Halav
by Marco Dalmonte(Redhair, Vidar)
Patron of Warfare, Patron of Weaponsmiths, Patron of Traladara, Patron of Kendach, Protector of Milenia, Bane of the Humanoids
Level, Alignment, Sphere: 17 (Celestial), LN, Thought
Symbol: a sword plunged into an anvil
Portfolio: warfare, strategy, tactics, arms, weaponsmithing, strength, willpower, sacrifice, fighting humanoids
Worshipped in: Known World (Karameikos, Thyatis), City-States of the Gulf of Hule, Isle of Dawn, Hollow World (Traldar Kingdoms, Milenia, Merry Pirates Seas)
Appearance: a well-muscled red-haired human warrior with a golden crown, wearing a bronze cuirass and wielding a shortsword.
History: Halav was a wise and brave Traldar King beloved and respected by his subjects when the gnolls escaping from Nithia invaded the Traldar lands (current Karameikos) in BC 1000, bringing with them only death and destruction. Halav protected Lavv (his city-state) with all his strengths and cunning, and thanks to Petra's (Queen of Krakatos and later Halav's lover) and Zirchev's (a powerful archmage and druid) help he was able to rally most of the Traldar monarchs into a league that prevented the beastmen (gnolls) to wipe out the entire Traldar civilisation. The gnolls' advance was stopped halfway near Lavv, and in the last desperate attempt to disband the invaders' troops, the three heroes stood against the gnollish army leading a warband made up by all the able-bodied Traldars left. In the final one-to-one battle between the Gnoll Warchief and Halav, the brave king killed the enemy after a duel that lasted one day, and then fell mortally wounded. The surviving gnolls disbanded and headed back northwards, leaving a trail of dead bodies and sacked cities in their path. The Traldar Kingdoms were finally free, but half of the land laid in ruins and the valiant Halav was dead. After great mourning and funeral ceremonies, Petra and Zirchev secretly spirited away Halav's corpse and the Queen raised him. Swearing an oath of eternal friendship to his comrades, Halav left his homeland determined to thank the Immortals for restoring his life by carrying out a quest to destroy the beastmen wherever they hid.
Halav traced the gnolls' path back to the Nithian border, and after destroying a few tribes, he headed northwards, travelling through the current Orclands and later Soderfjord, learning new fighting techniques and embarking on the Path of the Epic Hero under the sponsorship of Odin. He finally was able to complete it when he reached the Isle of Dawn, where he retrieved the fabled sword Caledfwylch, an artifact of Thought. Wielding it as the legendary hero-king foretold by the seer Dallbard, he united the people of Redstone and future Kendach and helped them to repel the Fomorians (humanoids) who had oppressed them in the last decades. He later sired Kendach, founder of the homonymous dominion, and after training him as his successor, he completed the path of the Epic Hero and ascended in the Sphere of Thought during the second half of the X century BC, where he later welcomed his friends Petra and Zirchev. He currently protects the Traladarans of Karameikos and the inhabitants of the City-states of the Gulf of Hule (descendants of the Traldars) and has a special interest in the Traldar Kingdoms and Milenia in the Hollow World (sine Milen, founder of Milenia in Davania, was a Traldar King that fled from Brun after the gnolls' invasion and reached the southern continent). Halav is also worshipped as Redhair (Gruaigerua) by the people of Kendach, by the Northmen as Vidar (one of the Aesirs) and by the Merry Pirates as Halav.
Personality: Halav is a fierce enemy of all immortal patrons of humanoids, with the exception of Karaash, whom he respects greatly for his tactical skills and honour on the battlefield. He also despises Vanya for the hatred she shows towards his protégés (the Milenians), and tries to hinder her plans whenever they threaten the Milenians or the Traldars.
Patron: Odin
Allies: Petra (his mate), Zirchev
Enemies: Ranivorus, Atzanteotl, Yagrai, Bartziluth, Wogar, Kurtulmak, Bagni, Jammudaru, Vanya
Classic D&D Stats:
Followers' alignment: any; clerics must be Lawful or Neutral
Favoured weapons: short sword (allowed all bludgeoning weapons, javelin and short spear)
Clerics' skills & powers: +2 bonus to hit rolls vs humanoids/goblinoids, +2 bonus to general skill Military Tactics (not free)
Paladins' skills & powers: +2 bonus to hit rolls vs humanoids/goblinoids
D&D 3E Stats:
Domains: Thought, Law, Strength, War, Nobility
Preferred weapon: short sword
Sources: GAZ1, HW, HWR3, WotI, SCS, DotE
Note: I added the part of Halav's history regarding the Isle of Dawn to explain why the current ruler of Kendach is in fact a cleric of Halav (see Dawn of the Emperors). It occurred to me that being a cleric of a deity not normally associated with that region was in fact weird, and so I devised this story, which actually explains pretty well 3 "mysterious" facts:
1. why Odin was Halav's sponsor despite not being one of the common Traldar Immortals (Halav's background is Traldar after all)
2. why the rulers of Kendach worship Halav despite not being Traldar-related
3. what did Halav exactly do to earn immortality in the Sphere of Thought
Hope you liked my reasoning
PS: Dallbard is the Dawners' name for Tiresias (see also his bio as pregenerated NPC in IM2 and his short entry in WotI - more on him later on this same thread).