Maldred

Article written by Uziel

Maldred (ca. ? AC -? AC) was a male ogre-mage who was one of the travelling companions of Dhamon Grimwulf following his departure from the Heroes of the Heart. Outside of Bloten, Maldred only appeared in human guise. As a human, Maldred was large and imposing, and wore a deer hide shirt and breeches. He had short ginger hair and was considered handsome by most females, possessing ruddy skin and an easy grin. In his true form, Maldred stood over nine feet tall and had light blue skin and a physique that was even more muscular than his human form. He had stark white hair that ran down to his shoulders and could be likened to a lion's mane.

Name	Maldred
Alias	None
Birth	? AC
Death	? AC
Race	Ogre-mage
Gender	Male
Nationality	Blode
Hair Color	White
Eye Color	Blue
Height	9"
Weight	Unknown
Class	Thief/Mage
Occupation	Prince of Blode
Spouse	None
Children	None

Early Life

The ogre-mage was born as the son of Chieftain Donnag in the ogre city of Bloten. Maldred was raised believing that he had to do everything possible to protect the ogre kingdom and his people. To this end, he honed both his fighting skills and his magic, becoming the most powerful warrior he could to protect Blode. He travelled across Ansalon in the guise of a human to find new means to protect his people, and on one such journey met the kobold thief Fetch, who he began to teach the art of magic.

Dhamon Grimwulf

After several years, Maldred and Fetch recruited the human Dhamon Grimwulf and the half-elf Rikali Lockwood into their band. In 420 AC, following a heist in the town of Ironspike, the thieving band were joined by Rig Mer-Krel and Fiona Quinti. The group journeyed to Bloten and onwards to the village of Knollsbank, where nearby they located a series of caves. Having been hired by Donnag to do so, the group cleared the caves of the trolls that inhabited them. Maldred became separated from his companions during a collapse of the cave entrance and found his way back to Bloten with Fiona, where he learnt of Fetch's death in the caves. The group was rewarded with treasure from the ogre chieftain, and then Mal was privately commissioned to free ogre slaves from the Trueheart Mines. The group headed towards the Trueheart Mines, but Mal told Fiona that they were instead heading to Shrentak to free her brother, in order to ensure her and Rig's aid in the upcoming fight.

Maldred and his friends freed the mines from Black Dragonspawn, but were then accosted by the naga Nura Bint-Drax. The naga used magic to reveal Maldred's true form to his companions, revealing the form of an ogre mage, which stunned Dhamon and the others. Following a surprised exchange, Maldred and Dhamon announced they would return the freed slaves to Donnag, whilst Rig and Fiona stormed off into the swamp, infuriated at having been duped in travelling to the mines. Later Maldred and Dhamon learnt of a buried pirate treasure and also of the Sage of the Plains who may hold the means to free Dhamon from his scale. In a small village, Dhamon and Maldred were drugged and almost killed by five female thieves, however Rikali and her companion Varek saved the pair, which resulted in Rikali herself being captured by the surviving four thieves.

Maldred, Dhamon and Varek set after the thieves to the spawn village of Polagnar. In the village, Maldred was almost transformed into a Dragonspawn abomination by Nura Bint-Drax, but was saved by Dhamon. With the spawn defeated and Nura driven off, an enslaved Draconian by the name of Ragh joined their band. With Rikali also back in their group, the companions moved on. The party found the ancient pirate treasures that Mal and Dhamon had learnt about much earlier and recovered several items. However during the recovery, Varek's leg was crushed and had to be amputated. Maldred's true form was revealed to Varek, Ragh and Rikali at last, and Rikali finally told Dhamon that she was pregnant with his child.

The group were captured by the Legion of Steel, following information supplied by Satin and her thieves. They were imprisoned in Wheatland, however Varek and Rikali were released when the half-elf supplied information on all Dhamon and Mal's activities to the Legion commander. Dhamon and Maldred managed to escape execution however with the aid of Ragh, and the three escaped and made it towards the city of Shrentak to find the Sage of the Plains. Ragh and Dhamon left to find the Sage, whilst Maldred stayed behind on the pretense of finding an inn for them. Instead Maldred went to the hidden lair of a Shadow Dragon, where he revealed that he and Nura Bint-Drax had been manipulating Dhamon all along into a certain course of action for the dragon.

Servant of the Dragon

Maldred advised his dragon master that Dhamon would return to Shrentak for him, and the shadow dragon gave him a scale. The dragon advised Maldred to break the scale when he found Dhamon, and the pair would be instantly transported to the dragon's lair. Through magic, Maldred discovered Dhamon on the island of Nostar and rescued his old comrade, along with Fiona and Ragh. By breaking the dragon scale, he transported himself and the group back to the cave of the shadow dragon. The dragon insisted that Maldred accompany Dhamon on a mission to kill Onysablet, but privately told Maldred to delay Dhamon as much as possible. Maldred, Ragh, Dhamon and Fiona set off for Shrentak, and instead of facing Onysablet, Dhamon decided to return to the shadow dragon and kill it. The group returned to find an empty lair and set off in search of the dragon, crossing the New Sea and making their way to Throt. The group found a goblin tribe, who instantly began to worship Dhamon and especially Ragh. The goblins happily joined the companions, however Maldred and Dhamon left their comrades and the goblins in search of the dragon.

Maldred faced off against Nura Bint-Drax and his former master, the shadow dragon, in a bid to aid his friend Dhamon. Ragh and Fiona joined the fighting, however Fiona was struck down and killed, whilst Ragh struck Nura unconscious. The combined might of Dhamon, Maldred and Ragh was enough to kill the shadow dragon at last. Following the battle, Dhamon and Ragh bid a quiet farewell to Maldred, and the ogre mage was alone once more.

The Outcast Prince of Blode

Maldred later returned to Blode, and learnt that whilst he had been gone, there had been a great change in the nation. Many of his fellow ogres, including his father, were heralding the return of the titans. Maldred dismissed these new titans as being little more than tyrants not worth following and was outcast from Blode due to his views by his father. The ogre-mage then traveled to the Great Library of Palanthas, where he attempted to record all he could of these latest titans and the events in his kingdom, and hoped one day to return to Blode and free it from the yolk of the titans and any other who would try and force the ogres into submission.

References

Downfall, p.18-397
Betrayal, p.23-437
Redemption, p.26-376
Age of Mortals, p.109

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Categories | Assassins, Handlers, and Rogues

This article has been viewed 825 times. It was added on September 29, 2007, and was last modified on November 16, 2007.

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