The grim warrior makes for one of the most interesting, and most misunderstood, characters in the Scales over Sangrithar trilogy. I’ll fill you in on his background with short, bullet style comments, while trying to avoid too many spoilers.
– His mother was Ilnaya, the Queen of Dol Melerith. In the Elder Days, she was known as the Swan Princess of Indalle, the most beautiful woman in the world. Ilnaya had many suitors. Her subtle magik let rejected suitors down gently, in every case but one, and from that rejection much woe followed.
– His father was Aeris, King of Dol Melerith, and Prince of the Aerie, where the winged Mist Elves lived in the Elder Days. Emerre took after his mother Ilnaya, who descended from the Sea Elves, and was born without wings, which became a bone of contention between him and Aeris.
– Half-brother to Maelryn the Vizier. They had different fathers.
– Spent his first nine centuries living with Kandol Elf Lord at Pel Aesylle.
– Nine centuries into the Age of Mankind, Emerre moved east with his parents and Maelryn when they established the Elven settlement of Dol Melerith deep in the heart of the Dael Shaelyn. Emerre lived in Dol Melerith, also known as the Grove of Stars, for the next nine centuries.
– At Kandol’s request, Emerre left Dol Melerith for Sangrithar a few short years after Arcanicles (who was in truth the god Sudnar) arrived in Sangrithar and restored the memories of his friend and brother god Thar who was Umbar. With his memory and godly powers restored, Thar who was Umbar ascended to the Outermost Heavens with holy Raena at his side, leaving Sangrithar in the hands of his daughters, Averanda the Queen and Gwynna the Priestess. Emerre, along with his half-brother Maelryn, came to the City of the Golden Star to guide Thar’s daughters and thus fulfill the promise Kandol made to Thar who was Umbar to watch over the girls.
– Emerre served the Pearl Throne well and faithfully until Korak’s invasion seven hundred years after the time of Thar who was Umbar. When Queen Avara was slain, Emerre took accountability to an extreme and moped in the dungeons of Gloryngael for the next thirty-seven hundred years wracked by guilt. I’d say that’s cruel and unusual punishment by any standard, but it’s hard to appeal your sentence when it’s self-imposed.
– Though stuck in self-imposed exile in the Gloryngael’s dungeons, Emerre still kept his ear to the ground. While Darmyn the Righteous ruled, he held out hope that Sangrithar would return to its glory days, but Tardyn the Slayer’s ascension dashed Emerre’s slim hopes. With the Slayer on the Pearl Throne, Emerre took leave of the capitol and headed for the wild, open spaces of Fanar. He begged Maelryn to come with him, but the Vizier would not forsake Sangrithar or the brothers’ vow to Kandol.
– Did Emerre leaving the dungeons signify that he’d come to terms with his part in Avara’s death? No, unfortunately. Elven guilt can last an interminably long time.
– Emerre made Dol Melerith his first stop after leaving Sangrithar. After thousands of years, he thought to say hello to dear old mom and dad. The mom part went well. Ilnaya was glad to have her son home again, but the dad part … well, that’s another story. The issues between Emerre and Aeris were not easily worked out.
– Emerre spent the next three centuries in the Shadowgrim battling Dark Ones. At first, he fought alone. Eventually, he met and teamed up with a certain one-armed Elven warrior. Guess who? Yep, you got it. The one who couldn’t be named. You should have guessed right on this one. I mean, come on. How many one-armed Elven warriors entered into the Tale of Ages?
– With his new ally guarding his back, Emerre put a big dent in the Shadow Lord’s hordes. His biggest victory though, came not against Dark Ones, but against the web of lies in the capitol. From his one-armed friend, he learned the horrible truth.
– Emerre returned to the capitol, worried that it would fall to shadow. He had great intentions, but no one would listen to him. After centuries as the Gloryngael Ghoul, his credibility was shot to hell. Emerre remained maddeningly silent about his centuries away from the capitol, which only made matters worse.
– When the God-Emperor ordered Maelryn into exile with Hali, Emerre saw no choice but to tag along. He had nothing to offer in the way of explanation that anyone would believe, so he offered none. That close-tongued approach didn’t exactly endear him to Hali. Silence tends to breed suspicion, not trust.
– The quest took the company to Pel Aesylle, where Emerre reunited with Kandol. The grim warrior took a chance and opened up to Kandol while Hali spent the weekend in Ardilun. Despite Emerre’s conviction, Kandol wouldn’t listen to what Emerre told him. He thought Emerre truthful, but a victim of the Dark Lord’s lies. Years later, Kandol told me he made a huge mistake with Emerre, one he would take back if he could have. For all his power and all his wisdom, Kandol was not infallible.
– Emerre’s narrative continues in the Scales Over Sangrithar trilogy. In Volume 2, he pays a visit to Dol Melerith and has an emotionally charged family reunion. In Volume 3, Emerre’s secrets are exposed, leading to an explosive showdown.
– There’s another chapter to Emerre’s story, one covering the events after Hali’s confrontation with the God-Emperor. I’ll save that for later.
