Jhastar Belnold

Jhastar Belnold was a ranger from Secomber and an active Harper.

Description
Jhastar stood 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) and weighed 211 lb (96.4 kg) with brown hair and intense gray eyes.

Personality
Jhastar Belnold tended to be stern and taciturn with a sense of humor hiding somewhere behind his grim facade. He was kind to people in need and merciless to evildoers and evil creatures. He drove away hunters who killed merely for sport and woodcutters that did not take care of the forests they harvested. Jhastar preferred the life of a loner, but would readily join forces with other Harpers, if they could find him.

Abilities
He was proficient in the use of many weapons, including the longsword, spear, battleaxe, dagger, flail, and longbow. He could swim, ride a horse or other such mounts, sense direction easily, and even fight in limited visibility situations. As a ranger, he was also a superb tracker. He could dance with considerable grace and could sing.

Possessions
He wore chain mail +1 and carried a magical shield +1 and longsword +2. He could not yet cast divine magic spells but he carried potions of healing to aid others or himself when in dire need.

Activities
Belnold traveled the roads and forests east of Hill's Edge and occasionally even as far as the Dragon Reach, helping pilgrims, merchants, and prospectors whenever they got into trouble. Zhentarim forces out of Darkhold had made their presence known and Jhastar often helped the Harpers and Cormyrean patrols in fighting the Zhents.

Relationships
Jhastar was seen as somewhat of a hero in many places in the North because he would seemingly appear out of the blue to aid those in trouble. He was an unabashed Harper&mdash;not one for working in secret or behind the scenes. Jhastar was recruited to join the Harpers by the sorceress Glendara Maerorstar and she introduced him to many other Harpers and Harper allies. He trained under notable rangers such as Dar Orlspear and Thammaster Sparlyon, honing his skills with forays into the High Moor seeking out evil creatures to slay.

Jhastar Belnold had a particular hatred for orcs and he slaughtered them without mercy.

History
Jhastar was born in Secomber and grew up near the woods. He came of age fighting alongside his elders against the kobolds, goblins, and orcs that roamed the woods or mounted raids from wooded cover. He was a bit too enamored with danger but his skill at arms was a match for his daring and he drew the attention of Thondier "Foehammer" Thornstar, a local ranger. Thornstar led a company of men, known as Thornstar's Band, that patrolled an area east of Waterdeep. Jhastar learned "on the job", so to speak, and stayed with Thornstar's Band until a disastrous encounter with a group of fiendish baatezu attacking a fellowship of pilgrims near Dragonspear Castle. Thondier and most of his men fell in battle but Thondier's last orders were for Jhastar and two others to flee with the surviving pilgrims and lead them northward across the High Moor to safety in Secomber, which they did.

In Secomber, stories circulated about Thornstar's last stand and Jhastar was visited by Glendara Maerorstar, a sorceress and member of the Harpers. She convinced Jhastar to join the Harpers and continue fighting evil for Those Who Harp. He spent the better part of a year in the company of Harpers Dar Orlspear and Thammaster Sparlyon and often went into the High Moor to test his mettle.

Eventually, Jhastar struck out on his own traveling the highways and byways south and west of Secomber and into the Western Heartlands. He would offer his sword and bow to various Harper and Cormyrean groups struggling against the rise of the Zhentarim. One of his most famous and daring exploits was against a trio of beholders that had a Cormyrean war party pinned down in a deep valley as they viciously toyed with them. Jhastar had joined three other Harpers and one of them cast fly and invisibility on Jhastar and the other two so they could carry weighted nets and attack the eye tyrants from above. Using the nets and globes from necklaces of missiles, the Harpers routed the beholders. Jhastar rode one into the ground while stabbing its primary eye and killing it.