Haladir Delen Galare

Haladir Delen

Sediryl's father, and the first Lord of Coursers.

Appearance and Personality

An Eldritch of average height, with gray eyes (no tinge of blue) and long hair, worn loose. He's tall enough to get his chin on Sediryl's head, but Sediryl's not very tall. He's had a limp since before Sediryl was born.

His vocal register is a baritone, though not quite as deep as Hirianthial's, and has a clear timbre.

He prefers to wash with pine or fir waters, and eschews the jewels and fillets that are customary for men of wealth.

Biography

A Delen Galare, who was fascinated by the outworld, and read a great deal about it via the royal Wellfeed when he was young and living at the Delen Galare estates. Haladir was best friends with Kolvin, Jahir's father; they met at court. Kolvin was Thesali's sister, and he asked Haladir to marry her to protect her from her mother, Avarise, who was an even worse harpy than Thesali. This match was encouraged by the House, because keeping Nuera in dependable (Galare) hands was of paramount importance. Unfortunately, Thesali did not escape the pattern of her abusive upbringing and Haladir's marriage to her was an unhappy one from the start. He remained good friends with Kolvin ("who convinced Kolvin Seni to maintain his proficiency in the sword?") until Kolvin's death, and busied himself as much as possible on the Nuera property with a breeding project, which encompassed twelve pastures, two barns, a stable, and a training ground. (This is a 'minor enterprise' compared to Houses dedicated to horse breeding, the way Jisiensire formerly was.)

His wife has intimated that he hasn't been sexually faithful to her.

A gentle father, and very loving, but resigned to sorrow. He taught Sediryl Universal as "their private language" in order to get around her mother's strictures against discussion of aliens. They spent a great deal of time together before she left the nursery, and he read and shared with her stories; both mythical and believable, though Sediryl mostly remembers the latter: "stories, where heroism involved a single man facing down a maddened boar, or a woman swimming into a lake to rescue her drowning daughter." Her father "taught her that heroism was common, and often hidden, in the everyday, and he had acted like the heroes of his stories."

Two years before Sediryl's return, he fell off a horse that rolled on him and crushed his pelvis. This injury nearly killed him.

Events After Sediryl's Return

After languishing for those two years in a sort of slow-motion suicide, Haladir is abruptly visited by Jahir, who claims to be a physician. Having been corresponding with his daughter since her return, he knows that Jahir is her fiance, and the two have a discussion primarily about whether he will allow himself to be treated for the condition he's now in. It follows that the conversation touches upon whether or not he deserves to live, that he's been denying Thesali, and the overall uselessness of Eldritch men. After, however, he consents to be taken to Laisrathera. The transfer from couch to stretcher precipitated a medical crisis, as all the stasis of the two years didn't respond well to movement. It was only through intervention by a team of Jahir, head surgeon of Shield General Hirianthial Sarel Eddings Laisrathera, and Healer Lafayette KindlesFlame, who had just arrived in-system, that he was able to be saved. It was enough that he was able to attend, if briefly, Sediryl's wedding.

Events of Father's Honor go here

Family

• Son of Sharvenor Delen and Kalavi Seni and grandson of Alari and Teldor Jesa, whose sword he now carries.
• First wife, Thesali Nuera (divorced); daughter Sediryl Nuera
• Second wife, Jeasa Seni
• Blood-brothers: Petaq, Armin Palland

Trivia

• gentles and rides ugly horses other people would use only for plows
• sings lullabies, tells stories
• calls Sediryl 'my dear', 'my girl,' 'my sweet,' and 'Sedi' and 'Daughter'.
• can weave stars out of grass
• milk name Lir

Quotes

• "I told him that if the Veil fell and we found ourselves afflicted, we would need a force that had at least some familiarity with discipline, exertion, and the strain of combat. No matter how imperfect a training ground the dueling circle was, it was all we had."
• "My dear, few of us have the life we want. The question you have to answer is whether you can make a life you can live with."

• "Sometimes I think this is life, little love. This, in front of us. The trees and the hills and the sky, and water. The colors of sunrise. The taste of food. The relief of sleep. The sound of a mare answering her foal."

• "The wisest among us seek relationships among equals, for in such bonds one finds communion, longevity, and growth. The less elevated among us wish to be the great and munificent benefactor, dispensing charity to the grateful masses. But no one longs to be the powerless pauper among the wealthy."

• "Always check premises."
• "I would rather be the author of the latest outrage than the object of pity and disdain."