Karontor

Karontor, once known as Balor, is the god-king of the fomorians who has long been exiled to Carceri for selling his people to Shabbith-Ka in an attempt to subjugate the Feywild.

### History of Karontor

Balor was born to Gaea and Ulutiu along with Grolantor, but the two were raised by Annam as his own along with the rest of the fomorians who were their kin. The two brothers ruled the Feywild until the fey races began to revolt- along with the arrival of new outsiders who refused to be ruled.

Balor ordered his people to purge the other races from the plane, along with the vile influence of the Tuatha Dé Danann, who sought to end the Fomorians' reign after Balor had helped a puppet-leader named Bres take over their kingdom. Bres was ousted by Nuada (who had been once before deposed) and the two went back to warring. Balor's wife, a seer, predicted the fall of his rule to his own grandson, much as the other Titans had fallen to their progeny. This concerned Balor and he took immediate action. He locked his only daughter Ethniu away in a tower that she could not possibly conceive a child and ruin his chances of winning the war and purging the Feywild of other races. In desperation, Balor made a deal with the entity Shabbith-Ka, something which there was no coming back from. At this turning point, his brother Grolantor took his clan and left the Feywild after pleading with Annam to stop the madness. Annam transported Grolantor's clan far away but the damage had already been done for Balor and his faithful, whose banners of Winter Wolves were now stained with the dark ichor of the Far Realm.

In exchange for his pact, one which would bind all of the Fomorian peoples, Balor gained the use of a terrible magic- an eye that when opened could lay waste to entire armies and turn all it beheld into ashes. His army also took upon themselves the power of the Outer God, and soon they were unstoppable.

Or so they thought. It all happened as though by accident that Cian, son of Diancecht, came across the tower of glass that held the daughter of the Fomorian king. Even stranger was when he managed to climb the tower and meet Ethniu. It was the first man she had met in some time, and she was of exceptional beauty so the two got to speaking. Then the talks grew more intimate and they spent many nights together in the cold glass tower, keeping one another warm until they had to part. When news of Ethniu giving birth reached Balor he was furious, he grabbed the infant by the ankles and tossed him from the tower, believing the threat was gone when he saw the waves crash over the infant's head as it hit the ocean below. Little did he realize, the infant had been saved by a young fairy named Titania, a daughter of Una and Finvarra who had been sent to watch the tower day and night until the war was over. The fairy, recognizing the infant's importance, gave him to Ghoibhniu the smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann who would raise the boy as his own with Manannan mac Lir and called him Lugh.

Lugh grew into his own, became a full member of the pantheon of gods he was adopted by, and then became leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann and their army after defeating Oghma in battle. Lugh rallied the oppressed forces of his people and faced Balor, who was waiting.

On the battlefield all was fire and ash, Balor had used his eye many times since he first acquired the power, and it took many soldiers to lift his heavy lid (which grew heavier each time he used it). Balor killed Nuada in battle and vaporized thousands of soldiers, both fey and titan. None were a match for his power, until Lugh fired a shot from a sling with so much force and accuracy that his evil eye was battered and smashed into the back of his skull, sending his beam back through his head and vaporizing much of his own army. Battered and beaten, Balor called forth on his pact with Shabbith-Ka one last time, gathering enough strength to shift planes to Carceri where he would remain. Balor took up the name Karontor and has spent the rest of his days broken and deformed trying to force victory for his people.

The Tuatha Dé Danann would eventually leave the Feywild, but the Fomorians would never regain the land they had lost. They were broken, their beauty was no more, and they hardly resembled conquerors of any kind. The gods, leaving for a new kingdom, offered the rest of the lands to the native fey, who were exceptionally powerful in their own right and so for the next few thousand years the fomorians did battle with the fey, taking and losing land until eventually their lands became few. When the eladrin came to the plane later on their lands grew even smaller, inspiring the fomorians to call upon Karontor and borrow strength from their god and his eldritch magic. It was a success, their power increased tenfold and they began to raze the eladrin cities, pushing them to the sea (some believe this is the origin of the sea-elves). The leader of the Eladrin forces of Shinaelestra, Teo Cardahn, believing there was no further hope for his people, created a planar gate and sent his people to the material plane, creating a constant echoing portal into the material plane from the Feywild where the city once was. Those who were left behind also grew desperate. The Neversong clan, seeing that all hope was soon to be lost, made a pact with the Obyrith entity Pale Night and took upon themselves the curse of vampirism. They fought to the last, protecting the realm from the fomorian threat and driving them deep underground, allowing the remaining elves in the Feywild to live lives free from their threat.

Karontor waits in the frozen wastes of his realm, that which is both a prison and the only thing keeping him alive. He hunts aimlessly with his winter wolves at his side and ruminates on power lost and squandered.

### Relationships

Karontor was formerly the consort of a daughter of Cegilune, he left her after she prophesied his demise at the hands of their grandson, Lugh.

Among the giants Karontor has a poor relationship with all of them, with both Ulutiu and Annam who he calls father refusing to release him from Carceri. Karontor is envious of Stronmaus to the point of psychosis, and the envy is said to turn him more hideous by the day. There is a depiction on the Sky Cleaver that shows Karontor shaking hands with Memnor under the guidance of Iallanis, and there are some who believe that Memnor is to blame for Karontor's fall. Clangeddin Silverbeard considers Karontor to still be one of the greatest threats to the Dwarves for his rule over many Verbeeg.