Uthar Aendyr
Brother of Prince Volospin Aendyr of Blackhill
Constable of Volnay
AC 1006
"Alphak's shadow!"
Appearance
Uthar Aendyr is a red-faced man with long gray unkempt hair. He is fat and unhealthy from too much eating, drinking, and other excesses in life. He has a scar on the right cheek, which he claims he gained from single-handedly battling a dangerous monster—a manticore or a lamia, depending on the story. His clothes are generally classy and high quality, but this is not apparent, because of his atrocious hygiene. The rings and necklaces he wears are numerous, large and gaudy. He frequently walks with a limp—from an old war injury he says, but people generally know it is because of severe attacks of gout.
Personality & Quirks
As a child, Uthar hardly received a rudimentary education, for he was unruly, undisciplined, and often violent. He could not be disciplined, not by his teacher who feared his parents, nor by his parents who simple didn't care. Thus, he was best left to have his way.
Uthar grew up to be a destructive creature of loathing and hatred—hatred for wizards, hatred for women, hatred for clerics, hatred of the weak, hatred of the strong, and hatred most all other beings in existence. He delights in inflicting pain and cruelty on others, as evidenced by his penchant for using inmates at the Volnay prison for target practice.
He has an insatiable hunger for power, money, and most of all, magic. He also has an obsessive fascination with sacred talismans, religious relics, and other magical items of a clerical nature; this stems from his superstitious belief in the Immortals, from the time he became a fanatical devotee of Razud and Palartarkan.
Background
When it was determined that the first-born son of Prince Cadwallon and Lady Thendara Aendyr was determined to be fatefully lacking in magical ability, Uthar Aendyr was nigh abandoned by his wizardly parents to the sorry fate of the mundaners of Glantri. Had Uthar been born in the Empire of Alphatia, he would have been trained as a cleric, and thus gained some spellcasting ability; instead he was born in the sorry excuse for an Alphatian colony, amidst all their racial enemies with their snobbish abhorrence of clericism, thus depriving him of any chance at respectability and nobility.
Uthar had a painful childhood, feeling inadequate and useless amongst the cruel and condescending wizards of Silverston, foremost of all were his two younger siblings: Sir Volospin Aendyr, the heir to the throne of Blackhill, and his malicious fraternal twin, Lady Qarendal Aendyr. To live under the shadow of the pompous and arrogant Volospin, was barely tolerable, but to suffer the indignity of Qarendal's constant magical tormenting went beyond the pale. When Qarendal was found bludgeoned to death in the dungeons of Castle Silverston, Uthar was immediately suspected. Prince Cadwallon imprisoned Uthar in the Elemental Plane of Air, hopelessly falling through the airy expense for a year. When Uthar was returned to the Prime Plane, broken and bitter, he was sent to live in the military barracks of Volnay.
Growing up at Volnay, Uthar found how to acquire power, using money, rank, or physical force. He eventually gained his own band of ruffians, and secured the position of Constable of Volnay, which he greatly abused. He often arrests merchants, clerics, and foreigners, confiscating their documents, threatening them with violence, fining them as much as 500 ducats, even imprisoning them for a month! He also often patronizes the Sisters of the Private Houses, although he seldom pays and even lifts a hand against these poor women. One local harlot had the unfortunate fate of bearing him a son who exhibited magical ability; when she approached him, hoping to find a better life for her baby, Uthar butchered them both.
One fateful morning in AC 988, Uthar woke up in a brothel and found himself the desperate victim of a very lethal magical disease of venery. As expected, no one was helping Uthar, and he was left helplessly wandering the filthy alleys of Volnay, sure he was going to die. But the Immortals work in mysterious ways. Uthar found himself rescued by a merciful cleric of Razud, Haleyadni of Bettelyn. Haleyadni was a common Alphatian (closer to the coppery-skinned Flaems than the pale-skinned noble Alphatian) come from the Alphatian continent with the rather misguided mission of proselytizing to their cleric-hating kin in Blackhill. Haleyadni found an all-too-eager convert (and somewhat improper romantic entanglement) in Uthar, and thus she blessed him with clerical spells and sacred talismans—and for once, Uthar knew what it was like to wield magic! From that time on, Uthar Aendyr became a fervent devotee of Razud, the Patron of Self-Sufficiency, and Palartarkan, an Alphatian Immortal who promises magical blessing to his followers. He was an unlikely protector of the clerics in Volnay and its environs, harboring a small local cult, safeguarding them from persecution, and smuggling them into and out of Glantri. But Haleyadni discovered Uthar was actually trafficking clerics and their services—with a sizeable commission!—and when she tried to dissuade him, he killed her in a fit of rage.
Since then, Uthar has been beyond redemption. He has been tormenting Volnay and the southern border of Glantri for years. To the unfortunately victims of Uthar's reign of terror, the Great Meteor crash that destroyed Blackhill and Volnay in AC 1006 was an anticipated release from suffering.
Web of Intrigue
Uthar Aendyr is a loose pawn of House Silverston. He hates his brother, Prince Volospin Aendyr, who he believed was unfairly given all the opportunities he should have gotten. But because of a powerful geas cast on him by his father, Prince Cadwallon, he cannot bring himself to harm his tormentor. Uthar's hatred of Volospin extends to his children, the arrogant Lathan Aendyr and the malicious Thylera Aendyr. The few times Uthar encountered Thylera, he was the butt of her vicious magical pranks, and thus he got his vengeance by molesting the young girl. He was never caught, but Thylera has been fearful of him ever since. The one person in his family Uthar is dreadfully afraid of is Lady Serena Aendyr, who he irrationally believes is his dead sister Qarendal returned to exact revenge on him.
Uthar Aendyr in an enemy of the Merchants' Consortium and the Sisters of the Private Houses, many of whom he has maltreated and abused. The Sisters were unfortunately quite unorganized in the Blackhill region and were never been able to stand up against him, save perhaps—as Uthar rightly suspects—passing on that fatal magical disease to him.
Uthar has also crossed paths with Jean-Louis d'Ambreville, true advocates of clerics in Glantri. They worked together at first, though Jean-Louis criticized his exploitation of clerics; but later, they worked against each other, when Uthar began persecuting them.
Beyond the Blackhill area, Uthar has no other dealings, not that he needs any more people to despise him.
Combat & Skills
Statistics: 9th-level fighter; Str 17, Int 11, Wis 9, Dex 14, Con 16, Cha 8; AL C (D&D), CE (AD&D).
Languages: Alphatian (Blackhill dialect), Thyatian (Glantrian dialect). Uthar can speak these languages, but hardly reads or write—a fact he vehemently hides.
Weapon Proficiencies: bastard sword, dagger. He likes using the crossbow, but is actually not proficient at it.
Skills: intimidation, drinking, gambling.
Uthar Aendyr is a wretched specimen of a mundaner. Not only has he no comprehension of the art of magic, but he is also quite unskilled and notoriously clumsy (The scar on his cheek came from an arrow he shot from his own crossbow). He also tries to compensate by using magical items—or more accurately, taking and stealing them from others. He has a massed an impressive number of such objects, as well as a hoard of burnt-out items expended of their magic. It is said he has one favorite religious talisman, Palartarkan's amulet of sorcerous blessings and indulgences.
"Is it so strange that a gentleman of stature such as my husband should keep the wildest, most brutal of creatures in captivity for purposes of entertainment?"
(Lady Serena Aendyr, when asked why Prince Volospin suffers his brother'
References:
The Lost Treasures of Blackhill
Author: Kit Navarro