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, the regents destined to usher in a new eras to the lands they ruled.

Personality
While he achieved many great deeds during his life, Gareth Dragonsbane was not driven by personal ambition. He did when he felt was best for the people of Bloodstone, and all of Damara.

He was described as being rather uptight and reserved.

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
Throughout the years, Gareth Dragonsbane lived the life of an adventurer, soldier, lord, and general.

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 Vaasan and Damaran Gates, two 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
During his years as an adventurer, Gareth fell in love with the druid Christine, daughter of Baron Tranth. The couple were wed the same year that Bloodstone began to enjoy renewed wealth and prosperity. He was the forebear to future regents of the Dragonsbane dynasty, Queen Brianne and King Murtil.

While some of the War-Captains of Impiltur were quite weary of Gareth during his campaign as Baron of Bloodstone, he was seen in a favorable light by Lord of Imphras II Haelimbrar. Gareth enjoyed an enduring friendship with his fellow paladin Justin M'Dael, had a strong ally in Dormythyrr of Goliad, and was favored by the leaders of the Alliance of Belt Watchers, Greatest among his freinds were those adventurers he spent adventuring alongside for two long years.

Gareth earned great renown support from the Soravian Talebringers, and was aided in his unification efforts by the Twilight Riders, led by his long-time adventuring companion Emelyn the Gray. Quillan the Sage served as his advisor during his reign as Baron of Bloodstone.

He had a faithful companion and trusted mount in the intelligent warhorse named Glendan.

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 invasion of Damara by Zhengyi the Witch-King, 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. Despite his own successes on the battlefield,, Damara lost the war at the Battle of Goliad, following which the Witch-King's forces 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 declared the 6 Baron of Bloodstone, and entrusted with rulership over its lands.

Achieving Lordship
As Bloodstone grew more prosperous with the reopening of the mines, the town flourished. Following the savage 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 within 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.

The Abyss, Seven Heavens, and Nine Hells
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. Saint Sollars the Twice-Martyred himself appeared to the party and informed them that Bahamut wanted to prevent Orcus—Zhengyi's patron—from getting to the Material Plane. The adventurers were tasked with traveling through the Abyss to the realm of Orcus to steal his namesake wand and deliver it to the Seven Heavens.

Gareth and his companions traveled across dozens of Abyssal layers, before they finally reached Orcus'domain of Thanatos. Once there, they lured Orcus away from his Abyssal castle, stole the wand and fled to the Astral Plane.

The tome archon Terxyx escorted them to meet Saint Sollars once again, before they all traveled to the Palace of the Platinum Dragon. The dragon god Bahamut gave the adventurers their final task: they would travel to the plane of Avernus in the Nine Hells, slay the avatar of the Dragon Queen Tiamat, and steep the Wand of Orcus in her blood. They were successful in their last quest. The wand burst when it was placed within Tiamat's blood. All that remained was the heart of Orcus' implement, a small white jewel known as the Tree-Gem.

Reign over Damara
After reporting their victory to Bahamut, the group returned to Bloodstone on the Prime Material Plane. The destruction of the Wand of Orcus caused Zhengyi's undead army to crumble into nothingness. The remnants of his monstrous forces either fled back to Vaasa or were cut down by the Bloodstone army.

Soon after, the soldiers left the field of battle and marched on to the city of Heliogabalus before the year's end. Despite the efforts of his political rival Dimian Ree, Baron Gareth Dragonsbane was crowned King of all Damara. At Bahamut's suggested, he had the Tree-gem planted in the courtyard of his castle. Within weeks the gem sprouted into a grand white tree with golden leaves – establishing Bahamut's covenant that prevented demons from setting upon the lands of Bloodstone so long as its ruler aligned themself with the cause of good. Following his coronation, King Dragonsbane undertook a number of ventures to ensure the continued safety and prosperity of his lands.

Nearly a decade later in the, King Dragonsbane commuted the executions of the Bregan D'aerthe leaders, Jarlaxle and Artemis Entreri following their involvement with the Zhengyian construct and the replicated Castle Perilous. He merely exiled the pair from his kingdom.

Half a decade later, on Mirtul 3, the king led his army into battle against a horde of monstrous creatures led by a supposed second Witch-King. He was betrayed by some wizards within his group, who were in fact Cult of the Dragon agents working for this Witch-King, their grand leader Sammaster. His soul was imprisoned on the Plane of Shadow, leaving Damara without a ruler for a short time.

In Kythorn of that year, the smoke drake Capnolithyl led a band of dragonslayers to save Gareth from his fate. Once he was returned to Toril, the king took lead of his army and routed the army of orcs and giants from Damara's lands.

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

 * Adventures
 * Bloodstone Pass &bull; The Mines of Bloodstone &bull; The Bloodstone Wars &bull; The Throne of Bloodstone
 * Novels
 * Road of the Patriarch &bull; The Rite
 * Promise of the Witch-King &bull; The Ruin
 * Video Games
 * Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
 * Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
 * Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone