Tristan Kendrick

Tristan Kendrick was a member of the Kendrick family and the prince of Corwell.

Description
Tristan was a dashing, tall, wide-shouldered man with a thick beard, covering half of his chest, and dark brown hair.

Personality
As a youth, Tristan was a long-suffering child, chafing at his duties as a prince.

As he grew older, he became a popular lad, with many friends, but few who actually respected him, trying to find a place for himself in the world which didn't revolve around his royalty. While outwardly carefree, this hid internalized feelings of inadequacy that took a long while to overcome.

Kazgaroth's attack on his home changed him some. Although he still had the same struggles as before, he was preoccupied with the absence of his great love, and concern for his countrymen, which gave him an air of desperation.

As King, he finally took his responsibilities to heart and became renowned for his fairness. His inner peace shone through his outward personality, particularly after he retired.

Throughout his life though, Tristan was easily fooled by friendly manners. However, once he realized that he had been duped, he got angry, and was driven to revenge.

Possessions
In public, Tristan wore a heavy wool cloak over his leather trousers and dark leather boots. For protection, Tristan carried a large hunting knife.

In battle, he donned a suit of banded mail armor and wielded a longsword.

While on a mission to rescue Keren Donnell, he serendipitously found the Sword of Cymrych Hugh hidden in a treasure chamber within a Firbolg stronghold. Keren recognized it for what it was and told Tristan that the weapon must be wielded by whoever finds it.

Relationships
The halfling Pawldo of Lowhill was a long-time friend and hunting partner to Tristan. He sold the prince his moorhound, Canthus.

He met Daryth of Calimshan when the thief tried to pick Tristan's pocket. After a chase and a fight, they found that they admired each other and became fast friends.

Family
Tristan had a difficult relationship with his father, King Bryon, who partly blamed Tristan for his wife's death after giving birth. The king's determination to make Tristan a good heir to the throne of Corwell made the lad bristle in rebellion and the two never really reconciled before Bryon was killed.

He grew up with a girl named Robyn, who at first he believed to be his sister, but eventually, when he discovered that she was just his father's ward, began to have romantic feelings for her. Eventually the two married and had two daughters together. They named them Deirdre and Alicia.

Deirdre, his older daughter, was a powerful sorceress, and had an interest in the gods of the mainland as a means to increasing her own power.

Alicia followed in her mother's footsteps as a druid, and later became Tristan's heir.

Biography
Tristan was born a prince in 1326 DR to King Bryon Kendrick and his wife Queen Addee. His mother died from an illness caused by his birth while he was still an infant, which his father, in part, blamed Tristan for.

Tristan grew up learning statecraft, at the insistence of his father, but Tristan lacked interest in the topic. As a young man, he and his friends were attacked on a hunting trip by firbolgs and his arms master Arlen was killed. The famed bard Keren rescued them and they returned to relate to King Bryon of the invasion that they had discovered. Bryon awarded Tristan his own troops to command while he prepared to fend off this invasion. When Keren disappeared though, Tristan abandoned his post to lead his friends to look for him, returning the favor by saving Keren's life from firbolgs in the Myrloch Vale. In the course of this, Tristan discovered the Sword of Cymrych Hugh.

Darkwalker War
In their absence, Corwell had, as predicted, been invaded by Northlanders and firbolgs. Tristan united the Sisters of Synnoria and a group of dwarves with his own party into a united force against the Northlanders. Under Tristan's leadership, his impromptu battalion broke the Northlanders and Tristan himself wounded Kazgaroth, who had been disguised as Thelgar Ironhand of Oman, finally bringing The Beast low through a combination of swordcraft and druidic magic. The victory was not without cost however, Tristan, Pawldo and Daryth all had to be resurrected, but Keren could not be.

Becoming High King
Despite his heroics, he still struggled to earn the respect of his father, leading to further strain on their relationship. He was supposed to be helping to rebuild Corwell, but Tristan spent a lot of his time carousing, despairing at the absence of his love, Robyn, who was off training under her aunt, the Great Druid. A Thayan wizard named Cyndre hired assassins to kill Tristan, King Bryon, and to steal the Sword of Cymrych Hugh. They only succeeded in murdering the king. Tristan had a political rival in the form of a local lord named Pontswain, who said that the High King, Reginald Carrathal should decide Bryon's successor, not Tristan's lineage. On the way to Callidyr to see the High King, their ship sank due to sabotage. They met the ghost of Queen Allisyn who told them that Tristan would pick a descendant of Cymrych Hugh as the next High King and give him the Sword. On Alaron, Tristan was arrested on charges of wanting to assassinate the High King.

Joining up with Robyn and an outlaw nobleman named O'Roarke, Tristan and company battled Cyndre, High King Carrathal, and a Bhaalyn priest named Hogarth. Victorious, Tristan was visited by the Earthmother who said that Tristan was the descendant of Cymrych that Allisyn had prophesied, indeed, the dwarf Finellan informed him that Kendrick was a variant of the name Cymrych that was still in use when he was young. Tristan was therefore named High King.

As High King
The evil priest Hobarth was still alive however, and had managed to corrupt one of the Earthmother's Moonwells. While sailing, Tristan came to the aid of a Northlander ship, under attack from sahuaguin. It turned out that the ship's captain was none other than King Grunnarch of Norland, and Tristan's aid was the first step in forging an alliance between the Northlanders and the Ffolk. While celebrating the alliance, Tristan was seduced by the Great Druid Genna Moonsinger, Robyn's aunt, who had been corrupted by Hobarth. Incensed, Robyn left the banquet hall and flew to Myrloch Vale to deal with Hobarth herself. She refused to forgive Tristan when he caught up to her.

A displacer beast under Bhaal's command attacked Daryth and killed him. Tristan blamed himself. Upon reaching the corrupted moonwell, the party encountered the avatar of Bhaal himself who began killing the Vale's druids. Tristan threw the Sword of Cymrych Hugh into the well and Bhaal was banished back to the Throne of Blood. High off of their success, Tristan proposed to Robyn, and she accepted. They were married in the winter. Two years later, their daughters, Deirdre and Alicia had been born.

In 1365, on the way back from a trading mission to Amn for food, Tristan's ship was sunk by sahuagin. He was taken to the city of Kyrasti, where his left hand was removed, to be delivered back to his family as evidence that he had been captured. Tristan temporarily suffered from amnesia, and had only recently recovered his memories when Robyn and Alicia arrived to rescue him. Tristan tried and failed to restore his lost hand with magic, and partly as a result, his daughter Deirdre was killed.

Tristan abdicated, and retired to the Myrloch Vale with Robyn, giving his crown to his surviving daughter, Alicia.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Halls of the High King
 * Novels
 * Darkwalker on Moonshae
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards