Valdemar
Valdemar, Deposed Baron of Sandal
There is no history or reports of Valdemar before his appearance in 555 TA in the southern Reaches during the War of Stone Rain.
Valdemar appears to be human - although his prodigiously long life points towards an elven or dark elven bloodline. Others believe that Valedemar is a necromancer kept alive by dark rituals and exotic elixirs. This rumor led to a common nickname for Valdemar - the Black Lord.
Whatever his origins, Valdemar was already a powerful wizard and master diplomat when he entered into the War of Stone Rain - forging a truce and later an alliance between the humans and Large Folk in the southern Reaches. Stories tell of Valdemar using magical fire from his staff to burn through ranks of ogre infantry one day, and then summoning dragons to terrorize the human armies the next. Valdemar eventually won the trust of both sides in the conflict, bringing the War of Stone Rain to a peaceful end.
Valdemar was named "Baron" of Sandal in October 555 TA and would rule unopposed for over three hundred years.
Long the arch-nemesis of the Crown, the list of his entanglements with the heroes of the Reaches is long:
- In 829 TA, Valedemar captured King Gregory the Even-Handed and held him captive at his castle in Sandal. The king escaped with the help of his knights and retainers.
- In 833 TA, Valdemar and the other members of the Brotherhood of the Seven overthrew Teufeldorf and exiled King Gregory. They formed the short-lived Shadowland Empire.
- In 886 TA, Valdemar joined forces with the Orc Nation and the Tomb Kingdom and invaded Teufeldorf in the First War of the Reaches. This led to the Baron's exile from Sandal after the revolt of 890 TA.
- Fleeing to the Tang Empire, Valdemar pusuaded Emperor Shiba to invade the Reaches in 899 TA. This started the Second War of the Reaches.
- Valdemar, through his agent Nihilo, trapped the three Kings and their cohorts in the Djinn's Labyrinth in March 901 TA. While the party escaped, they were forced to battle Valdemar at his castle to do so.
- Valdemar briefly returned to power from 899 TA to 905 TA where he was again defeated with the withdrawl of the Tang Empire.
- In 906 TA, Valdemar convinced Overlord Theodric XIX of the Old Kingdom to invade the Reaches - effectively replacing the lost Tang armada and extending the Second War of the Reaches. The attack was successful in sacking Teufeldorf which is now under Old Kingdom control.