Oldar Wahldrun (the second)
The second of the Wahldrun Family to have the moniker, Oldar is a peasant farmer and a loyal subject of Azalin Rex, whom called from him a favor. The second Oldar Wahldrun does not quite exist in canon materials, for their are two versions of his story. One is from the Lord of the Necropolis novel, which was
. The second version of Oldar's story is from the unpublished adventure module manuscript Death Undaunted, which is somewhere between
and
.
In Lord of the Necropolis
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This section contains Declared non-canon info, officially retracted by the publishers |
In LotN, the Wahldrun family has long benefited from Azalin's protection, extending from the protection granted to the original Oldar in 579 BC. When Oldar was 4, Oldar saw this protection first hand, as he witnessed the gruesome fates of transgressors of the taboo. Oldar himself was an honest and humble boy, his personality much like his progenitor's one hundred and fifty years earlier. Oldar's mother was a giomorgo; she told him stories of his family's protection. Oldar suffered from regular nightmares, which included killing King Azalin with a blade.[1] Part of these dreams were prophetic but misleading, and some were (unknown to him until later) memories of his ancestor's former life. (He may have even had the same soul as the original Oldar.)
Oldar annually visited the grave site of his ancestor. One day in 740 BC, he was met by Balitor, a former friend of the original Oldar. Oldar the second agreed to a summons by Azalin, whom asked (but not ordered) a very hard favor. Grateful for the protection of his family, Oldar agreed. From there Oldar became involved in a complicated scheme of Azalin's to travel back in time and murder Strahd von Zarovich before he became a vampire. Oldar carried Azalin's phylactery inside his body and enabled Azalin to act, through possession beyond the borders of Darkon. Oldar was chosen for this role because he is the only Azalin can trust enough. Ultimately, the plot failed, but Oldar lived and returned to his farming.[2] Due to the effects of mysterious powers, he along with much of the rest of the Demiplane of Dread forgot of the plot and related events, even though the geography of the land was drastically changed (reflecting LotN's version of the Grand Conjunction.) Although Oldar remembered nothing of what had transpired[3], he remembered his prior dreams, which mysteriously (to him) stopped soon thereafter.
In 748 BC, Oldar was called into Azalin's service again. Oldar served as a body for Azalin to cross across domain boundaries to retrieve a fell, life-draining machine created by the long deceased wizard-scientist Albernarl. Although all of his Kargat escort were killed, Oldar-Azalin survived and returned to Castle Avernus with the machine that would enable Azalin another escape attempt thereafter.[4] For his diligent duty, Oldar was passed over two years later to be the guinea pig for the Doomsday Device Azalin established in Nartok. Instead, Balitor would perform that role. Disaster struck when [[Death Lowellyn Dachine attempted to seize the power, which resulted in the merging of their souls into a horrible creature born of the Mists and bearing enough power to potentially threaten Azalin.[5]
Gaining momentary control, Balitor heard mysterious voices speaking of doom should Azalin use Albernarl's machine. He told Oldar to warn Azalin not to use it, and Oldar passed along the information.[6] However, Azalin ultimately did not heed them, bringing ultimate disaster as the Dark Powers began to escape their shackles. Before passing on to join their ranks, Azalin reached out to save Oldar and his family, fulfilling his promise to protect them[7]
LotN ends ambigously, for in the epilogue Oldar awakens from another nightmare in the year 739 BC, memories of the events only as horrid and hazy dreams. He had, however, recently met a new friend, an oldar man named Balitor.[8]
In Death Undaunted
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This section contains Potential-canon info, revealed by the creators from never-published sources |
In Death Undaunted, the year is 755 BC. The Requiem left Azalin's essence dispersed throughout Darkon. Balitor and Oldar, but especially Oldar, receive visions of the construction for a new soul focus to regather his essence. Balitor eventually enlisted the aid of Tavelia, for her skill was more suited to the construction. Neither Balitor nor Tavelia trusted each other much, for good reason. Tavelia secretly sought to use the opportunity to co-opt Azalin when he returned and gain control of Darkon, whereas Balitor only wished to restore his master and defeat Lowellyn Dachine, whom has assumed the mantle of Death.[9] Over the course of the module, Oldar and Balitor work with the player characters to defeat both Tavelia and Death and restore Azalin to full corporeal form.
