1. Characters

Adal ir'Wynarn

First Warlord, Royal Minister of Magic
NPC (Politician)

First Warlord and Royal Minister of Magic Adal (NE male human fighter 2/wizard 8) regards the Eldeen Reaches as a meat grinder; send in troops, and they become food for the beasts of that wild, untamed land. On the other hand, he’d very much like to wrest Thaliost from Thrane’s hands. He works to develop a single arcane event, an apocalypse of spells to rain down on Thrane’s army simultaneously. Adal hopes to test this scenario against the Thrane forces that surround Thaliost. If it works as planned, Aundair can use the event to threaten the other nations into submission, and Aurala’s path to the Galifar throne—or better yet, Adal’s own path to that throne—will be clear.

Adal has a cabal of arcanists researching spells and new weapons of war, working toward this very purpose. He regards Lord Darro as a capable, if overly aggressive, military leader. He shares many of his sister’s dreams, especially the one in which an Aundairian lord takes the crown of Galifar. The trouble is, he believes that his sister rules only because of an accident of timing, and he sees himself as the true power behind the Aundairian throne. He uses his role as First Warlord and Minister of Magic to steer the ship of state through the troubled waters of first the Last War and now this time of uneasy and ultimately false peace.

Getting PCs involved

Adal’s agents are alert to news of powerful magic. If a major magic item or potentially controllable monster is discovered— whether in Khorvaire or Xen’drik—Adal might hire freelance agents to acquire it for him. He’s also cautious enough to hire deniable “independents” to do the initial testing of any spell or weapon prototypes his cabal develops.

If the PCs try to sell powerful magic items, schemas, or other items of arcane power, Adal serves as a potential buyer. A DC 15 Diplomacy check is usually sufficient to get a meeting with one of Adal’s lieutenants at the Ministry of Magic, or perhaps with Adal himself. Characters with a connection to the Arcane Congress may meet Adal within the floating castles of Arcanix.