Balathar Darlantan
Balathar Darlantan was a half-elven merchant, adventurer, warrior-thief and, later, politician serving as Baron and then co-Baron of Dantareth with Cyrus Glenwill. Throughout his life, Darlantan gained fame as one of the members of the Gondolas, an ascendant adventuring party in the region during the latter portion of the 8th century A.M. Though not a founding member of the Gondolas, he became instrumental in several of their assaults on various fortresses of goblinoids and denizens of the Underdark. Following a tumultuous several months that saw many of its main members killed, Balathar found himself to be one of the most powerful individuals in the party, and its only surviving warrior following the murder of governor Cyrus. This ultimately paved the way for his own ascension and, as Baron, he would use his political and military influence to wage a war of expansion against the neighboring Barony of Aber-Zlin.
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Early Life
Born in the small town of Mirsaki to a local watch vendor, Balathar never knew his human mother. He spent much of his youth plying his father's trade of repairing, crafting and selling watches and other jewelry. He found that he had an affinity for working with his hands, a skill which was honed by long hours under the tutilege of his remaining elven parent. Questions regarding his lineage were not encouraged and, being a bastard and half-breed, he was often isolated from others in town.
As he grew into a young man and the political climate in the region worsened with the arrival of strange folk who sought to subtly manipulate then Baron Belarus Corguth, his father insisted that he undertake formal martial training with his uncle Brallamed during one of his brief visits from Encyclon so the young Balathar could better protect the family interest, as they were too poor to hire help. Despite becoming an able warrior, the isolation he faced for his racial differences ultimately led him to dabble in crime as he quietly honed his eye for the value of possessions as well as molding his skill with his hands towards a private, tidy career in petty larceny. His father was ultimately killed by local brigands shortly after his fateful encounter with the Neutralian crusader Virgil Tyrion.
Membership in the Gondolas
After the fledgling Gondolas' inaugural victory in assaulting the local keep at the behest of Baron Corguth, Virgil was sent on an errand to see how much money the group could get for the spoils they had collected, as liquid funds were needed to seek resurrection of several slain party members. This led Tyrion into the shop owned by the Darlantan family, and a fateful meeting that would alter both of their destinies.
After conducting their business, the two were attacked by a group of local ruffians who were seeking vengeance, no doubt in the employ of Corguth's enemies. Although the duo killed the offenders by 'hucking daggers', a later reprisal left Darlantan's family shop in ruins and his father slain. Seeing that the half-elf handled himself well in battle, Virgil offered him a place in his adventuring party. Having nowhere else to turn and seeing the opportunity for a dramatic change in his life, Balathar accepted. The two soon developed a fast and eager friendship.
Adventuring Career
Shortly after joining the Gondolas, Balathar began siphoning treasure and loot off the top of the party's plunder, at first hoping to conspire with Virgil, the only member of the group he felt any kinship with. When the crusader politely rebuffed his attempts, Balathar found a willing conspirator in the person of Darwin Mathane. Despite running his own operation on the side, Balathar remained mostly loyal to the Gondolas and even rescued the party when they were imprisoned by Drow in the Underdark.
His first magical weapon was purchased from a magical weapons shop in Sigil, the City of Doors, when the Gondolas were forced to seek refuge there during one of the many invasions faced by Mirsaki, the town of his birth and de facto headquarters of the Gondolas, who were now a burgeoning adventuring group in their own right. It was also during this trip that Balathar attempted to further cement his increasingly distant relationship with his Neutralian friend, Virgil. At the half-elf's request, the two got matching tattoos that read 'Preserve the Balance', an homage to Tyion's religious beliefs.
Upon their return to Mirsaki, the Gondolas' wizard, the insane wild Battle Mage Mathew Migtay, found himself in a wizard's duel in which he ended up carelessly obliterating a large portion of the noble quarter with one of his most powerful magical attacks. The destructive force of the maelstrom utterly annihilated his opponent--and half of the most valuable property in town. Among the casualties of the blast was the underground Guild headquarters which Balathar had constructed in secret, and which had now suffered severe structural damage. To his surprise his fellow Gondolas expressed little or no outrage at the discovery of his clandestine base, saving much of their ire for their indifferent, yet essential magic user Migtay. Darlantan would later use the pretense of repairing his underground lair as an alibi for the presence of Thrius' dwarven followers while Balathar lured Cyrus to the Sigil Clock in order to murder him, and later to obfuscate the timid and ineffectual investigation into Glenwill's disappearance.
Life After Cyrus
With the death of the newly dubbed Governor Glenwill, the dynamic of the Gondolas would be forever altered. Warriors and thugs alike began to rally to Balathar's cause. The young rogue was also emboldened by the inability or unwillingness of the Gondolas to punish any of his illicit activities, which now included: embezzlement, racketeering, conspiracy, theft and murder. Believing that the time had come to make a move, Darlantan shored up his political and military power. He leveraged his new position as up and coming Thief Lord of Dantareth into a wedding with Edina Etharts, daughter of arguably the most powerful rogue alive. Darlantan also set about appointing his followers to key governmental positions, using the confusion of the power vacuum created by the unexpected departure of Governor Cyrus to his advantage.
