The Companions The Time of Troubles & Era of Upheaval Inspired By Ed Greenwood

Hordus Blackforge was born and raised (for a time) in the dwarven mountain stronghold of Icespire Hold located in the Sword Mountains, on Icespire Peak. On his first mining expedition with his father, the section of tunnel that he and his brother were in collapsed.

Covered by rocks, unable to move or see for what seemed like days, all the while listening to his brother dying somewhere nearby. "In reality it did not take a full day for miners to dig him free". He had never been confined in a space this small, unable to move, gasping for breath, with little to no visibility. By the time help arrived to rescue him, his brother was dead.

Afterwords, life had become a struggle with Hordus dealing with the incident and his brothers death. His sleep patterns became eratic, waking up at all hours of the night with recurring dreams of his friend dying and him being unable to do anything about it. He and his brother were very close and his death hit Hordus hard. It got to the point to where he needed a candle or oil lamp lit to be able to sleep. As time went on, it went from a single candle to more candles that one could count. Hordus stopped going into the mines after this accident, finding one excuse after another to keep himself clear of the mines.

He eventually left home at an early age "unable to tolerate the concerned looks from his peers". Most recently he has been seen in the region around Red Larch and Westbridge traveling with his companions. Preferring the outdoors, he tends to travel across the region lending aide when possible to those in need of it. Since he prefers to live an isolated life, he usually doesn't stay in one place for long, living mainly in the outdoor wilderness regions - most recently, he has found himself traveling the region near the settlement of Red Larch. Hordus had been gone from his home for just over a century when he got word of the fall of Icespire Hold from a giant attack. Having no home to return to, he generally is found in the region of the Sword Mountains.

For the most part, Hordus is your typical every day Dwarf, grumbling, never satisfied with his work and loves working with his hands. He took up wood carving at a young age and it has stuck with him over the years. He enjoys relaxing outdoors smoking his pipe and whittling wood. He tends to enjoy the "drink" a little more than he should. He is still coming to terms with the death of his brother.

Hordus is easy to talk with and is very open minded .... and if asked, he swears he is getting better with not having constant lights on in order to sleep. True or not, Hordus prefers to remain above ground whenever possible but his phobia does not prevent him from traveling beneath the surface "it just takes a bit of convincing and persuasion". Most recently, Hordus has been traveling with friends escorting merchant wagons throughout the Sword Coast.

Being a Moon Elf of the Elven Court, Elanthe carries the poise of a high house of Cormanthyr. Dressed in fine silks with speech refined by an education in the Art and the Seldarine, she often appears to those in the Dessarin Valley as a pampered youth who has never left her myth-shrouded borders.

This perception is far from the truth; Elanthe earned her status through many years of service as a commander of the Cormanthor Border Guard, where she led elite troops along the River Lis to intercept Zhentarim spies and repelling Moonsea orcs.

With the intensity of the eastern border watches finally waning, Elanthe has claimed a hard-won respite to choose her own path. Driven by the characteristic wanderlust of the Moon Elves and a clarity of purpose, she views herself as a person of action. She is cheerful and perceptive, refusing to wait idly while others determine her fate. She understands her potential is limitless and is driven to utilize her healing talents, perhaps inspired by the grace of her god, Corellon Larethian, the patron god of all elves.

Elanthe craves forgotten healing knowledge—perhaps the lost secrets of Myth Drannor—and seeks to achieve renown across Faerûn for her mastery of the healing arts. To her, adventure is the only method to truly refine her skills; she leaves the dusty safety of libraries like Silverymoon to those of limited scope, preferring to test her capabilities against the actual adversity of the Savage Frontier.

Navigating the Dessarin Valley provides a quiet cultural shock compared to the song-shaped forests of her home. She finds the heavy human reliance on manual labor and vast agriculture—seen in hubs like Goldenfields—unrefined yet undeniably impressive. While she occasionally mourns the wild lands lost to tilled soil, her heritage draws her toward the "intoxicating diversity" of these frontier settlements rather than shunning them.

She respects the industrious nature of the "shorter-lived" peoples and prefers their directness over the idle apathy of sheltered sages. For Elanthe, the bustling trade rooms of Westbridge and Red Larch are not a nuisance, but a vital new landscape where her elven values can take root. The experience of interacting with the varied peoples of the world has only strengthened her resolve to make her mark on the Realms.

Now traveling with new companions, she continues her journey with her path set firmly before her. She views the rugged lifestyle of the valley as the perfect crucible for her talents, seeking to bridge the gap between ancient elven wisdom and the immediate needs of the frontier. She moves forward with the confidence of a commander and the heart of a healer, ready to claim the renown she seeks in this strange, dusty land.