Helbareim Alanasker, known as "the Storm Wind", was a Tashalan[2][note 1] human fighter and blackguard of Tiamat and the High Suikh (king) of the city-state of Ormpur on the northeastern edge of Lapaliiya in southwest Faerûn in the mid-to-late 14th century DR.[6][1][2]
History[]
He came to power by opposing Queen Maerildarraine who, in 1306 DR, had rebelled against Tiamat and killed her foster father Askulder, the "Hand of Tiamat", before plundering and burning the royal temple of Tiamat and triggering a holy war as she usurped the throne. Supported by the church of Tiamat, Helbareim eventually deposed Maerildarraine. She died fighting in her own throne room and Helbareim became High Suikh himself.[1][7]
In the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, Helbareim's daughter and only heir, Chansreena Alabhansree Alanasker, went missing from Ormpur. Also missing were many magical blades that had been kept hidden in secret storage niches in the palace, and a large amount of saffron, comprising Ormpur's entire reserve, as well as other spices—all of this a fortune intended as the Chansreena's dowry.[8][4][5][3]
Obsessed with finding her, Helbareim spent a good deal of the city's treasury in efforts to locate and retrieve Alabhansree, all without success. He first suspected several notorious thieves: Hoond of Shussel, Veldyn "the Fingers" Uruin, and even the adventurer Torm of the Knights of Myth Drannor. The whole Ormpurian court believed the thief had originated from the North, and Ormpurian agents in Waterdeep hunted for information in that city and all along the Sword Coast.[4][5][3] Rumors in Sword Coast ports suggested they'd taken a ship to Mintarn or the Moonshae Isles.[5]
Later, based on false reports, he hired a number of adventuring companies to raid the slave pits of Llurth Dreier, a drow city in the Underdark beneath the Shaar. However, he would not find a single clue to her true fate, and these failures broke his spirit.[4]
Helbareim's deteriorating state continued the decline of Ormpur after the war and it fell further and further under the power of the Overking of Lapaliiya.[1] But other powers were watching, and moved to take advantage. The Se'Sehen yuan-ti tribe plotted to use this situation to gain control of the city, and began inserting their agents circa 1371 DR. Two high-placed courtiers were kidnapped, turned into tainted ones and sent back, gaining the confidence of Helbareim. However, Eselemas yuan-ti, rivals of Se'Sehen, also sought influence in Ormpur, as they had in Lapaliiya. And beholders were also entrenched in the nobility. All these factions schemed around the broken king.[4][2] By 1374 DR, it was possible that Overking Shaliim Wyrmslayer of Lapaliiya might propose an alliance, raising Helbareim's political power in exchange for the church of Tiamat's influence over dragons to protect Shaliim against the Black Wyrms.[2][note 2]
Activities[]
Helbareim was a devout follower of Tiamat, the Dragon Queen, and one of her most significant servitors in Faerûn. He upheld her faith in a land replete with rival gods.[2]
Relations[]
Helbareim's only daughter and sole heir was Alabhansree Alanasker, chansreena of the realm. However, he was a strict and almost tyrannical father. Cold and uncaring, he saw her as a commodity to be traded in marriage to anyone if it was in his interests. Her disappearance broke his spirit but he remained obsessed with locating her. With his daughter missing, Helbareim was left the last of his line.[1][4][5]
Helbareim was supported by the church of Tiamat.[1]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Dragons of Faerûn, page 74, gives Helbareim's ethnicity as "Lapaliiyan". However, this is a nationality, not an ethnicity, and Ormpur is not officially a part of Lapaliiya. The dominant ethnicity of Ormpur and Lapaliiya is Tashalan, so this is assumed to Helbareim's ethnicity.
- ↑ Dragons of Faerûn, page 74, apparently mistakenly mixes up Shaliim's and Helbareim's problems, saying the Black Wyrms want revenge against Helbareim, when Serpent Kingdoms page 103 already established their threat to Shaliim. There is no known reason for them to threaten Ormpur or Helbareim. This article describes the most likely situation.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 100–101. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 74. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ed Greenwood (January 1991). “The Everwinking Eye: At Home in Maskyr's Eye”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #57 (TSR, Inc.), p. 21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 103–104. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Ed Greenwood (1991). Halls of the High King. (TSR, Inc), pp. 63–64.
- ↑ Thomas Reid (October 2004). Shining South. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 177. ISBN 0-7869-3492-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (June 2000). “The New Adventures of Volo: Quotations of the Realms”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #272 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 97.
- ↑ 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.