Ivar Devorast

Ivar Devorast was a Cormyrean engineer who was active in the city of Innarlith, on the Lake of Steam, in the mid–14 century DR. He was the principal planner behind the city's attempt to build a canal that connected the Sea of Fallen Stars to the Lake of Steam. .

Description
Ivar had red hair that was wild and unkempt ..

Personality
Ivar Devorast was single-mindedly focused on his work and made every effort to ensure that every detail was correctly done, but he had great difficulty in social interactions with other people. He often only talked about issues relating to work and ignored questions or barely answered them when other people asked him about personal issues.

He had a tendency of always needing to do things himself in work projects, even when it involved large numbers of people because he only trusted his own self to do everything right. Even when workmen were attacked by monsters, he would see to it that he would personally go and help fight them off, even when there were professional soldiers that were tasked with guarding them. .

Abilities
He was a very skilled and brilliant engineer who was known to never make mistakes in his calculations. His specialty was in naval engineering and his drawings for naval weapons attracted attention even before he had left Cormyr. However, his lack of social skills made it difficult for him to turn this into profit for himself, as other people would take credit for the projects he successfully completed.

Relationships
Phyrea, the daughter of the city's master-builder, developed a strong attraction to Ivar after she first met him running a project near her father's country estate outside of Innarlith. The two of them had an affair with each other during this project. . She was enamored with Devorast and got together with him intimately again, but he seemed to only have a physical attraction to her. She initially tried to work against his leadership of the canal, because she believed his enemies were going to destroy him if he tried to complete it. Eventually he recruited her to secure a supply of saltpeter for creating smokepowder to help excavate the canal trench. .

Willem Korvan was a former classmate of Ivar, but not as talented as an engineer as him. Willem required Ivar's help on different occasions, but Willem resented him and thought Ivar was very arrogant. Willem typically took credit for Ivar's successes, allowing Willem to move up in Innarlith society, while Ivar remained impoverished.

Hrothgar Deepcarver was a dwarf from the Great Rift who worked together with Ivar on several of his projects, including the canal project. His cousin Vrengarl Hardtoil accompanied him. The two dwarves became friends of Devorast through their work. Hrothgar several times fought alongside Devorast against enemies who tried to kill him.

Surero was an Alchemist who was recruited by Devorast to create smokepowder for use in excavating the canal. He became a friend of Devorast and continued to meet with him after Devorast was dismissed from the canal leadership.

Ran Ai Yu was a Shou merchant who hired Devorast to build her a new ship after her previous ship sank in the Lake of Steam. She supported the canal project and wanted Devorast to succeed. .

Fharaud was a wealthy ship-builder in Innarlith who hired Devorast to come to Innarlith to work for him after Devorast graduated from the engineering college in Marsember. Fharaud was badly injured in an accident from a magic portal and made bedridden. Devorast kept visiting him after his accident and helped take care of him until he died. Prior to his death, Fharaud wrote a letter of recommendation to Ransar Osorkon about Devorast's idea of building a canal.

Early Life
Ivar was born in Cormyr and attended a school to learn engineering there, along with his fellow student Willem Korvan. Ivar stayed as a boarder with Willem and his mother in their home in Marsember during his studies.

Coming to Innarlith
Upon their graduation, when people from different nations came to the school to recruit graduates for joining particular projects, Willem and Ivar were both recruited to go to Innarlith on two separate projects. Ivar was recruited to help build a massive ship for the king of Cormyr and Willem was recruited to help with a project for the city wall.

Both of them went to Innarlith, but Willem was unable to do the work he was hired for and he eventually got Ivar to do his work for him. Ivar made the correct calculations and Willem then presented them to the city's master-builder, while taking credit for Ivar's work.

Ivar worked on the project to build the ship, named the Everwind, for a wealthy man named Fharaud. The plan was to build the ship in Innarlith and then use a magical portal to transport it to the Sea of Fallen Stars. Ivar was deeply distrustful of the portal, however, and didn't like the idea of trusting his work to magic. After the ship was completed, Fharaud and a crew sailed it into the magical portal. However, the portal had been secretly sabotaged by the Red Wizard Marek Rymüt and the ship broke into pieces and fell from a height onto the place it was supposed to go near Arrabar in the Vilhon Reach.

Ivar was left in poverty and continued to live in Innarlith.

Nagaflow Keep
Later, Willem again required Ivar's help with another project to build a keep for the city next to the Nagaflow to the north of the city and Ivar again agreed to give his help. Ivar made the correct calculations and planned the keep. He then set about organizing the work to begin on constructing the keep before the plans had received approval from Senator Inthelph. When Inthelph heard about this, he was enraged and dismissed Ivar from the site. They nevertheless still used Ivar's plans and work to complete the keep as Ivar had designed it. .

Ran Ai Yu
Despite his failure with the 'Everwind', Ivar was contacted by a Shou merchant named Ran Ai Yu who wanted him to build her a new ship after her previous ship had sunk in the Lake of Steam. Ivar took up the project and constructed a ship that used ceramic tiles on its hull; the only one that had ever been built. Before it was launched, the ship was attacked by a pair of giant demonic fish that had been transported to Innarlith harbour from the Land of One Hundred and Thirteen by the Red Wizard Marek Rymüt after Ran Ai Yu had refused his offer to use a magical portal to transport the ship back to Shou Lung. Ivar, Ran Ai Yu and a dwarf named Hrothgar successfully fought and killed the fish. Ran Ai Yu then took the boat with her crew back to Shou Lung. Ivar destroyed his copy of the plans he made for building the ship and announced he would never build a second one no matter how much gold he was offered.

