Aedlad

, also known as the is the evil alter ego of, the first and last  king of. Although it is commonly believed that the Sindarin King died of wounds he received at the c. 683, he is actually “imprisoned” in the  at  in a chamber hidden by great enchantment. For twelve centuries, Daélda has been engaged in a great struggle with the demon Aedlad.

Summoning and fall
The in  683 culminated in the  in the. During the fighting a group of an clerics were on the periphery of the fighting. Seeking the tide turn against the ns (the ) they gathered together and summoned the Demon Aedlad, the the living antithesis of the Sindar King, in a desperate move to alter the outcome of the battle.

Aedlad waded into the battle, killing any who stood against him as he made his way towards King Daélda. There in the center of the field of battle, they fought. It is uncealr precisely what occurred next, but as the battle cleared with the elder races and their allies victorious, Daélda was found mortally wounded with his chest pierced. Whether it occurred due to the various esoteric powers they deployed in their struggle, or whether it was a powerful enchantment used by his elven kin to keep the Sindarin king from succumbing to his wounds, the souls/Auras of Daélda and Aedlad were “joined” within the mortal body of fallen monarch.

The clerics who summoned Aedlad watched from hiding as the elder folk enraged by the loss of their ruler, slaughter all the remaining Atani, and only Taurin Halfhand, one of the Navehan clerics, managed to escape being killed.

Taurin followed as the elves carried the body of Daélda/Aedlad, which he took for that of the demon, to Caer Harmenel on the. Believing Aedlad invulnerable, he assumed that Daélda’s kin imprisoned the evil one within the fortress. Bejist was evacuated, and the Sindarin collapsed the citadel. All the while Taurin lurked nearby, observing events. When the last of his enemies had departed, Taurin searched in vain for Aedlad’s prison. At the end of 681 he concluded that he had done all he could do alone. He wandered onto the heath and spent several months in a drug-ordeal in search of divine guidance.

In the aftermath of the battle King Daélda’s elven kinfolk suppressed all knowledge of his fate, even from their own people, and let the belief prevail that the king had died from his wounds. In this they told no lie, simply reporting that he had suffered a mortal wound.

Current condition
Daélda’s immortal, but grievously wounded body is shared by the souls/Auras of both the demon Aedlad and Daélda. This combination has yet to achieve equilibrium. Under most circumstances, Daélda and Aedlad could not exist in the same universe at the same time, since Aedlad is an antithesis of the elven king conjured from an obscure P-world under unique circumstances at the. In a sense, the demon is a P-version of Daélda, as evil as the elf is good. This condition profoundly affects Daélda/Aedlad’s behaviour. It is only through the exertion of both wills that Daélda’s body is kept alive. To this end the two may be said to have attained a kind of balance. This may, however, be upset by visitors.

Under usual circumstances a soul is immortal and will, when its body dies, return to the “afterworld” of its birth. For most Hârnians the afterworld is, for it is the. From their first joining, however, the souls of Daélda and Aedlad were so melded as to be inseperable. Such a soul could enter no afterworld and would be suspended in forever. It was the hope of Daélda’s kin that the passage of time would allow this unique soul to reach a balance and create one stable being, neither wholly Daélda nor Aedlad, but a blending of the two. The elves believe that good is ultimately stronger than evil and that Daélda’s personality would eventually achieve supremacy, his body could die, and he could take his place among his kin in the Blessed Realm.

Generally, the two souls share control, alternating the various functions by tacit agreement. One will govern the and keep the body alive despite its wound. The other controls the conscious mind and the voluntary functions. It is possible for the partner in control of the to exercise veto by interfering with various involuntary functions, but this can only be done at considerable risk to the body. Most of the time the act of keeping the body alive is so demanding that the subconscious partner takes no notice of the other’s actions. The exchange of roles generally takes place when the subconscious partner tires. The two souls are of roughly equal strength, so the transfer occurs about every half hour. Clearly, if Daélda/Aedlad is visited, each has a 50% chance of being met, and if the visitors remain long enough, both will be encountered. The can be interesting. Some disruption of the involuntary functions always occurs. Aedlad is often reluctant to yield control of the conscious side and, during the transition, roles may change several times in a few minutes. Aedlad is far from being a loving personality and is as likely to seek relief from boredom by torture and murder of any guests as by conversation. Daélda may be unable to restrain him and may be unaware of such activities. Daélda would be torn between his thirst for news and conversation and a wish to warn interlopers of their danger. If by chance visitors were to inflict additional wounds on Daélda’s body the conscious partner would lend some of his strength to regenerate the damage. The entity would become a, semi-intelligent creature, motivated entirely by self-preservation.

Appearance
He is five foot four, of light build, and has black hair, grey eyes, and a very fair complexion. He is left handed. He wears a tunic of green silk to which he occasionally (50% of the time) adds a of marvelously hard and light silver  and a silver girdle studded with green jewels. He also wears a silver chain around the top of his head from which suspends a large silver amulet with a green gem at its centre. The latter is a focus for his considerable magical power. He also possesses, and will wear when he is armored, a green and silver scabbard containing a knightly of unusual lightness. The is powerfully enchanted. Aedlad’s body, and all of the appropriate aforementioned garments are punctured in the left breast about four inches below the nipple. However garbed, Aedlad’s wound drips blood at a steady rate of one drop per second. As a result of this blood flow, the floor and furnishings of the room are stained the colour of dried blood. Some parts of the floor are slippery.

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