improvise in the middle of one of his moves. Eventually Dantrag is defeated and slain by Drizzt, who tells Dantrag that if he was able to defeat him, Zaknafein certainly would have as well. Drizzt takes possession of his bracers and gives Catti-brie the sword, Khazid'hea.
Khazid'hea is a finely crafted blade that can cut through flesh, bone, armor, and even rock. The blade itself is sentient, cunning and blood thirsty, and subtly projects "thoughts" into its wielder's head to manipulate their reasoning. When this happens, they may take excessive risks such as going into battle against impossible numbers until either their enemies, or they themselves lay dead. Also, whilst the battle is raging, the blade is capable of masking the wielder's injury-sense so that they will continue fighting to the death. Khazid'hea is always hungry for blood and battle, and it is never sated.
Khazid'hea has one desire: to be held by the greatest warrior. In efforts to do so, it will alter its hilt to appeal to its wielder. In order to become the weapon of Dantrag Baenre, it shaped itself into a demon's head. While attempting to snare Drizzt Do'Urden, it changed its handle into the head of a unicorn (the symbol of Mielikki). When it accepted Catti-brie, Khazid'hea adopted the form of the panther Guenhwyvar, with the symbols of the dwarven gods etched into its side.
During the conflict with Obould, Catti-brie is wounded and is unable to engage in combat. Thus, Khazid'hea ensnares Delly Curtie, Wulfgar's jealous wife. The psychic power of the sword, too great for Delly to control, consumes Delly and soon after leads to her death by a group of orcs. Though Cutter was wielded by several of the pathetic orcs, it eventually found its way into the hands of Drizzt Do'Urden who uses it during his fight with Obould Many-Arrows. He loses the evil blade after it gets stuck in Obould's armor. Khazid'hea is now wielded by Tos'un Armgo after he found it in the armor left behind by Obould Many-Arrows.
This weapon shares some similarities with Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer, another sentient, bloodthirsty, supernaturally sharp sword that could sometimes influence its wielder's actions. Also similar to it is Umbra, a sword in the Elder Scrolls universe which can possess a wielder in similar fashion, and is usually the game's strongest weapon.
Dendar the Night Serpent
Dendar the Night Serpent is a giant and tyrannical extraplanar serpent that feeds upon the forgotten nightmares of mortals.
Description
The Night Serpent's slit-pupil eyes are the sickly yellow-black of rotten eggs. Her forked tongue flickers incessantly over her smooth lips. Her monstrous fangs are always coated with the viscous essence of lost dreams. She speaks with a sibilant, malignant voice that drips with ancient horrors. Midnight-black scales cover her colossal hide and serve as the physical embodiment of the most terrifying nightmares she has swallowed.
History
Dendar the Night Serpent came into existence shortly after the first being slept and had a nightmare. She has an uncountable horde of horrible dreams and foul visions in her gullet that she has been devouring since the dawn of time. She relishes the taste of particularly choice nightmares and savors the dreams of kings and deities alike. More horrifying, if she did not feed her insatiable appetite, every being, mortal or deity, would remember every nightmare he or she has ever dreamed in excruciating detail. Supposedly, she will be the harbinger of the end of the world and even the gods themselves.
Although she can slither across the Barrens of Doom and Despair or any of the lower planes at will, the Night Serpent is almost always found in her lair. Dendar lives in a vast cave near the oozing river that surrounds much of the Fugue Plane. The hiss of the Night Serpent's breathing echoes through the plane as she sleeps, contentedly gorged on the world's unremembered nightmares. Anyone who approaches her cave finds her awake and awaiting them with anticipatory delight as she savors and relives their worst unremembered nightmares. Her cavernous maw is large enough to swallow a giant, and her tongue can knock an armored man to the ground with a single flick. Beneath her tongue is a foul mire of greasy spittle and half-devoured bones—the corporeal manifestations of her dream diet's remnants.
Other names
To the ancient Rus, Dendar was known as Nidhogg, the serpent who gnaws at the roots of the world tree that connects all things (Yggdrasil). In Calimport, she is known (incorrectly) as the Mother of the Night Parade. In the Jungles of Chult, Dendar is known as the Eater of the World. Legends tell of how Ubtao, Creator of Chult, will battle the Night Serpent when she emerges through a gigantic iron door located beneath one of the Peaks of Flame and attempts to eat the sun. If Ubtao fails in his duty, the stories say Dendar will readily devour the sun and the doom of the world will finally arrive.
In House Do'Urden's war against House DeVir in the opening chapters of Homeland, Dinin unwittingly saved his younger brother's life by murdering his older brother Nalfein, thus making Drizzt the Secondboy of House Do'Urden rather than the Thirdboy.
Dinin was also a master of Melee-Magthere until the beginning of the Do'Urden-Hun'ett conflict. When House Do'Urden was destroyed by House Baenre he was spared by Jarlaxle under the conditions that he join the mercenary band Bregan D'aerthe. He was a trusted ally of Jarlaxle until he was turned into a drider by his sister Vierna. In Vierna's raid on Mithral Hall, Dinin (in his drider form) was killed by Bruenor Battlehammer.
Dorn Graybrook
Dorn Graybrook is featured in the series The Year of Rogue Dragons, and created by author Richard Lee Byers. Dorn is a big person, but most of his left side is made up of metal plates and parts grafted on by the wizard who owned him when he was a boy, and this only contributes to his fiercesome look. He carries a bow and quiver of arrows, and a bastard sword, when he can get one.
When Dorn was six, he and his parents were part of a merchant caravan traveling in the Moonsea region. The party was attacked by a red dragon, which killed both his parents and bit off his left arm and leg plus a goodly piece of the skin around them, and left him to die. The wizard who owned him and his parents transported to the site a few moments later to retrieve his merchandise. Upon finding Dorn, he saved his life by creating the golem parts that make up his left side. Dorn still had to serve the wizard, as well as the years of service his parents owed. As he grew up, the wizard trained him to be a fighter in the arena, and enchanted the golem parts for improved efficiency. After he had become a veteran arena competitor, Dorn found a way to kill the wizard and escape the city. Once he was out on his own, he began working as a mercenary, and looking for jobs that required him to kill dragons, because due to the incident when he was six, he hates dragons more than anything else, and dedicated his life to killing every dragon he could around the Moonsea. In the Year of Rogue Dragons, he has made a number of allies, and they have travelled with him in his eternal quest to kill dragons. All of them work to stop a plot by the insane wizard Sammaster from creating an army of dracoliches and descending upon the world.
Do'Urden
The Do'Urden family name is used by a number of characters, particularly Drizzt, in the books of R.A. Salvatore.
House Do'Urden is one of Houses of the Underdark drow city of Menzoberranzan which first appeared in Homeland. House Do'Urden was Tenth House of Menzoberranzan at the start of the series. It was the house of the famous drow Drizzt Do'Urden, who brings the disfavor of the Spider Queen upon his house by committing an act of kindness and sparing a life.[34]
"Do" means "walkers in", and "Urden" means "the darkness". Thus "Do'Urden" means "walkers in the darkness".[citation needed]
At the beginning of the book Homeland (1297 DR), on the day which Drizzt Do'Urden was born, House Do'Urden attacked House DeVir, which was Fourth House of Menzoberranzan at that time. Using the power of the birth of Drizzt Do'Urden, Malice Do'Urden was able to create a spell capable of defeating House DeVir. With this defeat House Do'Urden became Ninth House of Menzoberranzan.
When Drizzt Do'Urden saved the life of Ellifain, an elven child he encountered on a surface raid, House Do'Urden lost the favor of Lolth. House Hun'ett (the Fifth House), which already considered House Do'Urden a threat, prepared to attack. The first part of the battle was supposed to occur with the killing of Drizzt, but he in turn killed Masoj Hun'ett and Gelroos Hun'ett (who was actually Alton DeVir, last survivor of the House DeVir) giving House Do'Urden an edge in the war.
Matron Malice Do'Urden became aware of her son's actions, which had placed the house in disfavor. To regain the favor of Lolth, she sacrificed Zaknafein (Drizzt's father), who volunteered to save his son's life. Drizzt, returned from his battle with Masoj and Gelroos, and discovering what had happened to his father, deserted House Do'Urden and left Menzoberranzan. House Hun'ett lost two of its wizards and the favor of Lolth for failing to kill Drizzt, and House Do'Urden lost the favor of Lolth due to Drizzt's desertion.
Ten years passed with small sneak attacks between House Do'Urden and House Hun'ett, because neither of the houses had regained Lolth's favor. Also both were severely weakened by various losses. House Do'Urden lost its principle weapon masters and House Hun'ett lost its two most powerful mages. In Exile (1338 DR), when finally House Hun'ett launched an attack to House Do'Urden with the help of Bregan D'aerthe, Malice Do'Urden turned the tide of the battle by making a better offer to Jarlaxle. House Do'Urden became Eighth House of Menzoberranzan and made its way to ruling council. But they had lost a lot of soldiers and had yet to regain Lolth's favor. SiNafay Hun'ett became a member of House Do'Urden to offer the house additional power. (under the name Shi'nayne Do'Urden).
To regain Lolth's favor, House Do'Urden needed to kill Drizzt. After Briza and Dinin failed, Matron Malice took her biggest risk and desired Zin-carla to hunt Drizzt down. Giving SiNafay as a sacrifice, Zaknafein's was risen as Zin-carla which is also known as a spirit-wraith. This removed Malice's disfavor in the eyes of Lolth, however, it did not regain Malice favor. When Zaknafein regained his senses for a little time he jumped into an acid pit, destroying himself and causing the failure of Zin-carla. This caused House Do'Urden to lose Lolth's favor forever, as Matron Malice had failed in her distinct orders to kill Drizzt. Briza took the lead by killing her mother but House Baenre, under orders by Lolth, attacked House Do'Urden, killing most of its members. Vierna and Dinin survived this attack and joined Bregan D'aerthe in order to survive.
In The Legacy (1357 DR), Vierna tried to rebuild House Do'Urden by attempting to kill Drizzt. She had Lolth's favor and got help from Bregan D'aerthe. She turned Dinin into a drider. During their attack on Mithral Hall, Bruenor killed Dinin in his drider form, and Drizzt killed Vierna, making Drizzt the last known Do'Urden.
Dragonbait
Dragonbait (also referred to as Champion) is a finhead saurial paladin most likely in the service of Tyr. He first appears in Azure Bonds by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb. Dragonbait is a non-player character (NPC) in the 5th edition adventure Tomb of Annihilation published in September 2017.
Appearance
Dragonbait stands roughly five feet in height, not counting the troglodyte-like head fin, though that is only in consequence to his posture, being canted forward at the hips, and balanced by a tail near long as his torso. His mouth is thinner and more rounded than the lizard-men of Faerûn, lipless to show sharp teeth to the fore and rounded molars to the rear. His scales are small and smooth, like beadwork. On his chest was a ring of symbols identical to those originally sported by Alias on her arm, which resolved themselves into a ring of blue ivy at the end of the events of Azure Bonds.
Biography
Dragonbait received his current name the night he assisted Alias in disposing of some thugs in the service of her creators. Alias warned him that if he made a single false move, he'd be dragon bait. He immediately took it as his name, and is only referred to as Champion by Grypht (and presumably, therefore, other saurials).
Dragonbait's near refutal of his previous name may have originated in the circumstances that brought him into the power of the creators of Alias.
He had served Tyr single-mindedly, and had fallen in love with another saurial, who served Lady Luck (likely Tymora, or possibly her other incarnation of Tyche). Believing that Luck's fickle nature was in violation of the rigorous justice of Tyr, he demanded that his love leave her goddess' service and come to serve his god. The argument ended with no resolution, and apparently fearing his love for her would eventually taint his pure service to his god, he left for Tarterus to serve his god.
There, he was captured by the fiend Phalse to be used for a dark purpose. While imprisoned, he had a vision, or perhaps only a dream, in which he was visited by Lady Luck. He was told that she would rather not see him ever again, but that her aid had been asked by the god of justice to save his servant. Wishing to live and not offend his god who had intervened on his behalf, he accepted the task she charged him with: to fulfill the service laid on him by the human sent to him.
Freed from his imprisonment by the Nameless Bard, Dragonbait became Alias' companion. He lives always to serve Tyr, but now he also pays homage to all other gods who can further the cause of justice.
As he can not speak human tongues, after aiding Alias in destroying her evil creators, she taught him the thieves' hand cant, a fact that thoroughly irritated Olive when she learned of it. In the third book, Alias used the finder's stone to cast a permanent tongues spell on herself, enabling her to speak Dragonbait's own tongue, which is a combination of clicks and whistles pitched outside normal human hearing, and scents (see list below).
Dragonbait frequently refers to Alias as his sister, something that has been borne out as being true from the gods' point of view when Alias becomes a soul singer, a saurial gift that apparently follows genealogical lines.
Following the events of Song of the Saurials Dragonbait and Alias apparently settled in the Lost Vale with the displaced saurials to aid them in their new settlement. A short time later, however, they are adventuring again.
The Elk Tribe is a nomadic group of barbarians living in the tundra that comprises Icewind Dale. It was the lead tribe ruled by Heafstaag. All tribes are named after animals of great power or prowess. After the battle with Ten-Towns few tribe members were left.
Wulfgar assumed control of the tribes after being released from the servitude of Bruenor Battlehammer and extensive training by Drizzt Do'Urden. He convinced his tribe to join forces with the men of Ten-Towns against the army of Akar Kessel, wielder at the time of Crenshinibon, (The Crystal Shard). With the help of the barbarians they were successful. Thinking of what might be best for his people, he split the tribe into two groups. One remained in Icewind Dale (led by Revjak), the other followed him to the south where his adoptive father Bruenor Battlehammer had reclaimed his childhood home Mithral Hall. They lived in a town called Settlestone. Originally a Dwarven town they rebuilt it after two hundred years of its vacancy. They lived a prosperous life working as traders and merchants for the dwarves. After the death of their leader during the war with the Drow, Berkthgar the new leader decided to return to their old way of life on the tundra.
Ellifain Tuuserail
Ellifain is an elf who appears in a series of New York Times best-selling books by R.A. Salvatore. The character Ellifain appears in Homeland as a child and Starless Night and Sea of Swords as a young adult. She is also mentioned in all of the Hunter's Blades Trilogy books.
Appearances
Homeland
Ellifain appears as a child when benign drow warrior Drizzt Do'Urden travels from the Underdark to the surface with a raiding party of other, not so benign drow, including Drizzt's brother Dinin Do'urden. While Ellifain's clan is dancing under the stars, the drow attack. All of the elves are massacred, except for Ellifain, who is saved when Drizzt Do'Urden covers the trembling and screaming Ellifain with her own mother's blood, making it look like she is also mortally wounded, and hiding her under her mother's body and forcing her to be quiet. This thoroughly fools the other drow, sparing Ellifain's life.[35]
Starless Night
Ellifain appears only briefly here. As a young adult, Ellifain is living in the Moonwood, fostering a powerful hate for drow, especially the local 'hero' Drizzt Do'Urden, who she falsely views to be a lie. Drizzt passes through the forest on his way to the Underdark, and Ellifain promptly attacks him. Drizzt does avoid getting hit by her sword and does not strike back at her. It then takes many elves to hold her back.[36]
Sea of Swords
Ellifain, now under the guise of Le'lorinel, a male elf, clearly remembers that fateful night when her clan was massacred, still fostering a huge hatred of drow. She is now out of the Moonwood and is serving a wizard somewhere else. Her reward for the work is an onyx ring containing 4 spells. She visits a local gnome seer to try to find Drizzt, who she has sworn to kill. The gnome divines with his crystal ball and shows 'him' two signs, one the combined symbols of Dwarven gods Moradin and Dumathoin, the other being the combined symbols of Dumathoin and Clangeddon. The seer tells Ellifain that these are the symbols on the twin heads of Aegis-Fang, a warhammer forged by dwarven king Bruenor Battlehammer and carried by Wulfgar, both of which are part of an adventuring band called the Companions of the Hall, which also includes Drizzt. The gnome tells her that the symbols will lead her to Drizzt.
