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Valdemar Harborwell was the Grand Lord of Goldenhaven and the formidable leader of the pro-monarchy faction in the Kingdom of Aldrein. His death at the hands of Bella is the inciting event of Embers of the Uncrowned: without Valdemar at its head, House Harborwell could no longer shield the throne, and the dominoes of the elven invasion began to fall.

Quick Facts

Role in the Kingdom

Valdemar was the bedrock of the kingdom and the pillar the royal family trusted most. He led Goldenhaven to its long prosperity as a port city and stood at the center of the pro-monarchy lords' coalition. The throne's confidence in House Harborwell flowed through him.

He was a man of profound insight, evidenced by his support of Eslyn, the talented daughter of a fallen retainer family whose potential he recognized and nurtured. Valdemar elevated her to Lord's Aide despite her family's broken status, and that decision shaped one of the player's most important allies after the city fell.

The Elven Threat

Valdemar was the first lord in the kingdom to sense the elven invasion. He championed a peace treaty with the elves while striving to rouse the nobility to vigilance, walking the narrow line between provoking the invaders and being unprepared for them. The other grand lords were slower to act, and his early warnings often went unheeded.

Death at Red Anchor Harbor

Bella made landfall at Red Anchor Harbor in Towerstead, and her arrival was a massacre before the rest of the kingdom even understood she was on the continent. By the time Valdemar arrived with his knights, the town was already nearly destroyed. He offered Bella a peace treaty. Her only response was a burst of laughter.

When the rain halted in mid-air and droplets began to rise upward, Valdemar realized something was terribly wrong. But it was already too late. With a casual flick of her wrist, Bella lifted his soldiers into the air. Their screams mingled with her laughter as they were torn apart limb from limb. Valdemar suffered a death so gruesome that not even a fragment of his body remained to be buried.

Appearance

Valdemar is designed with short, silver-gray hair, a full, well-groomed beard, and a solid, sturdy build. His face bears the weathered lines of a man who ruled his domain and traversed battlefields for decades, and his deep, heavy gaze radiates the dignity and solemnity of a grand lord.

His silver armor is emblazoned with the golden Phoenix, the sigil of House Harborwell, and a crimson cloak flows from his shoulders, symbolizing his lifelong role as the unwavering guardian of Goldenhaven.

Legacy

Valdemar's death was the prologue to the tragedy that consumed Goldenhaven. Within days the fortress fell, his heir Leopold was killed at the succession ceremony, and his second son Lucian died fighting the elven raid. The only Harborwell to survive was the youngest, illegitimate child the family had sent away years before. That child is the player.

Eslyn, the Aide Valdemar elevated, suppresses her grief and now stands with the player as the first companion. The campaign to rebuild the House is, in effect, the campaign to honor Valdemar's legacy and complete the defense of the kingdom he tried to coordinate.

Related

• House Harborwell

• Leopold Harborwell - eldest son and intended heir

• Lucian Harborwell - second son who died fighting

• Eslyn - the Lord's Aide he elevated

• Bella - the elf who killed him

• Goldenhaven