Arauntar

Arauntar was a Harper operating as a caravan driver in the Sword Coast during the mid-14 century DR.
==Appearance==
Arauntar was grizzled.
==Abilities==
Arauntar could wield two swords.
==Relationships==
As of , Tessaril Winter was aware of Arauntar and Beldimarr's status as Harpers. Both of them worked for Orthil Voldovan, who wasn't a Harper himself. She, too, was an acquaintance of his'. Arauntar and Beldimarr had a pact to kill each other if the other was to ever be mortally wounded and left in agony.
==History==
Arauntar had been to Aglarond and Rashemen.
In , Tessaril Winter instructed Shandril Shessair and Narm Tamaraith to join Voldovan's caravan to make the road from Scornubel to Waterdeep, telling them also that Beldimarr and Arauntar, of his men, were Harpers.
The two departed Scornubel alongside Orthil Voldovan with a caravan of thirty-two wagons, plus two "ready-wagons", one wagon for strongboxes and small cargo, and a cook wagon. Orthil was pleased when Shandril and Narm asked to disguise themselves as guards, which they did during the departure from Scornubel; Arauntar and Beldimarr helped Sharantyr disguise herself better as one of Voldovan's men, which were all men. However, even from the start, one of his guards, Storstil, was slain almost as soon as they left Scornubel, and spells in the wagons killed two people. He quickly began to suspect Shandril and Narm at that point, though he had eyewitnesses that placed them away from the murder scenes. Arauntar took forward scouting position, while Orthil tasked Beldimarr, who remained behind, with searching the dead Storstil. Orthil claimed to be traveling with one mage, but believe there were a dozen more amongst the travelers; rather than find the culprit, he priorized making it to Face Crag before nightfall, which made for a better defensible position. Along the way, they were attacked before making it to the crag.
During the ambush, Voldovan tied up Narm, believing him to have gone out of line by trying to go find Shandril, abandoning his post, rather than protecting the part of the caravan where he had been assigned. Voldovan later approached Shandril, who was with Thorst; he called on her to find some of his healing accoutrements, and ordered Arauntar and Beldimarr, one of which had slain two bandits during the ambush, to drive Thorst's wagon. Arauntar and Beldimarr later checked on the wagons; one of the wagons they checked was Haransau Olimer's; the man on whom they checked up there was actually Marlel, who had impersonated the blandreth seller. Arauntar informed Shandril that her husband, Narm, was being tended to after the ambush; she protested she'd tend to him herself. The man later took Narm to her, after asking for his silence on Narbuth and Jathun knocking him out and tying him up.
Arauntar informed Shandril in the morning that she was oversleeping and Orthil was in a rush. Orthil later personally came to demand why she wasn't up. During their conversation Arauntar and Beldimarr turned up and said how they'd arranged for some goods to be moved to the abandoned wagons, still in better shape; Shandril resolved she and Narm would drive on the same wagon, which Beldimarr approved of, claiming they'd be easier to keep track of. During that morning, Arauntar and Beldimarr inspected the wagon belonging to Mhegras and Sabran, twice; the second time, they checked on the secret floor they had spotted the first time. Voldovan was summoned for that. The master of the caravan brought along Shandril and Narm, and the latter checked the contraband horse barding for magic; finding nothing of interest, they left.
After a later ambush, Orthil Voldovan personally sought out Shandril and Narm, and took them to Arauntar and Beldimarr. The latter was about to fulfill a pact with Arauntar, to dispatch him painlessly if mortally wounded; instead, Shandril used her spellfire to heal him. She later used her power to heal Beldimarr; she found the limit of her strength there. Voldovan called afterwards on everyone to hurry to Orcskull Rise. At Orsckull Rise, Arauntar briefly chatted with Shandril. The night was itself uneventful.
During the next ambush, after Orcskull Rise, Arauntar was helped in attacking Thoadrin's forces by Shandril. She heard his response to the spell that Aumlar Chauntoun called down, which was rather crude. Arauntar took refuge in Shandril's wagon when the fighting turned even uglier. While he was there, he witnessed Aumlar teleport into the wagon, but was disabled by electricity crackling around him, likely the product of a forming spellstorm. He recovered quickly enough to slay the Zhentarim mage shortly after.
Arauntar and Beldimarr killed Mhegras and Sabran later, while the latter two spied on Shandril. Arauntar later carried Shandril back to the caravan, and together with Beldimarr, transferred Narm and Shandril to a wagon which they crammed with spare axles and wheels. Arauntar had slain Mhegras, while Beldimarr had slain Sabran; unknown to them, the two had been raised thanks to a contingent spell. Approaching Triel, Voldovan told Darhabran Windhome that he was already willing to kill Shandril. Closing on Triel, in sight of Duskview house, Beldimarr related to Shandril and Narm about Triel. At Duskview house, Orthil Voldovan and Beldimarr met with herald Stormshield for hiring new sellswords as guards. Briefly, Beldimarr was distracted by another Harper he'd never seen telling him the Three Laws would soon apply on every city; Orthil, after that moment, seemed to have difficulty recognizing Beldimarr, and spoke more stiffly; Beldimarr told Arauntar as much later.
After Triel, Arauntar met with Shandril and Narm one night, to ask them to douse their lights before going to sleep: he claimed that bad runs between Scornubel and Waterdeep were far worse than that one had been. Arauntar reviewed the damage to Shandril's wagon later, after another attacker, almost certainly Mhegras of the Zhentarim, tried to smoke Shandril out of it. During the night after leaving Triel, Arauntar and Beldimarr had to protect Shandril and Narm again, as a magic-drinking entity, Evaereol Rathrane, had the caravan in its influence and was blocking both her spellfire and his spells. Sharantyr reached the caravan at this point, and Arauntar took her to be another hunter after spellfire.
Only Shandril's intervention prevented them from killing each other; Sharantyr, after that point, said that the man pretending to be Orthil Voldovan wasn't. Beldimarr was then mortally wounded; when Shandril attempted to heal him, she failed, and instead slew him. Orthil ordered all the guards away from Shandril at that point.
Unknown to them, Orthil had been replaced by a red wizard while in Triel: Thavaun. Thavaun had Shandril and Narm sleep in his wagon. As Shandril's spellfire went almost completely out of control, the fake Voldovan stabbed Narm from behind, mortally wounding him. Arauntar was the one who finally slew Thavaun, after the latter lowered his guard on watching Shandril disintegrate.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Guards
Category:Inhabitants of Scornubel
Category:Inhabitants of the Western Heartlands
Category:Inhabitants of West Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of Toril
Category:Year of Manuscripts
Category:Members of the Harpers