Gilathadar Telva, Lon’Törl
Lon’Törl (Chief Elder)
Former Garad’a’Besh (Binder of Oaths) of Clan Meldarin; Chief Elder of the Telva (Dawnpromise) Tribe
A statesman-magus of uncommon longevity and focus, Gilathadar Telva has guided the Meldarin for nearly two centuries from both the boughs of Alaeduril and the elven quarter of Verbobonc, City. He last held the office of Garad’a’Besh (Binder of Oaths) through the fateful years of the Elemental War (c. 569–573 CY), when oaths meant survival. Lordly by bearing yet practical by policy, he champions closer cooperation with humans and gnomes—especially the House of Verdanhart—over renewed entanglement with the Faerie Kingdom of Celene, Faerie Kingdom of. Few alive know the ruined way-sanctuaries, buried roads, and lost elven courts of the Viscounty as well as he does. His son, Kayen Telva, has earned renown for recent strikes against the Slavers of the Pomarj.
Appearance & Bearing
Tall and willow-limbed, with parchment-fine skin and eyes the blue of night water under trees, Gilathadar prefers unadorned court robes cut from living-dyed cloth and a simple leaf-worked torque at the throat. His staff—Aurnel’s Third Root—is a grown piece of heartwood studded with three moonstones and a ferrule of bronzewood. In council he is measured and surgical; in crisis, he wastes no syllables.
Offices, Titles, and Seats
- Lon’Törl (Chief Elder) of the Telva (Dawnpromise) tribe, hereditary by long custom but affirmed by periodic acclamation.
- Former Garad’a’Besh (Binder of Oaths) of Clan Meldarin during the Elemental War; twice recalled thereafter to preside over emergency compacts.
- Councillor of Alaeduril for nearly two hundred years, often entrusted to open or close debate beneath the Besh’norin (Oath Oak).
- Chief of the Elven Enclave (Verbobonc City) by Telva consent; maintains the quarter’s muster rolls, safe-conduct lists, and archive keys.
Primary Seats of Power
- The Willow-Stairs, Verbobonc City: a multi-level townhouse grown into living trellises over a side canal; part embassy, part school, part court.
- Guest-House of the Oath Oak, Alaeduril: a shaped hollow reserved for the Telva elder when clan council is in session.
- The Dawnbank Scriptorium: a private study above the telvanna workshops; maps, ward-keys, and an index of minor sanctuaries.
History & Notable Deeds
- Early Century (pre-520s CY): Trained in abjuration and ward-geometry among the Elaenda and Enlanefel sages; attached to Telva envoys handling transit rights and quarter protections in Verbobonc.
- Mid-Century: Led the cataloguing of way-sanctuaries (standing circles, whispering stones, oath-steles) across the western Gnarley and the Welk fringe; authored the Dawnguide, a restricted atlas used by Meldarin scouts and friendly rangers.
- Elemental War (c. 569–573 CY): As Binder of Oaths, stabilized elven–human–gnomish compacts for convoy calendars, ruin cordons, and interdiction writs; brokered tri-party patrol rotations with The Gnarley Rangers and Verbobonc wardens; issued emergency bans on cutting within two days’ march of active cult lines.
- Post-573 CY to Present: Chief adviser to House Verdanhart on holdings inside the Gnarley; maintains quiet channels with Dyvers, Free Lands of factors to route legitimate trade through oath-marked corridors and starve Nulb’s smugglers.
Personality & Ideals
Gilathadar is a realist draped in courtesy. He believes stewardship succeeds only when neighbors guard the forest by their own will. He distrusts Celene’s isolationist drift—“beauty without duty”—and prefers binding, verifiable compacts with those who live and trade on the forest’s edge. He is patient with ignorance, ruthless with bad faith, and allergic to romantic posturing in policy.
Magic, Methods, and Tools
- Schools & Style: Abjuration primary; divination and illusion secondary. He anchors live wards to trees and stream-banks rather than stone.
- Field Protocols: Uses “quiet geometry”—glyphs hidden in leaf venation, bark patterns, and spider-silk lines.
Named Implements:
- Aurnel’s Third Root (staff): triples as focus, walking staff, and field-ward anchor.
- Dawn-Panes (crystal slates): scry-safe map plates keyed to known beacons.
- The Oath-Band: a moon-silver knotwork circlet used to witness compacts under the Oath Oak.
Politics & Relationships
Within Clan Meldarin
- Thonás Elaenda (current Binder of Oaths): Gilathadar publicly endorsed Thonás’s succession and quietly coaches him on quorum craft and emergency procedure. They diverge in tone but not in aim.
