Lian
Loremaster (a.k.a. of the Timeless Threshold)
Cleric of Labelas Enoreth, Scholar of Arvandor’s Mystery
“Immortality is not the absence of death, but the accumulation of memory. The longer we live, the more we owe the world to remember rightly.”
— Lian, addressing an acolyte during the Rites of the Dimming Star
Memory-Warden of the Enlanefel
Where Faeluneth sees fate, Nemoi dreams of possibilities, and Naerion crafts the arcane into matter, Lian gazes backward and inward—into the long road behind the elven race. A wood elf cleric of Labelas Enoreth, Lian is the chief historian and metaphysical philosopher among the Loremasters of Oakvein, with a profound understanding of the elven condition, immortality, and the divine paradox of eternity within change.
Trained both as a divine seer and conjurer, Lian specializes in planar pacts, interdictions, and conjuration magics, particularly those that bridge Arvandor, the upper plane of the Seldarine. He is deeply concerned with the boundaries between the elven soul and the cosmos, and believes that memory, more than blood, defines the spirit.
Appearance and Bearing
Lian appears as one who carries the weight of unspoken time. His skin is parchment-pale, etched faintly with arcane runes and temple markings; his long hair, once chestnut, is now streaked silver, worn loose or bound in ceremonial braids. His robes are midnight blue, trimmed with gold starlight thread, and his holy symbol—a golden hourglass framed by a crescent moon—always rests over his heart.
- Class: Cleric of Labelas Enoreth 11 / Wizard 5 (Conjuration)
- Presence: Serene, precise, patient to the point of unnerving
- Voice: Soft and measured, like rainfall over stone; often recites from memory
Role in Clan Enlanefel
Lian serves as the chronicle-bearer and ritual memory-keeper of the Loremasters, the elf responsible for recording sacred truths, overseeing memorial rituals, and advising on matters concerning elven spirit transitions, Arvandorian cosmology, and ancestral bindings. His study chamber, known as the Hall of Timeless Echoes, is a quiet sanctum hung with enchanted vellums, slowly inscribed by drifting magehand quills.
- Position: Lorekeeper of Memory and Eternity
- Duties: Guardian of ancestral records, funerary rites, study of planar prisons and conjured bindings
- Sanctum: Hall of Timeless Echoes, located in Oakvein’s eastward root-vaults
- Lore Specialty: Arvandor cosmology, immortal psychology, planar covenant theory
Background and Devotion
Lian’s early life was marked by a strange combination of stillness and sorrow. He was one of the few elves whose siblings aged too quickly, touched by the mortal curse of a Suel bloodline fracture. This early grief shaped his deep commitment to Labelas Enoreth, the elven god of time, history, and continuity.
After decades as a wandering funeral cantor and archivist of forgotten glades, he was invited to Oakvein by Faeluneth, who foresaw his role in preparing the clan for future spiritual trials. He soon mastered conjuration and planar bindings under Naerion’s tutelage, combining divine insight with arcane restraint.
- Early Tragedy: Lost two siblings to accelerated aging
- Religious Initiation: Became a cleric of Labelas Enoreth during the Winter of Silent Leaves
- Arcane Pursuit: Turned to conjuration magic to contain, not command—studies prohibitions more than summons
- Spiritual Focus: Preservation of elven identity, memory, and soul-cycles in the age of rising human empires
Personality and Philosophy
Lian is deeply introspective, compassionate without sentimentality, and unwavering in the belief that elvenkind must protect its soul—not from enemies, but from forgetfulness, hubris, and time’s slow erosion. He is never harsh but often piercing in his insights, known for elegant aphorisms and haunting prophecies delivered during rituals.
- Disposition: Gentle, cerebral, unnervingly perceptive
- Speech: Often answers in metaphor or historical precedent
- Beliefs:
- Memory is sacred and must be preserved through word, ritual, and soul-binding
- Planar laws exist to protect, not limit
- The soul of an elf is immortal in pattern, not form—identity persists through remembrance
Magic and Capabilities
Lian’s divine spells reflect Labelas Enoreth’s portfolio—focused on preservation, time, and mental clarity, while his conjuration spells are used defensively—to banish, protect, or shelter.
- Divine Magic:
- Greater Restoration, Divination, Legend Lore, Sanctuary, Word of Recall
- Arcane Magic (Conjuration):
- Banishment, Teleportation Circle, Mage’s Faithful Hound, Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum
- Unique Rites:
- Echo of the Everlasting – Inscribes the soul’s memory onto enchanted wood or stone
- Chain of Remembrance – Protects a place from planar incursion using memory-anchored glyphs
- Unbound Vigil – Once per long rest, Lian can ask one question of the dead or dream-bound if they are elven or fey
Relationships and Influence
Lian stands as a philosophical and spiritual foil to several other loremasters. He is deeply bonded to Faeluneth and Synriel in ritual, but often debates Naerion on the ethics of magical inheritance. With Nemoi, he shares a fascination for planar pacts, though Lian leans toward binding and boundary, while Nemoi pursues connection and exploration.
