Elaith Craulnober

Elaith Craulnober is a moon elf crimelord living in the city of Waterdeep. Elaith is often used by author Elaine Cunningham and has appeared in many of her novels, namely, Elfshadow, Elfsong, Silver Shadows, Dream Spheres, City of Splendors: Waterdeep (co-authored with Ed Greenwood), and briefly as a very young child in Evermeet: Island of Elves. He is often portrayed as a cunning and opportunistic elven rogue with an infamous reputation, although the Forgotten Realms campaign setting presents him as a fighter/wizard. The author uses him both as an antihero and a recurring villain, and is often referred as "The Serpent".

Appearance
Elaith Craulnober is described as a tall elven noble with sharp, handsome features and a graceful build. In one of the novels, he is described to be as tall as Arilyn Moonblade (making his height approximately 5'8 feet) Elaith has silver hair and the pale skin common to his people, the moon elves (gray elves). His eyes are often portrayed as having an amber color. He favors to wear his trademark black cape and elven daggers, which he often uses to solidify his already fearsome reputation. He is often likened to a "silver snake" because of his appearance, which gave him his alias, "The Serpent".

Personality
Elaith is a tragic character who seemingly never recovered from his initial fall. His descent from the Captain of the King's guard on Evermeet to the brutal and heartless crime lord he is today has given him oft contrasting qualities. Before meeting Arilyn Moonblade, Elaith has been a heartless crime lord with a penchant for cruelty. He was portrayed as a manipulative and evil elf whose canny intelligence managed him a worthy position in Waterdeep's nobility. Elaith is also portrayed as a very proud elf, where any slight made to him is answered brutally. Despite his often unforgiving manner, Elaith has a twisted sense of honor, and seems to fully respect (albeit in a twisted fashion) many elven traditions - including his use of "Elf-friend." During the events of the Song and Swords series, Elaith has undergone a drastic change. He became more questioning in his moralities, and even began to actively seek redemption - through any means possible. Currently, Elaith is still an evil crimelord, albeit with a little less than cruel streak.

Talents and Abilities
Foremost to his abilities would be his fearsome reputation and his willingness to commit the vilest, cruelest acts. Elaith has honed his reputation to a point where he is nigh untouchable in the City of Waterdeep. He is also the owner of a large portion of the city and numerous number of magical trinkets, not to mention a fortune in gold. Elaith often prefers to hire mercenaries to perform his illegal activities for him.

But aside from his wealth and reputation, Elaith is also very capable in combat. Elaith, the Serpent, is popularly known for his quickness and agility - even after elven standards, as shown in the book Elfsong. Elaith is also a master in wielding daggers, and often dual wields them to confuse (or to toy with) his opponents. He has also exhibited various magical capabilities, including scrying and invisibility.

Elaith is also quite familiar with the criminal underground, and practices larceny quite easily. He is known to deactivate locks and traps with ease. And he is also known for blending well into shadows. Whether he performs these by mundane means, or by magical means is still up for debate.

Magical Items
Elaith is a veritable collector of magical items, and as such, his entire inventory would be impossible to note. His more notable magical trinkets are as follows:

His dormant Moonblade, an elven artifact that previously rejected him as its owner (because of his questionable character) - inevitably causing his exile. It has been reactivated in the novel, Elfsong.

Elaith also owns a magical dagger that returns to his hand after it is thrown. He obtained it through a trade from the harper, Danilo Thann.

Finally, Elaith owns a scrying ball, which he uses in conversing with prospective clients - and potentially spying on them.

Relationships
Elaith's strongest bond was with the Princess Amnestria, Arilyn Moonblade's mother, and his supposed bethrothed. Elaith left her and the elven community after he was rejected by his Moonblade - inflicting himself with a self-imposed exile. Elaith's unresolved emotion for the princess is as such that it is one of the few things that can break his iron self control. During the Dream Spheres event, he was almost killed because of this weakness.

Elaith has two children, although only one of them is known to him. Azariah Craulnober, whom he sacrificed a lot to recover the dormant Moonblade, is currently being fostered in Evermeet and being trained as blade-heir. Elaith also has a son by the Princess Amnestria. However, she gave birth to him in secret after Elaith moved to Waterdeep. The lost prince's story has not yet been told.