The elf then ventures to Luskan and eventually meets an agent of the infamous pirate Sheila Kree. She is knocked unconscious and is brought to Golden Cove, Sheila Kree's secret port that she shares with a clan of ogres. She is branded with Aegis-Fang, which Sheila received through Luskan's blackmarket. The Companions of the Hall eventually arrive in search of Aegis-Fang. Drizzt slides down a chimney and comes out in the hearth of a room containing Ellifain and a huge ogre. Ellifain promptly kills the behemoth to have Drizzt for herself. She fights him, using 3 spells, and when Drizzt summons a globe of magical darkness around she uses her last spell, the fire shield, which inflicts the same wounds given to the user of the spell to the giver of the wounds. Since they are in the globe of darkness, Drizzt cannot see the tell-tale flames. Drizzt punctures Ellifain's lung, which immediately does the same to Drizzt. Then, Catti-brie comes in with a healing potion. Drizzt, now recognizing Ellifain, pleads to Catti-brie to give it to Ellifain, but Bruenor, now in the room, tells Cattie-brie otherwise. Drizzt is saved, but Ellifain is not. Drizzt has her buried in the tunnel complex of Golden Cove.[37] Following her death, Tarathiel and Innovindil, two Moonwood elves seeking her fate, run across Drizzt, who admits to killing her, though he was unaware of who she was. Later, during the events of The Orc King, Drizzt and Innovindil travel to the Golden Cove to return Ellifain's body to the Moonwood. Whilst there, Drizzt is able to speak with her spirit and apologize, to which Ellifain accepts and by Drizzt's reasoning, is at peace.
The Flaming Fist is the largest and most powerful mercenary company of the Forgotten Realms.
The Flaming Fist is based in the city of Baldur's Gate on the Sword Coast, where its members serve as a guard within the city. Their job is to put down (with deadly force) any who commit egregious acts of evil. They also work out of this city, going down just south of Beregost but stopping before Nashkel. From Nashkel onwards, the Amnish soldiers keep guard.
The organizations's base of operations is in the city of Baldur's Gate, although they have other forts and establishments in Anchorome, Chult, and Tethyr.[39]:11 Tethyr has proven to be a source for recent hires by Duke Eltan during their decades-long civil war.[39]:9
By 1479 DR, The Flaming Fist had changed from a mercenary group to the police and military force of Baldur's Gate.[40]
Game designer Ken Rolston commented on the Flaming Fist in his review of the original 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set: "the detailed description of the Flaming Fist Mercenary Company is an interesting, extreme design example. Considering the DMG hirelings tables [pages 28-34], it's hard to see how this bunch can stay in business even at 10,000 gp a day, but I still think it is a neat idea that is well presented."[33]
In other media
The Flaming Fist plays a prominent role in the plot of the Baldur's Gate series computer games. In particular, the following characters are members of the Flaming Fist:
Officer Vai is the woman who lurks in the Jovial Juggler in Beregost after the player has completed the quest in the Nashkel mines, buying bandit scalps for 50 gp each.
Scar is the man in Baldur's Gate who offers the player quests leading to the Iron Throne mystery. He is later killed, and the main character is left framed for his murder.
The Four
The Four were a band of adventurers whose members included: Mirt the Moneylender, Durnan, Asper and Randal Morn. Florin Falconhand was also a stand-in member at times.
A swashbuckler and con artist, the moon elf called the Fox-at-Twilight (or "Light") is an enigma at best. She fights by trickery as much as by blade, luring her opponents into underestimating her by guile or plying her considerable charm to get what she wants. She is an accomplished duelist, extremely agile, and possesses powers akin to those of a divine seeker (a holy spy/thief who can sense the location of certain objects and call upon divine providence to save herself from mortal wounds) and a shadowdancer (able to teleport/"dance" through shadows and animate her own shadow).
Her exact origins are unknown, and she has made a variety of outrageous claims about her past, including being a former lover of her divine patron, Erevan Ilesere. She is notable in that she appears both before the Spellplague and time-jump (in the novel Depths of Madness and the sourcebook The Grand History of the Realms) as well as after, in the form of Lady Ilira Nathalan (in the novel Downshadow).
Appearances
Erik Scott de Bie, "The Greater Treasure,” Realms of the Elves (Wizards of the Coast, 2006)
Erik Scott de Bie, Depths of Madness (Wizards of the Coast, 2007)
Erik Scott de Bie, Downshadow (Wizards of the Coast, 2009)
Erik Scott de Bie with Tom Costa, "The Fox and the Dispossessed" part 1 and 2, web articles (Candlekeep.com)
According to Ken Rolston, "The Black Lords Altar is served by Patriarch Fzoul Chembryl and the scheming clergy of the cruel god Bane."[33]
Fzoul Chembryl is a major evil power player in Faerûn. He is head of the Zhentarim, chosen and arch-priest of Bane. Once a servitor of Manshoon, he managed to kill him and take his position of master of the Zhents. While Bane was dead, Fzoul became a reluctant cleric of Cyric, and later Iyachtu Xvim.
Fzoul is a high-level adversary as his status as chosen and arch-priest of Bane lends him considerable powers and the Zhentarim offers him considerable resources. He once had an understanding with Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun but whether he has to respect it since the archmage's death is doubtful at best. Formerly the mortal Chosen Tyrant of his dark overlord, Fzoul eventually was killed fighting the shadovar and was granted his current status as a demigod as his reward for dying in Bane's service.
G
Galaeron Nihmedu
Galaeron Nihmedu is the main character in Return of the Archwizards, a trilogy of novels by Troy Denning.
Galaeron is an elf and a minor noble of Evereska, Lasthaven to the elves of Faerûn. He is the son of the moon elf Aubric Nihmedu, the Blademajor of the Swords of Evereska and Lord of Treetop in Starmeadow Tower. His mother, a wood elf named Morgwais Nightmeadow (known to the elves of the High Forest as Morgwais the Red, the Lady of the Wood, and the Red Lady), is the ruler of the Sy'Tel'Quess (wood elves) of the High Forest. Galaeron has a little sister named Keya, turquoise-haired and only about eighty years of age.
Galaeron is tall and solidly built for a moon elf and has the pale skin and regal features common to his race; two decades of serving as a Tomb Guard along the Desert Border South have left his face mildly rugged and weather-beaten. He is skilled in both hand-to-hand combat and sorcery, having attended both academies of the College of Magic and Arms. As he is a sorcerer, he was often discriminated against in the academies (which favor regular wizards), being called arrogant and stubborn. Eventually, they accused him of using dark magics and demanded to see his spellbook; unfortunately, he never had one. (Unlike most mages, sorcerers do not forget spells after they use them; thus, they do not require spellbooks and the like or countless hours of relearning spells.) It took Lord Imesfor's intervention to win Galaeron a place in the Tomb Guard, a militia of Evereska that guards the elven crypts in the area against (almost always human) thieves. He was assigned to the Desert Border South (which borders the Great Desert of Anauroch) as a patrol leader in the Tomb Guard, where he served for twenty years. His life was made harder by Kiinyon Colbathin, Tomb Master and Master of the Defenses of Evereska, who for some reason felt scornful of him.
On 20 Nightal, the Year of the Unstrung Harp (1371 DR), Galaeron led his patrol into an ancient crypt housing seven Aryvandaaran nobles, high lords of the aggressive Vyshaan clan who had started the First Crown War, plunging the entire elven race into three thousand years of violent carnage. The patrol tracked down a band of Vaasans (a human ethnicity native to Vaasa) and followed them through a dwarven tunnel to where they were using a beholder to carve a path to the Sharn Wall, a silver-colored magical barrier that imprisons the phaerimm. The Vaasans were trying to locate Melegaunt Tanthul, an archwizard from the ancient Netherese city of Shade. The elves had a small skirmish with the crypt-breakers, and then Melegaunt himself appeared. Galaeron's and Melegaunt's magical bolts collided, creating an explosion that punctured a hole in the Sharn Wall. (Magic from the Weave and magic from the Shadow Weave mingle with disastrous effects.) This freed the phaerimm, an ancient, malevolent, and powerful race that were imprisoned beneath Anauroch by a mysterious race known as the sharn after the collapse of Netheril.
The leader of the Vaasan band, Vala Thorsdotter, was loyal to Melegaunt through a debt made by her great grandfather, Bodvar. As more phaerimm escaped through the breach, they began gathering armies of bugbears, illithids, and beholders that they had enthralled through their mind magic. Melegaunt, Vala, and Galaeron went on a journey to stop the phaerimm, Melegaunt leading the way but not telling them where they were going. On their journey, they were eventually accompanied by a little man named Malik el Sami yn Nasser (actually the Seraph of Lies, the highest honor bestowed by Cyric) and Aris, a stone giant priest whom Galaeron rescued from beholders serving the phaerimm. Along the way, Melegaunt took advantage of Galaeron's sorcery skills to teach him how to use the Shadow Weave, a mostly unknown source of magic now controlled by Shar that was split from the Weave in ancient times when Karsus temporarily usurped Mystryl's power. It is also greatly effective against the phaerimm, who are highly resistant to magical attack except for the Shadow Weave, which they know nothing about.
A side effect to Galaeron's use of shadow magic was that he overindulged in it and came into conflict with his shadow self. A shadow is not opposite, but absence. In Galaeron's case, it was the absence of kindness and loyalty. He slowly began losing some of his emotional self-control and compassion and lost the ability to go into Reverie, the elven method of deep meditation and subconscious connection with other elves, and had to sleep and have dreams like a human. For the first time in his life, Galaeron also felt jealousy (such as when he found his mother sitting in Elminster's lap while he clutched her behind). He also lost his ability to tap into the Weave and had to solely rely on the Shadow Weave for magic. While drawing energy from the Weave feels somewhat like warmth coming into one's body all at once, drawing upon the Shadow Weave feels as if a burst of coldness comes up from the ground through one's feet and into the body. Galaeron eventually became used to it, however, and soon the coldness no longer bothered him. Melegaunt continuously warned Galaeron to not use the magic so often, lest Galaeron be consumed by his shadow.
Melegaunt led his small entourage to the ruins of Karse in the High Forest. Keeping his true intent hidden, he only told his companions that in Karse there was something to defeat the phaerimm. In the temple of Karsus, Melegaunt was killed by a lich, but before he died, he imparted all of his knowledge of the phaerimm into Galaeron's subconscious. Earlier, had also told of his past: he was the Twelfth Prince of Shade, and his people were able to defeat the phaerimm. On 1 Hammer, the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR), Galaeron used the Karsestone (what was once Karsus's heart), the only source of “whole” magic left before it was split by Karsus, to create a gate that transported the ancient floating city of Shade from the Plane of Shadows back to Faerûn. “Hear me now, people of Shade. Follow me now, for the Return is at hand!”
With Melegaunt's knowledge stored in his mind, Galaeron became a valuable asset to the ruler of Shade, Telamont Tanthul. Through a long series of events thereafter, Galaeron had a falling out with the Most High, and with the help of Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, Laeral Silverhand, Alustriel Silverhand, Dove Falconhand, Storm Silverhand, and Aris, Galaeron managed to rescue Vala from Prince Escanor and deal a major blow to Shade Enclave. Also, during his imprisonment by Telamont, Galaeron joined with his shadow, filling in the gaps of his character and making him more whole while still being able to keep his will as his own.
When Galaeron arrived back in Evereska, he helped the high mages repair the mythal, which had been unraveled by a phaerimm SpellGather. This inadvertently added something new to the mythal: after the golden meteors descended to blast apart the phaerimm, streaks of shadow were left in their wake.
Due to his father's death while fighting the phaerimm, Galaeron inherited his lordship. For his great exploits, Galaeron was offered the position of Master of the Defenses by Lord Duirsar (Kiinyon Colbathin had also died in the war.), but he turned it down, choosing instead to travel to Vala's home, the Granite Tower, with Vala and his spirit-deep mate, the wood elf Takari Moonsnow.
Appearances
The Return of the Archwizards trilogy by Troy Denning:
Gareth Dragonsbane is a mighty paladin of the god Ilmater, and king of the Bloodstone Lands, the unification of his homeland, Damara, with the untamed territory of Vaasa.
Gareth was crowned King of Damara in 1359 DR when he succeeded in forging key alliances with many minor nobles throughout the land after Zhengyi the Witch-King of Vaasa, whose armies had conquered Damara, was defeated by a band of adventurers braving Castle Perilous, his stronghold. He has since then devoted his reign to rebuilding Damara's economy, forging alliances with other nations, and attracting adventurers to Damara while keeping an eye to the still-troubled enemy to the North, Vaasa.
During the events of the Year of the Rogue Dragons (1373 DR) Gareth Dragonsbane's soul had been imprisoned in the Plane of Shadow due to the treachery of some wizards who had been corrupted and were in reality Sammaster's agents. His absence left Damara briefly in disarray and prone to attack from orcs and goblinoids swarming from Vaasa. He was saved only thanks to the actions of dragonhunters Pavel Shermov and Will Turnstone, a handful of his trusted officers and companions, and (quite unbelievably) an ancient vampiric dragon by the name of Brimstone. Having recovered from his ordeal, he once more lead his troops to victory against the forces of Vaasa, apparently slaying the Witch-King (who had arisen again) in single combat. In reality, Brimstone had conjured the illusion of an undead riding on his back, and he and Dragonsbane had planned the fight all along. It had a demoralising effect for the Vaasans which made victory easier.
His wife and Queen of Damara is Christine Dragonsbane, a druidess. His mount is an intelligent warhorse named Glenden. His six best friends are his old adventuring companions: the extremely skilled and powerful monk Grandmaster Kane (who landed the killing blow on Zhengyi); the ranger Duke Olwen Forest-friend, the "thief"/spy Celedon Kierney; the bard Riordan Parnell; the wizard Emelyn the Gray; and the priest of Ilmater and disciple of St. Dionysus, Friar Dugald.
Gareth Dragonsbane was first published as a pre-generated player character in the 1985 module H1 Bloodstone Pass. Updated stats for him continued to appear in the other modules of this series. Christine was a NPC in the same series.
He has appeared in Road of the Patriarch, where his friends captured the assassin Artemis Entreri for treasonous acts (actually a plan set up by Jarlaxle to help the king solidify his hold, without the king's knowledge). Entreri is less than impressed with Gareth's kingship, and classifies all the reasons Gareth and his friends give for Gareth's station as either a way of keeping commoners down or mere strength of arm. While Gareth's friends are furious at the disrespect the assassin shows, Gareth is uncomfortably aware there's more than a grain of truth to Entreri's reasoning, and resolves to deserve to rule by being a good king, rather than by dint of bloodline or force. He merely banishes the assassin from his realm rather than executing him (as many of Gareth's friends—even his wife—would prefer). Like Drizzt Do'Urden before him, Gareth saw Entreri as a mirror of himself, and strove to be above the reflection, making him a better man and a better king.
