Rybar Daergal (rye-bar dehr-gul)

Master Architect

Rybar Daergal was a gnomish inventor from the Enlightened City of Kort who lived in the fourth century 2A. He had many minor inventions, but perhaps the work for which he is best known was his redesign and reconstruction of the city into the canal system that still exists today.
When the leaders were accepting proposals and evaluating designs for the new city, Rybar submitted a bold, ambitious design that consisted of a network of canals, divided into several concentric circles, with the river continuing to run straight through the heart of the city. This would allow every citizen (at that time, anyway) to live near clean water, which they could use for transport as well. The design also divided the city into neat blocks and neighborhoods, making taxation and administration more straightforward.
In addition to designing the new city, Rybar was put in charge of the entire construction project. This included dredging and rerouting the river, something with which neither he nor any other gnome had much experience. The combined knowledge of the city's inventors were able to come up with a solution eventually, and Rybar's designs were implemented. In addition to the canals, Rybar oversaw the construction of several dozen bridges to help connect the "islands" in his new city design, as well as the massive central island tower that would house the city's government and perform other important functions.
Not much of the current city is different from Rybar's designs over 1100 years ago, though the city has expanded far beyond his outer canal ring and now occupies almost the entirety of its small mesa valley. New technologies have provided easier and quicker ways to get around the city, but its overall look and feel is undeniably the same it was over a millennium ago when it was first constructed. Much of modern Kort would not be the same without the contributions of a young, unproven architect with a flash of genius and the determination to see his visions come to life.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Not much is known about Rybar's early life. His parents would recall in later years that he showed a spark for invention and crafting very early on, and they sought out the best tutors in Kort to help hone is abilities. He graduated from one of the more prestigious academies in the city at age 30 and was known as a big thinker, though many were not sure if his ideas would ever actually work.
Rybar was 35 when the dragon attacked Kort and almost destroyed the city. In the aftermath of defeating the beast, the city's scouts were able to locate the dragon's hoard, which they brought back to repair and remodel the city. Instead of rebuilding the cramped town on the edge of the cliffs, hampered by the wide river, the city's leaders wanted to redesign and envision a new Kort, so they called for proposals from all crafters who wished to submit them. From a field of several thousand, Rybar's designs were eventually selected as the city's preferred design, and this young, up-and-coming inventor got his first chance to strike it big.
The construction on Rybar's designs took almost two decades - from dredging and rerouting the river to the various canals, to experimenting with building techniques to make sure the ground was sturdy enough to support higher-rise tenements close to the city's center. Rybar personally oversaw each and every step of the process, and his work was his only focus at the time. When most other gnomes are beginning to settle down and start having families, Rybar was focused solely on his monumental task - he could find love and start a family later.
Once the canals were complete and the construction crews started to erect shops and buildings, Rybar was finally able to relax and enjoy the fruits of his labors. One of the rewards he had earned for such a wondrous vision and successful execution of redesigning the city was an elevation to the city's aristocracy. This came with invites for parties and galas, where he was the guest of honor for several years - until the fuss over the new city had died down. By that time, he had found a wife and had started his own family.
Rybar continued to invent and craft new things, though nothing he did ever came close to his first major project. Eventually, he settled into helping his children and other noble families' children become inventors and learn the ways of crafting and engineering. His children were not prodigious inventors either, unfortunately, and history does not even remember the names of Rybar's family members.
Perhaps due to the immense stress for almost 20 straight years, or perhaps due to some other natural cause, Rybar passed away quite young for a gnome at age 270. He was given a state funeral in the massive central tower that he had helped design and construct, and he is buried there underneath that same tower, his remains in the heart of the city he designed and built. Some centuries after his death, the smaller academies of Kort all coalesced into one, and the architectural school of this college was - and still is - named after Rybar Daergal.

Portrait art by me using HeroForge

Life

292 2A 563 2A 271 years old

Birthplace

Kort

Gender

Male

Eyes

Blue-green

Hair

Lavender short and spiky, with a matching chin goatee

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Tanned, almost olive

Height

3'1"

Weight

39 lbs.

Aligned Organization

Enlightened City of Kort