Paldor Daln
From Codex Vocrotha
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Birth of a Warlord
Paldor Daln, arguably the most influential man in the world, was born in 1497 DR to commoners in the Highlands of Anlador. He remained a shepherd until he one day saved a Lady from Karasek as she tumbled off a path to what would have been her certain doom. He was squired, to his and his parents' shock, and with considerable talent and drive he was Knighted. Mureia, a village of farmers and fishermen, and its small nearby stone keep were given into his protection, and he swore to protect the peasants there with pride and loyalty.
In the spring of 1515 DR, Paldor met Anara Turiel, Duchess of Anlador, and fell in love with her -- and she with him. While their union was hotly contested by many higher placed nobles, the Duke of Anlador wished only for his daughter's happiness, and so he allowed them to be married. The Duchess joined Paldor in his keep in the Highlands in 1517, and they lived happily for three years.
The turning point for Paldor came in 1521 DR when the Kâlindur Lord of Karasek -- Paldor's liege -- demanded that Paldor bring his troops to the fore in an action against the Gochin in the mountains above Anlador. Paldor complied, but requested for a single night's leave on his anniversary, as it had been his custom to spend the night with his wife. Unknown to him, the Lord of Karasek had been one of the Duchess's suitors, and so avenged his loss and the Knight's imagined slap in the face by accompanying a group to rape and kill Paldor's wife and lay waste to his lands.
Paldor was allowed leave that night, and came home to utter destruction. His wife was long dead, and his servants slaughtered. Paldor set his beloved on a pyre, set fire to his keep and, amidst the ashes, tried to kill himself. His life was spared by the direct intercession of the god Dalor himself, who offered Paldor the chance for revenge in return for being the Mad God's Champion: the Daloric Warlord.
Lord of the Nightmare
Paldor agreed to Dalor's terms, and with his zeal and charisma, subverted his own cohort into joining the very forces he had been trying to defeat above Anlador. He organized the fractious Gochin troops, reinforced them with Ur and irregular human forces from his own village, and, with brutality and ruthless efficiency, routed the Lord of Karasek handily, pushing him back to Anlador and beyond, as the beginning of the Nightmare Imperium came to pass. Dalor twisted the man -- though some might argue that other men had twisted him thoroughly before the Mad God saved him -- and it was not long before Paldor cultivated an abiding rage that led him to the same conclusion as Dalor -- that all creation was warped beyond repair, and that the only solution to the difficulty was to bring it all to an end to begin anew.
Victorious time and again, pulling allies from unlikely places and routing the nobles of the fading Kâlindurian dynasty, he drove the followers of Light from the continent in his righteous wrath, establishing for himself an Empire of strictest law and blind justice. By 1538 DR, his rule was all but absolute, and he could devote himself to more extensive social reform. Criminals, especially those who had been nobles previously, became slaves, the oppressed became free, and the Kâlindur, the source of his pain, became his primary target. Finding an ally in Argauld Alearian, Paldor enlisted great and terrible forces to sink the Kâlind homeland, Thârin, back into the waves from which they had raised it, and to chase them from their beautiful crystal caverns in Rothdaur under the Rilthârin Mountains. His goal for the Kâlind was nothing less than genocide, and he all but succeeded: by the time Eredil Lantradi returned with the exiles of the Adaric Archipelagos to Dalkiar in 2558 DR to contest his rule, no more than a hundred of the Kâlind remained alive.
Warlord in Exile
Taken by surprise by the charismatic Tenebriel and wracked by sudden guilt as he realized the wrongs he had visited upon the Kâlindur as a result of his rage, Paldor fell back after a series of losses in the field and went into a self-imposed exile, retaining his role as Daloric Warlord but abandoning any claims of rulership as he went forth to explore the world he had subjugated for so long. As he watched, anonymously, the Throntorian Empire rose to power with Eredil its master, and Paldor witnessed firsthand many of the same evils he had allowed to pass arise as their mirror images in the intolerance and hate of this new Emperor.
Deciding that no one man could rule fairly or justly, and coming at last to the full belief that his lord, Dalor, was correct in desiring the end of all things, Paldor at once begain marshalling his forces, gathering the support of societies driven deep underground during the Emperor's rule and currying the favor of those realms most wronged by Imperial hatred and intolerance.
Prodigal Champion
Paldor quickly fielded a powerful elite force of soldiers and sorcerers, and in 3701 DR he revealed himself, striking quickly against the forces of Eredil and driving straight for the heart of the Empire. Within a year, Paldor had besieged Throntor and neutralized her allies, the Drakkhozhn. He knew the siege of the great city would be a long one -- and, indeed, it later became known as the Fifty Year Siege for its interminable length -- but he did not expect the siege to drive Eredil insane. Insane Eredil became, however, and in 3752 the Emperor unleashed one of the Runes, Haegel, destroying himself, his city, his army and Paldor's all in one catastrophic blow.
How Paldor could possibly have survived the blast is still a controversial topic; it is well known that only a Champion can kill a Champion, but the energies unleashed by the Rune should have all but atomized Paldor where he stood. For several hundred years, in fact, it was assumed that Eredil had done the unthinkable and slain the Warlord; he was not seen, not heard from, not so much as mentioned by those trying to heal the broken land. Survive he did, however, for in 4501 DR he led a group of Humans, Gochin, Ur and Reborn against Anlador, joining with the Demagogue Kur D'Shan and the traitorous Grand Duke of Areg, Talish Kalegor in an attempt to break the Maltharian Kingdom apart into civil war. Strategists all acknowledge his retreat from Anlador as the mark of strategic genius, as he managed to simultaneously deal a deadly blow to the Kingdom's Southern Army and take the Kingdom's very capitol, Malthar, while eluding the reprisal the King's Army would have inflicted had he taken and held the city.
Little is known of the private existence of the Warlord; it is believed he has recently begotten a son, Elidor Daln, though the mother remains unknown. His circle of friends is limited, consisting only of his vassals and his Field Marshall, Korrian Blackhand. He is said to be quiet, thoughtful, and compassionate in discussion, but casts a gaze so intense it cannot be held for long.
(Cross-reference to Paldor Daln's Character Interview (http://www.vocroth.com/?p=89) )