Guenhwyvar is a magical black panther called from the Astral Plane by an onyx figurine, most recently in the possession of Drizzt Do'Urden. She is described as "ten feet long, at least, with muscled shoulders as high as a tall man's chest." Guenhwyvar is the high elvish word for shadow.[41] Guenhwyvar is the creation of Anders Beltgarden.[41] The onyx figurine is originally owned by Josidiah Starym, and has also been possessed by Masoj of House Hun'ett, who is killed by Drizzt in battle. Drizzt senses something more than bestial instinct behind Guenhwyvar's shining, golden eyes, and cannot bear the thought of Guenhwyvar to again be used for evil purposes. The two fast become- not just friends but- companions. Drizzt summons Guenhwyvar as often as possible, to help combat loneliness, and to help him in battle. His other companions, notably Wulfgar and Bruenor, are often suspicious of Guenhwyvar at first, though they eventually come to respect Guenhwyvar as a team member.
Guenhwyvar can be summoned forth from the Astral plane up to twelve hours out of every forty-eight. Simply spending time on the Prime Material Plane slowly drains the panther's strength, but it is possible to ignore the limit at the cost of serious injury and pain. If the panther is seriously injured or even if she suffers injuries that should be fatal while on the Prime Material Plane, the panther transports back to the Astral plane. Spending a sufficient amount of time there regenerates the cat completely and she can be called forth again.
She is friends with many characters, including all of the Companions of the Hall, however she is closest to Drizzt, Cattie-Brie and Regis. She's called Guen by Cattie-Brie, and has been sent to sleep on both Bruenor and Belwar Dissengulp.
In the Icewind Dale trilogy Guenhwyvar is portrayed as a male. In The Legend of Drizzt series (printed after the Icewind Dale series) and to Starless Night the gender of Guenhwyvar is not touched upon. Later books portray Guenhwyvar as a female. In the short story, "Guenhwyvar," she is described as a large, beautiful, and powerful, female panther.
H
Halaster Blackcloak
Halaster Blackcloak is known as the infamous and powerful Mad Mage of Undermountain. Within the game world, Halastar arrived with his seven apprentices to make his lair in an old abandoned dwarf fortress long ago, before Waterdeep existed. A wizard of undeniable prowess, he soon transformed the ancient caves into a fearsome dungeon, in fact the rumored deadliest and certainly most renowned of all Faerûn by "collecting" a huge number of extraplanar monsters and installing numerous traps and portals. Using his magical talents, he turned Undermountain into a quasi-mythal, gaining powerful abilities and immortality within his complex. The drawback, however, was this turned him also completely mad while he was in his dungeon.[42][43][44][45]
The Dungeons & Dragons supplement Expedition to Undermountain states that Halaster died trying to prevent an unknown magical threat dwelling (or fated to dwell) in Undermountain. Remnants of his spirit haunt his old lair, not a ghost but rather memories.[46] Halaster is once again alive in the 5th edition book Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. It states that "if Halaster is killed, the demiplane around his tower [...] collapses 5 minutes later without warning. As the tower is torn asunder, its contents are blasted into the far corners of the Astral Plane. [...] Halaster's death also deactivates all gates in Undermountain. These gates reactivate when the Mad Mage re-forms 1d10 days later in a random dungeon location. [...] He doesn't take being killed personally, but it inspires him to toughen Undermountain's defenses so that the next group of adventurers can't thwart him so easily. Much of his time in the coming months is spent creating a new demiplane and a new tower to replace the ones that were destroyed after he died".[47]
Harkle Harpell is a wizard created by author R.A. Salvatore.
Appearance
Harkle is a little shorter than average, with an untidy mess of black hair. He wears a set of worn wizard's robes, and has an air of enthusiasm about him that somehow manages to be unnerving and unsettling.
Biography
Harkle and his fellow Harpells live in the small town of Longsaddle. The Harpell clan are all wizards, and better than average at having spells backfire (with spectacular results). Even so, the Harpells are powerful spellcasters, and their village is a good place to visit, if excessive use of magic does not frighten you. Harkle himself has traveled more than most of them, visiting Mithral Hall and helping to defend against the drow invasion, and traveling the Sword Coast with Drizzt Do'Urden and Catti-brie. One of his few accident-free success was when he created a spell called the Fog of Fate, which transports the user to wherever they need to be to accomplish their goals. Upon the initial casting of the spell, Harkle wound up in the middle of the Sea of Swords, but Drizzt was there with the crew of the Sea Sprite, and he was quickly rescued. Under the effects of this spell, the events of his journey with Drizzt and company were magically recorded meticulously in a journal. Upon revealing some significant details from this journey to aid Drizzt, he was magically whisked back to Longsaddle, wherein his memory of the previous adventure with Drizzt and his friends apparently erased. Harkle still resides at Longsaddle, working on any number of magical experiments.
The Harpers are a semi-secret organization. Pushing for Balance as well as what is right, they oppose all evil organizations such as the Zhentarim and the Red Wizards of Thay.
Jonathan Palmer for Arcane magazine commented on the Harpers as "fighters for freedom and justice. Laudable."[49]
Heafstaag
Heafstaag is the leader of the Elk Tribe, the most powerful tribe of barbarians in all of Icewind Dale, hence making him the king of the tribes. During the attack on Ten-Towns he fights Drizzt and is gravely wounded. After the battle he speaks for the tribes as a whole and joins with Akar Kessel. He is killed by Wulfgar after he accepts his challenge to lead the tribes and thus Wulfgar takes his place as king.
I
Illius
Illius is a sorcerer who uses a staff and a formidable array of magical powers from the game Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone. Early in the game, he acquires a string of Force Beads. He can use these beads as mines to blast enemies.
Illius is born into a line of knights, but when he discovers that he has sorcerer powers he pursues that path instead. His father disapproves of this and disowns Illius, though it is later discovered that Ygorl mentally influences Illius' father from inside the Demon Stone.
It lives in an ice cave called Evermelt which is part of the Reghed glacier. The Reghed glacier is located on the Forgotten Realms planet Abeir-Toril on the continent Faerûn. In DR 1356, Wulfgar, an Icewind Dale Barbarian and adopted son of the dwarf Bruenor Battlehammer, set out to slay the infamous dragon in its ice cave so he could have enough heroic deeds to challenge Heafstaag, the current king of the Elk Tribe, the largest and most powerful of all of the barbarian tribes of Icewind Dale. With help from his friend and tutor Drizzt Do'Urden, he was able to defeat the dragon, once thought invincible. Through this ordeal, Drizzt claimed one of Ingeloakastimizilian's many treasures as his own, a magical sword also called Icingdeath, which plays a large role in later stories.
The Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game released a special boxed set entitled "The Legend of Drizzt", including minis of Drizzt and Wulfgar versus Icingdeath, depicted as a size Gargantuan white dragon.[50]
In The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Innovindil and her partner Tarathiel notice a pair of dwarves around a campfire in their home, Moonwood. The two take the dwarves, Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, prisoner until discovering that their intentions are not to harm their woodland home. After realizing that the two dwarves plan on representing the priest Cadderly Bonaduce at the coronation of Bruenor Battlehammer in Mithral Hall, Innovindil and Tarathiel realize that the dark elfDrizzt Do'Urden will be returning to the area. This knowledge is of great importance to them because one of their clan, Ellifain Tuuserail, left the Moonwood to find and kill Drizzt due to the misconceived notion that Drizzt was responsible for the slaughter of her family years ago. Before they are able to meet with the dark elf, Innovindil and Tarathiel find the lands around Mithral Hall are ridden with thousands of orcs and scores of frost giants.
After investigating more closely, Innovindil and Tarathiel begin watching over Drizzt Do'Urden as he recklessly slaughters countless orcs on his own out of rage and anger for the loss of his friends at the orc assault on the town of Shallows. After Drizzt finally gets himself into a situation with no escape, the moon elf pair come to the rescue. When they confront Drizzt and ask him to join them, he refuses, as he is still unable to cope with the apparent loss of his friends. After some time, he finally decides to meet the elves, but when he arrives at their cave, he finds two drow holding Innovindil and Tarathiel prisoner. Drizzt dispatches of the dark elves, Ad'non-Kareese and Donnia Soldou, and frees the moon elves. In the conversation that ensues, Innovindil and Tarathiel learn of Ellifain's fate and how she attempted to kill both Drizzt and herself but failed in killing Drizzt. Despite hearing the sad news, they don't blame Drizzt for defending himself.
Innovindil, Tarathiel, and Drizzt become a trio to be feared as they soon take it upon themselves to prevent the orc king Obould Many-Arrows from gaining any reinforcements by turning orc tribes emerging from the Spine of the World back into their holes. Unfortunately, Obould sets up a trap for Tarathiel and his pegasus, Sunrise, and in the fight to follow Obould kills Tarathiel while Innovindil and Drizzt, unable to help, witness the fight. Filled with grief and sorrow, Innovindil leaves with Drizzt, but they soon decide that they must save Sunrise and gain a measure of revenge. In the following days, Drizzt and Innovindil notice the importance of the orc shamanArganth Snarrl to Obould and capture the shaman to glean some information, after which they go after Obould's son Urlgen Threefist, who is killed by Innovindil, dealing a huge blow to the orcs attacking Mithral Hall.
During the days where Innovindil and Drizzt are together, Innovindil questions Drizzt as to whether he knows what it means to be an elf. She states that he left Menzoberranzan and the Underdark as a child by elf standards and was never trained in the perspectives of elven culture, which is why he does not know how to deal with his emotions towards Catti-brie. Drizzt enjoys her company and realizes he has never spent time with any elves like Innovindil who can give him advice.
While Drizzt and Innovindil are able to kill Obould's lieutenant, their goal of rescuing Sunrise still remains. After a failed attempt to rescue Sunrise from Obould, Drizzt and Innovindil try once more after Sunrise is given to the frost giantess, Gerti Orelsdottr; however, Drizzt ends up in a stalemate with Gerti while Innovindil is able to escape on her pegasus, Sunset. Gerti offers Drizzt to let him go free with Sunrise if he promises to slay Obould and forge a truce between the home of the frost giants, known as Shining White, and the surrounding kingdoms after the orcs have been defeated. After making the deal, Drizzt takes Gerti's help in setting up a battle between him and Obould, but he is unable to defeat Obould and his impenetrable armor and retreats.
Drizzt then meets up with Innovindil and explains how he escaped Shining White with Sunrise before the two return to their task of driving orcs back into their holes. On one such raid, Drizzt notices an orc carrying Catti-brie's sword, Khazid'hea and goes mad with grief at the almost indisputable evidence that Catti-brie died at Shallows; however, soon after retrieving Khazid'hea, Innovindil and Drizzt meet Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder who tell them that Drizzt's friends are alive. Innovindil and Drizzt are thrilled at the news, but before reuniting with them Drizzt decides to fight Obould once more with Khazid'hea, also known as "Cutter".
After apparently defeating Obould, Drizzt reunites with Catti-brie and no longer holds any doubts as to what to make of his feelings for her, at which Innovindil comments, "That is what it is to be an elf, Drizzt Do'Urden." At the end of The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Drizzt states that he and Innovindil will bring Ellifain's body back to the Moonwood so that she may be properly put to rest. During the events of The Orc King, Innovindil and her pegasus, Sunset, are murdered by the ruthless magician Jack the Gnome when an army of orcs invade the Moonwood.
Iron Throne
Although its founding date is unknown, the Iron Throne is well over twenty years old, and was first heard of in 1356 DR. Little is known of this mysterious merchant organization's history or the identity of its backers. The Iron Throne operates through its agents, which are mostly thugs and brigands. There is a high turnover rate, and agents need to be replaced often. The group is often in conflict with the Zhentarim. The organization apparently operates independently from any government, and has earned quite a bad public image after being charged with attempted assassinations, extortion, thuggery, trading weapons to hostile nonhuman tribes and trafficking in smoke powder, poisons and drugs. The Iron Throne was introduced within the tabletop version of Dungeons & Dragons, but is the key antagonist group in the original Baldur's Gate video game.
Ityak-Ortheel
Ityak-Ortheel, commonly called the Elf Eater, dwells in the Abyss, waiting for Malar, the Beastlord, to summon it to Faerûn to destroy life. It is spawned after the blood left by Gruumsh and Corellon Larethian during a battle mixes together and seeps into the Abyss. It cannot travel voluntarily between the planes, so it initially relies on mortals to transport it to the Material Plane to punish the elves, wreaking havoc and destruction. Malar eventually favors it as an instrument of terror, allowing it to visit Faerûn at least once per century, where it rampages around elf communities. It is a large being with three legs and forty 100-foot-long (30m) tentacles lined with suckers. It slowly digests the souls of those it devours, keeping it satisfied and tormenting those whom it devoured. This slow digestion lets the Elf Eater go for hundreds or thousands of years without eating.
Malarite schemes
A group of Malarites in the Forgotten Forest west of Evereska came across one of the Alamtine triangles that their god used to track down the portal of Fey-Alamtine. They do not understand the triangle's significance and treat it as a holy relic, although it has lost all of its power. The Malarites are led by a cruel half-elf werewolf named Tagress. They worship the triangle and offer it blood sacrifices at least four times every moon cycle, hoping to summon Ityak-Ortheel so that it may destroy the lands of Evereska and its people.
The group feverishly works to find out how the triangle is related to the summoning of Ityak-Ortheel. They kidnap mages and other masters of lore, torture information out of them, and then sacrifice them to the relic.
In response to the group's plots, elven leaders have launched a war against the followers of Malar. The Malarites are waging their own war against the elves in retaliation.
Residents of R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms universe, these two span several of his storylines. Beyond their surname, and that they live in Vaasa, their clan is unknown, although Ivan and Pikel frequently ally themselves with the Battlehammer clan. At the start of The Cleric Quintet Ivan and Pikel were employed by the Edificant Library as cooks. The priests say that they were some of the best cooks that the library had ever seen.
Ivan Bouldershoulder
Ivan is a stereotypical dwarf. Surly, strong, and always ready for a fight, he has allied himself with both Cadderly Bonaduce and Drizzt Do'Urden, two other characters of R.A. Salvatore's creation. Though he attacks Drizzt in their first meeting despite hearing of him. However, after learning the dark elf was Drizzt apologizes profusely. He mispronounces Drizzt's surname as Dudden. Ivan is described as roughly four feet tall, and about two hundred pounds. He is almost never seen without his brother Pikel, for whom he often serves as translator. Ivan's weapon of choice is a large two-bitted axe. He also carries a crossbow that Cadderly designed. The crossbow, which Ivan himself built, fires unique bolts which are designed to fold in upon themselves, compressing the oil of impact, inside to cause an explosion. Ivan also wears a helmet with the antlers from an eight-point buck attached to it, and lacquered with several metals (the deer having been felled by a hammer throw in a contest with an elf). Ivan can use the helmet as a weapon by headbutting his opponents. The antlers are screwed in place with a tight perfect fit, and sealed with lacquer.