Elaith's other closest companion was, ironically, the harper who was formerly his most hated enemy, Danilo Thann. After the events in Elfsong, Elaith named Danilo Thann an elf-friend in return for the Waterdhavian bard saving his life, though he has been known to refer to this as an act of supreme folly.

He views the half-elven assassin Arilyn Moonblade as elven royalty - and possibly as the daughter he never had with Princess Amnestria (as evidenced in Elfshadow). Initially mistaking her for Princess Amnestria, he has forged a tentative alliance with the brooding half-elf.

Elaith has professed a seething hatred for Arilyn's human father, the Harper Bran Skorlskun - a former friend. Whether this hatred stems from his human heritage, or to the human's inability to protect Amnestria, or to the fact that she loved the human more than she loved him - is unclear in the novels.

Elaith also briefly met the charming rogue, Bronwyn Caradoon, secretly a Harper Agent sent to sabotage one of his plans in Dream Spheres. He has displayed an uncharacteristic attraction with Bronwyn, an attraction that constantly prevented him from killing the sly female rogue.

He also has a somewhat awkward "treaty" with Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun and the Lady Larael, as he had saved the archmage's life from a powerful charmed state during the events in Elfsong.

History
Elaith was formerly a captain of the guard on Evermeet, until he was disgraced and exiled from the island. He had formerly been betrothed to Princess Amnestria, the mother of Arilyn Moonblade, and harbors a deep regret about it. He soon became a rogue elf, and began building his own underground empire in Waterdeep. He acquired a reputation for ruthlessness as both an assassin and crimelord, which he went to great lengths to keep for some time. He has a fondness for magical items, and also owns a Moonblade, though his was dormant for quite some time, due to his activities.

Elaith met Danilo Thann and Arilyn Moonblade in the events of Elfshadow, and aided them in their quest to find the Harper Assassin. However, despite Elaith's fondness for Arilyn, he had his own personal agenda and vendetta - which caused no little difficulty for the pair. Especially Danilo Thann, whom he arranged to be assassinated - a job he later rescinded. He later aided both of them in solving the puzzle to finally defeat Kymil Nimesin and his personal plan to usurp the elven throne.

In the events of Elfsong, Elaith hesitantly joined forces with his hated enemy, Danilo Thann - in order to solve a riddle of the ancient Green Dragon, Grimnoshtadrano - and to hunt down an artifact to stop a sorceress from destroying Waterdeep. With a rag-tag army of minstrels, mercenaries, and riddlemasters - Elaith and Danilo solved the riddle and regained the artifact, wherein Elaith finally reveals his true intentions. He steals the artifact in an attempt to reactivate his dormant Moonblade to rehonor his bloodline for his new daughter, Azariah Craulnober. The Moonblade was later reactivated, not because of the artifact, but because of his selfless sacrifice for his daughter.

In the events of Dream Spheres, Elaith discovers the magical qualities of the Dream Spheres - a mercantile product used to create dreamscapes for the upper nobility of Waterdeep. In an attempt to test the "evil" of his soul, Elaith took a legendary intelligent telkiira—a magical artifact used to magnify a person's magical capability. Legend says that the telkiira would bend an ordinary person's soul to evil, but if wielded by a truly vile being, the artifact would bow down to his will completely. Temporarily fooled by a false copy of the artifact, Elaith, believing himself beyond redemption, sank down to the evil streak of cruelty and ruthlessness he was previously known for. However, at the end, he once again aided Arilyn and Danilo in destroying the evil telkiira to restore order in Waterdeep.

Quotes
"As you will learn, my pride has a very high price indeed."

- Elaith Craulnober, Elfshadow

"Elaith Craulnober, under different circumstances I believe we could have become very good friends."

- Laeral Silverhand of the Seven Sisters in grim agreement with Elaith's twisted justice, Elfsong

"Better to embrace evil than to become overcome by it."

- Elaith Craulnober, Dream Spheres

"Thanks, but I don't want you to get troubled on my account. No offense, but who will believe that you fought to protect my honor?"

- Bronwyn gently refusing Elaith's offer to help, Dream Spheres

"The difference between a rogue and a hero often comes down to who tells the tale."

- Danilo Thann describing Elaith, Dream Spheres