King Gallcobar

Gallcobar is a name known and revered across Teleria. He is a Fae king of legend among the Sylvan, a great leader from a past time, and his credited exploits appear throughout centuries of history. The Skyiron Dwarves have stone carvings depicting an Elven warrior wearing the hide of a Lizardman and slaughtering Demonspawn with a thorned staff. Scholars of Kaerok have centuries-old scrolls that record the efforts of a Sylvan king shrouded in vines who fought beside soldiers of the Free Cities against the Norr of Frostheim. The Elves of Aravia tell of how a vine-clad hero protected nobles from Dark Elf assassins. While the people he protects may differ, the form of this gallant warrior persists across time and place. Gallcobar was a king of the Sylvan before Siroth’s corruption tarnished the Mistwood. Kind and just, he was a protector of the forest and a powerful mage who defended it against invaders. Most notable of his early battles was when he singlehandedly halted a clan of Dragonkin attempting to poach Mistwood wildlife. He summoned vines that struck like vipers to slash apart his foes, and his final opponent was the huge Dragonkin chieftain whom he pulverized with his staff. Ever after, he clad himself in armor crafted from the warrior's skin. While Gallcobar ranged the length of the Mistwood's borders to repulse intruders, the forest was afflicted by a terrible taint. Gallcobar sent scouts to investigate. Only one returned, with grave news of the Heart Tree’s corruption. He told the king of how his comrades had suddenly turned on each other in a maddened frenzy after approaching the Rhythm's source. Horrified, the king gathered a host of warriors and led the charge to the Heart Tree to face the growing threat head on. Gallcobar found an evil tainting the Heart Tree and spreading through its roots to the whole forest. Demonspawn had infested the Heart Tree’s surrounding glens, and local Fae and spirits had devolved into crazed, murderous husks of their former selves. In the fighting that ensued, Sylvan sacrificed their lives to defeat the Demonspawn but those who fell to the corruption bolstered the enemy’s numbers. Mages and healers worked tirelessly to find a cure for their madness and a solution to cleanse the Heart Tree. When a potential repellent for the malice was concocted, Gallcobar took it upon himself to deliver it to the Heart Tree in the first of many attempts over the years to purge the evil from its roots. Fighting his way through Demonspawn and vicious venomous vines, Gallcobar administered a concoction to the Tree but to no avail. During his heroic effort, one of the branches wielded by the corrupted Rhythm pierced the king’s flesh, infusing him with the darkness that had plagued so many Sylvan. In his desperation, Gallcobar injected himself with more of the purging remedy, slowing but not stopping the poison coursing through his veins that could someday take his mind. After the battle was over, and the Sylvan were defeated, Gallcobar rested. The corruption’s potency in his body grew and his control over his senses slipped. Black blood flowed through his veins, discoloring his skin. It was then that the Arbiter came to him and offered him a Shard. In exchange for an eternity of servitude to Lumaya, he would have effective immortality and the chance to see his people through this dark era. When summoned from the Shard, Gallcobar would once again be the hero he had been, before the corruption ever took hold of him. But the Arbiter warned that the corruption within him would fester again if he remained outside of his Shard for prolonged periods. He accepted the offer. Gallcobar's Shard remained in the Sylvan’s possession so that they might call upon him to protect the forest in battle or to counsel his descendants, his vitality restored each time. Most pivotally, he was awakened to fight alongside Sylvan, Dwarves, and Shadowkin and help lead this unified army to a long awaited-victory in which the corruption's spread was halted. With the Mistwood saved from evil, Gallcobar could finally rest easy. But the Arbiter still needed him. She took Gallcobar’s Shard across Teleria to defend besieged cities and save monarchs from certain death, but she also recognized the king’s wisdom. He helped people of all races to recover from the ravages of war and guided young monarchs in the art of rulership, and the green of his dragonskin armor became a promise of hope to Lumaya’s followers. When the Arbiter’s powers waned, she returned Gallcobar’s Shard to the Mistwood where he could rest surrounded by his trees and people, and told but a few Sylvan where it rested, should they need him in a time of great peril. Gallcobar faded into legend. A few souls today know where his Shard is hidden, and they hope the day will never come when they will need the aid of this mighty warrior.