Under the influence of the chaos curse, Ivan did almost nothing except cook for the gluttons, and fight with his brother. But when Cadderly tried to talk to him, he and his brother were able to shake off the curse temporarily, on account of dwarves' natural resistance to enchantments. After he and Pikel came to their senses, they journeyed with Cadderly to the cellars of The Edificant Library to defeat the chaos curse, and the priest, Barjin, who brought it. Ivan is also shown to care deeply for his brother Pikel, especially when Pikel was apparently killed while fighting undead. After Pikel was struck down, Ivan only cared for hunting down the undead they were fighting, and almost attacked Cadderly when Cadderly was trying to calm Ivan down.
Pikel Bouldershoulder
Pikel is the antithesis of his brother; his hair is dyed green, and worn braided behind his ears, and a follower of the way of the druid. (which Pikel pronounces 'doo-dad'). Pikel's clothing is also unique among dwarves, preferring a green sleeveless robe and sandals over armor and heavy boots. When in battle, he often dons a cooking pot for a helmet. His weapon of choice is the shillelagh, a magical druid club. He always refers to this weapon as a "Sha-la-la!". Pikel's vocabulary is mostly restricted to "Hee Hee Hee", "Poof!", "Wee!", "Ooo," and "Boom", his brother usually translating for everyone else. He is often identified by his trademark "Oo oi!" Whenever Ivan refers to Pikel as "me brother", Pikel always echoes with "Me brudder". He also yells "Booner!" when he hears of Bruenor Battlehammer. He is often portrayed as childish and curious showing an odd sense of courage such as being unafraid of Drizzt's magic panther. He recently lost an arm during the War against Obould Many-Arrows. Pikel seems to have some druidic characteristics, for in the past, he has charmed animals, and talked to stone and tree. Pikel begins his druid training in the fallen fortress and then becomes a full-fledged druid.
J
Jack The Gnome
Jack the Gnome was a moderately powerful spellcaster who appeared in the novel The Orc King.
Jack lived in the Underdark for centuries and was at one time a student of illithids and demons in his search for greater magical knowledge. The illithids in particular taught him to escape the bounds of the corporeal and of the mortal. Apparently, Jack was highly skilled at shape changing. He often took the form of a winged snake (Jaculi) to carry on his mischief and manipulations of the shamans of the half-orc, half-ogre tribe Clan Karuck, who resided beneath the Spine of the World in the upper reaches of the Underdark.
Jack felt he was a great rival of Lady Alustriel due to some undetailed slight he apparently made against her about a century before the year of his death.
Jack the Gnome was slain by Drizzt Do'Urden in 1372 DR.
Jack's silk wizard robe is a magical robe that cannot be soiled or dirtied in any way. It was taken from Jack's corpse by Drizzt as loot and given to Catti-brie.
Jak Fleet is the halfling friend and adventuring companion of Erevis Cale. In his early career, Jak served as a cleric/thief in the semi-secret organization known as the Harpers. He is a prominent character in The Erevis Cale Trilogy by author Paul S. Kemp.
Jorus Azuremantle, a half-elven wizard, is the current leader of the Spellguard, an order of magic users dedicated to the defence of the city of Silverymoon in Northern Faerûn.
K
Kaanyr Vhok
Kaanyr Vhok is a half-demon cambion, general of a fiendish army of tanarukks known as the Scourged Legion. His base of operations in the game world is in the Underdark region of the Silver Marches. His consort is an alu-fiend named Aliisza.
Karsus was the greatest arcanist that has ever lived. He was the mightiest archmage of fallen Netheril, and its de facto ruler. During its latter days, known as the Shadowed Age, he devised a spell known as Karsus' avatar that allowed him to steal the powers of a deity. Unfortunately, he decided to use it to replace the divinity of magic to stop the magical Phaerimm, only to discover that while he had her powers he could not control them. As he was bonded with the Weave, Mystryl ended her existence, sundering her connection to the Weave (and, by extension, Karsus').
This event briefly unraveled the Weave, spelling the doom of the magic-rich Netheril, as this civilization dwelt on magic-fuelled flying cities. Karsus died in the process, and his soul was sundered into three parts – one infused in the Karse Stone, one in his petrified corpse in the Astral Plane, and one infused in the mindless Golem in the settlement of Karse. Those well-versed in magic remember Karsus as the most powerful archmage of all times.
Appearances
Richard Baker; Ed Bonny; Travis Stout. Lost Empires of Faerûn (3.5 ed.). Wizards of the Coast.
Kesson Rel is a former Chosen of Mask. He now serves Shar as her voice and hand. Kesson Rel has been imprisoned in the Plane of Shadow for thousands of years when a group of priests serving Mask, captured some of Kesson's life force and bound it to the shadow dragon known as Furlinastis. In the book Shadowstorm Erevis Cale kills Furlinastis and releases the bound essence of Kesson Rel and makes him whole and free to do his mistress' evil work.
Kesson Rel is also known as Volumvax and Lord Sciagraph. He is killed in the book Shadowrealm.
Kezef the Chaos Hound
Kezef the Chaos Hound is based on Fenrir of Norse mythology, although his name is taken from the first of the five Archangels of Punishment in Hebrew lore. Kezef is a unique being who roams the Outer Planes constantly hunting the Faithful, which are the souls of those who have chosen to venerate one god above all others. He has no taste for the Faithless or the False and is sickened by the taste of the unripened spirits of the still-living. When Kezef destroys one of the Faithful, the maggots that make up his pelt swarm away from his jet-boned skeleton to devour the corpse. The gorged creatures then mill slowly over Kezef's body, making him appear bloated. Any of the Faithful who are eaten in this fashion are forever and truly destroyed, beyond even the recall of the gods.
The Ravager of the Heavens relishes the scent of hatred, and he sometimes pauses and becomes substantial so that he can savor a particularly juicy emotional scent. In his wake, he leaves screaming nightmares particularly cherished by Dendar the Night Serpent. He is nauseated by the scent of cloying, reckless happiness.
Kezef appears as a huge mastiff with unearthly malevolent, red eyes and a ratty tail. he was imprisoned for centuries within the howling depths of Pandemonium by an alliance of Faerûnian gods when the Circle of Greater Powers forbade traffic by deity or mortal with the beast. After he was hunted down, the powers bet Kezef he could not break a leash forged by Gond the Wonderbringer. Kezef allowed Gond to place a short length of sturdy chain around his neck in exchange for Tyr placing his right hand in the Chaos Hound's slavering jaws. Gond anchored the chain miles deep into the rock of Pandemonium, and Mystra wrapped the beast in an unbreakable, glowing curtain of magical energy that automatically repaired itself. From these two traps Kezef could not escape, and no one could reach him. When Kezef discovered he was truly fettered, he bit off Tyr's hand and feasted on its divine essence for centuries as he strove to free himself. Kezef was eventually freed, by Cyric's machinations, to once again hunt the souls of mortals and gods alike.
Kierkan Rufo was originally a cleric at the Edificant Library, and the rival of Cadderly Bonaduce. Jealous of the attention his fellow devotee of Deneir received, Rufo was easily manipulated by the evil priest of Talona, Barjin, who hypnotized him in his efforts to unleash the chaos curse. So affected by the curse, Rufo was overtaken by his hatred for Cadderly and his lust for Danica Maupoissant. Despite becoming violent, he was subdued and freed from the effects of the curse.
Later on, Rufo became repentant, seeking to redeem himself for his actions. He accompanied Cadderly, Danica, and the elf prince Elbereth to Shilmista, which had come under assault from Barjin's allies, among them Aballister Bonaduce. Once again, Rufo found himself manipulated, forced to obey the wizard Dorigen and her imp ally Druzil. A coward to the end, Rufo returned home before the conflict ended. Accompanying Headmaster Avery to Carradoon, he was once again used as a pawn by Castle Trinity. Inadvertently, his actions resulted in Avery's death, and he received a holy brand from Cadderly.
Exiled and alone, Rufo met up with Druzil once again, returning to the Edificant Library to retrieve the chaos curse. Consumed by greed, Rufo consumed the elixir, transforming himself into a vampire. He proceeded to seize control of the library, making many of the other priests into lesser vampires or zombies-with the exception of Brother Chaunticleer. So prepared, he was lying in wait when Danica returned to the library. Rufo attempted to take her as his queen, but was denied by her use of suspended animation.
Cadderly's return led to a confrontation between the old rivals, a battle of Rufo's evil magic against the clerical powers Cadderly possessed. So great was Rufo's power, he denied Deneir in Cadderly's face. However, with the combination of Cadderly's power and the light of the sun, Rufo was destroyed, followed shortly thereafter by the desecrated Library.
Created by the famous Sci-fi fantasy author, R. A. Salvatore, Kimmuriel Oblodra is described as an intelligent and powerful drowpsionicist of Menzoberranzan. A drow elf of few words, Kimmuriel rarely ever speaks when unnecessary and hardly ever shows any emotions at all. He always appears as calm and in control even during the most deadly situations. Smart and calculating, Kimmuriel is always one to use reasoning and logic to decide his actions as opposed to emotions. His intelligence is apparent through the use of his psionic mind powers and his actions which have gotten him to survive the fall of House Oblodra to become the leader of Bregan D'aerthe.
The Kraken
The Kraken is a secret society in the Savage Frontier area. They worship the Kraken, a giant squid that prows the Trackless Sea and can easily destroy the largest ships.
Kymil Nimesin
Kymil is a gold elf, and has a nobility of feature and character that previously earned him a spotless reputation as one of the finest teachers of swordsmanship and as an eminent person at the elven court. He is over six hundred years old, and has borne witness to the fall of Myth Drannor, and the rise of the Moonflower rulers of Evermeet. The latter detail he regards as an abomination that never should have happened, and considers the gold elves to be the true rulers of elvenkind. He has spent much of his life toiling endlessly to come up with a plan to kill off the royal family of Evermeet and restore the Council of Elders, which was the form of government in the days of Myth Drannor. Towards this end, he employed numerous agents and resources, including a group of gold elves he referred to as his Elite Guard, treasure taken from a dragon's hoard, and even the dark elven goddess Lolth. In the novel Elfshadow, his efforts had almost succeeded, and all members of the royal family but three were dead, including King Zaor Moonflower, and Princess Amnestria, the mother of Arilyn Moonblade. However, Arilyn and Danilo Thann managed to relocate the portal to Evermeet he planned to use, and she defeated him in hand-to-hand combat. He was tried by a Harper tribunal and sentenced to lifelong imprisonment in some remote dimensional plane, but escaped with the aid of Lolth, and renewed his plan by mounting a massive assault upon Evermeet that left many elves dead and the island scarred. He was again stopped, this time by Prince Lamruil, but again escaped through use of a magical ring. His current whereabouts are unknown, but he can only be pursuing the same goal, which he has come to believe in so fanatically that there are many who question his sanity.
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Liriel Baenre
Liriel Baenre (created by Elaine Cunningham[51])—the beautiful, flippant, and sardonic daughter of Gromph— originally belonged to House Vandree, before her talent for arcane magic, and spellcasting in particular,[52] was discovered by her father. Taken into the ranks of the Baenres, Gromph still sought to keep her separated from the influence of his sisters and mother, and he sent her to stay with a minor House to hone her magical talent rather than study to be a priestess. Liriel grew independent and soon found the restrictions of Arach-Tinilith, where she was subsequently enrolled, too binding. Using a book given to her by her father, Liriel traveled to the surface lands where she met drow followers of Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden of benevolent drow. Caught up in the plots of the Vhaeraunite merchant-turned-mercenary band the Dragon's Hoard, Liriel—a powerful mage, warrior and ex-priestess of Lolth—led a struggle against them with the help of her friends—a human barbarian named Fyodor of Rashemen, the mutant two-headed deep dragon Zz'Pzora, and the Eilistraeean forces of Qilué of the Seven Sisters.
Settling for a life on the surface, Liriel found herself hunted by her House and father. She traveled across the ocean with Fyodor, who became her lover and friend, and a pirate named Hrolf, who took her in as a daughter. Liriel's adventures caused drastic consequences for all drow, including the return of her aunt Quenthel to her old House, as well as allowing drow magic to function on the surface.
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Malice Do'Urden
Malice Do'Urden was Matron of House Do'Urden until her death. She was a strong priestess and had favor of Lolth for a long time. She is the only known user of the power of the birth against her enemies. She was the mother of Drizzt, Dinin, Nalfein, Vierna, Maya and Briza. She also had to adopt SiNafay Hun'ett. She first fell out of the favor of Lloth because of Drizzt's actions on the surface raid. She regained temporarily the favor of Lloth by sacrificing Zaknafein as an atonement. She again lost the favor of Lloth after Drizzt's departure from Menzoberranzan. Malice never regained Lolth's favor but was given a final chance by Lloth to regain her favor by destroying Drizzt by the use of Zin-carla. She received the power for this spell by sacrificing SiNafay. She lost control of Zin-carla for a moment, which was enough time for Zaknafein to destroy himself. This caused Malice to forever lose the favor of Lloth and to be killed by Briza, in one last futile desperate attempt to regain Lloth's favor for House Do'Urden.
Malice had six children through three different males: the father of Briza is unknown, Zaknafein was the father of Vierna and Drizzt, and Rizzen was the father of Maya, Nalfein, and Dinin. When Malice's mother died, Briza, Zaknafein and Nalfein were still young, and Malice had just finished her clerical studies.
Manshoon
Manshoon is an extraordinarily powerful, intelligent, and evil wizard. He founded the Zhentarim and was once ruler of the black network, but was overthrown and killed by the traitorous Fzoul Chembryl in a coup. He is a dark-haired man.
As Fzoul prepared to face a clone of Manshoon upon his death, he discovered that a dozen clones had in fact awakened. This spawned the "Manshoon wars" as each clone was programmed to destroy the other ones. To this day, only three clones survive, having overcome their impulse. The one who rejoined the Zhentarim (under the orders of Chembryl) is considered the true Manshoon.
He is the archetype of the evil overlord: extremely intelligent, ruthless, and manipulative. He seems satisfied to be under the orders of Fzoul and to focus on his schemes to further the influence of the black network without having to suffer the day-to-day administration.
Manshoon is an extremely dangerous adversary to have as he has full access to the resources of the Zhentarim and, if necessary, is an epic-level wizard.[42][53][54][55][56]
Malark Springhill
Malark Springhill is a monk and was a servant of Dmitra Flass. He appears in The Haunted Lands trilogy.
Malark is not of Mulan descent but since he moved to Eltabbar he started to shave his head and put on tattoos like a Mulan born. He is compactly build and has a small wine-red birthmark on his chin. He doesn't look overly impressive or dangerous until one notices his graceful movements or the cool calculation in his eyes.
Malark detests the undead, probably because of his attitude towards death. Since his decades with the Monks of the Long Death Malark believes death is a gift; that all deaths are desirable but some are better than others. He believes that in his duty as assassin, the really good deaths must take a form appropriate to the victim's life and come to him in the proper time. Malark believes it to be a duty and highest form of art to arrange such passings as opportunity allows. Centuries ago, Malark found a potion of eternal youth and drank it. When his family and friends died of age, Malark tried living with the long-lived races of dwarves and elves, although eventually they died as well. Malark tried to cling to causes and places until those died, too. He gave his affection for towns until they were sacked and all inhabitants massacred. The only constant in his life was death. He came to see death as a gift. When he stumbled across one of the hidden enclaves of the Monks of the Long Death, Malark became a novice. and learned all that he could. Then the monastery was run over by paladins and all the monks where slain, only Malark escaped.
He became older than even Thay, having lived during the times when the Red Wizards formed a rebellion against Mulhorand and Thay was erected.