Ran Ai Yu was the one who first accidentally put the idea of the canal into Ivar's mind, which would eventually become the major project of Ivar's life. She did this by when she was parting from the city after he had built her boat during their first time working together and she joked that maybe there could be canal between Shou Lung and Faerun someday. When Ivar didn't understand the joke at first, she tried to explain and mentioned that Shou Lung had large canals connecting different parts of its empire together. Ivar then replied to her by saying 'thank you, for more than you might imagine.'

Years later when another Shou merchant asked for Ivar to build him one, Ivar refused the offer. .

Palace of Many Spires
Willem was tasked with building an additional spire to the Palace of Many Spires in Innarlith, and Willem again went to Ivar to help him with designing this. Ivar was living in poverty in a dilapidated shack in the first quarter of Innarlith at this time when Willem approached him for help again. Willem offered a small sum in advance and asked for Ivar to help him, which he agreed to do. Ivar again drew up the plans and gave them to Willem. In the end, Willem didn't pay him or openly give him any credit for it. Willem asked Ivar why he didn't kill him for how he treated him, and Ivar said it was because he knew that Willem was going to build it, and he was satisfied to simply see the work completed and know that it was his.

Berrywilde
In 1364 DR, Ivar was recruited by his friends Hrothgar and Vrengarl to go with them to help build a winery on the Berrywilde estate of Senator Inthelph in the countryside outside of the city. It was here that he first met Phyrea and began a relationship with her. He was called back to Innarlith before the completion of the project by Ransar Osorkon who was interested in Ivar's idea about the construction of a canal.

Canal
The experience of the Everwind and his time working in the countryside convinced him of the idea of building a canal between Innarlith and the Nagaflow, which would thus connect the Lake of Steam to the Sea of Fallen Stars, and effectively change the map of Faerun. He met Svayyah a Water naga of the Nagaflow to discuss with her about his plans and she gave her tribe's approval to the project. A letter of recommendation from the recently deceased Fharaud to the city's Ransar convinced the Ransar of Ivar's idea. The Ransar gave his approval to Ivar's project and put him in charge of it. .

After the project for canal construction had begun, the project became a hot political question in Innarlith, with different factions voicing their opinions about it. Marek Rymut, who was covertly acting on behalf of Thay, which was set to suffer the most if the canal was completed (since the building of the canal would effectively any need for people to pay for Thayan services to use magic portals to transport boats from the Sea of Fallen Stars to the Oceans of Toril), was vehemently opposed to the project and attempted to manipulate the city's elite to turn against the project, while also sending the occasional Black firedrake to attack the workmen on the site. Ran Ai Yu and a representative of the Shou merchant fleet in Innarlith gave their strong support for the project. A representative of the king of Cormyr also visited and gave his king's support for the project. .

Devorast recruited an alchemist named Surero to create Smokepowder for him to use in excavating the canal trench. .

Multiple attempts were made by various parties to attack Devorast or the workmen on the project. A water naga that disagreed withe the canal attacked the canal site before being driven off. Devorast then went to the Nagaflow to meet with Svayyah again and Svayyah brought Devorast underwater to discuss what happened with her tribemates. The result of the meeting was that Svayyah killed the naga who attacked the canal site and sent Devorast back to continue work. .

Senator Nyla a clandestine Zhentarim agent in Innarlith sent a Banelar naga to kill Devorast, but the assassin was killed by Svayyah. Marek Rymut succeeded in tarnishing Devorast's reputation among the elite citizens of Innarlith and he got the Senate of Innarlith to turn against Devorast. Eventually Devorast was summoned to a hearing at the Chamber of Law and Civility where the new Ransar Salatis attacked Devorast's leadership of the site. Devorast was dismissed from this position as master builder of the canal and Willem Korvan was placed in his stead. .

Devorast travelled to Ormpetarr where he got work in constructing a pier. Later he accompanied Ran Ai Yu on her vessel back to Shou Lung where she showed him the Canal of the Second Emperor. She took him back to Innarlith with her on her next voyage and Devorast then remained in Innarlith.

He and Surero got together again and went back to working on the canal clandestinely as labourers. The other workers at the canal recognized Devorast and turned to him for direction on how to build the canal. The workers followed Devorast's directions and ignored the commands of the incompetent leadership that had been assigned by the city to take Devorast's place.

After a Spirit Naga murdered one of the leaders of the site, Ransar Pristoleph investigated and found that Devorast was still at the canal site and ordered him arrested. Devorast was then held in prison for a year under Pristoleph's orders. Pristoleph believed Devorast to be innocent and ordered him released. He then persuaded Devorast to take over leadership of the canal again and Devorast went back to work as the master builder of the canal.

After an unsuccessful assassination attempt was made on Pristoleph by a Maurezhi disguised as Svayyah, Pristoleph went to confront Devorast and demand answers, since Devorast had assured Pristoleph that their agreement with the nagas was still in place. While confronting Devorast, the real Svayyah appeared and proved to Pristoleph that she was not the creature that attacked him.

Appearances

 * Whisper of Waves
 * Lies of Light