Ansur, nicknamed the The Waiting Storm and the Heart of the Gate, was a bronze dragon who lived on the Sword Coast, near the city of Baldur's Gate, before, during, and possibly some time after, the 11th century DR. He was slain by his best friend, and lingered as a sleeping undead dragon for many centuries.[1]
Description[]
The awakened remains of the undead bronze dragon.
In his draconic form, Ansur resembled most other bronze dragons. He also possessed a humanoid form, which strongly resembled a bronze dragonborn.[1]
Personality[]
Ansur had a true passion for adventure and travel. He was a wholly dedicated friend and ally, perhaps to a fault. He came to believe he knew what was best for his friends, despite them expressing their own wishes.[1]
Abilities[]
As a bronze dragon, Ansur possessed the powerful lightning breath associated with their kind. He could also however gather power to release a "bout of storms". A literal storm appeared around the mighty wyrm, and blasts of lightning struck down any nearby threats.[1]
Ansur's soul remained attached to his corpse after his death. While his personality remained dormant, the undead dragon retained the power to wholly take over the body of anyone who ventured near, search every portion of their mind, and communicate via their body.[1]
Possessions[]
Within his personal sanctum, Ansur kept hidden away a powerful enchanted helm.[1]
Activities[]
It was said that Ansur promised the founder of Baldur's Gate he would come to the aid of the city if was truly under threat of destruction or demise. He would do so only once, however.[1]
Ansur dwelled within the appropriately named Dragon's Sanctum, a sanctuary found deep within Wyrm's Rock isle in the middle of the River Chionthar, near Baldur's Gate.[1]
Relationships[]
Ansur was the long-time traveling companion and arguably the closest confidant of Balduran, the famous explorer and co-founder of Baldur's Gate. The two were nigh-inseparable for many years, until the final years of Balduran's mortal life.[1]
History[]
A mural depicting the occasion Ansur and Balduran first met, their time together in Baldur's Gate, and Balduran departing for his last voyage.
Ansur and Balduran once traveled together far north to the Great Ice Sea, north of the Endless Wastes, in search of the Great Spire built by Gondar gnomes. On another occasion, they made the perilous trek together across the Calim Desert.[1]
After their years adventuring, the pair transformed the small settlement of Gray Harbor into a bustling city. That city later came to be known as Baldur's Gate.[1]
At some point during or after the mid–11th century DR, Balduran embarked on one final adventure, without Ansur, one that would see his ship capsized and fortunes turn for the worse. In search of new and greater wealth, he alone sought the fabled treasure that remained beneath Moonrise Towers in the Western Heartlands. It was there that he was captured by a mind flayer colony, infected with an illithid tadpole, underwent ceremorphosis, and was enslaved by an elder brain.[1]
Fortunately for Balduran, Ansur freed him from the clutches of the elder brain's influence and returned him to safety. Ansur called upon every healer he could to cure Balduran from his affliction, but Balduran refused, believing his transformation was a boon rather than a curse.[1]
As a last resort, having exhausted hope of reversing Balduran's transformation, Ansur approached Balduran in his sleep and attempted to kill him in an act of "mercy". But Balduran awoke and stood his ground and killed Ansur first, in a heartbreaking act of self-preservation. Wielding his giantslayer greatsword, Balduran slew Ansur and left his remains within the Dragon's Sanctum deep inside Wyrm's Rock isle.[1]
After Ansur was slain within Dragon's Sanctum, Wyrm's Rock fortress was built atop the isle in the middle of the River Chionthar. The sanctum was accessible by the Wyrmway, a gauntlet of four trials that only a worthy champion could overcome.[1]
When the Absolute crisis threatened Baldur's Gate in the Year of Three Ships Sailing, 1492 DR, Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard believed the solution to saving the city was to wake the wyrm that remained within its namesake fortress.[1]
Rumors & Legends[]
It was the legend of Ansur―the slumbering, guardian dragon―that Duke Ravengard held faith in. It was said that the wyrm could be called upon in times of great need, when the city faced true peril. Only a truly worthy champion could pass through the Wyrmway and stir Ansur from its state of dormancy. The truth of course, was far more complicated than the legend suggested.[1]
Ansur's life and his adventures with Balduran, along with allusions to his state as an undead guardian, were told in the epic poem The Legend of Ansur.[1]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Video Games
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