Originating from Mulmaster, Malark came with Dmitra when she moved to Eltabbar. He headed Dmitra's spy network.
He betrayed his friends and allies, became Szass Tam's apprentice and became a powerful Red Wizard.
He was slain in battle by his former friends Aoth Fezim, Bareris Anskuld and Mirror in 1478 DR when he attempted to destroy the world and all life. Malark's last words before he died were "Thank you" "I wish you could see it too. It's everything I...".
Maya Do'Urden
Maya Do'Urden was the youngest of three daughters of Matron Malice Do'Urden; she was a powerful priestess of Lolth. She was slain by House Baenre troops.
Methrammar Aerasumé is a half-elven martial wizard, son of Silverymoon's High Lady Alustriel Silverhand and an elf, and High Marshal of the Argent Legion, the defense force and standing army of the Silver Marches. In this position he also has the seventh seat on the council of the Silver Marches as a peer.
Aerasumé constantly tries hard to live up to his mother's standards, feeling somewhat in the shadow of the great mage, politician, and Chosen of Mystra. Soft-spoken and humbly mannered, he has gotten much respect from the Argent Legion he commands though, and many follow him purely out of loyalty. He has a pseudodragonfamiliar called Beau and an intelligent magical bow called Swiftflight, a present from his half-brother Tyresia.
Mirror is an ancient ghost, who appears in The Haunted Lands Trilogy. He helps Aoth and Bareris fight Szass Tam, his henchmen and his undead army. He was killed along with Bareris during a battle with Szass Tam.
Montolio Debrouchee
Montolio Debrouchee is a character created by R.A. Salvatore. Montolio was a ranger of great renown, having dedicated himself to the defense of all living things not evil in nature, and total dedication to the goddess of the forest, Mielikki, at an early age. He served as a ranger for many years, often as a scout for large armies, or working with small groups of rangers or by himself. Montolio was a good friend of Drizzt Do'Urden. He was blinded five years before he met Drizzt while serving with a ranger group known as the Range Watchers, when they encountered and came into battle against a vicious red dragon, which killed three rangers and melted Montolio's face. His face was healed by clerics, but his eyes were beyond repair. Being pitied even by the Range Watchers and thinking his life meaningless, he fell into despair and came to the grove to die there. Instead, he learned to survive by using his other senses to their fullest extent. He befriended the animals and made it a personal goal to keep watch on, and protect the caravans going near the grove from Graul, an orc leader, and his raiding band. One of his animal companions was a Koukouvagia owl named Hooter, which helped him by hooting over targets that Mooshie would shoot with his mighty bow, or one of the many strategically placed crossbows in his grove.
He was a teacher in the ways of the ranger to Drizzt, telling him of Mielikki. During Drizzt's short stay at Montolio's home in the forest, the two formed a strong friendship.
Montolio eventually died of natural causes in his sleep, after having repelled a vicious orc attack with the aid of Drizzt and Guenhwyvar.
Moonstars
The Moonstars are one of the most recent and most covert secret societies to appear in Faerûn in decades. Born in the tumult of a fall-out between several senior Harpers, the members of the Moonstars now operate independently of the former group, though they share many of the same goals. Led by the iconoclastic Chosen of Mystra, former Master Harper, ex-Lord of Waterdeep, and incredibly powerful and knowledgeable mage, Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun and his consort, the Mage Lady of Waterdeep, Laeral Silverhand, the Moonstars have spent the last few years establishing their own intelligence network, including agents, spies, informants, adventurers, and a system of portals to allow them fast access to any part of Faerûn.
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Nalfein Do'Urden
Once the elderboy of House Do'Urden, Nalfein was a powerful wizard and a great asset to House Do'Urden. On their attack on House DeVir, while Malice was giving birth to Drizzt, he was betrayed and assassinated by his brother Dinin, who wished to become Elderboy himself. He was accepted as an appropriate sacrifice instead of Drizzt that night, saving the young baby's life.
Narnra Shalace
Narnra Shalace first appears in the fifth book of The Elminster Series, Elminster's Daughter.
Since being orphaned as a child, Narnra, now in her early twenties, has made a scarce living as a mediocre thief in the streets of Waterdeep, all alone. Through a series of unlikely events she comes to learn that the father she never knew is the most powerful mage in all of Faerûn. Against her will she is pulled into an adventure where she eventually learns—for the first time in her life—about the meaning of friendship, trust, and love.
Nasher Alagondar
Lord Nasher Alagondar is the ruler of the city of Neverwinter, a position which he rose to after a successful decade as a member of the Northern Four Adventuring Troupe.
Lord Nasher was an adventurer for a number of years, traveling with three companions. After the Troupe split up, Nasher came to rule Neverwinter, while his once-friend Kurth became a High Captain of Luskan, Neverwinter's archrival. Kurth's lover Ophala went with Nasher to Neverwinter as a member of the city's mages' guild, the Many-Starred Cloak. Neither Kurth nor Ophala ever forgave Nasher, though Ophala's loyalty to Neverwinter prevented her from doing anything about it.
Lord Nasher suffered greatly when the Wailing Death struck Neverwinter (it was rumored that he had contracted the disease himself), leaving his right hand, Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande to organize the search for a cure.
Following Aribeth's betrayal, Lord Nasher organized the defense of the city in the war, while Aarin Gend and the Hero of Neverwinter (the PC) searched for a set of mysterious artifacts theoretically capable of saving the city.
He is the only major NPC, besides a brief appearance of Fenthick, from the original Neverwinter Nights to return for the sequel.
Though Lord Nasher often refers to the city as "my Neverwinter," he does so because of his love for the city, rather than a sense of possession.
Lord Nasher died in the Spellplague. By 1479 D.R., his name has become the warcry upon rebels in Neverwinter rise against Dagult Neverember, the Open Lord of Waterdeep, self-proclaimed Lord Protector of Neverwinter, and candidate to the throne of the city, should Nasher's Crown of Neverwinter be found.
Olive is a female halfling and is a sometime companion of Alias. Her first appearance is in the novel Azure Bonds, written by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak. Olive is a typical female halfling, averaging the height of a human child, with curly red hair and green eyes. Her waistline is noticeably less than is average with female halflings, though.
Though her birth name may indeed be Olive, the surname Ruskettle and the reputation as a bard came from someone else: Olav Ruskettle, who was referred to by Finder as a true bard. Olive won a game of dice (with unloaded dice, no less) from the apparently elderly Olav, who she described as being without a right hand and that his "voice was beginning to fade." This is in keeping with Finder's knowledge of the man, who himself describes Olav as having a bad habit for gambling and would have wagered his own mother on a roll of the dice. As her prize, she claimed his name.
Despite her less-than-truthful claims to be a bard, Olive is actually a fairly talented musician. Additionally, as with many halflings, she is accomplished at having "lost" items turn up in her possession, that she's just been waiting to return to the proper owner.
Olive first meets Alias when the latter is contracted to rescue the kidnapped "bard" from the red dragon commonly referred to as Mist. Olive quickly found herself mired in the mystery surrounding Alias, and traveled with the swordswoman for the remainder of the first book.
In the second, Olive has parted company with the others and journeyed to Westgate, meeting up with one of the clones of Alias created by Phalse, named Jade More. Jade met a quick end at the hands of Flattery, who had mistaken her for another clone, Cat of Ordulin, who Flattery had enslaved in a plot to claim the Wyvernspur family treasure. In the course of that adventure, Olive found a picture of Nameless, and found on the back the name "Finder" after the blacking concealing it had been removed, thus providing Nameless with his own name.
In the events of the third book, Song of the Saurials, Olive has reunited with Finder (giving him back his name in the progress), and eventually wound up being named a member of the Harpers organization, ironically something that she had occasionally claimed was truth to lend more credence to her words. Sadly for her, she was immediately given an assignment that suited someone "just like (her)," in the words of one of the senior members of that organization.
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Pharaun Mizzrym
Pharaun Mizzrym appears in the War of the Spider Queen series. He is a mage from House Mizzrym of Menzoberranzan. He is charismatic and is a fine example of a drow mage—well-dressed, eloquent, and never left standing on one foot. He employs a variety of tools to get the job done—magic and subterfuge are the two most often seen, but he will not hesitate to make a deal with a whore or murder seven apprentices to gain power. He is often contrasted with Ryld Argith, but the two share a steadfast friendship that is somewhat shaken at the end of Dissolution, the first book in the War of the Spider Queen hexad.
Pharaun lived his early life as a typical young drow male—acting as servant for House Mizzrym, straining to master his natural abilities, and trying to stay out of sight. He soon left his House for Sorcere, the drow academy of magic. While he was gone, his two twin sisters continued a feud that ended with the humiliation and degradation of his sister Sabal. When he returned to House Mizzrym, he sided with Sabal because he preferred the challenge of supporting the losing sister.
Pharaun remained loyal to Sabal, but eventually his other sister killed her. She sprung a trap for him, using an undead Sabal as bait, and nearly killed him, had he not thought quickly and escaped on a foulwing.
During his time at Sorcere, Pharaun attempted to gain control of a powerful demon called Sarthos, but he had to use seven apprentices in the spell. He didn't want aid from other Masters of Sorcere, as they would also gain credit for the summoning, so he used apprentices. The Sarthos demon killed them all within a heartbeat, resulting in Gromph Baenre's ire.
Pharaun was later chosen for a mission by Gromph Baenre (as punishment for his waste of apprentices) to investigate a matter of a large number of males eloping from their Houses. However, Gromph may have underestimated him, for Pharaun developed his own agenda by the end of the adventure.
With the aid of his friend Ryld Argith, Pharaun discovered that the eloping drow males were being recruited to an organization led by an alhoon (also known as an illithilich). This organization was later discovered to be connected to the Jaezred Chaulssin.
Due to their success in exposing the rebel group, Pharaun and Ryld were chosen to be members of an expedition led by Quenthel Baenre whose purpose was to discover the cause of Lolth's Silence and obtain some merchandise co-owned by House Baenre and House Melarn in Ched Nasad. The members of the party were Pharaun Mizzrym, Ryld Argith (weaponsmaster of House Argith and a Master of Melee Magthere), Halistra Melarn and Danifae Yauntyrr (both of the now destroyed Ched Nasad), Valas Hune (scout of Bregan D'aerthe), and Quenthel Baenre.
Pharaun had a volatile relationship with Quenthel. Quenthel is female and the second highest-ranking person in the matriarchal society of Menzoberranzan, but due to Lolth's Silence, she had no clerical powers. Pharaun is egotistical, cocky, and witty. Coupled with that personality (which is considered insubordinate to the drow females), and as he is the only mage in the small expedition, that left Pharaun with the most power, and the group depends on him for survival. Pharaun treats Quenthel with the proper respect after she regains her clerical powers.
In Resurrection, the final novel of the War of the Spider Queen series, Pharaun is left to die on the blasted land of the Demonweb Pits, where he is devoured by a horde of spiders. His finger, still wearing a ring of Sorcere is later taken by his alu-fiend lover, Aliisza. This opens up the possibility that she may have him resurrected. In the novel, "The Gossamer Plain", by Thomas M. Reid, it is revealed that Pharaun is the father of Aliisza's child.
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Quenthel Baenre
Quenthel, third daughter of Yvonnel Baenre, High Priestess of Lolth, second only to Matron Mother Triel Baenre as Menzoberranzan's most powerful priestess, rose through the ranks as High Priestess quickly with Lolth's favor. Returned from death by the will of Lolth after being slain by Drizzt Do'Urden during the end of the drow invasion of Mithral Hall, and has been reinstated as Mistress of Arach-Tinilith, the priestess school of Menzoberranzan. Her house attempted to cover up her absence by claiming she had gone on a mission, and kept the secret from many. Until now, the only male to have known about her death is Gromph Baenre, when he admitted to his sister Triel that he had found out. She and Triel's draegloth son, Jeggred, teamed up to uncover the mystery of Lolth's Silence. After the Silence of Lolth was uncovered, Quenthel was ordered to return to Menzoberranzan by the reborn Mother of Lusts and continue heading her faith in that city as Mistress of Arach-Tinilith.
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Randilus Qelver
Randilus writes Qelver’s Joyous Journeys in Baldur’s Gate and is a rival to travel writer Volothamp Geddarm. He appears in Issue 6 of the Dragon+ app, in an article penned by Ed Greenwood.
According to Ken Rolston, "The haughty and arrogant Red Wizards of Thay employ their awesome sorcerous powers in their expansionistic and imperialistic policy of swallowing up neighbor states."[33]
Rhannek
Rhannek is a fighter who uses a bastard sword with deadly force. Early in the game Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, he acquires Gauntlets of Ogre Strength, allowing him to shatter barricades with magically-enhanced power.
Rhannek hails from the town of Nesme, which is sacked by trolls. Early in the raid, Rhannek is knocked unconscious and wakes to find his comrades dead. As with Illius' father, Ygorl had influenced the trolls to attack Nesme but leave one warrior alive. After this Rhannek leaves and headed towards Damara. During his journey, he follows a Red Dragon to a battle between Orc Armies outside Gemspark Mine. Here, he meets up with Illius and Zhai, his future traveling companions.
Rhannek is mentioned in R.A. Salvatore's novel The Two Swords as a young upstart at odds with Galen Firth, the captain of the Riders of Nesme.
Rivalen Tanthul
Rivalen Tanthul is the first of the twelve Princes of Shade. He is a tall man with incredible strength and has golden eyes. Rivalen is an accomplished wizard but also The Nightseer, a high priest of Shar, the goddess of loss and night. This makes him what the Netheril call a Theurge, blending the magic of the Art and the Power. Rivalen Tanthul is now a god, after absorbing some of Mask's power after helping Erevis Cale and Drasek Riven kill Kesson Rel.
Rizzen was the patron of Matron Malice Do'Urden until his death, in which Malice tricked Rizzen into engaging the spirit-wraith Zaknafein in a fight, when he was promptly hacked to pieces by him. Even though Zaknafein was dead, he still had his same skills. Malice claimed that it was no great loss as she had already chosen her next patron from amongst the soldiers of House Do'Urden. Rizzen was also the patron of House Do'Urden at the time of Drizzt Do'Urden's birth, though it was common knowledge that he was not the father of Drizzt. He was the known father of Nalfein, Dinin and Maya.
Robillard
Robillard is a powerful wizard and close ally of Deudermont. He serves as the second in command on Deudermont's vessel, the Sea Sprite. He's portrayed as grumpy in Passage to Dawn but with the company of Harkle Harple lightens up in a way. He has a featured role in Spine of The World and Sea of Swords, where he saves Deudermont's life and sets Wulfgar on the path to become the warrior he once was. He is a capable magic user and is even skilled in the art of healing, aiding Deudermont after an assassination attempt, an act which helped save the life of Wulfgar the barbarian; had Deudermont not woken, Wulfgar would have been falsely executed for the alleged assassination attempt, a crime which Deudermont confirmed he did not commit.
Robillard's power became even more evident in The Pirate King when he single-handedly defeated Arklem Greeth, a lich and the former Archmage Arcane of the Arcane Brotherhood. This battle, however, pulled the wizard from his Captain's side, allowing High Captain Kensidan of Luskan to bait and kill Captain Deudermont.