- Naerion: Intellectual foil; they debate the risks of artefact reclamation
- The Fey Grand Court of Celene: Known to the Scribe of Echoing Leaves, an ancient dryad librarian
- Celene & Verbobonc: Rarely interacts directly; leaves diplomacy to others
Relationships with the Other Loremasters
Faeluneth Larethil — Oracle of Moonlight and Grace
Lian and Faeluneth are kindred spirits in purpose, though not in method. While Faeluneth communes with fate and starlight, Lian roots his teachings in recorded memory and liturgy. They often co-officiate rituals marking death, renewal, and lunar conjunctions. He views her as the clan’s soul—as she views him its conscience.
- Shared Values: Spiritual stewardship, elven continuity, reverence for the Seldarine
- Contrasts: Faeluneth embraces the unknowable; Lian defines and preserves the known
- Interaction: Mutual trust; often lead rites of remembrance and dreamwalk ceremonies together
Synriel — Earth-Warden of Living Memory
Lian and Synriel share a quiet alliance forged through reverence for ancestral memory and sacred places. Where Lian preserves the names of the dead, Synriel tends to their groves. Though their practices differ—his inscribed, hers instinctual—they both believe memory must be preserved through action and ritual.
- Shared Interests: Funerary rites, sacred groves, leyline resonance
- Contrasts: Lian uses symbols and scripture; Synriel trusts intuition and the land itself
- Interaction: Cooperate in marking spiritually significant sites and protecting ancestral shrines
Naerion — The Wandwright of Change
Lian and Naerion exist in tension: Lian champions the guardianship of tradition, while Naerion seeks the evolution of elven magic through bold enchantment and artefact design. Despite their philosophical friction, both share a fierce love for their people and often find common ground when dealing with ancient relics or spiritual artefacts.
- Shared Interests: Elven magical heritage, artefact ethics, arcane legacy
- Tensions: Conservation vs. innovation; sanctity vs. functionality
- Interaction: Frequently debate over the restoration or repurposing of First Age relics
Nemoi — Dreamwalker of the Veil
Lian and Nemoi hold a cautious respect for one another. Lian sees Nemoi’s dream-lore as powerful but dangerously ungrounded; Nemoi sees Lian as a needed tether to tradition. They intersect most often during soul-cycle debates and discussions of Arvandor’s planar threshold, where dreams and divinity blur.
- Shared Interests: Elven immortality, soul transitions, extraplanar cosmology
- Contrasts: Lian documents and defines; Nemoi dreams and divines
- Interaction: Occasional partners in complex ritual or soul-guidance disputes
Avinor — Chronicler of the Elven Fall
Lian and Avinor are close collaborators—Avinor provides the histories of collapse, Lian interprets them for present moral application. Both see their roles as protective memory-keepers, and often work side-by-side to safeguard against the spiritual mistakes of the past. Their counsel carries heavy weight in the council when matters of existential threat arise.
- Shared Values: Historical reverence, spiritual responsibility, vigilance
- Contrasts: Lian is priestly and internal; Avinor is analytical and historical
- Interaction: Strong mutual respect; often write joint missives and theological-historical treatises
Current Concerns (576 CY)
Lian has grown concerned by disrupted bindings at ancient elf-warded sites in the Welkwood and northern Gnarley. He believes someone is breaking planar prohibitions, unsealing old pacts made during the first wars against the Elder Elemental God.
- Signs:
- Missing glyph-stones at the Ruins of Wailgrove
- Ghosts of pact-bound guardians no longer answering rituals
- Faint tremors around long-buried planar prisons
- Hypothesis: Cults of Elemental Evil may be targeting ancient elven seals to release planar entities once bound by the Seldarine
Key Details for Dungeon Masters
- Loremaster Lian
- Race/Class: Wood Elf Cleric 11 (Labelas Enoreth) / Wizard 5 (Conjuration)
- Residence: Hall of Timeless Echoes, Oakvein
- Role: Memory priest, spiritual advisor, pact guardian, NPC lore-giver
- Specialties: Elven memory, Arvandorian cosmology, planar bindings, spiritual continuity
- Adventure Hook: A planar prison once sealed by Lian's ancestors is now cracked—the players must recover the Trifold Sigil of Binding before the creature it holds reenters the world
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