Gelinavaar Silverhand
Gelinavaar was hatched 85 years ago in Silverymoon. Alustriel Silverhand took the egg after battling Claugylimatar and driving her away after one of her plots was uncovered. Conflicted on what to do with it, she decided to prepare an alchemical solution to house the egg in the acidic environment it required. While she knew of the nature of dragonkind, her motherly nature got the better of her and it eventually hatched into a green wyrmling. She soon found that the small dragon was greedy and uncontrollable, yet should could not bring herself to kill him. Instead she had him put below in chains, and there he stayed for over nine years as he slowly grew in size. As time went on, his violent outbursts grew less and less frequent. He became docile and quiet, and eventually refused to eat or drink. He began to waste away, preferring death over imprisonment.
As he lay dying, one of Alustriel's many daughters, Vantissa came down into the cells to see a dragon for the first time. She sat and spoke with the dying creature and convinced him to eat. As time went on Vantissa would visit him daily, and the dragon slowly gained his strength back. After several months, Alustriel noticed the remarkable improvement in his temperament and he was eventually freed from his confinement. As the months went by, the dragon seemed obedient and helpful. Eventually, Alustriel decided that he had earned a place in her house. She granted him the name Gelin Silverhand, and he was allowed more and more freedom within her mighty Palace.
Gelin had an incredible thirst for knowledge, and would spend every waking moment in the tower library reading. Vantissa would often accompany him, and they would sit quietly reading for hours on end. He read of powerful dragons, and the mighty things they had done in the past. As he read, he noticed a common theme that no matter how much power a dragon gained, they would always fall in the end. He studied story after story, making note of where his kin had failed. When there were no more stories to read, he turned to magic. Most of Alustriel's children studied the craft, and Vantissa soon began to teach him the arcane arts.
As his studies grew, his dreams were plagued with memories imparted to him by his true mother Claugylimatar. Old Gnawbone, as she is called, was an adept shapeshifter. By studying not only books, but his own memories, he was able to grasp the concept his mother took centuries to master. It was not long before a green haired boy could be seen running down the halls and flinging practice spells in the courtyard of the tower. As the years went by, the "boy" grew into a man, and his relationship with Vantissa grew stronger until it became something much more. They kept their relationship a secret, however it was only a matter of time until Alustriel discovered the truth. When she did, she confronted the two in a bedroom near the top of the tower. Enraged, Gelin tried to fight back, and out of instinct used his breath to try to kill Alustriel. Unfortunately Vantissa was also caught in the cloud of poison, and began to choke and seize on the floor. As Alustriel knelt by her dying child, a panicked Gelin burst through the window, shifting midair and taking off into the night, never to return.
Everything about being a dragon was instinct to him, but he never had contact with any other of his kind. Lost and confused, he made his way to Waterdeep under the guise of a human. There on a fateful day he met what he thought was his first freind since leaving Silverymoon, a kobold named Varim. However this was no mundane kobold, but rather a powerful vampire with a penchant for alchemy and books. Together, they started a company called Waterdeep Trading. They specialized in selling rare books, artifacts, and precious metals and jewelry. Through buying and trading, the pair quickly amassed a small fortune and hired several competent people to run it for them. With a steady source of gold secured, the dragon made his way to Southwood to stake a claim and start a new domain. It was at this time he took a proper name for himself, Gelinavaar.
He found a local tribe of forest kobolds in Southwood and they were quick to serve him. With a steady supply of gold and books coming to him from Waterdeep, he turned his lair into a library that reminded him of a time when he was happy. However this was not to last, as a few years after settling into Southwood the dead began their takeover led by a mad necromancer named Julian Druge. He was able to hold him at bay for a time, as his defenses were solid and he had magic capable of shielding the inside from scrying and teleportation. However, Julian found connecting tunnels and tried to kill him by bursting through a wall in his lair. He held the necromancer off while his tribe escaped and they all fled to the nearby river to the north.
Desperate for assistance, and seeing the potential to remove two foes at once, he called upon the nearby town of Lerwick for aid. They were able to re-secure his lair and soon he was once again home. It was here that he began his diplomatic ties with the up and coming town. Making them a valuable ally, he ensured that none would come and ruin everything he had worked for. As this was happening, his emissaries searched the Sword coast and desert for more kobold tribes willing to join him. Eventually he found two. And when the time came for Lerwick to kill Julian, he was ready to sweep in and collect the prize for himself. With a working teleportation circle, he was able to transport the tribes to Southwood. Using firearms technology provided by Fin, the legendary gunsmith, he armed his kobolds with devastating weaponry. He then granted himself the title Warden of Southwood.
Upon the ruins of Julian's castle he built himself a mighty tower named Jadehold. Its beauty and architecture based upon the home he could not return to. Now secure to begin building a proper library, Varim moved from Waterdeep to the newly built citadel. As the months went by, tensions began to build between Jadehold and Lerwick. Eventually tensions rose to a breaking point when Varim's true nature was discovered by the heroes of the Hawthorne guild. Dispelling the hold on Gelinavaar, the dragon suddenly realized that he had been under the creatures spell since their first meeting so almost two decades ago. Enraged, they attempted to storm Jadehold to rid Toril of the vampire once and for all. However upon reaching it, they discovered to their horror that the entire tower was gone. It was as if a giant hand scooped it from the earth leaving nothing but a crater.
With his forces halved, he could no longer keep the forest secure from the native elves that inhabited it. This forced a retreat of all his remaining forces to Lerwick, and he had no choice but to put himself at the guilds mercy. They granted him membership in the guild, but at the price of turning him in to Silverymoon for his past crimes. There he was arrested and placed in the dungeons below the palace. However, in a twist of fate he learned that his love so long ago did not die that night he left the city. She died nine months later giving birth to his daughter Alice. Alustriel, feeling bittersweet having a wayward "son" return, has sentenced him to remain in the Palace until his daughter comes of age. He is to teach her and make up for lost time.
At this time he could be found in the dungeons of Silverymoon, his chambers a large and cavernous room filled with books and gold. He was free to walk about the castle in his human form, and could sometimes be seen there. A small contingent of kobold honor guards was all that remained of his once-powerful army. He was defeated and dejected. His plans in ruin, all that remained of his once-great tower was a painting on the wall. The tower was still out there, Varim was still out there, but his focus was his daughter. For what is a decade to a dragon? What safer place to plan and plot for the future?
Personality
Gelinavaar is pragmatic, charming, and arrogant. An upbringing in a noble human family has made him much more adept and diplomatic than most of his kind. While not opposed to violence, he uses it as a last resort. Cowardly by nature, he will flee a confrontation he does not think he can win. He will never allow himself to be put in a situation he cannot flee or escape from. He views the world from the mindset of a creature that will live ten times that of others, and thus lets his plans work on the timescale of centuries rather than years. To those who show him proper respect and reverence, he is happy to bestow knowledge and unsolicited advice. To those who do not, while he is not allowed to murder guests in the palace, he can certainly show them the door.