Ryld grew up on the streets of Menzoberranzan and saw throughout his childhood the many atrocities that the nobles brought down upon them as they hunted them often for sport. Growing into adolescence Ryld was accepted into the Academy of Fighters, Melee Magthere. It was there he trained in several drow fighting styles, the most prominent to him being that of the greatsword. During his years at the Academy, Ryld rose as high as was possible due to his non-noble status, due to his incredibly proficient skill with weapons. Ryld is unusual for a Drow because of his burly build. He stands about five and a half feet tall, but is more heavily muscled than the average Drow. He is also unusual because instead of wearing supple chain mail under the traditional Drow piwafwi, he is covered in entirely in black Dwarven plate armor.
During his years at the Academy, Ryld befriended Pharaun Mizzrym, a mage from Sorcere of noble birth. They had a relationship as close to friendship as any Drow could have. Unfortunately, this didn't prevent Pharaun from leaving him to fend off and presumably die from pursuers while in a hideout that belonged to a branch of the Jaezred Chaulssin. Although Ryld survived the encounter, it set a deep rift between them next time they met.
Ryld was then chosen as a member of a Drow party that was sent to find out why Lloth had fallen silent. Along the way the party met Hallistra Mellarn and Danifae, priestesses of Lloth from the destroyed Drow city of Ched Nasad. Hallistra befriended Ryld and the two eventually left to try to find a different life, devoid of Drow corruption. They eventually had to return to their former group as Hallistra was determined to destroy Lloth. Danifae later ordred the Draegloth Jeggred Baenre to hunt down and kill Ryld. Although Ryld put up a massive and prolonged fight, Jaeggred eventually killed him and ate his heart.
Ryld wielded a magical greatsword known as Splitter, which is capable of shearing through nearly any armor.
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Sammaster
As one of Mystra's chosen, Sammaster possessed great power, in addition to his own skills he also possessed a fraction of Mystra's essence like Elminster and Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun. In Sammaster's case however, the additional power brought delusions of power and madness, which consumed him and triggered a series of events that in the end cost him his life. With help he rose from the dead and sought out knowledge. He came to believe in time that "dead dragons shall rule the world entirely" and spent his undeath working towards the realization of his goal. Often he has crossed paths with the Chosen of Mystra, worshipers of Mystra, and even the god Lathander in his quest.
In the Year of Fell Pearls (887DR) Sammaster publishes his retranslations of many tomes including the Chronicles of Years to Come, of which was originally created by the oracle and seer Maglas. It is this tome that the Cult of the Dragon's sole purpose is founded upon.
The original translation by Maglas stated, "And naught will be left save shattered thrones, with no rulers but the dead. Dragons shall rule the world entire, and..."
Sammaster incorrectly translated this to read, "And naught will be left save shattered thrones with no rulers. But the dead dragons shall rule the world entire, and..."[citation needed]
Simply by moving some punctuation around in these Chronicles, Sammaster was able to talk dragons into becoming a dracolich and at the same time, recruit followers of the Cult.
It was also around this time that Algashon, a Priest of Bane, cast a spell upon Sammaster to bring him back life after a great battle Sammaster had with his former lover, Alustriel. When Sammaster returned from the dead, he no longer possessed the Silver Fire given to him by Mystra, but he did retain some qualities given to the Chosen of Mystra like fast healing and he was also able to remain ageless.
Later, in a successful attack to claim Sammaster's life, trickery launched by Algashon. Sammaster is killed in a battle. Algashon then takes over the Cult of the Dragon and steers the Cult into worshipers and followers of Bane in hopes to gain power granted by Bane.
At the time of Sammaster's death, Sammaster was said to be a lich himself. It is also said, that to this day, Sammaster remains in his Phalactery somewhere in the Dalelands, in an unknown location around the Battle of Bones, waiting a corpse to possess.
Sernius Alathar
Sernius Alathar is a human paladin who is the current leader of the Knights In Silver, Silverymoon's main fighting force.
The Seven Sisters are characters created by Ed Greenwood, and are Syluné, Alustriel Silverhand, Dove Falconhand, Storm Silverhand, Laeral Silverhand Arunsun, The Simbul, and Qilué Veladorn.
Shadow Thieves
The Shadow Thieves are a thieves guild based in the city of Athkatla, a large port city. They were the original Thieves guild of Waterdeep, until they were driven out and to Amn by the Lords of that city. It is alleged they have some arrangement with the Council of Six, as the merchants of Waterdeep are the main trading enemies of Amn.
Shandril Shessair
Shandril Shessair is the protagonist in the Forgotten Realms novel Spellfire. Shandril is the first wielder of Spellfire introduced in Realmslore.
Shandril is the daughter of Garthond, a wizard who had often fought the Cult of the Dragon, and Dammasae, an adventurer whom Garthond had rescued from the cult. Dammasae had the ability to use spellfire and passed on that power to her daughter. The family lived quietly in Elturel only until Shandril was old enough to withstand the rigors of travel, for the cult – which already knew of Dammasae's ability – wanted the child as well as the mother.
When Shandril was eight months old, the family fled with Gorstag, a battle-axe wielding warrior. The four moved to the east in disguise. But at the Bridge of Fallen Men near Cormyr, the cult attacked from ambush. Garthond gave his life for the freedom of his wife and daughter. Before he died, Shandril's father destroyed nine cult mages and three swordsmen. Gorstag and Dammasae were both wounded, but they fled with Shandril toward Shadowdale.
Shandril's mother did not live to reach their destination. After Dammasae died, Gorstag turned south toward Deepingdale, hoping to leave the infant Shandril with the elves there. He then planned to retrieve Garthond's writings and the magical items that were Shandril's inheritance. The elves brought word to him, however that the cult had broken into Garthond's tower and prepared its basements to become the lair of one of their dracoliches, Rauglothgor.
Counting on the fact that he was not well known to the cult and thus he would be able to keep Shandril's location a secret from them, Gorstag stayed on in Deepingdale, raising her as a servant girl. When she was old enough, she helped him run the inn he had purchased.
Shandril ran off to become an adventuring thief at the age of 16, bored by her quiet life and eager to see to world. She joined the Company of the Bright Spear, but that group was soon decimated in a battle with a large party of cult members. Shandril was captured and imprisoned inside an old tomb.
She managed to escape using a magical device that was hidden in the crypt. However, the magic teleported her into the fiend-infested city of Myth Drannor, where she was again captured by the Cult. The Shadowsil, the cult's archmage, intended to make 'good' use of Shandril's virgin blood, a key ingredient in maintaining the dracoliches that the cult creates.
An apprentice mage by the name of Narm witnessed Shandril's abduction and enlisted the aid of the fabled Knights of Myth Drannor. With the help of the Knights and Elminster, Narm was able to rescue Shandril just before she would have been consumed by the dracolich Rauglothgor.
During this conflict, a strange creature capable of absorbing magical energy, known as a balhiir, was accidentally released from a crystal where it had been contained. The presence of the creature foiled all of Elminster's magical attacks against the dracolich. Suspecting that truly special powers lay dormant within her, Elminster asked Shandril to absorb the energy of the balhiir itself.
Attempting this feat awoke Shandril's latent spellfire ability, and she absorbed the energy from the balhiir. Filled to bursting with magical power, Shandril released the force in the form of bolts of silvery, destructive fire that blew apart Rauglothgor, the cult members, and much of the surrounding terrain. His suspicions confirmed, Elminster took Shandril and Narm back to Shadowdale, where he tested Shandril's ability and helped her refine it. Shandril and Narm were soon married, in between attacks by the cult and the Zhentarim.
The couple then received an invitation to Silverymoon, issued by Lady Alustriel, the ruler of that city. Alustriel promised protection from those who sought Shandril's power, as well as further instruction in the use of spellfire. Shandril and Narm prepared for a long journey.
The pair's first stop was Deepingdale, where Shandril was reunited with Gorstag. They were betrayed, however, by a cult member and had to flee again. A third dracolich was sent to destroy Shandril and Narm, but Shandril managed to absorb its magical breath weapon, destroy the undead beast, and heal Narm's injuries. A dwarf named Delg Hammerhand, another survivor of the Company of the Bright Spear, caught up to the pair and joined them on their journey to Silverymoon.
As the trio continued their travels, in the second book in the Spellfire trilogy, Crown of Fire, Shandril learned that she and Narm were going to be parents. The Zhentarim began to move against them. In one Zhent attack, the evil men had dug a pit in the trail to catch the heroes as they fled. Only Delg got trapped in the pit, and the threat was easily dispatched by Shandril – after blasting his cohorts to bits with her spellfire, she 'persuaded' the sole surviving Zhent to help get Delg out of the trap. It was not long thereafter that the trio became a quartet when Mirt 'the Moneylender' of Waterdeep, an old friend of Gorstag, joined the company to provide extra protection against the increasing Zhent attacks.
As their journey carried them into the Stonelands of Cormyr, the band of heroes was attacked by Zhentarim wizards and a force of gargoyles. Delg was taken aloft by one of the stony flying beasts, and as he rained axe blows upon the creature's body they both plummeted from the sky. The dwarf was impaled on a shard of rock and could not be saved. Shandril comforted him as he died, and then set about destroying his killers.
The death of Delg convinced Shandril that she had to take a stand against her pursuers. She cremated her friend's body with spellfire, and then instructed Mirt to guide her to Zhentil Keep so she could take the fight to her enemies at their source. He agreed to do so, but instead of heading directly there by a long overland route, Mirt took Shandril to Eveningstar and introduced her to its ruler, Lord Tessaril Winter. After the Lord of Eveningstar came to respect Shandril's need to confront her pursuers, she consented to use a teleport spell to get Shandril to her destination much more quickly.
Shandril found herself transported to Spell Court in Zhentil Keep – surrounded by a ring of beholders. She was able to dispose of all the eye tyrants by using spellfire, but then collapsed from fatigue. Mirt, who had followed her magically through the use of a roguestone, grabbed her unconscious form and managed to keep her out of the clutches of Zhentilar soldiers who were closing in on the two of them.
He got her to a safe place – a festhall that was being run by an undercover Harper — and soon thereafter the two returned by magic to Eveningstar, where they were reunited with Narm, Tessaril, and their other friends. The heroes resolved to return to Zhentil Keep and finish what Shandril and Mirt had begun.
In this climactic battle, the heroes faced the evil priest Fzoul Chembryl and his minions. Another Harper undercover agent, Sarhthor the wizard, took Fzoul's javelin through the chest – a javelin intended for Shandril. As he died, he implored Shandril to touch his head, absorbing his life energy, and create a crown of fire – the most powerful form of spellfire known. Shandril did as he instructed, and with the awesome power that then came under her control she blew away the Wizards' Watch Tower of Zhentil Keep, down to its foundations.
With at least that enemy out of the way, Narm and Shandril were free to resume their long-postponed journey to Silverymoon, after spending some time resting and recuperating in seclusion. After the triumph at Zhentil Keep, Elminster informed her that the child would be a girl and that – as Shandril had – she would inherit the power of spellfire from her mother.
Motivations/Goals: When she was last heard from, Shandril's immediate goal was to reach Silverymoon.
In the long term, Shandril simply wants to live a quiet life with her family and friends. She desires no conquests, no deaths, and no more power than the spellfire she already wields.
In the third and so far final book of what is called Shandril's Saga, Shandril, believing she has killed Narm, turns her spellfire upon herself, feeding it into her mouth until she explodes, killing herself. She later appears to Narm after he tries to kill himself and tells him not to mourn her, but to move on with his life and to love again.
Sheila Kree appears in the Sea of Swords novel. Sheila Kree is a pirate and captain of the ship Bloody Keel. Her partners include Jule Pepper, Le'lorinel, Bellany and many others.
She was defeated by Drizzt Do'Urden and his friends, she died along with her crew when her ship sunk in the icy Sea of Swords.
He is blacker than the darkest night. Not a natural dragon as most know it, he is a denizen of the Plane of Shadow. This plane is said to be a dark version of the known Material Plane, a fact attributed to Shimmergloom's dark scales. Respected even back in his own plane of existence, Shimmergloom has now moved permanently to the Material Plane, served by an army of grey dwarves, or duergar as they are frequently named.
A key player in the invasion of Mithral Hall, this demon dragon's breath did not kill as most dragons do. Instead it beset the target with an impenetrable wave of despair, causing them to either be paralyzed with fear or flee in horror. Shimmergloom resided in Mithral Hall for hundreds of years, amassing a treasure far larger than any in either the Material Plane or his native Plane of Shadows. This reign was cut short though, by the arrival of Bruenor Battlehammer on his quest to reclaim his ancestral home of Mithral Hall, accompanied by the renegade dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden, the barbarian Wulfgar, Regis the halfling, and Bruenor's adopted daughter Cattie-Brie. At the hands of this powerful group the mighty Shimmergloom was slain, his final flight taking him crashing to the bottom of a great gourge, covered in oil with a flaming Bruenor riding his back.
Shi'nayne Do'Urden
SiNafay Hun'ett was Matron of House Hun'ett for a long time. Thinking House Do'Urden posed a threat, she attacked it with help of Bregan D'aerthe. With Jarlaxle's betrayal, her house was defeated and punished by the ruling council of Menzoberranzan. After that, Matron Hun'ett became a member of House Do'Urden under her new name, Shi'nayne Do'Urden. She was tricked and sacrificed to Lolth to summon Zaknafein by using Zin-carla.
Sunrise and Sunset
Sunrise and Sunset are a pair of pegasi in the Forgotten Realms setting based on the Dungeons & Dragonsfantasyrole-playing game. The pair were rescued from giants by the moon elf Tarathiel a few years prior to 1370 DR, and after this they served as winged mounts for him and his partner, Innovindil. Sunrise was so named because her mane is highlighted with a yellowish pink colour. She is about sixteen hands high with strong muscles. Sunset was so named because his mane has reddish tinges down the length of his body. He is about sixteen hands high with strong muscles.
Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necromancy
Szass Tam is the most powerful of a group of eight zulkirs, or wizards, who rule the country of Thay. He is the Zulkir of the school of Necromancy. Tam is a Lich[59] and many of his servants are undead.
Szass Tam is the ruler of Thaymount, however, rumor says that Szass is under the command of Larloch, working on search for artifacts. He attempted to destroy the world and create his own in the year of the Dark Circle (1478 DR), but this plot was foiled.
He makes an appearance in R.A. Salvatore's 2010 book Gauntlgrym. The Forgotten Realms: The Haunted Lands Series features Szass Tam in his attempt to rule over Thay and Toril.
Unclean (Forgotten Realms: The Haunted Lands, Book 1) Undead: The Haunted Lands, Book II Unholy: The Haunted Lands, Book III
Taegan Nightwind is an avariel, an elven subrace noted for their wings and the fact that they are nowadays extremely rare in Faerûn.
Taegan is a warrior, and more specifically a duelist and bladesinger, relying on his lightning reflexes, fencing skills, and arcane abilities rather than brute strength to win a fight. He left his tribe when he was young in order to seek a more adventurous life that the one offered to him if he stayed with his fellow avariel. He regards members of his subrace as little more than uncivilised (though peaceful) nomads, and he does not take pride in talking about them, or even the elven race in general (although lately there have been signs that this may begin to change).