- Quenlarue Bloc: Courteous tension—Quenlarue favor a tighter line to Celene; Gilathadar counters with results: safer roads, steadier markets, fewer poachers.
- Elaenda & Yularith: Natural collaborators on living-ward maintenance and marsh route controls.
Verbobonc, Viscounty
- House House Revepaix: Longstanding ally; advised Wilfrick’s grandfather Avras and continues as a valued counselor. He insists on forest-safe roadworks, bonded factors, and shared intelligence on cult traffic.
- Policy Posture: Supportive of a strong, lawful Viscounty that polices its own fringe and respects elven red lines (no inner-forest garrisons, no sacred cutting).
Dyvers, Free Lands of
- Trade, Not Tribute: Endorses bonded, daylight caravans on marked corridors with ranger escort; blacklists torch-trade and shadow factors feeding Nulb. Will close canopy routes if Dyvers breaks faith.
The Gnarley Rangers & Woodsmen of the Gnarley Forest
- Rangers: Trusted peers; shared signals, beacon-keys, and caches maintained by Telva quartermasters.
- Woodsmen: Courteous distance; Gilathadar prefers to educate and integrate willing hamlets rather than police them, using work-levies over coin fines.
Celene, Faerie Kingdom of
- Skeptical Distance: Gilathadar warns against returning the Gnarley’s fate to distant halls—“Forest oaths are kept by the hands that cut and heal it.”
Lore & Scholarship
- Master of the Lost Ways: Knows the locations, conditions, and key-phrases of many minor courts, whispering stones, and moon-paved crossings within the Viscounty.
- Custodian of Quiescent Sites: Advocates for “quiescence” over excavation: quiet wards, gentle watch, no treasure-tearing.
- Temple-Era Notes: Maintains sealed journals on cult routes, supply ferries, and defilement signatures; grants access only to sworn wardens.
Conflicts & Current Agenda (576 CY)
- Starve the Shadow Corridors: Tighten inspection on Low Road spurs; require bonded manifests; empower mixed patrols to divert suspect wagons to outer roads.
- Ruin Cordon at Ansynor: Press for sustained tri-party staffing (elves–rangers–viscounty) and a no-dig statute within a mile of the ley-crossing.
- Teach the Ledger to Count Seasons: Expand programs that tie trade privileges to measurable stewardship (replanting quotas, poach-bounties, fuelwood rotations).
Allies & Rivals
- Allies: House Verdanhart; Gnarley Ranger Knights receptive to shared beacons; Telva diaspora leaders in the city market wards.
- Rivals: Smugglers and slaver-factors out of Nulb; Celene hardliners who demand policy vetoes without posting wardens; freeboot scholars who disturb quiescent sites.
Hooks for Play
- The Dawnguide’s Missing Leaf: A page from Gilathadar’s restricted atlas goes missing; he hires the party to intercept a scholar bound for the Wailing Halls.
- Convoy of Honest Daylight: PCs are contracted to escort a bonded Dyvers caravan along an oath-marked corridor while saboteurs attempt to frame them for torch-trade.
- Moon-Paved Court: An old beacon he once sealed flickers to life; Gilathadar needs deniable agents to confirm whether cultists or fey interlopers are meddling with the gate.
- The Avras Letters: Private correspondence between Avras Verdanhart and Gilathadar reveals a buried sanctuary under a market ward; rivals move to exploit it.
Stat Notes (system-agnostic, quick lift)
- Wizard 15: Abjuration specialist; excels at wards, counters, and terrain-secure illusions.
- Tactics: Deny approach, control sight-lines, layer alarms; prefers to end fights before they start through compacts and leverage.
- Boons to Allies: Safe-haven writs in the elven quarter; access to healers and sages; legal standing before Verbobonc magistrates on forest matters.
Voice & Quotations
- “A compact is a bowstring: invisible work that makes the arrow true.”
- “Let Dyvers count coin; we will count winters—and see who planned for both.”
- “Celene’s stars are beautiful; our roots must hold here.”
Clan Chief Gilathadar Telva
- Tribe: Telva (Dawnpromise) — elven quarter, Verbobonc City
- Age: Senior; in public vigor and private caution
- Heir: Kayen Telva, famed adventurer and scourge of the Pomarj slavers
- Reputation: Statesman of the bowless war—wards, words, and workable roads
Gilathadar Telva
Wood Elf Wizard 15 (Condensed NPC Stat Block)
Medium humanoid (elf), NG
AC 16 (mage armor) • HP 82 (15d6 + 30) • Speed 35 ft.
