Gerendayn

Gerendayn is a rare individual, mysterious yet garrulous. Few elves still dwell in Maristonia, although the city of Welton has more than elsewhere owing to its sea-elven heritage, but wood-elves like Gerendayn are especially rare. Back in the mists of time, Gerendayn was an elf of Tol Ankil with a rare desire to see more of the outside world. As a follower of Queen Dácariel, he was sent to Welton to study in the elven university there, but also to act as the eyes and ears of the queen. This was at a time when elven power was waning in old Alanmar and when the advent of the armist monarchy and the renaming of Alanmar to Maristonia was not far off. The warrior-queen of Tol Ankil was keen to know what was happening in the lands adjoining her own, and to learn more about her new neighbours.

After completing his studies, Gerendayn stayed in Welton as an agent of the queen, embedding himself in the thriving intellectual and literary circles of Welton. As the elves gradually departed and the armists took over, Gerendayn remained and forged new friendships and contacts amongst the officials and loremasters of the city. Officially, Gerendayn kept up appearances as an eccentric antiquary, known for being a keen collector of curiosities and artefacts, but in reality his tower-top apartments were a hot-bed of gossip and the trade in information. In this capacity Gerendayn served as a conduit for Dácariel to pass unofficial advice and counsel to the armist kings of Maristonia as they increasingly extended their reach beyond Delarom Pass and into the East-fold.

This discrete back-channel helped smooth the tensions of those days and ease the hand-over of power from elves to armists in the region, but as the centuries passed this counsel was needed and heeded less and less. Gerendayn became less a diplomat and more a private inquisitor, still busily gathering and conveying information. He became known as ‘The Watcher’ to elves and those few armists who knew of his existence. He had secret means of communicating with the wood-elves, and thus found himself involved in many of Carea’s comings and goings.

By the time of Curillian, Gerendayn had lived his unobtrusive life in Welton for many millennia and his interactions with the armists around him became fewer and fewer. He was a voracious reader, a keen star-gazer, naturalist and collector, but he was also more than a little partial to the fine delicacies and wines of the East-fold. He became known to Curillian during the king’s many adventures in the east and two regarded each other as friends. Curillian was fond of the elf’s loquacity and odd habits, whilst the wood-elf could never resist dabbling in the best of gossip for royal ears. Curillian indulged The Watcher’s presence in the Phirmar, allowing him to live rent-free in his tower and seeing to it that he remained well-informed about Maristonian affairs. As such, Gerendayn was perennially in the king’s debt and ever ready to help him when more unusual circumstances arose.