Taegan was a resident of Lyrabar, the capital of the Kingdom of Impiltur, where he ran his own fencing academy. He got caught up in a conspiracy by the Cult of the Dragon (led by the lichSammaster) to induce permanent madness to all dragons in Faerûn, and his academy was burnt in a show of retribution by Sammaster's agents. In the midst of all that, he left Impiltur in the company of a group of dragon hunters he had met only a short time before and three dragons (Karasendrieth, a female song dragon, Chatulio, a copper dragon who was very keen on using illusions, and Jivex, a mischievous faerie dragon). The members of the group were Dorn Graybrook (a half-golem fighter/ranger), Raryn Snowstealer (an arctic dwarf ranger), Pavel Shemov (a human cleric of Lathander), and Will Turnstone (a halfling scout).
He ended up in Thentia, where he worked with the wizards of the city towards discovering a traitor under Sammaster's orders among them. It turned out that Sammaster had probably arranged for the murder of one of the circle's members, Phourkyn One-eye, and compelled a sun wyrm, also a disciple of Ashardalon, to take his place under the veil of illusionary magic. In the meantime, his companions were scattered. Some of them fought to repel a dragon attack against the Monastery of the Yellow Rose, while others fought in Damara alongside King Gareth Dragonsbane against orcs and goblinoids from Vaasa who had crossed the Bloodstone Pass and invaded Damara. Both ventures were successful, and the group in the monastery had discovered secret lore that enabled them to temporarily cure the permanent rage that Sammaster had instilled in the mind of the dragons.
Taegan still remains in Thentia, readying himself for the next step in the quest to unravel Sammaster's plans.
Taern Hornblade
High Mage Taern "Thunderspell" Hornblade is the High Mage of Silverymoon, having succeeded Alustriel when she took the office of High Lady. In place of Alustriel, who has the roles of Lady Protectorate and High Lady, Hornblade sits as a Peer on the council of the Silver Marches for Silverymoon, though he follows Alustriel's wishes whenever they are expressed. He also works as a Harper.
Taern is tall and gray-bearded, a powerful evoker mage and a thoughtful and cautious man. He is nicknamed Thunderspell because of a more reckless youth in which he used his mastery of some formidable battle-spells in mage-duels. He is also somewhat in love with Alustriel.
In Starless Night, Tarathiel meets the famous dark elfDrizzt Do'Urden when the drow travels through the Moonwood on his journey back to the Underdark in order to see if he poses any threat to the surface elves' home. Tarathiel has a conversation with Drizzt, in which he learns that Drizzt had accompanied a drow raiding party that killed the family of Ellifain Tuuserail, one of his Moonwood clan. However, Tarathiel comes to understand that Drizzt took no part in the raid and is able to trust Drizzt even more when they travel to Mooshie's Grove and come across a unicorn, who allows Drizzt to stroke his glistening coat. After witnessing that event, Tarathiel held no more doubts about Drizzt's nature.
In The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, Tarathiel reappears with his partner Innovindil when they notice a pair of dwarves around a campfire in their home, Moonwood. The two take the dwarves, Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder, prisoner until discovering that their intentions are not to harm their woodland home. After realizing that the two dwarves plan on representing the priest Cadderly Bonaduce at the coronation of Bruenor Battlehammer in Mithral Hall, Innovindil and Tarathiel realize that the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden will be returning to the area. This knowledge is of great importance to them because one of their clan, Ellifain Tuuserail, left the Moonwood to find and kill Drizzt due to the misconceived notion that Drizzt was responsible for the slaughter of her family years ago. Before they are able to meet with the dark elf, Innovindil and Tarathiel find the lands around Mithral Hall are ridden with thousands of orcs and scores of frost giants.
After investigating more closely, Innovindil and Tarathiel begin watching over Drizzt Do'Urden as he recklessly slaughters countless orcs on his own out of rage and anger for the loss of his friends at the orc assault on the town of Shallows. After Drizzt finally gets himself into a situation with no escape, the moon elf pair come to the rescue. When they confront Drizzt and ask him to join them, he refuses, as he is still unable to cope with the apparent loss of his friends. After some time, he finally decides to meet the elves, but when he arrives at their cave, he finds two drow holding Innovindil and Tarathiel prisoner. Drizzt dispatches of the dark elves, Ad'non-Kareese and Donnia Soldou, and frees the moon elves. In the conversation that ensues, Innovindil and Tarathiel learn of Ellifain's fate and how she attempted to kill both Drizzt and herself but failed in killing Drizzt. Despite hearing the sad news, they don't blame Drizzt for defending himself.
Innovindil, Tarathiel, and Drizzt become a trio to be feared as they soon take it upon themselves to prevent the orc king Obould Many-Arrows from gaining any reinforcements by turning orc tribes emerging from the Spine of the World back into their holes. Unfortunately, Obould sets up a trap for Tarathiel and his pegasus, Sunrise, and in the fight to follow Obould kills Tarathiel while Innovindil and Drizzt, unable to help, witness the fight.
Tchazzar
Tchazzar was a red dragon who posed as a human warlord and eventually became a god for a time. Despite his age, Tchazzar has the vigor of a red dragon in its prime. His scales are as bright as a wyrmling's except along his wings where they are black as obsidian. His eyes and horns are completely black and the horns themselves are sharp and serrated. His symbol is a red dragon against a mountain.
Thibbledorf Pwent
Thibbledorf Pwent is a dwarven Battlerager (the Most Wild Battlerager as he has called himself), a type of warrior characterized by their unorthodox style of fighting. He wears armor with many incredibly sharp ridges and set-at his knuckles, elbows, knees, and toes-with hooked spikes, which he uses to tear his opponents to shreds by wrapping them in a bear hug and flailing about until his victim goes limp, often continuing to mutilate corpses of his victims out of sheer blood lust. He is also credited with the formation of the Gutbuster Brigade, a battalion of dwarven Battle Ragers similar to Pwent and named after a favorite drink of Pwent.
Pwent is somewhat older than Bruenor Battlehammer, his king, and lived in Mithral Hall before Clan Battlehammer was driven out by a shadow dragon and an army of duergar. He spent the next couple of centuries as a mercenary, developing himself into the Battlerager. When he heard that Mithral Hall had been reclaimed and Bruenor installed as king, he journeyed posthaste to present himself to Bruenor.
Undoubtedly, Pwent's most distinguishing characteristic is the almost toxic stench emanating off his body (the dwarves at Mithral Hall reckon his armpit can curl a hardy flower from a distance of fifty yards). He is a true dwarf in this regard, and harbors a deep sense of hydrophobia. Indeed, when Pwent oversteps his bounds and becomes too overbearing, Bruenor would often threaten to order him to take a bath, which is usually enough to cow the nearly fearless battlerager. By normal dwarven practice, this order would be as unthinkable as a human king ordering his knights to go out and kill babies.
He died of wounds in the ruins of Gauntlgrym, alongside Bruenor, after having carried him to a lever which saved the ancient ruins from destruction. It was later revealed he rose as a vampire, and terrified of his new undead status, fled into the Underdark, to put his new powers to use while hunting all the evil creatures that lie beneath.
Drizzt and Dahlia ended up finding out that Pwent still survived, but as a vampire. Pwent told Drizzt that he'd sit at the opening of a cave and let the sunlight destroy him, and then they parted ways. It was later found out that Pwent was not able to sit and let himself be destroyed, but instead he went back into the underdark to hunt the drow around Gauntlgrym. In the Companions Codex II, by R.A.Salvatore, the new Companions of the Hall captured Pwent in a magical horn that Wulfgar had come to possess and took him to the Harpells in Longsaddle to give him a proper death.
After Pwent was given his true death, the horn that held him was blown in remembrance and Pwent was summoned forth again. Bruenor was appalled towards the fact that they could awake Pwent from his rest. The Harpells assured him that it is not Pwent himself being summoned, but his warrior's essence.
Triel Baenre
Matron Triel Baenre is Yvonnel Baenre's first daughter. Shrewd and ambitious though she is, Triel did not expect to be landed with the role of House Matron so early. Paranoid about her height (Triel is short, even by drow standards), she fills her mother's role but not her throne (literally; during the Starlight and Shadows series, she even sets about trying to add a foot pedestal to the very throne). However, Triel is shrewd and calculating, and a powerful vessel for Lolth's Will, despite her often flippant attitude toward her goddess, her favor with the Spider Queen is the envy of the Drow. She has guided Menzoberranzan through tough times and continues to do so in the presence of looming catastrophe. She has a draegloth son, Jeggred, who acts as her bodyguard and obeys her every command. The draegloth is ultimately slain in Lolth's realm, the Demonweb Pits, by Quenthel Baenre in the book Resurrection, the finale to the War of the Spider Queen series.
Tural Harath
Tural refers to himself as the tavernmaster of Harath's, an 'inn' inside its own palisade, on the left of the road as you head towards Strahd's castle in Barovia. Travel writer Volothamp Geddarm, in a piece appearing in Dragon+ Issue 6, refers to him as "a quiet, wary-seeming sort who was forthcoming rather than garrulous; he related to me the layout of Barovia, and everything I saw thereafter confirmed his words." Volo says Harath's serves simple but hearty fare, including stews, ale and warm round loaves of dark nut bread with strong yellow-green cheeses of unfamiliar local varieties.
U
Urlgen Threefist
The son of Obould Many-Arrows. This orc, however, hardly possesses the strength, intelligence, or courage his father has. He is hardly close to King Obould, who sees his son as merely another military commander for his army. When Urlgen is killed at the hands of Innovindil in The Lone Drow, Obould feels little remorse and is convinced his son did not press the dwarves of Mithral Hall hard enough. Urlgen Threefist is named for the metal plate strapped across his forehead, giving him the ability to attack from three separate angles. He is eventually killed when Innovindil hides a dagger in the small of her hand and Urlgen, intending to headbutt her, impales himself.
During this adventure, Valas forms a bond with Ryld Argith, a master of Melee Magthere, since both share the traits of having no magical or clerical abilities (apart from their equipment) and excelling in melee fighting.
Abilities
Valas is highly skilled at remaining concealed giving him a large advantage in combat. His natural stealth is augmented by the many magical trinkets he has collected over the years. Valas favors the use of his two Kukris enchanted to produce lightning which he uses to hamstring, stab and eviscerate his enemies. Valas also uses a short bow with which he is highly proficient.
Valas wears a shirt of chain mail which is enchanted to give him great agility and balance. Over this, he wears a vest to which are pinned a large number of magical trinkets pilfered from his victims over the years. The trinkets have various magical powers from creating illusionary images of himself to forming dimensional doors for a quick escape.
Metamorphosis
In the fourth novel of the War of the Spider Queen series, Valas plunges into a lake, given water breathing abilities by Pharaun Mizzrym. However, he is captured by Aboleths living in an underwater city, who use their abilities to transform him into a water breathing creature (including webbed hands and feet, and gills). This doesn't prevent him from getting to the surface to make his report (carrying a water supply into his magically enhanced back bag), where Pharaun, again, magically turns him into a (very slightly different) Drow.
However, as Pharaun warns him, his metamorphosis is not permanent and may be dispelled.
He makes a quick cameo appearance in R.A. Salvatore's Road of the Patriarch, in which his transformation has been apparently dispelled.
Vangerdahast
Vangerdahast is perhaps the greatest mage to have ever taken up the mantle of Mage Royal. For decades he controlled the Kingdom of Cormyr, in fact if not in title. While the king would fight the wars and sit on the throne, Vangerdahast would keep the court in order and keep control of the various factions who wished to dethrone the King. He was the overall leader of the defenses of Cormyr and only the king could command him. His title of Mage Royal allowed him control over the two main military factions of Cormyr, the knights known as the Purple Dragons and the mages and wizards of the War Wizards. He could also to a large extent control the Harpers who reside in the kingdom. He was trained by Elminster and therefore knows spells and magics far beyond the average wizard.
Elminster's Daughter
In the book Elminster's Daughter, he had retired from being Mage Royal and has retreated into a hidden Sanctum so that he could devise a new ultimate defense for the kingdom (The demise of the previous ultimate defense taking place during the events of the novel "Beyond the High Road"), for he wanted the kingdom to be truly safe long after he had died. The only practical solution was to ensure that the protection would not be a purely magical defense, (which might draw arcanists eager to learn the Mage Royal's secrets) by the binding of Dragons who would slumber in stasis until they were needed, at which point they could be summoned using key words/phrases and certain gestures using certain objects that only the reigning monarchs and Elminster would know.
When a Song Dragon named Joysil Ambrur found out about the Dragon binding spell being made, she considered it too risky to allow anyone to develop the spell on the off chance that it be stolen and used to enslave the whole of the Dragon race. She confronted Vangerdahast who swiftly defeated her and could have killed her but chose not to since he felt he had done too much killing in his life already. When a rogue War Wizard blasted Vangerdahast with a powerful spell it momentarily shook Vangerdahast, allowing the dragon to break free. Joysil proceeded to ask why the wizard had not slain her and when he explained why her heart softened. But still realizing the risk she chose to flee to gather fully a dozen other dragons to kill the wizard.
At the same time, word had leaked of his experimentation and a Master Red Wizard of Thay named Darkspells had gathered a small army of other Red Wizards and had launched an attack on the kingdom in hopes of distracting the War Wizards and Purple Dragons while he stole the spells of binding. Hearing about Vangerdahast's plan, a group of revolutionaries had launched an assault on the Castle Cormyr and the Royal family in the hopes of slaying them, further adding to the confusion.
When the Dragon host arrived and saw the Red Wizards they realized that those Wizards might be able to figure out the spells and proceeded to eat, burn and crush the Red Wizards who, after losing most of their force, proceeded to run screaming from the battlefield that was Cormyr.
The Dragons then went to Vangerdahast's Sanctum and confronted him, who informed them that he had realized the risk involved in the binding spell and had chained the spells to himself so that when he died the spells and all his notes would be instantly destroyed. Seeing this Joysil told the other dragons to go off and divide her hoard amongst them and that she would take care of the problem. She revealed that she had talked to Vangerdahast's old mentor Elminster and he had a solution. That Vangerdahast become a dragon himself to help defend the realm and then Joysil proceeded to say that she would be his Consort and that they would wait in stasis together. Through Elminster's magic (with the aid of Mystra of course) Vangerdahast was turned into a dragon (unknown type) and the two dragons were bound to the kingdom, awaiting in stasis to be called back to defend the Kingdom of Cormyr.
Mother of Malice, Vartha was the previous matron mother of House Do'Urden. She died unexpectedly about 400 years ago, which allowed Malice to take control of the house. Malice notes that Vartha's death was "premature", though it is expected that Malice played a large part in her mother's demise.
Vierna Do'Urden
Vierna Do'Urden was the second sister of Drizzt Do'Urden, younger than Briza but older than Maya. Her mother was Malice Do'Urden and her father was Zaknafein Do'Urden. She is Drizzt's only full sibling, his other siblings being half-siblings, children of Malice and Rizzen, instead of Malice and Zaknafein.
Vierna is the only one of his three sisters for whom Drizzt felt any affection, because he recognized that, like him, she had inherited small goodness in her from Zaknafein. She was Drizzt's primary caretaker when he was a child, and alone of the rest of the family, she could sometimes show some kindness to Drizzt.
Becoming a priestess of Lolth made it impossible for her to break free of the evil of the drow and Menzoberranzan like her brother Drizzt would.
In The Legacy, the first book of the Legacy of the Drow series, Vierna had descended into Lloth-inspired madness; she turned her half-brother Dinin Do'Urden into a drider and joined the forces of Jarlaxle to hunt down Drizzt, with whom she had become obsessed. She failed, however, and Drizzt was forced to kill her in self-defense.