STR 8 (−1) • DEX 16 (+3) • CON 14 (+2) • INT 20 (+5) • WIS 14 (+2) • CHA 12 (+1)
Saving Throws Int +10, Wis +7
Skills Arcana +10, History +10, Insight +7, Nature +7, Perception +7, Stealth +8
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages Common, Elvish, Gnomish, Sylvan, Celestial
Proficiency Bonus +5
Traits
- Fey Ancestry. Advantage on saving throws vs. being charmed; magic can’t put him to sleep.
- Keen Senses. Proficient in Perception.
- Mask of the Wild. Can attempt to hide even when only lightly obscured by natural phenomena.
- Spellcasting. 15th-level wizard; spell save DC 18, spell attack +10. He has the following prepared (20 total; typical). Slots: 1st (4), 2nd (3), 3rd (3), 4th (3), 5th (2), 6th (1), 7th (1), 8th (1).
- Cantrips (at will): fire bolt, mage hand, minor illusion, prestidigitation, ray of frost, message
- 1st (4): mage armor, shield, detect magic, protection from evil and good
- 2nd (3): mirror image, misty step, invisibility
- 3rd (3): counterspell, dispel magic, fly
- 4th (3): greater invisibility, dimension door, stoneskin
- 5th (2): wall of force, scrying
- 6th (1): globe of invulnerability
- 7th (1): teleport
- 8th (1): antimagic field
Actions
- Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6−1) bludgeoning, or 5 (1d8−1) if used two-handed.
- Arcane Burst (Cantrip). Ranged Spell Attack: +10 to hit, range 120 ft., one target; 22 (4d10) fire bolt or 14 (4d4) ray of frost plus −10 ft. speed until start of his next turn.
Reactions
- Shield. +5 AC until start of next turn.
- Counterspell. As the spell.
Equipment staff of heartwood (arcane focus), leaf-embroidered robes, crescent moon pendant (oath-seal), ritual components, scroll case with way-sanctuary maps.
Tactics
Opens with mage armor (precast), fights from cover using wall of force to control lanes, greater invisibility or globe of invulnerability for protection, counterspell to win the magic duel, then extracts allies with dimension door or teleport if needed.
“Beauty without duty is a withered leaf—let our compacts be the roots that hold forest and city together.”
You watch the lanterns gutter along the canal and think, you have measured this darkness before. You know its weight. Banditry does not rise like a storm; it seeps—through ditches, along hedge-gaps, across unfenced ledgers—until good folk begin to walk with their heads down and their purses clenched.
“You will not call this chaos,” you tell the junior warden at your elbow. “You will call it accounting. Count what is missing—guard posts, patrol cadence, fair tolls, trust—and you will find your thieves.”
You know the pattern in the Viscounty of Verbobonc: a caravan robbed where the Low Road bows toward the Fens, a witness bought in a backroom near the riverside market, a magistrate who wants proof instead of tracks. You think of Avras and Wilfrick, and how to speak to their heirs without scolding them like children.
“Tell the wardens this,” you decide. “Predictability is the bandit’s map. Move the watch by an hour, change the whistle, and make the lanterns lie.”
You picture the Gnarley Forest, and your thoughts become pathways: fox-runs, fernshade blinds, the hush before an ambush. You know how quickly fear can teach a woodcutter to be careful—and how quickly hunger can unteach him. Banditry here is not only coin and blades but rumor and despair, drifting from Nulb like marsh-fog. The Temple’s dead shadow still stains the bark.
“You will bind the road with oaths,” you instruct yourself, a habit of long office. “And you will make the oaths worth keeping.”
The Wild Coast presses at your mind like a sore tooth. Slavers are merchants who have forgotten that living things cannot be tallied like grain. They buy outlaws and sell them uniforms; they buy silence and sell terror. You think of Dyvers’ counting-houses and how easily a ledger can be washed if the ink is cheap and the conscience cheaper.
“To the south,” you murmur, “we hunt without warning. We break chains before we break bread.”
You remember why you favor compacts over sermons: a compact has a time, a place, a witness, and a price for breaking it. You can pin it to a door and make a city answer to it. You can carry it into the forest and make a Ranger nod.
You imagine the next council at the Willow-Stairs. You will call the Rangers, the Woodsmen elders, two Dyvers factors who actually keep their word, and the Viscount’s most stubborn captain. You will set a convoy calendar in ink and swear it in moonlight. You will mark the roads that are safe and the ones that will be made safe.
“You will teach them to defend the forest of their own will,” you tell yourself, smoothing the page. “Because fear is loaned courage, and loans come due.”
Outside, a skiff passes beneath the moon-bridge. You listen to the ripple and decide: you will move before the bandits do. In the morning, letters. At dusk, oaths. And if the night asks for more than words, you know the spells that make light where light is needed and silence where silence kills.
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