An elf, King of Ithrill and erstwhile Silver Emperor. Lancearon is one of the oldest and most illustrious elves still dwelling on mainland Astrom, being both of royal Avatar stock and an outstanding warrior and statesman. The son of Prince Thardil, he is the great-grandson of High King Avatar through his younger son, Northolin, and thus a member of the junior line of the royal house.
Having distinguished himself through repeated heroics in the Great Wars of the ancient world, Lancearon chafed under peacetime boredom and limited opportunities for rulership in Serephmar, the homeland of his father’s house in eastern Kalimar. Eager to explore new lands and found a kingdom of his own, he led a great migration west out of Kalimar, which led to the creation of the realm of Ithrill at the opposite end of the continent. He was the first elf to set foot across the River Elarim, and in the years that followed his folk explored a wholly new land on the western coast of Astrom.
Through long millennia Lancearon ruled Ithrill in peace, though it increasingly became a stronghold of the true faith amid neighbouring countries which were abandoning Prelan. From this came the roots of Ithrill’s historic enmity with the Mortals of Hendar and Aranar, which profoundly shaped the events of the Third Chapter. Lancearon took a ruthless approach to mortal encroachment on his lands in the early years after the Great Betrayal.
As the Mortal kingdoms became more established and as the threat of Kurundar waxed in the north, he proved a steadfast ally in the struggle against evil. Yet after the triumph of the Free Peoples in the First War of Kurundar, Lancearon grew increasingly frustrated by the weakness and inconstancy he perceived in his Mortal allies. Foreboding the return of Kurundar, this led him to the conclusion that he alone could lead the Free Peoples to victory over a resurgent threat of evil. When his neighbours refused to willingly accept his overlordship in this great crusade, he began to impose his authority by force. Leading a hugely sophisticated state and the finest army in the world, he conquered more and more territory until the Silver Empire was born.
Through aggressive diplomacy and lightning warfare, Lancearon built an empire that at its greatest extent covered half of all Astrom, from the Haunted Pass in the North to the coasts of Lurallan in the south. For a millennium he struggled to subdue this empire and forge it into a force capable of facing Kurundar, who had indeed returned to his seat of power in Urunmar, just as Lancearon had feared. Yet the legacy of his empire building ensured that opposition to his rule only ceased when the forces of Urunmar invaded at the end of the Third Chapter.
Now came Lancearon’s true test, the moment of truth he had foreseen and waged endless war to position himself for. His imperial armies led the Free Peoples in a titanic death struggle with the forces of darkness, a war that lasted for nearly a century and which laid waste all of Ciroken. Amid the ashes and flame, Lancearon managed to clinch the narrowest of victories, and that only with un-looked for help. His Silver Empire had been equal to the task…barely.
The Second War of Kurundar exhausted the empire’s strength and also Lancearon’s will to rule. With victory he conceded the expiry of his dream, and slowly withdrew his power back to the original borders of Ithrill, allowing an independent Hendar and Aranar to rise once more in the Fourth Chapter. The legendary king and one-time emperor is now a peripheral figure in the events of the world, but with Kurundar rising again and the League of Wizardry broken, it may be that the Free Peoples need him one last time.
Photo by Miles Farnsworth on Unsplash
World of Astrom 