Thalendir Oakwatch — Warden Captain
“Every step you take beneath these boughs is seen, weighed, and remembered. Tread as a guest, not a conqueror.”
Name: Thalendir Oakwatch
Race: High Elf
Role/Class: Warden Captain / Ranger Level 9
Appearance: Thalendir Oakwatch is tall and spare, with the unhurried poise of someone who has spent centuries listening to trees grow. His skin is the pale bronze of sun-dappled bark, his angular features framed by long hair the color of autumn wheat, braided back and bound with green and silver cords that mark his rank among Quel’anor’s wardens. His eyes are a keen leaf-green, catching the faintest movement like a hawk’s, and faint crow’s-feet hint at a life spent squinting into distant glades and bright sunlight.
He wears finely fitted studded leather armor dyed in layered greens and browns, etched with curling vine and leaf motifs. A cloak of mottled forest hues hangs from his shoulders, its fabric subtly shifting tone to match the surrounding foliage. At his back rests a long, elegantly carved yew longbow whose limbs are inlaid with pale beechwood; a quiver of fletched arrows rides over one shoulder. At his belt hang twin short blades with simple, practical hilts, a set of carved antler totems, and a small pendant made from a single fallen leaf of the Great Beech encased in crystal sap.
Backstory
Born in the high boughs of the Elven Capital City of Quel’anor, Thalendir was raised with the quiet certainty that the Ardent Woods was not merely his home, but his charge. His earliest memories are of walking hand-in-hand with his mother along hidden forest paths, listening as she pointed out subtle signs of change: a fungus spreading where it should not, a stream running lower than last year. His father served as a boundary warden, and Thalendir grew up tracing patrol routes instead of streets, learning bird calls before courtly etiquette.
As a young elf, he volunteered for the outer watch—those who walk the forests beyond Quel’anor’s shimmering veil, meeting travelers long before they reach the capital’s hidden paths. He saw first-hand the curiosity, fear, and greed of outsiders: desperate refugees seeking shelter, honest merchants hoping to trade, and would-be poachers who saw the Woods as untouched lumber. Thalendir’s early years were marked by hard lessons in restraint: when to nock an arrow, and when to lower the bow and speak instead.
Over the decades, his reliability and keen judgement drew the notice of the Ranger-General. Thalendir was entrusted with commanding one of the outermost warden companies, charged with watching the approaches to the Great Beech and the sacred sites around Quel’anor. He walked the Whispering Grove in times of doubt, listening to the rustling voices until his course felt sure. He has turned away logging expeditions without bloodshed, hunted down fey-tainted monstrosities that staggered from the Gloomden, and escorted more than one wide-eyed band of adventurers safely out of trouble.
Today, Thalendir stands as the quiet threshold between the Ardent Woods and the wider world. He believes deeply that hospitality and warning must come before violence—but he will not hesitate to become lethal if the forest is threatened. His greatest fear is not a single invading army, but a slow erosion of respect: a caravan allowed a little too far in, a noble granted a little too much leeway, until the Woods are chipped away tree by tree.