Ygorl is the Slaad Lord who has the power to summon slaadi from the chaotic planes. In the beginning of Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone, he is imprisoned by Khelben in a Demon Stone with Cireka. He manages to escape by drawing Rannek, Illius, and Zhai to the Demon Stone's location. A scene in the game reveals that Ygorl is working with the Red Dragon and has secretly manipulated the lives of the three heroes to set up his eventual escape.
He uses powerful magic, and is voiced in Demon Stone by Michael Clarke Duncan. Little is known about this character, other than that he wishes to take over the Forgotten Realms. Ygorl is killed at the end of the game.
As an illithid, Yharaskrik had a truly horrible appearance. The humanoid creature had a bulbous head that resembled a huge brain, with several tentacles protruding from the part of its face where a nose, mouth, and chin should have been. Like other illithids, the Yharaskrik was a powerful psionic energy user, easily defeating any enemy with stunning blasts of mental energies.[60] The illithid has a bubbling, watery voice that was described by Artemis Entreri as like the sound made by a very old man with too much phlegm in his throat.[61]
The creature lived in the deep tunnels below Kohrin Soulez's throne room in Dallabad Oasis after pretending to be defeated by Kohrin Soulez.
After Jarlaxle and Bregan D'aerthe successfully attacked Dallabad Oasis, Yharaskrik allied himself with Kimmuriel Oblodra.[63] The creature taught Kimmuriel how to prevent Crenshinibon from controlling him, thereby making Kimmuriel an ally of necessity.[64]
Yharaskrik provided Kimmuriel with a small square lantern which had one open side and the other three sides shielded. When the candle inside the lantern was lit, the glow of the lantern (similar to the psionic power Tower of Iron Will)[65] over Crenshinibon would temporarily diminish the shard's power.[66] The lantern was used in a coup by Bregan D'aerthe's lieutenants (Berg'inyon Baenre, Rai-guy, and Kimmuriel) against their leader, Jarlaxle.[67]
Yharaskrik used Rai-guy, the current leader of Bregan D'aerthe, to locate Crenshinibon after Artemis Entreri escaped the Bregan D'aerthe coup with Crenshinibon and Jarlaxle.[68] Later, in the tunnels close to the dragonHephaestus's chamber, Yharaskrik attacked Rai-guy so that Crenshinibon could be destroyed by bringing it before Hephaestus. But the illithid was defeated by Rai-guy.[69] Yharaskrik then surrendered to Rai-guy, but was supposedly killed (when the creature tried to escape by melting into the stone) along with Rai-guy (and the destruction of Crenshinibon) by the fiery breath of Hephaestus.[70]
When the Spellplague began, Yharaskrik was able to come back from death and become a kind of mind-force without a body. He lured Hephaestus into smashing the remains of Crenshinibon into his forehead. The dragon became a dracolich and with Crenshinibon and Yharaskrik, the three become the entity known as the Ghost King. The mind of the dragon and that of Yharaskrik united to some degree.[71]
While scouting Yharaskrik found and possessed the dwarf Ivan Bouldershoulder, then took him to the cave the dracolich had moved to. He did that in order to have his own place to reside and hide his thoughts from the conscience of Hephaestus and the Crystal Shard. After some time, Ivan began to recover and the illithid decided to let him go and see him die facing the dracolich. The dwarf survived, however, and escaped thanks to a slide-like tunnel. Yharaskrik tried to possess him again, but to no avail.[71]
Driven by vengeance, the consciousness of Crenshinibon and Hephaestus became a single being. Yharaskrik was expelled from the triumvirate as the new mind formed in The Ghost King did not follow logic and was too powerful for the illithid to control. With no place to go, Yharaskrik thought that he was about to fade away, but then realized Kimmuriel Oblodra could possibly help him.[71]
Finding the drow in Luskan, the illithid, acting out of desperation, made a deal with him. Yharaskrik gave all the information he knew about the Ghost King and in return Kimmuriel opened a dimensional door to the Astral Plane. Yharaskrik then left to the only place where he could exist without having to worry about physical limitations.[71]
Yvonnel Baenre
Yvonnel Baenre, called for centuries simply Matron Baenre, embodies the House in the city of Menzoberannzan with an uncanny strength bred from deceit and ambition. Still, in the Underdark where the most evil of creatures lie, there are none who would not shudder at the fury of the "Spider-Kissers" being turned on them. She is described as being the most powerful drow matron mother to have ever lived in Menzoberranzan and even in her old age she is known to be one of the most magically protected beings in Faerûn. More than two thousand years old, Matron Baenre has had twenty children (15 daughters and 5 sons) and has maintained the relatively enormous power of House Baenre for centuries. After the drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden wreaks havoc on House Baenre when escaping from its prison chambers, Matron Baenre convinces the other drow houses to assault Mithral Hall in revenge. During the assault, Matron Baenre comes across Drizzt and his companions, and by lucky chance Bruenor Battlehammer slays Matron Baenre after a summoned Tanar'ri exposes a shard of antimagic left over from the Time of Troubles, sending the beast back to the abyss and dispelling Matron Baenre's magical defenses.
Z
Zaknafein Do'Urden
Zaknafein Do'Urden (pronounced zack-NAY-fee-in[72]), famed Weapon Master of House Daermon N'a'shezbaernon, was Drizzt's father, his mentor and his dearest friend. It was he who gave Drizzt the courage to leave Menzoberranzan. He not only trained Drizzt to become an excellent warrior, he also played a great part in shaping his personality, protecting Drizzt from the brutality of Menzoberranzan for as long as he could. While drow males are expected to be subservient to the females and can be punished for the smallest slight, Zaknafein was shown to be very rebellious and free-willed. Malice Do'Urden often tolerated his behavior, and even once remarked that it was that very quality that made him desirable to her. Even the eldest Do'Urden daughter, the sadistic Briza, gave Zaknafein a wide berth when dealing with him.
Zaknafein Do'Urden was an excellent warrior, a truly legendary Weapons Master considered the finest in Menzoberranzan, who attempted to refute the evil of drow elves. He saw the cruelty of the drow, but could do little to stop it, apart from mercy killings. He did his best to live by his principles, in a world where greed overcomes compassion and ambition overrules all. He had a mysterious friendship with Jarlaxle, leader of Bregan D'aerthe, but it is revealed in Road of the Patriarch that he was in some way betrayed by Jarlaxle. This friendship began in DR1018 when Zaknafein was the weapon's master for House Simfray, and Jarlaxle was hired to capture him and deliver him to Matron Mother Malice Do'Urden. Although Zaknafein hated House Simfray, he was at first angry with Jarlaxle for destroying his house and assassinating his matron mother, but soon came to value a friendship with Jarlaxle as the only other drow male to openly rebel against the ruling females. Zaknafein would frequently sneak away from House Do'Urden to go drinking and adventuring with Jarlaxle, until Malice Do'Urden learned of the excursions and ended them.
Zaknafein was sacrificed to Lolth by Matron Malice when House Do'Urden fell out of Lolth's favor. Upon discovering this, Drizzt left Menzoberranzan for the wilds of the Underdark. Zaknafein was later brought back by a powerful reanimation process called Zin-carla to hunt Drizzt in the Underdark. The spirit-wraith found Drizzt and fought him in a cavern where there were walkways over a pit of acid. Ultimately, Zaknafein fights through the mental barriers, and hurls himself into the pit of acid to prevent himself from killing Drizzt.
Years afterward, Drizzt learns that someone he thought lost became a prisoner of the demon Errtu. Assuming that it was his father Zaknafein, he set out to rescue him. It was later revealed that Wulfgar was the demon's captive, and that Zaknafein was indeed dead. However, the priest Cadderly Bonaduce summoned Zaknafein's spirit and dispatched it to Drizzt. The fallen warrior told Drizzt what had happened to him, and expressed the pride and love he felt for his son before disappearing.
Zhai
Zhai is a half-drow, half-wood elf rogue featured in Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone who uses twin daggers and can hide in shadowy areas to perform one-hit-kill stealth attacks. She is raised in the wood elf village of Cedarleaf by her drow mother and wood elf father, until they are killed indirectly by Ygorl in a raid against the town.
Zhai does not feel secure in the home of the wood elves, so she leaves them and becomes a rogue. She is captured by orcs attacking a town but is freed by Rannek during the battle. Early in the game, Zhai acquires a Ring of Jumping, which allows her to make jump attacks and access secret areas.
She is mentioned briefly in R. A. Salvatore's The Promise of the Witch-King, in which she is referred by Ellery to Jarlaxle as a half-drow gaining a reputation in Damarra.
According to Ken Rolston, "Zhengyi, Witch King of Vaasa, rules his burgeoning empire of ruthless conquest from the brooding solitude of Castle Perilous."[33]
In his youth Zhengyi was a Red Wizard of Thay, but later became an enormously powerful lich and servant of the demon prince Orcus. In the far north of Vaasa, the sister kingdom of Damara, Zhengyi raised a fortress called Castle Perilous and summoned the various monsters of the lands to him. Building a huge army, he repeatedly attacked the kingdom of Damara over the next twelve years, killing its king and ruining the land. He was finally destroyed by a party of adventurers led by the paladinGareth Dragonsbane. Baron Gareth would eventually become King Gareth of Damara.
The Witch-King had hoarded many magical items during its existence, and after its destruction many items were discovered by determined looters. The items were often cursed and quite powerful, plaguing the lands of Vaasa and Damara for years afterwards. The lure of these magic items would become the back-story of the last two books of The Sellswords trilogy by R.A. Salvatore.
Zhentarim
The Zhentarim, also known as the Black Network, is an evil organization based on the continent of Faerûn. One of its goals is to dominate the lands from the Moonsea to the Sword Coast North.[73] It is a criminal network that worships Bane.[33] Originally a secret society, the Zhentarim have operated openly in the area of the Moonsea, particularly around Zhentil Keep, its greatest base of operations. The organization was led for a long time by Fzoul Chembryl, Chosen of Bane and High Lord of the Zhentarim. In 4th edition, its leader is Manshoon, a vampiric clone of the original wizard Manshoon, formerly known as Orbakh.[74]
Related Research Articles
The drow or dark elves are a generally evil, dark-skinned, and white-haired subrace of elves in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character appearing in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed him to replace one of the characters in an early version of the first book, The Crystal Shard. Drizzt has since become a popular heroic character of the Forgotten Realms setting, and has been featured as the main character of a long series of books, starting chronologically with The Dark Elf Trilogy. As an atypical drow, Drizzt has forsaken both the evil ways of his people and their home in the Underdark, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan.
Menzoberranzan, the "City of Spiders", is a fictional city-state in the world of the Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The city is located in the Upper Northdark, about two miles below the Surbrin Vale, between the Moonwood and the Frost Hills. It is famed as the birthplace of Drizzt Do'Urden, the protagonist of several series of best-selling novels by noted fantasy author R. A. Salvatore. Menzoberranzan has been developed into a video game and a tabletop RPG setting. Menzoberranzan has been described as "a perfect unjust state" and compared to Glaucon's vision of a state that is held together only by the fear of retribution.
The Underdark is a fictional setting which has appeared in Dungeons & Dragons role-playing campaigns and Dungeons & Dragons-based fiction books, including the Legend of Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore. It is described as a vast subterranean network of interconnected caverns and tunnels, stretching beneath entire continents and forming an underworld for surface settings. Polygon called it "one of D&D's most well-known realms".
The Dark Elf Trilogy is a prequel to the Icewind Dale Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore. Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, or dark elf, was originally written as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy to Wulfgar the barbarian. However, the author soon realized how popular the character was, and Drizzt became the main character. The final book Sojourn made the New York Times Best Seller list.
The Lone Drow is a 2003 Forgotten Realms novel and the second book in R. A. Salvatore's book series, The Hunter's Blades Trilogy. In this novel, Drizzt Do'Urden is mourning what he believes is the death of his closest friends. He is helped to regain his sense of purpose after two elves and their pegasus decide to help. He goes around killing orcs and preventing new clans from joining the army that has been gathering. While this happens, Drizzt's friends are fighting desperately against the horde.
Jarlaxle is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He first appeared in the 1990 novel, Exile, by R. A. Salvatore as the charismatic and opportunistic drow leader of the mercenary band, Bregan D'aerthe. The character has appeared again in subsequent novels including Promise of the Witch-King, Road of the Patriarch, and The Pirate King, as well as "The Sellswords" and "Paths of Darkness" trilogies. He also has a cameo in the CRPG Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, in which he tricks the PC into stealing gems for him from an undead lich.
War of the Spider Queen is a fantasy series of novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe published by Wizards of the Coast. The series contains six books focused on the drow and their principal deity Lolth. Each of the six novels in the series is written by a different author with veteran Forgotten Realms author R. A. Salvatore overseeing the project. Cover art for each book in the series was designed by Gerald Brom who has done other Forgotten Realms work including reprints of The Avatar Series.
The Crystal Shard is a 1988 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. The first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, it was his first published novel.
Homeland is a fantasy novel by American writer by R. A. Salvatore, the first book in The Dark Elf Trilogy, a prequel to The Icewind Dale Trilogy. It follows the story of Drizzt Do'Urden from the time and circumstances of his birth and his upbringing amongst the drow.
Starless Night is a 1993 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. It is the second book in his Legacy of the Drow series.
The Two Swords is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the third and final book in his series The Hunter's Blades Trilogy. The Two Swords was his 17th work concerning one of the most famous characters Salvatore has created, the drow, or dark elf, Drizzt Do'Urden. It follows The Thousand Orcs and The Lone Drow.
The Legacy is a 1992 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. It is the first book in his series Legacy of the Drow.
The Orc King is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the first book in the Transitions series.
The Ghost King is the third book in the Transitions series, written by R. A. Salvatore.
Wulfgar, son of Beornegar, is the barbarian hero of Icewind Dale in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and one of the Companions of the Hall along with Drizzt Do'Urden, Catti-brie, Regis the halfling, and Bruenor Battlehammer. He is the creation of R.A. Salvatore.
Gauntlgrym is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting; it is the first book in the Neverwinter Saga. Released in October 2010, it follows the continued adventures of drow elf renegade, Drizzt Do'Urden. This story is set 24 years after the end of Transitions: The Ghost King.
Exile is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the second book in The Dark Elf Trilogy. It published in 1990.
Neverwinter Saga is a saga written in the Forgotten Realms campaign world, a popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing setting, by fantasy and science fiction author R.A. Salvatore. The tetralogy begins with Gauntlgrym which is set twenty-four years after the events of The Ghost King. Gauntlgrym is also the twentieth book concerning one of Salvatore's famous characters, Drizzt Do'Urden. The saga contains Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter, Charon's Claw, and The Last Threshold. This tetralogy is preceded by The Transitions Series.
The Last Threshold is a novel by R. A. Salvatore set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and is the fourth book in the Neverwinter Saga. It was released on March 5, 2013.
↑ The Two Swords - "His great and wild beard seemed more orange than red under the artificial lighting, perhaps because those long hairs had become more infested with strands of gray since the dwarf king's ordeal."
↑ Streams of Silver - "Only surprise delayed Regis's immediate squeals of joy when Bruenor opened his gray eyes and winked."
↑ Dekirk, Ash (2006). "Dragons in Literature". Dragonlore: From the Archives of the Grey School of Wizardry. Career Press. p.139. ISBN1-56414-868-8.
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