Galaeron Nihmedu Galaeron Nihmedu was an elf shadow adept and a minor noble of Evereska , Lasthaven to the elves of Faerûn . Description . Galaeron was tall and solidly built for a moon elf and had the pale skin and regal features common to his race ; two decades of serving as a Tomb Guard along the Desert Border South have left his face mildly rugged and weather - beaten . Abilities . He was skilled in both hand - to - hand combat and sorcery , having attended both academies of the College of Magic and Arms . History . Early life . Galaeron was the son of the moon elf Aubric Nihmedu , the Blademajor of the Swords of Evereska and Lord of Treetop in Starmeadow Tower . His mother , a wood elf named Morgwais Nightmeadow ( known to the elves of the High Forest as Morgwais the Red , the Lady of the Wood , and the Red Lady ) , was the ruler of the Sy ' Tel ' Quess ( wood elves ) of the High Forest . Galaeron had a little sister named Keya , turquoise - haired and born in 1364 DR . A third sibling died in childbirth however , causing his mother to return to the High Fortest in grief . Shortly after this , Galaeron began to manifest magical abilities , including minor levitation , telekinesis and pyrotechnics . After seeking the advice of a wizard , Galaeron ' s father enrolled him in the Academy of Magic . As he was a sorcerer , he was often discriminated against in the academies ( which , like most magical institutions in Faerûn , favor regular wizard s ) , being called arrogant and stubborn . Eventually , they accused him of using dark magics and demanded to see his spellbook ; unfortunately , he never had one . ( Unlike most mages , sorcerers do not forget spells after they use them ; thus , they do not require spellbooks and the like or countless hours of relearning spells ) . This ' refusal ' to produce a spellbook ultimately resulted in Galaeron ' s dismissal from the Academy . Aubric managed to arrange a transfer for Galaeron to the Academy of Arms , where his skill with the blade was quickly developed to rival that of his magical prowess . Although he excelled at the Academy of Arms and had even earned a top rank , Galaeron ' s discontent with authority held him back . It took Lord Imesfor ' s intervention to win Galaeron a place in the Tomb Guard , a militia of Evereska that guards the elven crypts in the area against ( almost always human ) thieves . Here his independent spirit was fostered and Galaeron was assigned to the Desert Border South ( which borders the Great Desert of Anauroch ) as a patrol leader in the Tomb Guard , where he served for twenty years . His life was made harder by Kiinyon Colbathin , Tomb Master and Master of the Defenses of Evereska , who for some reason felt scornful of him . The Sharn Wall . On 20 Nightal , the Year of the Unstrung Harp ( 1371 DR ) , Galaeron led his patrol into an ancient crypt housing seven Aryvandaaran nobles , high lords of the aggressive Vyshaan clan who had started the First Crown War , plunging the entire elven race into three thousand years of violent carnage . The patrol tracked down a band of Vaasans ( a human ethnicity native to Vaasa ) and followed them through a dwarven tunnel to where they were using a beholder to carve a path to the Sharn Wall , a shimmering , silver - colored magical barrier that imprisons the phaerimm . The Vaasans were trying to locate Melegaunt Tanthul , an archwizard from the ancient Netherese city of Shade . The elves had a small skirmish with the crypt - breakers , and then Melegaunt himself appeared . Galaeron ’ s and Melegaunt ’ s magical bolts collided , creating an explosion that punctured a hole in the Sharn Wall . ( Magic from the Weave and magic from the Shadow Weave mingle with disastrous effects . ) This freed the phaerimm , an ancient , malevolent , and powerful race that were imprisoned beneath Anauroch by a mysterious race known as the Sharn after the collapse of Netheril . Learning the Shadow weave . The leader of the Vaasan band , Vala Thorsdotter , was loyal to Melegaunt through a debt made by her great grandfather , Bodvar . As more phaerimm escaped through the breach , they began gathering armies of bugbear s , illithid s , and beholders that they had enthralled through their mind magic . Melegaunt , Vala , and Galaeron went on a