Seeing that his fellow adventurers seemed only minimally concerned with his complicity in Cyrus' absence, he callously waited only a few weeks before openly donning the famed Girdle of Frost Giant Strength which had once belonged to Cyrus. The rogue did however have the decency to make a few cosmetic changes so as to make it appear as though it were different than the one worn by Cyrus.
Schism Within the Gondolas
The death of the Governor set off a spree of murders and attempted murders within the Gondolas. After adventuring to Hell, Alcon, the group's most powerful mage and vocal opponent of Balathar, emerged as a hero. His return from Hell, and moment of victory, however, was cut short by Mathew Migtay who, on the grounds of legal military abandonment, instantly struck Alcon down as he stepped through the portal from the ether, bearing the viscount in his arms. Alcon's death set the Gondolas upon one another, and arguments broke out, with Eerie decrying Migtay as a coward. Before any action could be taken, the Gondolas decided to camp and let cooler heads prevail. The party's druid, Orthake, who was a staunch ally of Alcon, took his mage friend to be raised by the powers of nature and, in secret, the two plotted revenge upon what they perceived as the opposing faction of the Gondolas. Their plan was hasty and involved little or no strategy. Alcon decided that a massive strike to obliterate Darlantan and Migtay in one stroke would be sufficient.
As Mathew Migtay and Balathar Darlantan met in the mage's tent to discuss how they would handle the situation, Alcon and Orthake unleashed a magical attack. The conflagration killed Joel Vexus, a tiefling who had recently joined the Gondolas and was apparently working in consort with the two, instantly. Migtay was nearly killed, and Balathar was gravely wounded. The noise from the attack roused the rest of the Gondolas, who instantly mobilized for combat. Thrius, Dine and Virgil rushed to interdict Alcon and the druid. Orthake fled before the might of the three pious men, and Alcon offered himself to the justice of the party and was later outcast. In apparent exile, the druid challenged the Heirophant of his grove some days later in an attempt to garner more power, but was slain, two of his limbs having been severed by the Killithane sword of Sharpness.
Thrius was completely dismayed at the situation the Gondolas were facing and believed that turmoil would destroy the party. He recommended that a leader of the Gondolas be elected, mostly as a means to deter Balathar's growing influence. To that end, Thrius nominated the warrioress Eerie of Urstwater, hoping that her leadership would be unchallenged. Balathar, however, nominated himself when it was clear no other members would be chosen. A vote was then taken and the party appeared to be deadlocked. Balathar voted for himself, and was joined by Migtay and Darwin Mathane. Voting for Eerie was Thrius, Dine of Dwarden and Eerie herself. The critical vote fell to Virgil, and Balathar was confident he would soon have legitimate, democratically elected power over the Gondolas. The crusader refused to cast his vote, much to the chagrin of Balathar and Thrius, each believing Virgil's vote could be counted upon. The deadlock was only broken when Darwin argued passionately that Joel, who had been recently resurrected and had already died for the Gondolas, be allowed to cast his vote. Unbeknownst to the rest of the party, Darwin was secretly dominating the young tiefling and, after his arguments prevailed, he compelled Joel to cast his decisive vote for Balathar.
The March on Urstwater
With the business of group leadership concluded, Balathar and the Gondolas marched on Urstwater and forced their way into the city. The Dantareth region was facing invasion by an army under the command of General Kuriel Remzar, and Urstwater was it's primary target. Knowing that the populace viewed the Gondolas as interlopers, Balathar devised a strategy to rouse public support and unite the local militia under Mirsakian leadership.
Sneaking into the compound of local Mandadorian Bishop Shrane under the cover of darkness, Balathar murdered the man in his sleep, leaving evidence at the scene to indicate that the act had in fact been committed by outsiders loyal to Remzar. The next morning, the rogue gave an impassioned speech to an outraged and grieving populace in which he emphasized the need for solidarity in order to defeat the interloper army. Thanks to the tactical genius of Mathew Migtay and the heroism of Virgil Tyrion, who gave his life to critically wound Remzar in a direct assault, the enemy was routed and the spoils of war went to Darlantan, with Dine of Dwarden and Virgil being slain at Remzar's hand before Balathar finished him off.
War with Zlin
The war with neighboring Zlin would be Balathar's most ambitious, and last, campaign. After the well chronicled journey to Half-World, in which Darlantan was able to establish himself as Baron of Dantareth, he was forced to seek out the lost treasure of Hollapse in order to appease the Red Dragon. To that end, he enlisted the assistance of his old friend, now Field Marshal, Matthew Migtay. Taking conscripts from nearby towns and using mercenaries and retainers he had gained through the Barony, he also marshaled Virgil and his loyal corps of healer warriors. Mustering as large a force as he possibly could from the backwater region, he marched at the head towards the capitol of Vester City--the city of glass.
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The Death of Balathar
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