Alaundo
Alaundo , the Seer (a.k.a. Alaundo the Wise)
Alaundo, was a sage and prophet based at Candlekeep on the Sword Coast in the late 2nd century DR. He was the singular sage whose predictions actually came true through the ages. He was considered the last and most renowned servant of Savras, the All Seeing, of his time, before that god's return.
Alaundo was known to be quiet and erudite, and he was fascinated with books all his life. In life and afterlife, Alaundo sought always to learn more about the world around him and the identity of the Voice within him, in hopes of regaining the prophetic powers that made him feel unique.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
In life, Alaundo was a wizened elder with white beard and eyebrows.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Alaundo arrived at Candlekeep in the Year of Clinging Death, 75 DR. Where he'd come from, nobody knew; his peers presumed he'd been raised in one of the port cities of The Sword Coast, after various offhand remarks he'd made. Much else about him was a mystery. What was known was that he'd come to read the works of others, thanks to his great interest in books. Although some sources stated that Candlekeep was originally the citadel of Alaundo, and he was remembered as one of its founders, he in fact had only a small and humble tower, about which much of Candlekeep grew. The precise location of this tower was lost over the centuries and in the many other towers built since.
While there, Alaundo added significantly to the Roll of Years, the grand list of prophetic names of years past, present, and future first developed by the Lost Sage Augathra the Mad centuries earlier, and extended it many centuries into the future. As such, he created how years were handled in the Calendar of Harptos. Alaundo and Augathra both based their work on the predictions of past diviners, including those of a seer from past ages whom they referenced as "the T Source", and a centuries-long corpus of elven lore and prophecies, and expanded on them with their own predictions. While a number of historians criticized Alaundo and Augathra alike as mere plagiarists who'd appropriated elven lore and claimed the credit, others would hail them as visionaries who tried to aid later generations with their forewarnings and encouragements. A tradition at Candlekeep held that Alaundo had seen future events in his dreams, but needed multiple and repeated dreams to put them exactly in order. It was told by some that he'd been inspired by gods, or even that he was an avatar of a god himself. In fact, he was but the final follower of the then imprisoned and fading god Savras the All Seeing, who showed him visions only of that which would come to pass. As for Alaundo himself, he only ever knew it as "the Voice", an unidentified presence within him that inspired his prophecies.
Yet among the earliest of Alaundo's prophecies known to be fulfilled was first foreseen by another and enabled by Alaundo himself. At the time, the monks of Candlekeep sought a means of protecting the library from fire, vermin, and deliberate destruction, but had not settled of any solution. Then Alaundo prophesied that a young man, the first of many, would give himself to the library and become a part of it forever, forming a guardian entity that would protected Candlekeep from darkness and evil. The probationer Bairn asked for an audience with Alaundo the Seer, who to his surprise quickly accepted. Bairn revealed he'd had a similar vision a tenday earlier, wherein a divine messenger told him such a guardian required the life of one who truly believed in what Candlekeep stood for, but Bairn had doubted worthiness and kept it to himself. After hours of discussion, Alaundo left Bairn alone in his private chambers. When he returned and resumed holding audiences, Bairn was gone and Alaundo only smiled and declined to answer what had become of him.
Near the end of his life, Alaundo would prophesy even the date of his own death. Three days before the end, in the Year of Windsong, 76 DR, he was still hard at work writing them down. Ironically, adventurers in the far future would look back through time at him, while peering through a time portal in a mousehole in his tower.
After Alaundo died, Candlekeep became a place for the preservation and study of his prophecies, and indeed of all knowledge. Known collectively as the Prophecies of Alaundo, the monks would keep safe his prophecies among their vast collection of writings, and even chanting them ceaselessly night and day as they walked around the citadel under the direction of the Chanter and their three assistances, the Voice of the North, the Voice of the East, the Voice of the South, and sometimes the Voice of the West. When the Keeper decreed a particular prophecy had been fulfilled, it was removed from the Endless Chant, so it grew steadily shorter, though this could take some time to decide, for some prophecies were still chanted years after their mostly likely fulfillment. They ended their pronouncements with "So sayeth the wise Alaundo." Occasionally, one of the Avowed of Candlekeep would abruptly stop and stare and utter a cryptic prophecy in an unfamiliar voice, believed by many of them to be "the spirit of Alaundo rising within". While they would exclaim "Alaundo Speaks!", such prophecies were never accepted in the Endless Chant.
His skull became a priceless relic venerated by the faithful of Deneir, Oghma, and Savras and by the Avowed of Candlekeep. It was said that the bearer of the skull could speak directly with Alaundo using a speak with dead spell, no matter how many centuries has passed. In fact, Alaundo existed as a Weaveghost tied to his skull, which he could speak through when he wished, though he'd lost his prophetic ability.
However, Alaundo's skull was stolen shortly after his death and was lost. It was greatly sought after by the illithids of Oryndoll, who followed every clue to its supposed location. Around 1370 DR, there were rumors of it being up for sale in the market in Llorbauth, Erlkazar, after being retrieved from a fire drake lair in the Deepwing Mountains, caused an increase in illithid activity on the southern shores of the Deepwash. As for the skull, by 1373 DR, it was apparently kept in a box somewhere, carefully watched over. Alaundo's Weaveghost lingered on into the late 15th century DR.
Species
Year of Death
76 DR
Children
Gender
Male
Belief/Deity
Founded Settlements
Comments