Gareth Dragonsbane

King Gareth Dragonsbane was the paladin–king of Damara who ruled during the mid–14 century DR. Prior to his reign he was a famed adventurer who, along with his allies, defeated the Witch-King Zhengyi and thwarted the schemes of the demon lord Orcus.

He was considered to be one of the mythic sovereigns, those individuals who were destined to usher in a new era to the lands they ruled.

Possessions
Gareth Dragonsbane wore a magical set of plate mail and carried an enchanted shield. He carried with him a silver horn of Valhalla, which summoned forth several barbarians from their afterlife in Warrior's Rest.

In battle, he wielded the intelligent holy avenger longsword called Crusader.

Activities
In the years following those he spent in war or adventuring across the Bloodstone Lands, King Dragonsbane embarked upon numerous endeavour to ensure the security of his lands. He began construction on the Gates, a series of walls and fortresses that protected either end of the Bloodstone Pass. He ennobled lesser lords to justly rule over Damara's outlying lands and attracted bands of adventurers to protect its growing economic interests.

Relationships
He faithful companion and trusted mount in the intelligent warhorse Glendan.

During his years as an adventurer, Gareth fell in love with the druid Christine, daughter of Baron Tranth. of Bloodstone and the couple were engaged to be married. The wedding was held in the spring of the next year. During the wedding feast, Baron Tranth surprised everyone by stepping down as Baron and placing the title in the hands of his new son-in-law, making Gareth the sixth baron of Bloodstone.

Early Life
In his younger days, Sir Gareth Dragonsbane was an adventurer and a knight in service of the Order of the Golden Cup. During his knighthood he tithed half of his monetary gains to the knightly organization. Despite this, he became a very wealthy man and established a comfortable homestead on a large estate in the northern region of Damara.

During the War of Vaasa, he served as a Brigade Commander in the Army of Damara and succeeded in every task put forth before him. Unfortunately, the Witch-King's war against the nation tore apart Gareth's comfortable life. In retaliation for the knights exemplary deeds, the Witch-King burned down his estate. With his home gone and his men either dead or dispersed, Gareth traveled to the southern baronies of Damara which remained as nothing more than vassal states to Vaasa.

Bloodstone Adventures
In the, Gareth was recruited along with six other adventurers—Olwen Forest-Friend, Friar Dugald, Riordan Parnell, Celedon Kierney, Emelyn the Gray and Kane—to protect the village of Bloodstone from an army of bandits led by the Grandfather of Assassins. After a difficult battle, the heroes prevailed and all of them, save for Kane, continued on quest to further aid the lands.

The group was then sent to investigate the recently abandoned Bloodstone mines after a series of vicious wereworg attacks. In the mines, Gareth and his allies discovered a temple to Orcus constructed by the native duergar. They planned to create a gate that would grant Orcus entry to Toril on the Prime Material plane. The adventurers allied themselves with the community of svirfneblin led by King Ruggedo and defeated the gray dwarves and halted their dark ritual.

In act that greatly benefited the entire region, King Ruggedo reopened the Bloodstone Mines and formed an alliance with the Bloodstone Barony. As Sir Gareth was set to marry Lady Christine, he received a dowry from her father Tranth. Gareth was granted the title of Baron and entrusted with the rulership of all of Bloodstone.

Achieving Lordship
As Bloodstone grew more prosperous with the reopening of the mines, the town flourished. Following the BAD WINTER of 1357 DR, in spring of the, the svirfneblin along with dwarves of Clan Orothiar managed to mine an amount of bloodstone worth a total of one million gold pieces from within the Galena Mountains. Baron Dragonsbane used these riches to invest in his lands and establish a new army, led by his friends and allies.

This newfound success brought new dangers however. Duke William "the Lazy" of Arcata colluded with the new Grandfather of Assassins to make an assassination attempt on Garth and other members of the newly-formed Council of Bloodstone. This dastardly spurred the beginning of the second regional war wihtin a decade, which came to be known as the Bloodstone War.

Bloodstone War
Baron Dragonsbane led the Bloodstone army on lightning-fast counterattack on the Arcatan city of Vallss. After the fall of Arcata, the Duchy of Carmathan joined the fray, but was ultimately defeated as well. News spread of Baron Dragonbane's two victories, and the Vaasan puppet baronies of Ostel, Morov, and Polten chose to united their forces and all attack Bloodstone at once. They lost on the battlefield to the armies of Bloodstone. By the, the territories of Damara had finally been united.

