Baramir Velgrund

King Baramir Velgrund (a.k.a. The Tragic King)

King Baramir Velgrund is the ruler of the exiled dwarven Clan Velgrund, currently residing in the semi-autonomous Burrows of Neverwinter.

History

King Baramir Velgrund was born in Nettlemurk Hall in 1321 ME to Queen Egardia Velgrund and King Tonom Pyrepeak. He was the eldest of five children, with one younger brother and three younger sisters. As the eldest, he was the Crown Prince of the and heir to the throne.
King Velgrund came to power in 1418 when he was only 97 years old after the unforseen passing of his mother. HIs coronation was held immediately, and he took the throne within a month. Within the next decade, Baramir married Annika Ironhelm from the Ironhelm clan. Queen Annika and King Velgrund heralded the birth of their baby girl in the early spring of 1435, Princess Lyssanora.
In Hammer of 1436, the black dragon Voaraghammanthar raided Nettlemurk Hall after temporarily settling in the area, turning the once mountainous terrain swampy, weakening the stronghold's defenses. Though the dragon left after its raid, the stronghold's weaknesses were noticed by a splinter group of orcs of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, who beseiged Nettlemurk Hall, taking the stronghold fully in Elient that same year.
The end of the siege was a massacre, and the surviving population numbered only around 200 of the roughly 3000 that had lived in Nettlemurk Hall. Among the dead was Queen Annika, who gave her life protecting their daughter.
For the next 14 years, King Baramir guided the survivors of Clan Velgrund from settlement to settlement, negotiating temporary leases and terms of stay before moving onwards. All the while, Baramir raised his daughter, the only surviving heir to Clan Velgrund's throne.
In 1450, Baramir negotiated with the ruling family of Neverwinter to have the clan temorarily stay outside of the walls of the city. The situation changed in 1451, however, when Mt. Hotenow errupted, destroying much of the city and killing the entire royal family, beginning the period known as the Chaos. Baramir and Clan Velgrund took advantage of this unvertainty, moving into one of the destroyed neighborhoods in 1452 and making it their own by expanding underground and building a wall around the area. This neighborhood, the Burrows, became the Velgrund's official home-in-exile.
From 1452 to 1469, the Velgrunds provided a beacon of stability in the ruined streets of Neverwinter. Some dwarves, clanless and from other clans, voluntarily joined the Velgrund Clan for the security and promises of clanship that it offered. Additionally, clan members occasionally protected their new home from various gangs of raiders or bandits, and skirmished a few times with members of the Kingdom of Many-Arrows, who raided Neverwinter's northern neighborhoods early on in the Chaos.
1469 marked the end of the Chaos, when Dagult Neverember began his New Neverwinter project to revitalize the city by pouring hundreds of thousands of gold into reconstruction. Neverember also negotiated with King Baramir, who was unwilling to give up the exiled home of his people and his autonomy but did recognize the need for a stable Neverwinter. The resulting negotiation gave limited autonomy to the Burrows and Clan Velgrund while recognizing that they still exist within Neverember's city. In exchange, Clan Velgrund would be paid handsomely for their services in aiding the rebuilding efforts. Baramir agreed to this deal, beginning a long-running alliance between Neverwinter and Clan Velgrund. This alliance would result in Clan Velgrund supplying some soldiers to fight alongside the Neverwinter Guard during the Great Dragon War.
For the next near century, King Baramir continued ruling Clan Velgrund, making pleas and deals with various other cities and strongholds that could aid in their reconquest, while recruiting more dwarves to join Clan Velgrund and even expanding clan membership to nondwarven family members of current clan members, so long as they agreed to abide by clan law, beliefs, and traditions. Baramir also continued raising his daughter, Lyssanora, to be the heir of the clan, struggling at times with her lack of connection to the stronghold she barely remembered.
During the exile, Baramir formed a strong relationship with Manistrad Copperlocks, a clanless-by-choice dwarven woman and founder of the Mountain Gem Mining Company, which began as the Mountain Gem Construction Company. Manistrad's company began as the largest employer of Velgrund dwarves, and her fair treatment of her workers earned her an honorary membership into the clan, though Manistrad remained distinctly clanless in practice.
Baramir also grew closer to Mogran Oredelver, one of the Heroes of Saltmarsh during the Banesmark Crisis, a member of the Hand of Mana, and the later husband of Manistrad. Through his deeds, Mogran became the greatest hero of the clan's time in exile, serving as both a chief advisor to Baramir and as chief artificer.
In the early 1540's, the alliances, weapons, and training needed to retake Nettlemurk Hall were finally coming into place. However, an unexpected bout of illness crippled Baramir, eventually killing him in 1546, just one year before the Liberation of Nettlemurk Hall. Queen Lyssanora Velgrund succeeded him.
Though he died before his homeland was retaken, Baramir's efforts in keeping the Velgrund Clan together, strengthening them in exile, and setting in motion the means to take back the stronghold have placed him among the pantheon of the greatest dwarven leaders in Faerun.

Social

Family Ties

Despite the political benefit of doing so, King Baramir never remarried following his wife's death during the loss of Nettlemurk Hall. Despite their marriage being arranged, Baramir loved her deeply, and couldn't bring himself to marry another.
Though Baramir and his daughter, Lyssanora, often struggled to get along during her adolesence, due to the amount of pressure placed on Lyssanora's position, the two cared for one another.

Current Location

Neverwinter

Species

Dwarf

Age

175

Life

1336 CR 1546 CR 210 years old

Birthplace

Nettlemurk Hall

Current Residence

Neverwinter

Gender

Male

Aligned Organization

Clan Velgrund

Founded Settlements

• The Burrows

Ruled Locations

• The Burrows