Shaliim Wyrmslayer was a Tashalan human fighter, sorcerer, and eldritch knight; one-time world-walking adventurer; and the Prince Royal and later Overking of Lapaliiya, ruling from the Palace of the Overking in the capital city of Sheirtalar in the late 14th century DR.[5][1][2]
Relations[]
He was the son of Mhartuk, the Overking of Lapaliiya.[2]
History[]
Around 1353 DR, Prince Shaliim set off to adventure across Faerûn, looking for excitement, achievement, and a wife. He met and became friends with a band of younger sons of Waterdhavian nobility who'd also taken up adventuring, nicknamed "wildblades", and who were rich and well-equipped with magic items. In the upper room of a dancing house in a seedier part of Waterdeep's Waterdeep/Dock Ward, they discovered an ancient gate that in turn led to a network of gates linking to other planes and planets. Naturally, they used it to explore these other worlds.[3][2][note 1]
On one of these worlds, in the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, Shaliim and the wildblades came across a kingdom of dwarves and humans ruled over by a group of powerful elder black dragons known as the Black Wyrms. The adventurers were quickly captured and enslaved, but battled to escape. In the end, Shaliim, who had not previously done much that was remarkable, even jumped inside the mouth of one of the black wyrms and killed it from the inside, thus gaining his epithet. On the way, they even robbed from the dragons' hoard.[3][6]
That same year, they safely returned to Toril, each with a great fortune and much strange and potent magic, and went their separate ways, with most of the wildblades settling back into Waterdeep.[2] Shaliim went back to Lapaliiya, taking up the mantle of Prince Royal and ruling the city of Lushpool[1][2] from the Palace of the Prince.[7][2] He formally took the name "Wyrmslayer", ordering his heralds to add it to his royal lineage and to the names of any children he had in future.[2]
Over the next ten years, he was forced to battle many thieves, particularly from Thay and Calimshan, who came after the treasures and magic items he'd won on his adventures.[3][2]
At last, in the Year of the Unstrung Harp, 1371 DR, his aged father died of heartstop and Shaliim became Overking of Lapaliiya.[3][4] He moved into the Palace of the Overking in Sheirtalar.[1] He was still looking out for a wife; he sought a woman who matched him in both the magical and martial arts.[3]
However, the Black Wyrms were seeking revenge. Following ten years of effort, they tracked the wildblades back to Toril, located the adventurers themselves, and discreetly killed them, one by one. News of the disappearances eventually reached Shaliim and, in the Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR, a black dragon was even sighted swimming in Talar Bay. In response, Shaliim stayed sheltered within the Domed Palace as he worked desperately on a plan. He thought to hire a group of adventurers to make an expedition into the Mhair Jungles and seek lore from a time when the yuan-ti fought with the great old dragons of Faerûn. But, as he was unable to represent the realm in person, Lapaliiya's trade suffered and concerns were circulated privately around the court.[3]
Personality[]
He was proud and willful and, as his battle with the black dragon showed, capable of ruthless and even reckless courage in battle.[2]
Possessions[]
According to spies, among the magical items that Shaliim won on his adventures was an automaton made from black metal in the form of a beautiful and shapely human woman and possessing incredible power. Shaliim once ordered it to attack a pair of iron golem guardians and it handily destroyed them.[2]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ The original article in Polyhedron #64 says Shaliim's adventuring career lasted "the past four seasons", suggesting one year, and that he met the wildblades "recently", likely within that year. However, Serpent Kingdoms writes "after four years of adventuring with a band of Waterdhavian wildblades". The later source is adopted here.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 102. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Ed Greenwood (October 1991). “The Everwinking Eye: Daily Life in Mulmaster”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #64 (TSR, Inc.), p. 21.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 103. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 151. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Thomas Reid (October 2004). Shining South. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 177. ISBN 0-7869-3492-1.
- ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 142. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 100. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.