Seeing the turmoil in Damara as an opportunity the forest of the Witch-king took action. The Grandfather of Assassins lured Gareth and his forces into the an unassailable fortress in southern Damara. Gareth and his original adventuring companions, who had each become a leader in their own right during the war, disguised themselves as assassins and infiltrated the otherwise impenetrable fortress. Just like in their previous adventures, the heroes emerged victorious.

Unfortunately, this was the last straw for Zhengyi who amassed the armies of Vaasa to put down the impudent Damarans in the south. The Vaasan army marched south across the Galenas, rallied in Helmsdale and continued south to the Ford of Goliad. The Vaasan and Bloodstone armies fought a great battle at the site of Damara's greatest defeat against Vaasa, many years before. The battle ended in a stalemate with each army held at either side of the Goliad River. Zhengyi's undead troops could not move south beyond the river as it was too far the source of Zhengyi's power, Castle Perilous.

There was still an undead army waiting at the northern border and the Witch-King was still alive to threaten the new kingdom though. Attacking Vaasa head-on would be suicidal, even if the armies they had at their disposal had not already been weakened in the battles of the past months.

Into the Abyss
It was up to the six adventurers to take up one more quest in the name of Damara. Gareth and his allies traveled north to Vaasa and struck at Zhengyi's seat of power, Castle Perilous itself. They ventured deeper into the castle, defeating demons and the dragon Arctigis, before they finally defeated the Witch-King Zhengyi in his throne room.

Deep beneath the castle, the heroes discovered an underground chamber that led deep beneath the surface of Toril. Within its depths was a gate that opened up to the Abyss.

had teleported to another part of the castle where he defended a portal to the Abyss with the last vestiges of his unlife.

Saint Sollars, the patron saint of Bloodstone Pass, appeared to the party and informed them that Bahamut wanted to prevent Orcus—Zhengyi's patron—from getting to the Material Plane. They were tasked with traveling through the Abyss to the realm of Orcus where they would steal his famed Wand and deliver it to him in the Celestial planes. Traveling through dozens of Abyssal layers, they finally made their way to Thanatos, where they snuck into the demon lord's castle and, utilizing a pre-organized distraction that lured Orcus away, stole the Wand and fled to the Astral Plane. There, they were escorted by archons to Saint Sollars. Told that only Bahamut could destroy the artifact, the party went to him, who then told them to steep it in the blood of Tiamat's heart. He transported them to where an avatar of Tiamat lay in wait and they subsequently killed her. The Wand was destroyed, leaving behind the Tree-Gem, then they were returned to Bahamut who told Gareth to plant the gem in his castle's courtyard. They were then returned to the Material Plane victorious.

Zhengyi's undead crumbled without the Wand of Orcus, leaving only the surviving monstrous elements of his armies, who had fled into various hiding places in Vaasa. The Tree-Gem was planted and within two weeks it had sprouted into a 10-foot-tall (3 meters) white tree with golden leaves. But, the adventure and war were now over and Gareth ruled benevolently with his wife ever since.

The mortal warriors were defeated and the Damaran army left the field of battle for Heliogabalus, where Gareth was soon crowned king of all Damara.

After the defeat of Orcus and Zhengyi, Baron Gareth Dragonsbane crowned King of Damara that same year. Following his coronation he embarked upon a number of undertakings to ensure the safety and prosperity of his lands.

The Sellswords
Notable events in his life since the war included his interactions with the mercenaries Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri after their defeat of the Zhengyian construct In the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR. In the subsequent capture and interrogation of Entreri, Gareth argued about his own benevolence and, moved by Entreri's logic, vowed to make himself more worthy of his position as king and in turn granted clemency to the pair and their new associate, Athrogate, by banishing them from Damara, rather than executing them, against the wishes of Christine and his friends.

In the, his soul was transported to the Plane of Shadow by a cabal of wizards working for Sammaster, which left Damara vulnerable to the attacks of the more organized elements of Vaasa's remaining monsters, who swarmed down from the north as soon as they had heard the news.

Gareth was quickly rescued from his fate by a pair of dragonslayers and, once recovered, collaborated with an ancient vampire dragon named Capnolithyl to conjure an illusion of Zhengyi riding on the dragon's back to give hope to the enemy, making them think that he'd returned from the dead somehow. Gareth then quickly "slew" the illusion, completely demoralizing the enemy and achieving an easy victory.

Over time, King Dragonsbane united the lands of Damara and Vaasa into a single realm known as the kingdom of Bloodstone. This great feat brought years of peace to the otherwise conflict-stricken lands of Vaasa, and brought relative peace to the Bloodstone Lands which lasted until the mid–15 century DR.

Appearances

 * Novels:
 * The Sellswords
 * Promise of the Witch-King &bull; Road of the Patriarch


 * Video Games:
 * Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (mentioned only)