Aencar Burlisk (pronounced: /eɪˈɑːnkɑːr/ ay-AN-kar[2]) was a Dalesfolk hero who united all of the Dalelands (with the exception of Archendale and High Dale), in the early-to-mid-11th century DR.[4][1][2]
History[]
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.[2]
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,[2] and in the Year of Warlords, 1030 DR, Aencar was proclaimed the Lord of Battledale.[1][2][5]
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.[1] The Mailed Mantle patrolled Battledale, and visitors of Battledale noted its strong and competent leader.[2]
In the Year of Spreading Spring, 1038 DR, Aencar then began his campaign to unify the Dales, adopting the title the Mantled King.[1][2][3] 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.[2] 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.[1]
Death[]
In the Year of Singing Shards, 1044 DR,[3] 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.[1][2] One of the evil mages was Alacanther of Arrabar, who burned down Aencar's keep.[2]
Legacy[]
Following Aencar's death, the Dalelands divided into independent communities, yet they remained allied.[3]
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.[2] In the mid-to-late 14th century DR, the ruler of Essembra and Battledale's delegate to the Dales Council was Chancellor Ilmeth, a descendant of Aencar's chief swordcaptain.[6]
A statue of Aencar was later erected in the center of Essembra,[7] on the site of the cottage where the previous Battledarran heroine Essembra had been born over a century earlier.[8]
Even in the 14th century DR, Battledarran folk who grew up in sight of Aencar's castle felt pride in their warrior heritage.[9]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Ed Greenwood, Julia Martin, Jeff Grubb (1993). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition (revised), Shadowdale. (TSR, Inc), p. 17. ISBN 1-5607-6617-4.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 122. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (January 1996). Volo's Guide to the Dalelands. (TSR, Inc), p. 46. ISBN 0-7869-0406-2.
- ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 115. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 123. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (January 1996). Volo's Guide to the Dalelands. (TSR, Inc), p. 47. ISBN 0-7869-0406-2.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 97. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ William W. Connors (November 1995). Wizards and Rogues of the Realms. Edited by Anne Gray McCready. (TSR, Inc), p. 18. ISBN 0-7869-0190-X.