Bodvar

Bodvar, better known as Bodvar the Black, was a chieftain of the Moor Eagle clan of Vaasa in the mid-to-late 13^th century DR. He was the first ruler of the Granite Tower.^[1][2]

Description[]

Bodvar was a handsome man with deep-set sapphire-blue eyes with a wild mane of bloodstone-red hair and a matching beard. He was a capable fighter and a respected leader of his clan.^[4]

Personality[]

Bodvar was considered wise and wary among his people, and did not hesitate to risk his own safety for their sake. He was incredibly calm under pressure, highly perceptive, and a charismatic deal-maker. He was also entrepreneurial, with a knack for recognizing and capitalizing on important opportunities, but also cautious when he suspected trouble.^[1]

Possessions[]

Bodvar favored the sword, and carried a steel longsword and dagger prior to his acquisition of a darksword which could slice through the monsters of Vaasa with ease.^[1]

Bodvar had a suit of armor made of dragonhide, although he lost the matching trousers. The armor had the special quality of dampening any noises or vibrations that he made.^[5]

Relationships[]

Bodvar was well-respected by his clan and by his wife, Idona, whom he loved sincerely. His relationship with Melegaunt Tanthul was complicated, but based on a modicum of mutual respect. Bodvar was deeply thankful for the help Melegaunt had provided to his clan, but just as deeply suspicious of his true motives.^[1]

History[]

Bodvar became chieftain of the Moor Eagle clan sometime in the mid–13^th century DR. In the Year of the Moat, 1269 DR, he determined that a better life might be had for his people if they stopped being nomads and started a business as the proprietors and guards of a stopover for caravans travelling across Vaasa's Bottomless Bogs. Under his direction, the clan began building a fort to serve as such a safe house. However, this attracted the ire of local monsters who preyed on the caravans, including the dragonmen of the mountains overlooking the Bogs and the bog people who lurked in the muddy Bogs themselves. These creatures attacked the half-finished fort, destroying it and sending the Moor Eagles fleeing.^[1]

On the 20th of Flamerule of that year, the Moor Eagles loaded their wagons and attempted to cross the Mountainshadow Bog under cover of fog so as to avoid detection by the winged dragonmen. However, they were ambushed by bog people, and would have all been killed if Melegaunt Tanthul, a Prince of Shade^[2] and powerful wielder of the Shadow Weave, hadn't been traveling along the same road. Bodvar managed to convince the wizard to save them, and in the process was gifted Melegaunt's darksword for use in the fight. Sensing that the man was evil and that he had no desire to accept any gifts from him, Bodvar returned the blade and attempted to be rid of Melegaunt by offering to guide him wherever he wished to go. However, Melegaunt had been impressed by the tenacity of Bodvar and his clan, and decided he wished to go with them.^[1]

Over the course of the next seventy days, Melegaunt established a forge and workshop for himself on an island near the Moor Eagle's summer encampment, with his presence deterring the dragonmen and bog people from their attacks. From his forge, he tirelessly worked to craft nineteen more darkswords similar to his own, one for each of the surviving warriors of the clan. When he learned from Bodvar's pregnant wife, Idona, about the chieftain's dream of building a fort, he promised to also raise a tower for the clan. Bodvar was highly suspicious of Melegaunt's generosity, having seen how strange and powerful his magic was, and staunchly refused to accept any of these gifts despite his wife's observations that he and the clan would be long dead if not for the wizard. Melegaunt was frustrated but impressed by the man's perceptiveness, but continued crafting his gifts, confident in his divinations that the clan would accept them soon.^[1]

His predictions came true on the night of Highharvestide during a coordinated attack by the dragonmen and bog people. Melegaunt pretended to have spent all of his magic, and as their enemies closed in, one of Bodvar's warriors grabbed a darksword, followed by another and another until all nineteen were in use and the battle was swiftly turned in their favor. Bodvar and Idona desperately tried to convince the warriors to relinquish the blades, but were interrupted by a second attack by the dragonmen in which Idona was slain. Furious, Bodvar surrendered to Melegaunt's scheme and seized the wizard's darksword, knowing that doing so would bind him in a pact.^[1] That pact, later known as the Oath of Bodvar, was that he or his descendants were to send their twenty best warriors to serve Melegaunt whenever he asked.^[2]

Melegaunt would subsequently raise the Granite Tower for the Moor Eagle clan, and Bodvar would go on to rule as a warlord from his new keep, becoming known as Bodvar the Black.^[2] Grim trophies of this time include the belts worn by his descendants made from the scales of the dragonmen clan who slew his wife.^[1][6]

Legacy[]

At some point Bodvar had a child, and passed his darksword to them. The pact with Melegaunt would not be invoked until long after Bodvar's death, during the lifetime of his great-granddaughter Vala Thorsdotter.^[7][8] His heirs would continue to rule the Granite Tower and wield the darkswords through the 15^th century DR, at which time they proudly called themselves "blood scions of Bodvar the Black".^[9]

Appendix[]

Appearances[]

Novels

Referenced only

The Summoning

Short stores

Realms of Shadow: "Darksword"

References[]