Aencar Burlisk

Aencar Burlisk was a Dalesfolk hero who united all of the Dalelands (with the exception of Archendale and High Dale), in the early-to-mid-11 century DR.

Childhood
It was unknown when Aencar was born, but he was raised by elves in Battledale, where he learned military strategy, forestry, and other skills, not to mention wisdom, that would become essential during his later rule of the Dales. When he grew older, Aencar left Battledale with a group of mercenaries known as the Mailed Mantle. The sellswords were a Sembian mercenary group that found great success battling corruption in Sembia for various employers. But eventually corrupt Sembians and other foes they had made put a bounty on their heads and the Mailed Mantle returned to Battledale.

Ascent to King
There, Aencar found his people being oppressed by corrupt merchants and common thieves. The Mailed Mantle set to work to clear them out of Battledale, and in the, Aencar was proclaimed the Lord of Battledale.

In his nine years as the ruler of Battledale, Aencar did not sit idly. He looked after the Dalefolk in Battledale and he adventured against their enemies. The Mailed Mantle patrolled Battledale, and visitors of Battledale noted its strong and competent leader.

In the, Aencar then began his campaign to unify the Dales, adopting the title the Mantled King. He persuaded some to join his cause, such as Tasseldale and Shadowdale, and against the others he struck swiftly and surely, putting Mantle members in seats of power across the Dales. Aencar ruled the majority of the Dales for six more years, and he ruled them as masterfully as he ruled Battledale in his previous years. Aencar earned his title as The Mantled King as a result of his wearing a red hood and mask. He wore these items to hide a rotting disease that an enemy wizard had cursed him with.

Death
In the, Aencar was invited to a feast in Essembra. This turned out to be a trap laid by evil mages who summoned a dracolich to slay Aencar. One of his lieutenants defeated the dracolich, but Aencar was slain. One of the evil mages was Alacanther of Arrabar, who burned down Aencar's keep.

Legacy
Following Aencar's death, the Dalelands divided into independent communities, yet they remained allied.

The ruins of Aencar's castle could be seen from Rauthauvyr's Ride, the road running to the Standing Stone, and it was not reoccupied after his death. In the mid-to-late 14 century DR, the ruler of Essembra and Battledale's delegate to the Dales Council was Chancellor Ilmeth, a descendant of Aencar's chief swordcaptain.

A statue of Aencar was later erected in the center of Essembra, on the site of the cottage where the previous Battledarran heroine Essembra had been born over a century earlier.

Even in the 14 century DR, Battledarran folk who grew up in sight of Aencar's castle felt pride in their warrior heritage.