Ienre Lafkel, Lon’Baelyth

Chief Guardian of Clan Meldarin (Office of the Lon’Baelyth), former War-Leader (Lon’Keryth)

Daughter of a Moonsong ranger and a Sevensong sorceress, Ienre Lafkel is the Meldarin’s steel in a velvet scabbard—calm-eyed, decisive, and immensely experienced. A decorated veteran of the Hateful Wars and a former officer in Queen Yolande, Her Fey Majesty’s Companion Guard of Celene, she returned to the Gnarley four decades ago to raise a family and to keep a sterner watch than any court could afford. In 569 CY she was acclaimed Lon’Keryth, leading Clan Meldarin’s musters at Emridy Meadows; after victory she accepted the office of Lon’Baelyth, responsible for readiness, patrol doctrine, and ruin-cordon security. In 579 CY she holds the line at Ansynor (Runeoak) with a hand-picked cadre, her human husband Shaman, their half-elven son Haemir, a vigilant cooshee hound, and a keen-eyed falcon familiar. She is 276 years old.

Appearance & Bearing

Tall and spare, with wind-cut features and moon-silver hair braided for campaign, Ienre wears travel-tempered leathers under a dusk-green officer’s cloak. Her eyes are the patient green of river moss. She speaks softly, signs orders crisply, and wastes no motion—whether stringing a bow, drawing a sigil, or setting a picket line.

Offices & Authority

• Lon’Baelyth (Chief Guardian). Oversees all Meldarin watches and outposts; sets patrol calendars; appoints ruin-ward captains; requisitions resources in emergency without full council, subject to later review.
• Former Lon’Keryth (War-Leader). Activated by council decree in 569 CY to coordinate the clan’s role at Emridy Meadows; retains authority to reconsolidate a war-host on issuance of a red-branch signal.
• Council Standing. Senior officer in 579 CY; votes as a technical advisor and can recommend immediate “readiness writs” when omens or scouts demand.

History & Deeds

• Companion Guard of Celene. Rose by merit; led mixed archer–skirmisher detachments, learned court discipline and long-march logistics; decorated for actions in The Hateful Wars.
• Return to the Gnarley (c. 540s CY). Resigned with honors; took command of Moonsong border patrols before leaving to marry Shaman, a human ranger whose woodcraft matched her own.
• Emridy Meadows (569 CY). As Lon’Keryth, synchronized Meldarin archers with Gnarley Rangers and Verbobonc scouts, denying the enemy flank cover and cutting supply ferries at dusk.
• Postwar Readiness (573–579 CY). Reorganized ruin watches, standardized whistle-cants with Sevensong choirs, and established the Ansynor cordon—a rotating ring of stealth posts, beacon caches, and ward-stones.

Personality & Leadership

• Doctrine: “Predictability kills.” Ienre shifts routes, hours, and signals constantly to keep raiders guessing.
• Temperament: Even, unsentimental, unshakably fair. She listens to farmers and captains with the same attention.
• Beliefs: The forest is defended best by those who live in it—elves first among equals, but Rangers and Woodsmen are partners, not pawns.

Relationships

• Shaman (human ranger). Spouse and fellow officer without rank insignia; runs long-range reconnaissance and mentors mixed patrols.
• Haemir (half-elf). Quick-footed scout and messenger; trusted with courier work between Alaeduril and the southern ferries.
• Thonás Elaenda, Garad’a’Besh (Binder of Oaths). Mutual respect—she demands clear writs; he ensures she gets them.
• Gilathadar Telva, Lon’Törl. Collegial; she values his compacts when they arrive on time and with teeth.
• Venlathyr Quenlarue, Lon’Törl. Friendly friction—both hawkish, she toward readiness, Venlathyr toward Celene realignment.

Companions & Gear

• Cooshee “Leafstride.” Trained for silent flank warnings and downed-foe guarding.
• Falcon Familiar “Talan.” Delivers sigil-notes, counters enemy scouts, and marks approach vectors.
• Arms & Kit: Bronzewood longbow, leaf-etched saber, laminated shield for field work, and a travel desk of warding salts, wax, and bark slates.

Field Magic & Tactics (Ranger 6 / Wizard 5, outline)

• Spells (typical): hunter’s mark, pass without trace, spike growth, absorb elements, ensnaring strike; shield, misty step, mirror image, counterspell, rope trick.
• Signature Plays:
• Blind Approach: Pass without trace + dispersed archers → decoy whistle → enfilade.
• Knife of Time: Rotating ambush windows; no route repeats within a moon.
• Ruin Lockdown: Rope trick med-bay; spike growth to seal flanks; counterspell for cult casters.

Current Mandate (579 CY)

1. Hold Ansynor. Maintain quiescence: nothing goes in, nothing comes out, nothing wakes.
2. Starve Nulb Corridors. Interdict ferries and night caravans tying Nulb to inner trails; work with Rangers on synchronized cut-offs.
4. Drill the Nine Tribes. Quarterly musters with mixed Sevensong signalers and Nolbrael shields; drills end with live-fire dusk marches.

Adventure Hooks

• The Red-Branch Signal. A beacon goes up from the southern ring; Ienre needs the PCs to seal a gap before cult outriders slip through.
• Falcon Down. Talan is shot over a sink meadow; the PCs must retrieve the message before it reaches a Nulb factor.
• Quiet Geometry. A ward-stone at Ansynor hums off-measure; escort Ienre to reset it while something old tests the perimeter.
• The Human Track. Shaman’s long-range patrol has not checked in; follow a sequence of coded sign and decide whether to press on or call the muster.

Quotes

• “Change the hour, not the order; the enemy will be on time to the wrong place.”
• “I prefer promises I can defend with six archers and a whistle.”
• “If the ruin wants to speak, it can wait until I have chosen the language.”