journey to stop the phaerimm , Melegaunt leading the way but not telling them where they were going . On their journey , they were eventually accompanied by a little man named Malik el Sami yn Nasser ( actually the Seraph of Lies , the highest honor bestowed by Cyric ) and Aris , a stone giant priest whom Galaeron rescued from beholders serving the phaerimm . Along the way , Melegaunt took advantage of Galaeron ’ s sorcery skills to teach him how to use the Shadow Weave , a mostly unknown source of magic now controlled by Shar that was split from the Weave in ancient times when Karsus temporarily usurped Mystryl ’ s power . It is also greatly effective against the phaerimm , who are highly resistant to magical attack except for the Shadow Weave , which they know nothing about . A side effect to Galaeron ’ s use of shadow magic was that he overindulged in it and came into conflict with his shadow self . A shadow is not opposite , but absence . In Galaeron ’ s case , it was the absence of kindness and loyalty . He slowly began losing some of his emotional self - control and compassion and lost the ability to go into Reverie , the elven method of deep meditation and subconscious connection with other elves , and had to sleep and have dreams like a human . For the first time in his life , Galaeron also felt jealousy ( such as when he found his mother sitting in Elminster ’ s lap while he clutched her behind ) . He also lost his ability to tap into the Weave and had to solely rely on the Shadow Weave for magic . While drawing energy from the Weave feels somewhat like warmth coming into one ’ s body all at once , drawing upon the Shadow Weave feels as if a burst of coldness comes up from the ground through one ’ s feet and into the body . Galaeron eventually became used to it , however , and soon the coldness no longer bothered him . Melegaunt continuously warned Galaeron to not use the magic so often , lest Galaeron be consumed by his shadow . Melegaunt led his small entourage to the ruins of Karse in the High Forest . Keeping his true intent hidden , he only told his companions that in Karse there was something to defeat the phaerimm . In the temple of Karsus , Melegaunt was killed by the lich Wulgreth , and as he died , he imparted all of his knowledge of the phaerimm into Galaeron ’ s subconscious . Earlier , had also told of his past : he was the Twelfth Prince of Shade , and his people were able to defeat the phaerimm . Return of the Archwizards . On 1 Hammer , the Year of Wild Magic ( 1372 DR ) , Galaeron used the Karsestone ( what was once Karsus ’ s heart ) , the only source of “ whole ” magic left before it was split by Karsus , to create a gate that transported the ancient floating city of Shade from the Plane of Shadows back to Faerûn . With Melegaunt ’ s knowledge stored in his mind , Galaeron became a valuable asset to the ruler of Shade , Telamont Tanthul . Through a long series of events thereafter , Galaeron had a falling out with the Most High , and with the help of Khelben “ Blackstaff ” Arunsun , Laeral Silverhand , Alustriel Silverhand , Dove Falconhand , Storm Silverhand , and Aris , Galaeron managed to rescue Vala from Prince Escanor and deal a major blow to Shade Enclave . Also , during his imprisonment by Telamont , Galaeron joined with his shadow , filling in the gaps of his character and making him more whole while still being able to keep his will as his own . On Mirtul 21 1372 DR , Galaeron Nihmedu arrived in Cormyr , bringing evidence that the Shadovars were melting the High Ice and crippling the Heartlands . When Galaeron arrived back in Evereska , he helped the high mages repair the mythal , which had been unraveled by a phaerimm SpellGather . This inadvertently added something new to the mythal : after the golden meteors descended to blast apart the phaerimm , streaks of shadow were left in their wake . Due to his father ’ s death while fighting the phaerimm , Galaeron inherited his lordship . For his great exploits , Galaeron was offered the position of Master of the Defenses by Lord Duirsar ( Kiinyon Colbathin had also died in the war ) , but he turned it down , choosing instead to travel with Vala to her home , the Granite Tower , in Vaasa , along with his spirit - deep mate , the wood elf Takari Moonsnow .